Shades of pink and blue

Every year Blue Bell comes up with some new seasonal flavors that I can't help trying (tres leches with strawberries, I miss you). Cotton candy ice cream is so wrong, but it tastes exactly like you might imagine: a very sweet and creamy burst of nostalgia. Mmm.

A slice of summer moon

Some links from the illustration blogosphere:
*Tips on bio writing for your various media presences on Humblearts
*A podcast interview with Artist Rep Scott Hull on EFII...chock-full of good info (I'm listening to it a second time)
*I've really been enjoying Becca Stadtlander's blog recently (via pikaland)
*Just saw Larry Day's work for the first time on a Spilling Ink post. He's got some really beautiful watercolor images that include lots of detail but still seem loose (I'll have to check out the bookstore to see them full-size).
*And just for fun, paste your latest blog post or some paragraphs of your writing into I Write Like, and it will come up with a famous author comparison. On the first try, I got David Foster Wallace. And then I got Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Hmmm.

Garden kitty

Birds from a rainy morning

Saw this Carolina wren and green heron last Thursday while walking my dog at the park.

Giant

Library love

Just returned Kitchen Diaries last night, but it was so good I may have to buy it one of these days: part cookbook, part journal of the seasons, on the plate and in the garden. Just checked out Jam it, Pickle it, Cure It on the same trip; love the idea of homemade crackers and marshmallows, but that may be unrealistic. Might just stick to learning how to pickle a few things from the farmers' market. Or from my garden, if it would ever produce more than one cucumber a week.

Note on painting text freehand: best to have a guide! Didn't leave room for the final 'it' on the second title. Live and learn.

An Illustrated Summer: Bing Cherries

A refreshing afternoon snack...

An Illustrated Summer: intro

Every year when the Texas heat kicks in for several months straight, I start complaining. And vowing to move some place with a less brutal summer (or at least one that cools down at night). But then along comes a crisp autumn, mild winter, and lovely wildflower-filled spring, and I remember why Austin is such a great place to live. This summer I've decided to distract myself from some of the heat & humidity fueled complaining and channel that energy into appreciating what is wonderful about summer, illustration-style.

The tomato is from Saturday's visit to the farmers' market (Two Happy Children farm stand; the name totally drew me in), and it is the best one I've had all year, especially served in Caprese salad with some basil from the garden. The red striped ribbon snake startled me trying to cross the path at the dog park yesterday (I followed it trying to remember the "red and black, friend of jack" rhyme).

Rainy start to the weekend

What a rain-filled week! And only 4 more weeks till the SCBWI conference in LA...my 'to do' list is long.

A few links from the week:
*Great American Illustrator month has begun over on the Ripple blog. Some exciting names coming up on the schedule! And all for a good cause.
*Interview with quilt-artist, Denyse Schmidt, over on Design Sponge. Her work is modern and graphic and totally appealing.
*Saw this post about Rise and Fall on Book By Its Cover yesterday and highly recommend checking out the artist's site (his name is Micah Lidberg)
*Can't wait till this book is released. David Small & Jane Yolen: what a dream team!
*I've seen a lot of e-brainstorming recently about creative uses for illustrations, and I really like Katie Green's zine over on Pikaland. It looks totally charming AND includes vegan recipes.
*These photos from Noa Emberson's The Visual Mixtape poster series are stunning.
*Love both these recent posts by the talented Meg Hunt: this and this

Happy 4th of July weekend!

Scenes from the weekend

Took a little roadtrip through the Texas hillcountry this weekend: blue skies, green and glowing gold grasses, farm stands full of peaches, blackberries, & tomatoes, a dip in the Frio river, and a lovely visit with family. More images here.

Okra sketch

First from the garden

Things I love right now

These Texas peaches smell amazing right now, and this afternoon I'll be attempting a peach ginger sorbet sans recipe...but really, how could that go wrong? And I'm always searching for the perfect yogurt; I think Siggi's skyr is it. Lightly sweetened with agave, super dense (like greek yogurt, it's very high in protein), and there are real vanilla bean seeds inside. Did I mention it's delicious? Now if only it were made locally (made in NY)...

Other great things:
*Kelly's Ripple blog has gone big with almost 150 pieces of art donated so far! I expect that number to climb since it's this week's IF topic. Plus, it got a mention on Fuse #8. So, exciting! And great news for bird and marine mammal rescue efforts.

*Found out about the Next>> feature on google reader (via Door Sixteen)...so handy!

More water birds on Ripple

I added some more watercolor sketches to the Ripple blog to help raise money for bird and mammal rescue efforts in the Gulf. It looks like they've sold, but there are sketch cards in all different styles still available from a great group of illustrators and artists.

Bird rescue

Feeling frustrated in the wake of the BP disaster, illustrator Kelly Light decided to take matters into her own hands and start ripple, a blog where visitors can make a small donation toward bird rescue and receive a small sketch in return. She's invited other artists to join in, and my heron sketch from the last post (left) is now part of the effort. Good cause, good art.

Herons and pelican

Water birds

Great Herons in the early morning, soaking in the sun

I visited Hans Suter Park in Corpus Christi last Sunday morning and took a lot of photos of birds there: great herons, laughing gulls, terns, stilts, cormorants, and pelicans. Snowy egrets and some others didn't make it into any shots, and my mother and I got there too late for the roseate spoonbills. I grew up taking all these guys for granted (except for the spoonbills, because everybody loves a pink bird), and it's sad to think that they're all at risk with this BP mess. Depressing, really.

Scenes from the weekend

Moments in Corpus Christi, Rockport, a picnic area near Beeville, and back in Austin. My favorite might be the heron among the pelicans (we called him "the mortician", mostly for his posture). Or maybe the crazy ownerless dog statue.

Bird pattern plate

This is from my favorite set of my grandmother's dishes.

Inspiration for the weekend

A pear I should eat before it turns totally mushy.

So, this week I've been excited about:
*this magazine cover by Janice Nadeau: so fun and what gorgeous watercolor!
*Lena Wolff's work, which I saw this morning on Design Sponge
*Oliver Jeffers presentation on Swiss Miss
*multi-talented Maggie Stiefvater's animated book trailer for Linger (she also wrote the music). via Fuse #8
*a series on Fine-Tuning Your Portfolio over on EFII
*Ultra cute baby sloths (via Door Sixteen)

Happy weekend!

Thinking about style

I'm in the process of updating my website portfolio, deciding which pieces make the cut, and this week's Escape from Illustration Island podcast on style was particularly timely. It made me think about the artists who inspired me when I was just starting to paint a few years ago (like Lisbeth Zwerger), and how their influence in my style has diminished over time as I learn to solve visual problems in my own way.

Drawing from life has been the most effective way to explore and develop my own style. I recently attended some life drawing (long poses) sessions at AMOA, and working with rough materials (pastels, vine charcoal, watercolor w/china marker, newsprint) on 18"X24" paper is really freeing. I try to keep it unfussy just to see what happens, rather than worry about creating a true portrait.






More life drawing here.