CED- New Froggy Photos

As my inspiration I did something new. I turned my husband and I into frogs. This illustration is from a photo of us on vacation in Cololnial Williamsburg,  Virginia.
This was a mommy vacation. My children didn't want to admit that it was fun. We stayed for a whole week. I had fun turning us into frogs. Although the husband froggy looks like he's being dragged along, my husband was actually smiling.
 I thought about adding more color but I think the frogs stand out better.

CED 2012: New

I'm excited about all of the hopes that a New Year brings. 2011 was good and my prayers is that 2011 will be better. This year I hope to post more in CED so this is my very first post. I'm starting off the year with a new moleskine. I plan to continue with my "Face" illustrations, I also started a new series at the end of 2011 called  "Froggy Chronicles" they make me laugh.

This is my 1st face, I'm still working on my fear of coloring directly into my sketchbooks, but as you can see I did add color. I even did the face in watercolor. Yeah Me! I currently read "It's Not Easy Being Green and Other Things to Consider by Jim Henson and he says that Life is meant to be fun, and joyous, and fulfilling. Sometimes we all forget this when life gets so hectic, so lets try to hold on to these thoughts in this New Year.

Books Read 2011

52/ 50

(104%)

I started out wanting to read 60 books but by September I realized I wouldn't make it so I reset my goal to 50. I am happy to say I accomplished my goal. I've highlighted my favorites. My goal for 2012 is 65.

• 52. Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi
• 51. I before e by Judy Parkinson
• 50. Fredrick by Leo Lionni
• 49. Holy Bible
• 48. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cabin Fever
• 47. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
• 46. Porches by Sweetwater Press
• 45. Carmen's Rust by Ana Maria del Rio
• 44. Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice
• 43. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• 42. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• 41. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• 40. Fashion Kitty and the Unlikely Hero by Charise Mericle Harper
• 39. Between the Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
• 38. Mice by Gordan Reece
• 37. One Day by David Nichols
• 36. The Art of Maurice Sendak by Selma Lanes
• 35. An Elk Dropped In by Andrea Steinhofel
• 34. The Ugly Kids by Renee Adams
• 33. 7 Life Lessons from Noah's Ark by Michael Levine
• 32. Modigliani and His Models by Royal Academy of Arts
• 31. Chaos (The Lost Books #4) by Ted Dekkar
• 30. Renegade (The Lost Books #3) by Ted Dekkar
• 29. Infidel (The Lost Books #2) by Ted Dekkar
• 28. Chosen (The Lost Books #1) by Ted Dekkar
• 27. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jaime Ford
• 26. the Help byKathryn Stockett
• 25.Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
• 24. Everfound by Neal Shusterman
• 23. Everwild by Neal Shusterman
• 22. Everlost by Neal Shusterman
• 21. A War of Gifts by Orson Scott Card
• 20. Long for This World by Sonya Chung
• 19. Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine
• 18. Blood Kin by Ceridwen Dovey
• 17. Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones
• 16. Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama
• 15. The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine
• 14. Mr. Toppit by Charles Elton
• 13. Life Mask by Emma Donoghue
• 12. Murder on Lexington Avenue by Victoria Thompson
• 11. The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
• 10. Dear James: Letters to a Young Illustrator by R.O. Blechman
• 9. Prayers For Sale by Sandra Dallas
• 8. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
• 7. The Dark Lantern by Gerri Brightwell
• 6. The Man Who Made List by Joshua Kendall
• 5. What Is This Thing Called Love by Gene Wilder
• 4. Elizabeth Peyton by Matthew Higgs
• 3. A Mapmaker's Dream by James Cowan
• 2. Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub
• 1. The Honest-to-Goodness Truth by Patricia McKissack

Eyes Right

I was not able to get her eyes right. So I decided to leave it as is for now.

Look Up

Make sure that you take the time during the holiday season to enjoy nature. There is no snow here where I live and winter is not the same without it. I miss sleighing, snowmen, and snowball fights. So for winter I look at the trees with the last few leaves holding on and not willing to be set free.

Take Time to Look Up

Sometimes we are so busy with life and getting things done we forget to look up and enjoy the peace of nature.

New Moleskine - Froggy Chronicles

Well I completed another moleskine and started on a new one. I started the Froggy Chronicles. I don't know if I'll fill my moleskine with just frogs. I hope they make you smile. I'm trying to let go.

Reading: Just For Fun

As I was at the library I came across a funny book cover so I decided to pick it up. It's called Fashion Kitty and the Unlikely Hero by Charise Mericle Harper. I thought my fashionista daughter would like it. Of course I couldn't resist reading it for myself. It was so funny, it brought back my inner child because sometimes you need a laugh.

Fashion Kitty has met her biggest challenge: school uniforms" The school principal thinks fashion has become a distraction and no one is learning so now Kiki and her friends have to wear uniforms. Ugh!

AEDM: Day 17, 18, & 19 That Blue Girl

I have been so busy preparing for my daughters 15th  birthday celebration that at the end of the day when I laid down to take a quick nap I just didn't have enough steam to get back up. Well now its over and I can get back to art.

I'm posting 3 drawings to make up for the days I miss. They are a continuation of my Blue Girl series. As I was doing these it made me think back to watching the Mary Tyler More Show and That Girl in the 70's. I guess it's the clothing. I wish I had time to put detail in the background of my drawings.

AEDM - Day 16: That Blue Girl

Another little drawing of that Blue Girl Series. When I was a teen I thought I would live in New York, I loved the city, never in a million years did I think I would live in the south, married to a southerner. In life you can't always predict how things will turn out. But LIFE IS GOOD!

AEDM: Face 21 - Will You Tell Me How Long You Loved Him?

This is one of my favorite lines from Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice Jane's question to Elizabeth about her feelings for Mr. Darcy.
"Will you tell me how long you loved him?
Elizabeth's reply "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began, but I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberly" lol. This always makes me laugh.
Day 15 of AEDM another  illo of a couple.

AEDM: Face 20- Is he looking at me?

The first time ever I saw your face



I thought the sun rose in your eyes


And the moon and stars were the gifts you gave


To the dark and the empty skies, my love.
Lyrics by Roberta Flack, Its one of my old favorites. I thought it went with my illustration today. I decided to draw another couple only younger.

AEDM - Face 19:Husband And Wife

I thought I would put a man in the mix since so many of my faces are only of woman. I didn't have time to do color today plus I am not feeling well.

Love is the balm that helps ease the friction of life between two people who have made a lifelong commitment to each other's growth and development.