MARION ELDRIDGE - NEW ART NEWS

IF- Forward - Digital Baby Steps

2012-01-31T19:16:00.001-08:00

Well, she certainly is leaning forward. I also call this one, " Gone With The Wind." No, just kidding. I like the way this one looks with the type in place. Sorry, can't share that now. But, I can share the image. Part of an ongoing project.

As my Digital Baby Steps contribution for this one, I'll share a few keyboard commands that are my favorites. Believe me, I am still learning! So, these are Baby Steps for sure, but very useful.

Command S - Save

Command Z - Undo

Command Zero - Fit on screen

And, a new one that I just learned from Tracy Bishop:

Command - option Z - multiple undos by going through the history palette.

I just tried this one! Excellent! Thank you Tracy!

Be sure to check out Tracy's portfolio here. Awesome work!

I plan to share more favorite keyboard commands in future posts, as I learn them from friends, so stay tuned if you are learning, as I am!

IF-Grounded and a Belated Happy New Year!

2012-01-11T16:56:00.001-08:00

I hope it's not too late to wish all my friends a Happy New Year! This piece is a finish of one of the sketches I did during the month of December. The challenge was to do a sketch a day. What made it really fun was that I did it with two fantastic illustrators, Laura Jacobsen, and Linda Silvestri. We called it HoHoDooda and you can see what I did by clicking on that word under labels to the left. You can do the same on Laura and Linda's blog to see all their Decembers drawings. It was great fun to see what amazing, beautiful work they came up with day after day. Much wonderful work was done! Now, the fun will be to see if some of those sketches make it to finishes. That wasn't part of the commitment, but you never know.

If you'd like to see my sketch for this piece, you can find it here. You'll also discover something that I changed my mind about.

For Illustration Friday, this Mr. Snowpeep may be a little bit high from his bottle of Champagne, but I think he's well grounded. He's not going anwywhere. Or, is he? Well, that could be a whole other story, couldn't it?

HoHoDoodah - Dec 30

2011-12-29T21:19:00.000-08:00

A toast to Santa's mission accomplished. A toast to all the elve's hard work and magic. And a toast to my doodling pals Linda and Laura for a job well done.

HoHoDooda - Dec 28

2011-12-28T20:40:00.001-08:00

And now there are three. My trail of elves is growing. Slowly, and not so surely, but it's growing! Many tweaks needed here. This exercise of having to post something every day is good though. Small steps are better than no steps, right? Busy holiday days, but carving out at least a little time each day to draw something on the side is good. (Yes, this is holiday week around here! On it goes. Poor me!)

Be sure to see my pals, Laura and Linda's blogs. My elves want to see too!

Thanks for stopping by!

HoHoDooda - Dec 27

2011-12-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

I need a trail of elves chasing across a spread. So, I added another to the elf in my last post. Guess what I might be drawing tomorrow? There should be about 4 or five total in this piece.

I've missed a few days of posting drawings. And I mean missed! I was sorry to have to give it up for a few days. But, we had a wonderful Christmas, so if I had to miss, missing for something that nice was worth it! I'm a lucky person.

Be sure to look and see what Laura and Linda have been up to now! I'm still catching up myself!

HoHoDoodah - Dec 22

2011-12-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

Just a wee one tonight. My Santa story is going to need a lot of elves.

In the meantime, maybe you could think of this little guy as sliding into Christmas. That's kind of how I feel anyway. Will I make it? Will I make it?

Be sure to have a look at Laura and Linda's blogs. Such great work!

HoHoDooda - December 21

2011-12-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

Today I'm back to a study of Santa for my Santa story. Finally, he's slumped into an easy chair, but he's cold and exhausted. Not to worry! There's a happy ending. But, did I mention..... it's a SECRET!

Be sure to see what Laura and Linda have been up to. No secret there! They are doing great stuff!

I hope you are warm and cosy and well rested!

HoHoDooda - December 20

2011-12-20T20:18:00.000-08:00

The gift of giving!

Now give yourself a gift and see what Laura and Linda have been up to!

HoHoDooda - December 19

2011-12-19T21:18:00.000-08:00

I think this guy's orange, carrot nose will be a bit red.

Be sure to see what Laura and Linda have drawn today. They are really, really good!

HoHoDooda - December 18

2011-12-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

This one speaks for itself.......I hope.

I'm sure that Laura has done a lovely, elegant drawing, and Linda has worked her magic too. Me? I'm just getting loopy. But I'm having a good time.

HoHoDooda - December 17

2011-12-17T21:03:00.001-08:00

A bunny's gotta do what a bunny's gotta do.

Let's go see what's happening at Laura's blog and Linda's.

HoHoDooda - December 16

2011-12-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

Ho Ho, Hello!

(Keeping it simple tonight!)

Be sure to see what Laura and Linda have been up to!

HoHoDooda - December 15

2011-12-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

Here's another Mrs. Claus, with a few friends. This drawing is part old and part new. I think I like the Mrs. Claus in my previous posts a little better. They are very similar after all. Maybe they are sisters. I'm sure this lady is a very nice person, but I'm just partial to the other one for this story.

Don't you kind of wonder what they are looking at on the opposite page? I hope so! But, if you do, I'm sorry. Top secret. Now I feel like a grinch. But it is was it is........ SECRET!

Stop by at Laura and Linda's to see what they have been up to with their daily December doodles. I think we are giving ourselves the gift of a lot of material to work with when this is done.

HoHoDooda - December 14

2011-12-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

My, what long arms you have, Mrs. Claus. And those legs are a little weird too. But, we are a little tired tonight and want to work on something in COLOR!!! So, we'll take another look at you tomorrow. Or .... not. In the meantime, have fun! Keep dancing!

And you, gentle readers, dance on over to Laura and Linda's and see what their dancing pencils have been up to!

Tootles!

HoHoDooda - December 13

2011-12-13T20:50:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Claus. Or, maybe this is a lady auditioning for the role of Mrs. Claus in my Christmas story. I'd like my Mrs. Claus to look grandmotherly, but active and "with it." I may need a little help with the "with it" part, (oh dear!) but I'll give it a whirl. Speaking of which, I know she likes to dance. And she does aerobics and free weights. Come to think of it, Mrs. Claus may need her own book. She's that cool.

And speaking of cool.... See what Linda and Laura have been up to today. The daily doodle is doodling along.

Note to self: When scanning, watch out for the black line thing. It looks really dumb.

HoHoDooda - December 12

2011-12-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

The last Santa.....at least for awhile. I never mentioned that I wanted this Santa to be leaning into the wind on a blustery day. So, I think this one is kind of combination of the previous Santas with a bit of that wind added. I think his pose could be exaggerated a bit more. (I think! And hope I can pull that off!) It's time to put the Santa's aside for awhile. I love the luxury of doing that and coming back later with fresh eyes.

Be sure to see Laura and Linda's wonderful doodles (they are always so great!) and thank you for stopping by!

HoHoDooda - December 11

2011-12-11T21:35:00.001-08:00

Ooops. Ran out of paper on the left there. But you can use your imagine and I can fix later. A little livelier Santa tonight. That's always good. Perhaps I should have mentioned, in this scene Santa is happy about the winter weather. I hope this doesn't sound like an excuse, but because this Santa is for a particular story, I feel that he has to stay within certain perameters. If I were brainstorming Santas for cards or giftware, I think I'd try a lot more stylization and variation. Does that make sense? I could be wrong, but that's the way it feels to me anyway.

See what Linda and Laura have been up to on this doodle day! And thanks or dropping by!

HoHoDooda - December 10

2011-12-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

Trying out another Santa. A more conventional, everything round kind of Santa this time.

To see what this Santa series is about ckick here. I'm not saying which I like best until I squeeze out another one 1 or 2. But I am definitely leaning in a certain direction. Trying to keep an open mind and sharpened pencil at hand though. Who knows? Maybe I'll have a change of heart as this Santa changes his look.

To see what this HoHoDooda thing is about click here.

Also, have you ever noticed that if you click on the name of a blog, you'll see all the posts? I found that out by accident one day. Handy! If you've been directed to a single post, clicking the title of the blog will bring you back to the complete blog. I'm probably the last person in the universe to have figured this out, but in case I'm maybe 2nd to the last, I'm sharing.

Most important, click Laura and Linda to see what my doodling partners have been up to. So far, between the 3 of us, 30 Holiday doodles. Good solid start, I'd say!

HoHoDooda - December 9

2011-12-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

Santa variation # 2. If you'd like to see Santa 1, click here. And if you'd like to know what this

HoHo Dooda thing is all about click here.

Be sure to see what my partners in doodling have been up to. Laura and Linda are doing some beautiful, funny, clever, amazing stuff!

HoHoDooda - December 8

2011-12-08T17:53:00.001-08:00

I cannot tell a lie. I didn't do this today. And, as usual for me, it's more than a doodle. It's from an unfinished dummy that has been sitting around my studio for quite awhile now. I might - emphasis on might - like to change this Santa. Try some variations. So, I'm posting this as a starting point. It may turn out to be my end point, the one I wind up using after all. And my variations might even look pretty much the same as this one. Somehow he seems like MY Santa, But, I plan to do a some more Santa drawing/doodle/sketches in the next few days. We'll see what happens.

And, don't forget to check out what Laura and Linda have been up to with this daily, or as long as we can keep it up HoHoDooda thing!

HoHoDooda - December 7

2011-12-07T18:14:00.001-08:00

Celebrate the Solstice!

And, be sure to see what Laura and Linda have done today.

If you haven't read about this HoHoDooda project and would like to know what it's all about, you can find out here.

HoHoDooda - December 6th

2011-12-06T18:50:00.001-08:00

And the Angels Danced for Joy on that Blessed Night.

Be sure to see Laura and Linda's drawings of the day.
They will be heavenly!

HoHoDooda - December 5th

2011-12-05T19:35:00.001-08:00

Corporal Cracker commands you to have a Happy Holiday Season! So there!

I have a small collection of nutcrackers. One is musical. I wanted to do something with a nutcracker or nutcrackers for this doodle challenge. When I took a close look at our musical nutcracker, for the first time, I realized he was looking pretty PO'd. Hah! I never really gave him such a close look before. Ah well, I guess it wouldn't be the Holiday Season without somebody being stressed out, PO'd or just plain grouchy. So, listen up! Have a Happy Holiday! I think it will make Corporal Cracker happy. I doubt that he'll show it though.

Stop by Linda and Laura's blogs to see their daily December doodle. They are very good at making people happy with their wonderful drawing.

HoHoDooda - December 4th

2011-12-04T17:51:00.001-08:00

In a bit of a rush today. We got our tree! Getting doodlier! Definitely getting doodlier!

Be sure to check in at Laura and Linda's blogs to see what they've been up to. And if you haven't read what this particluar doodling thing is all about, you can find out here.

HoHoDooda - December 3rd

2011-12-03T18:27:00.001-08:00

'Twas the night before Christmas,

when all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring

Except for that mouse!

Be sure to check out Linda and Laura's daily December doodle!

And if you missed the intro to HoHoDooda, you can find it here.

HoHoDooda - December 2nd

2011-12-02T14:15:00.001-08:00

This one makes sense right? A giraffe, a pine tree? Of course!

Oh so many tweaks I'd make to this one, if I ever take it further. But part of the deal with this Holiday Doodle project is not to spend too much time on any given day, so it's time for me to move on.

Be sure to check and see what my fellow holiday doodlers have been up to. Laura and Linda. We are in different time zones though. I'm ahead of them timewize, so they will probably post later. I'll have to be patient. And, you'll want to check back! I can't wait to see what they are up to!

In the meantime, I'm doodling on.

p.s. If you haven't read about this doodling endeaver you can read about it's origins here.

Hear ye! Hear ye! HoHoDooda has begun!

2011-12-01T14:21:00.001-08:00

In the wee small hours of November 30th, three crazy illustrators got their cyber heads together and concocted a scheme to create more stress and angst for themselves just in time for the holidays. What could be better?

In those wee small hours, between Linda Silvestri, Laura Jacobsen, and I, a brainchild was born. HoHoDooda! Ho Ho! Hey Hey! HoHoDooda starts today! What is this craziness you ask? We have taken up the challenge to do one sketch/doodle/scribble a day for the month of December and said scribbles are to be of anything related to the holiday season. Thus the name: Holiday Doodles a Day. Well, close enough.

Lest you think we've totally lost our minds and will most certainly crack and ruin said holidays for ourselves and our families, not to worry! We've set a low bar. 'Cause that's just the way we are. And it's the holidays for cryin' out loud! So, no beating ourselves up if we miss days or even if we have to bail altogether. We figured that if even two of us have nothing on any given day, maybe one will. (You'd think!) Anyway....we'll give it our best. So, Ho Ho,let's go!

Be sure to check out Laura, and Linda's blogs too now! It's begun!

Love that snow! And, a tiny Digital Baby Step

2011-11-21T13:25:00.001-08:00

So, here's the color version of my happy little shoveller. The snow we had when I posted the sketch is long gone, but I'm sure there will be more to keep this little guy happy.

And here's the whole piece. The big snowy spaces provide room for type. The text, of course is top secret! It's wonderful though. Worth a wait! Working around type sometimes makes for compositions that are a bit odd looking, but snow, sky, light colored walls, etc. can help. Part of the challenge!

Today's Digital Baby Step is small indeed, but if you don't know it, maybe you'll like it as much as I do. You may know that when working in Photoshop, if you press the F key, you can change the look of your desktop. It's what you see around/behind the image while working on it. If you haven't tried this before, go for it! Just remember, if you don't like the different backgrounds (grays and black) the F key will bring you right back where you started. I've known about the F key for quite awhile, but I just learned something new.

When you have the black background, if you then press the tab key, you'll see your image and only your image on a black screen. It eliminates the tools and palettes from the screen. I like doing this at the end of the day, or when I'm going to be away from the computer for awhile. It's a good way to have a fresh clear look at your work when you come back. Here's an example of the work on the black "clean screen" when this work was in progress. Nice and clean and focused on the work and the work alone. When you want to get your tools and palettes back, just press tab again and you are good to go.

Sneak peak and October surprise!

2011-11-02T10:03:00.001-07:00

This is a sneak peak at a small portion of a bigger project that I've been working on. It seemed appropriate for me to post this unhappy little shoveller now. We had a surprise snowstorm in my area. Actually, the whole northeast of the US had it. Around here, snow in October is pretty much unheard of. Or, at least, it was. Halloween has been postponed in our town. BOO! Lots of tree damage and lots of power out. The trouble was that all the trees still have their leaves, so the weight of the snow brought a lot of trees and big limbs down. Boo!

So,this little guy wasn't created because of this storm. If he had been, maybe there would be the hint of a Halloween costume peaking out from under his coat and lots of trees down in his yard. Boo!

But, in our town, he can go trick or treating this coming Friday! Yay! And, BOO!

Illustration Friday - Asleep

2011-06-02T19:29:00.001-07:00

A little study for the prompt: Asleep. I have a color version in the works, but it won't be ready by midnight because........ I'd rather be asleep.

Toy Road Trip Final Version/Another Diigital Baby Step

2011-05-22T18:54:00.001-07:00

Last time, I posted this image a little prematurely in order to be able to participate in Illustration Friday's prompt, Journey. You can see the earlier version here. And here (above) is the new, final version with some improvements, I hope! I worked on the grass, added some texture to the road, and tweaked some other things: some touch ups to the trim on the truck and a bit more rendering on some animals. (That giraffe was looking pretty flat!) So, I hope it looks better now.

As usual lately, there were more Digital Baby Steps in this piece. I've been so lucky to learn how to work digitally from such master teaching artists as Will Terry and Rob Colvin. In addition, I do One-to-One sessions at my local Apple Store. There's no end to what I need to learn! My trainer there is Justin, who is also an artist and graphic designer. (Lucky me!) Visit his website: avoidperil.com and you will see. Justin is a wonderful instructor who has contributed greatly to my Digital Baby Steps.

Here's another little step that I've found to be extremely helpful: saving swatches. You can see your swatches by going to Window > Swatches. Here's my current collection:

While you are painting in Photoshop, you might select a color from the color picker (you'll see this below) that you want to save. Once you've selected your color it will appear in your tool bar. I've shown just a part of the tool bar below. To save your new color to your swatches palette, double click on the color. You'll be double clicking on the foreground color. (Looks like a little black box here.)

After you've double clicked on it, you'll get a window that looks like this. You may still have this window open from having chosen your new color from the color picker, in the first place. Either way, this is where you can add your new color to your swatches palette.

In the upper right of this window, under OK and Cancel, you see the option to Add to Swatches. When you click on this, another little window will open that looks like this:

Here, you can name your new swatch, by typing where it says, Swatch 2. Name it whatever you like. When you click OK, it will be added to your swatches palette. Hover over the new swatch in the swatches palette with your mouse and you'll see the name that you've given to your brand new color.

I love this little trick! If you didn't know it before, I hope you have fun!

Illustration Friday - Journey

2011-04-21T19:10:00.001-07:00

"The Toy Roadtrip." I may still tweak a few things on this one, but it's getting late for IF, so I think I'll post now and tweak later. This is all digital, btw. My third digital piece.

Illustration Friday - Duet

2011-04-07T20:45:00.001-07:00

This is a possible character for a possible story about my character Pierrot. I created Pierrot awhile back and have a few storylines in mind for him. You can see Pierrot below. This new drawing (above) was also a chance to explore what the landscape and architecture might look like in Pierrot's story.

Pierrot is an acrobat, so when the prompt 'Acrobat' came along on Illustration Friday, it was time for Pierrot to make his debut. The piece below is Pierrot's first public performance.

Illustration Friday - Warning - Digital Baby Steps

2011-03-10T08:35:00.001-08:00

The sketch for this piece was called "The Report Was Not Good." But, I think it fit this prompt fairly well. The drawing is from the series that I call 'After Hours Drawing.' These are drawings that I do late at night, after I've left my work room. I go to the living room, put my feet up, watch/listen to TV and draw. The thing about these drawings is that I have no preconceived idea. I just start drawing and whatever happens happens. I had nothing specific in mind for this piece, but, obviously, the result was a character that looks sad and anxious. Only after the fact did I realize what might have been in the back of my mind. I was concerned about a friend. But, the way this type of drawing happens is that I start with a line. The line usually becomes a face, then one shape leads to another and, eventually, there it is. That's not to say I'm in some sort of trance. But, the closest I come to controlling the end result is when I think it needs a shape here or an object there, and try to come up with something that fits. But, I also try not to over think it. Just do it. These drawings seem to have their own internal logic. It's the most intuitive work that I do. And, I love doing it. You can see the original drawing here.

The finish was done digitally. Thanks to Will Terry's wonderful video series, I think I'm a convert!

I'm also doing 'one - to - one' sessions at my local Apple Store. I call it Apple School. I'm very lucky to have someone who will do photoshop with me. So, I'll share a few tips from Apple School whenever I post a new digital piece.

You know the expression 'tip of the iceberg?' Well, what I know about Photoshop isn't just the tip of the iceberg, it's like a tiny ice chip off the tip of that iceberg. But for me, every single little tip that I learn is helpful. So, small as they may be, I'll keep sharing these little tips.

This week, I thought I would mention folders, in layers. In the layer palette, there's a little icon down on the bottom. It's the third from the right.

When you click this icon, it creates a group. The group shows up in the layers palette. You can name the group by highlighting it, then going to Layers in the menu bar. Layer > Group Properties. A window appears with a space for you to type the name of the group. Then you can drag layers into the group. For example, in this piece, I created several groups of layers . One group was for the door. I did a separate layer for the door frame, the window in the door, and the door, itself. Then I dragged those layers into the folder for this group. Each layer was named the same way. Layer >Layer Properties, then type it's name. For example, door frame, window in door, etc. Then each of these layers were dragged into the group. I find this very helpful! If you didn't know about this before, I hope you find it helpful too!

Illustration Friday - Layer - Digital giant leap.

2011-02-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

My first all digital painting! Thanks to Will Terry, my digital baby steps got a lot bigger in the past couple of weeks. More like one big giant leap! How nice that this week's Illustration Friday prompt was 'layer.' I learned how to use layers and a whole lot more from Will's series. I can't recommend it highly enough. Not only is it jam packed with information that even I could understand, it is a bargain as well. Will is such an amazingly generous guy! Check out the series here. I'm happy to share some of what I've learned, but don't want to give too much away. It's much better for you to see for yourself! Thanks Will! You are a spectacular illustrator, a great teacher and such a fine and generous person! I can never thank you enough!

In addition to Will's video series, I also had help from Rob Colvin, a wonderful landscape painter and fellow contributor to Illustration Friday. Rob, like Will, is a generous teaching artist. He was very kind and helpful in getting me started! I am so lucky to have connected with Rob. I'm in awe of his work and so grateful for his help too!

Scroll down if you'd like to see some of the steps that I followed to make this illustration.

There was no doubt what my first color would be!

Next, the sketch is opened in photoshop and dragged onto the textured underpainting. It automatically becomes a layer. In the layers palette, select 'multiply' to blend the background and sketch layer.

Learning how to make a textured background to use in photoshop was one of my favorite things from Will's video series. I created the texture, imported it into photoshop, then applied the color I wanted for my underpainting. It's all explained in the video series.

Here's the sketch that I started with. You can see, I decided to leave a couple of things out in the finish.

Illustration Friday - Dusty/Digital Baby Steps

2011-01-27T15:05:00.000-08:00

His name was R. Dustorm McCloud, but folks jes called im Dusty. He got that there name cuz he was born in the great Dust Storm of 88. 19 and 88 that wuz. The R. was cuz he wuz named fer his Pa, P. Rusty McCloud. Another yarn fer another day. But that's right, Dusty was Rusty Dustorm McCloud.

Somethin' 'bout bein' born in that there whopper of a storm. Dusty was born dancin up dust storms wherever he went. Even when he wuz a wee bitty thang! Good thang his Pa married his Ma! Cuz her name was Molly Clean-er-Up McCloud. And yeseree, that's another yarn fer another day too!
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This is another digital experiment in Sketchbook Express. I took some screen shots along the way. You know there's nothing worse than a convert.... But rest assured, it's not my goal to convert the world. Rather, since I'm a digital novice (and I know some others) I thought I'd share some baby steps along my way. So if you'd like to see this drawing as it progressed, scroll on down to the bottom of this post to see how it was done in that there magical drawing machine thang - Sketchbook Express. (Ooops, there's still a little dust storm goin' on in my brain!)

For me, one of the unintended consequences of learning to do screen shots is that I discovered you can cut and paste from a screen shot. At one point, I felt like I was losing some of what I'd done previously. (Several points, actually. Including the finish! Sigh..) But, when I looked at an earlier screen shot in Preview, I was able to cut and paste from that earlier stage of the drawing and put it back into SE. Truth be told, I'm not at all sure I retained the energy of some of the earlier stages in this drawing, so I may do it again. Nice to know I can walk backwards through my screen shots.

Zooming is certainly one of the great advantages of anything done digitally. Can't do that on paper. Not that I don't expect to continue drawing on paper! But, it's nice to have the choice!

You can rotate parts of your drawing, move them, etc. Of course this is nothing new to anyone who draws digitally in Photoshop or Painter, but in SE, when you click the tool, it appears right in your drawing. Tools are accessible in a very streamlined way.

When I draw on paper (usually extra heavy tracing paper) I draw on both sides. I flip from front to back in order to check my proportions and see if anything looks out of whack. In SE, you can do this by going to Image > Mirror canvas. I do a lot of this - both on paper and in SE.

First rough idea. Sketchbook Express is in no way a substitute for Photoshop or Painter, but it has some nice features and it feels natural and easy to use.

Illustration Friday - Chicken (Rooster/Chooster?)

2011-01-19T19:50:00.001-08:00

"You cluckin' to me?"

A chicken with a little attitude maybe? Could have more, we'll see. This was an experiment, so maybe I'll do more with this character. Push it further. It's a bit more realistic than I like, although it looks rather roosterish. Perhaps it's a chooster. But, in the meantime.....

It was mostly a digital experiment. I've always thought that even if I started working digitally, I'd still always draw on paper. But, recently, someone suggested that I try Sketchbook Express. It's an Apple App. (Hah! If nothing else, it's fun to say!) The Apple App store icon appeared on my dock recently, so it was easy to find. This version is free, so why not give it a whirl?

I like it. Specifically, I like the pencil tool. (So far.) It's simple and intuitive and felt pretty natural - with a Wacom, of course. It's no substitute for Photoshop or Painter, but I like how direct it is for drawing. Of course, there are the advantages of being able to select areas, rotate them, move them, etc., all of which I did in this drawing. So, maybe I'll like drawing this way after all. I'm not making a commitment yet, but so far, so good. Another tool in the toolbox.

Illustration Friday - Prehistoric

2010-12-07T18:38:00.001-08:00

Nathan loved reading about prehistoric stuff and sharing with his bedtime buddies.

Snowpeople

2010-12-03T12:17:00.001-08:00

Snow! We haven't had any here this year - yet. But, it sure feels like it could happen any minute. Very cold here! Well, it is December. This is a section of a piece that I did years ago. I still like parts of it, but I'd like to do the whole of it over again. It's on the 'to do' list. Pretty long list this time of year. And for some reason, there's a big backlog right now. So much artwork I'd like to do! So many ideas, so little time. But that's a good thing, even though it doesn't feel like it sometimes. Sigh..... In the meantime, here's a little piece of my past. Happy winter!

NEW ART NEWS: NEWS!

2010-12-03T08:13:00.001-08:00

I've just learned about an illustration site called Illustration Pages. IP is a wonderful resource that features the work of visual artists from around the world. I love seeing work that is new to me! There are interviews, articles and links to online stores, blogs, websites and Facebook Fan Pages. I learned about this site when they featured the the work of Juanita Martinez-Neal, a wonderful, imaginative, illustrator whose work you will not want to miss. You can follow Juanita on Facebook here. Visit her website here. And, you can follow Illustration Pages on Facebook here.

Illustration Friday - Spent

2010-11-04T21:22:00.001-07:00

How I Spent My Time Last Week: Last week, the prompt for Illustration Friday was 'racing.' But, I spent the week working on some other artwork and didn't finish this piece in time to post. So, I spent last evening finishing 'racing' just in time to post.

Illustration Friday - Spooky

2010-10-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

Something a little different for me! I didn't think I would be able to participate in IF this week. But, while I was in the waiting room for a doctor's appointment this morning I did the black and white drawing at the top of this post. I did it with a ball point pen on the back of a fairly small receipt that was in my purse. When I got home, I added a little color in Photoshop. I think I still like the black and white version best though. The inspiration for this drawing was my sweet little dog, Kappy. (So scary!) She won an award for her vampire costume at a fund raiser for a dog park last summer. That's my husband, Paul, who is also pretty sweet! I had this little vampire (Kappy) in mind when I did my spooky sketch at the doctor's office. As usual, I took some artistic license. Not my best work, that's for sure! But it was kind of fun and helped to pass the time.

Illustration Friday - Transportation

2010-10-14T15:17:00.001-07:00

Ooohh! I'm dying to get some color back on this blog! Too bad it won't happen in time to post on Illustration Friday this week. In the meantime, here's my sketch for 'Transportation.' When I've finished this piece in color, I'll post it. I'm having a big debate with myself about the sky. Add some clouds? No clouds just some interesting color? I'll have to see how it evolves.

One Lovely Surprise

2010-10-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

I've been honored to receive this Lovely Blog Award from Michele, at The Mushroom Tender. I love seeing what Michele comes up with each week for Illustration Friday. Her artwork is clever, fun and beautiful! Michele has a very fresh, lively style that I really admire. Every week brings a new visual surprise at The Mushroom Tender. And, because her posts are as clever as her artwork, Michele's blog is as much fun to read as it is to see. Thank you Michele!

I've promised to pass this award along. So, I've chosen some of the lovely blogs that I've "discovered" by participating in Illustration Friday. IF has been a great experience. Of course, there is the opportunity to see the work of other wonderful illustrators in the IF community. But, there is also the opportunity to leave and receive comments, to follow and be followed and to learn from all that is so generously shared. Thank you so much to everyone that has shared, everyone that has stopped by my blog to leave a comment, and everyone who has chosen to follow my blog! All is much appreciated!

Here is my list of lovely bloggers for you to enjoy:

Katalin Koos, Art by Katalin
Kathy Hare, Moongazing Hare
Alison Edgson, Alison Edgson Illustration
Alicia Padron, My Place Over the Hill
Catherine, Fizzyjinks
Woody Miller, Pachydern Express
Ann Marie Divecchia, My Dog is a Pancake
Caroline, Caroline's Studio
Karen, Karen Krings
Will Terry, Will Terry Illustration
Sue Rundle - Hughes, Sue Rundle Hughes Illustration
Maria Bogade, Maria Bogade

My list, and this post, would not be complete if I didn't give a special thanks to K.H. Whitaker who was the first to welcome me to Illustration Friday and who has continued to stop by my blog (and many others) to leave kind comments and words of encouragement! You can see her lovely work at A Puddle of Crumbs. Thank you K.H. Whitaker!

Illustration Friday - Beneath

2010-10-07T20:48:00.001-07:00

Hope springs eternal. Hoover waits patiently in hopes that a tidbit will land beneath the table. I'm not sure if this is a work in progress or a pretty tight sketch. I may keep it black and white and work on it some more. Or, maybe do a version in color. I'm sure Hoover will wait patiently for whatever I decide.

Illustration Friday - Old Fashioned

2010-09-29T21:49:00.001-07:00

Agnes is a little old fashioned. And maybe a tad eccentric. I love her. Before I started doing Illustration Friday, I was doing something that I called After Hours Drawing. This week I combined the two. If you look to the left of my blog under labels, then click on After Hours Drawing, you can see all of my After Hours Drawings - so far. I'll also add Agnes to the Characters page of my website. It's woefully in need of more participants.

Illustration Friday - Acrobat

2010-09-23T20:57:00.001-07:00

This is Pierrot. I did a sketch of him awhile back. You can see my sketch below. He is an acrobat. Now he has a chance to perform for you.

Illustration Friday - Dessert

2010-09-09T08:32:00.001-07:00

I did this illustration awhile ago. It was a sample for a lift the flap book by a very successful writer that I met at a conference. She was great! Her work was great! She asked if I might be willing to do a couple of samples for an unpublished manuscript to show to her editor. I said sure! Normally, I wouldn't do work on spec, but this was great fun. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I was very, very busy at that time with multiple deadlines. I loved doing a couple of pieces for her. I wish I could have done more. The manuscript was terrific!
I do like my newer work a bit better, but this was one of those weeks that I couldn't do a new piece. So, here is my illo called "Burp!"

Illustration Friday Twofer - #2 - Atmosphere and Immovable

2010-09-02T20:31:00.001-07:00

Once again, I have 2 illos this week. The top one is for last week's prompt - Atmosphere. My caption would be: The atmosphere was spooky, but the shadow was only from a potted plant.

This week's prompt is Immovable. For that, here's an old illo of mine.

This illustration was about a little boy who wouldn't budge.

Illustration Friday Twofer - Caged and Star Gazing

2010-08-19T19:30:00.001-07:00

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is Star Gazing. I have a picture that fits that. Kind of. I've posted it below. I really wanted to do last week's prompt which was Caged, but didn't have time to finish it then. So, here's my illo for Caged, above. I'm trying to achieve a few things in this piece - softer edges, a feeling of atmosphere and a strong sense of light.

The illustration that I am posting for Star Gazing (below) is one a did awhile back.
It was for a fundraiser for "Powered by Girl." You can read more about it here.

Illustration Friday - Giant

2010-07-02T09:16:00.001-07:00

I am breaking my self imposed rule about always doing something new for IF. This is an old piece that has been on my website for a long time. But, maybe it's true that rules are meant to be broken - especially self imposed rules. I won't be able to produce new art for IF for a few weeks because of work and family obligations. So, at least I can participate with this 'not brand new' piece.

This is an illustration inspired by the manuscript of a close friend, Diane Mayr. You can learn about Diane and her books here. I highly recommend checking out her other blogs such as Random Noodling.
Ah well, this illustration may be old to me, but new to some of you.
And the other good thing --- for once, I'm not posting at (or even after) the last possible minute!

Illustration Friday - Paisley

2010-06-24T22:16:00.001-07:00

What does this have to do with Paisley? Well, once again, I didn't want to illustrate the first thing that came to mind - the paisley pattern. This wasn't because I was going out of my way to be different. I just didn't particularly want to draw that pattern. So, I took a little cyber trip to see if anything else related to paisley sparked my imagination. It worked! It turns out there is a town of Paisley in Scotland. One thing led to another and I found myself looking at this site. When I saw the red light on that castle, that was it. Of course, I couldn't just copy the photo, so I made up my own glowing castle. But, is it a castle? A fortress? A shrine? Was it built to keep intruders out or to keep it's occupants in? For IF, I like trying to do illustrations that raise questions.

IF - Ripple

2010-06-17T13:16:00.001-07:00

This week's theme for Illustration Friday is Ripple. This special theme is a collaboration with illustrator Kelly Light's Ripple blog. The project was created to raise funds for wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.Every penny of the funds raised will go to The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and The International Bird Rescue Research Center.
We were asked to consider doing a piece of artwork that is 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches. So, these are the dimensions of my piece. (The smallest I've ever done!) I've learned a lot recently about the importance of the wetlands of Louisiana that is a breeding ground for so many aquatic species and also serves as a barrier of protection from hurricanes. I'm stunned by the beauty of this unique and important area and fear for it's loss.
The piece is done with acrylic and colored pencil on 100% rag paper.
To learn more about the Ripple project and how to purchase artwork, please visit the Ripple blog.

Illustration Friday - Trail

2010-06-10T22:52:00.001-07:00

When I started this theme, I wanted most to show ambivalence about which trail to follow. I didn't want to do a fork in the trail in the woods. So, I allowed myself some liberty and this is where my imagination led me.

Illustration Friday - Equipment

2010-05-20T20:56:00.003-07:00

Coming in barely under the wire again for Illustration Friday. One of these weeks, maybe I'll be able to post something earlier. This will soon disappear into the archives on the Illustration Friday site. But, I'm enjoying building up some new work. The IF deadline is helpful.
The time to post was running out, but I think I'll work on this sky some more.

Tilbury House, Publishers - Powered by Girl Exhibit

2010-05-19T08:49:00.003-07:00

Tilbury House, Powered by Girl Exhibit

2010-05-19T08:48:00.001-07:00

Tilbury House, Publishers is sponsoring an exhibit of children's book art to benefit Powered by Girl. Tilbury House describes the project as "a campaign from Hardy Girls Healthy Women (www.hghw.org) designed to educate teen girls about the impact of media on their lives and empower them to use their creativity, wit, and individuality to make a difference." On May 24, in New York City, Tilbury House will host an evening to celebrate strong girls and diversity, with inspiring speakers, interactive art exhibits, music, and more. Sales of the artwork will benefit Powered by Girl. The exhibit will coincide with BookExpo America.
The challenge to illustrators: "Create a kid-sized work of art, as if you are illustrating a page for a children's book about your own life. A self portrait (of you now, or as a kid)? Sketch of your studio? Scene from a favorite memory?
So, here are the two pieces that I am submitting for this exhibit. Not self portraits, to be sure. I see these two pieces as more of an amalgam of the themes of the exhibit.

Illustration Friday - Cocoon

2010-05-06T18:16:00.001-07:00

Ema wished she could wrap herself in a cocoon when her parents argued.
This was done in acrylic and colored pencil.

Illustration Friday - Detective

2010-04-22T00:30:00.001-07:00

I may work on this one just a tiny bit more. But, for now - it's time to post it to IF.

After Hours Drawing - The Report Wasn't Good

2010-04-20T13:33:00.001-07:00

Sometimes in the late hours of the evening, our fears and anxieties rise to the top. This is another After Hours Drawing that seemed to flow from my mind to my hand with very little effort.

Illustration Friday - Linked

2010-04-15T23:01:00.001-07:00

This is the first time I've tried Illustration Friday. I've enjoyed looking at the other illustrations. Some great stuff there! Finally, I decided to give it a try. This certainly isn't a typical piece for me. Another experiment with technique. I tried using Caran d'Ache Neocolor painting crayons - the water soluble kind. I've used them before in combination with colored pencil. In that case, they had to go on top of the pencil and are really good for highlights, emphasis, etc. And, I didn't use water. This piece is done with the painting crayons only and with water. So, I got a much better feel of how these things are truly meant to be used. This won't be a portfolio piece, just a fun little experiment. But, I will definitely be using this technique in the future, perhaps combined with oil or alkyds. I really do love these painting crayons. Caran d'Ache has one of the most beautiful websites I've ever seen. If you'd like a peak, you can check it out here. So beautiful!

The extreme coolness of cooliris

2010-04-05T17:09:00.001-07:00

I made myself a new website recently and wanted to include a slideshow. I'm extremely happy that I discovered cooliris! It's not just cool, I think it's deliciously, stunningly beautiful. But then, that's part of the coolness, of course! Not only could I create my own wall of images that can be seen full screen, I can now view a vast amount of visual web content through the elegant, luxurious eye of cooliris. For example, I can browse Bing, Flickr, Picasa, Google Images or Facebook photos on a cooliris wall in full screen mode. It's excellent for photo reference research for illustrators, as you might imagine!
What you see above is just a tiny glimpse of cooliris. To experience the full screen effect, you'll need to do a small download from their site. Once you do the download, a tiny icon will appear, automatically on your menu bar. And the cooliris icon will appear on visual web content as you view it. You can use cooliris by clicking the tiny icon or ignore it if you prefer to skip it that particular time.. If you do the download, you will also have the ability to adjust your personal viewing settings such as the angle of the wall, the number of columns, and the speed of slideshows. It's a beautiful thing!
Even with the mini version above, and without the download, you can still have a pretty nice little slideshow. Try clicking on a single image above. The image will come to the forefront. Then click the slideshow icon in the center on the bottom. Nice! You can use the forward or back buttons, but it's kind of a bumpy ride, in this small version. The blue button in the center is a quick way to navigate, but can make you whoozy in this small version too. All the more reason to do the download! Gives you more control. Obviously, I'm besotted with cooliris - not even slightly objective, but I hope and suspect you may love it too!
If you are interested in creating your own wall in cooliris, you'll first need to upload your content to a site such as Picasa, Flickr or Facebook. The options are listed on the cooliris site. Once you have your images up, you can follow the step by step instructions on the cooliris site here and then embed your slideshow on your website or blog - or both! Or, just enjoy the enhanced visual experience of cooliris for web browsing extraordinaire!

After Hours Drawing - Pierrot's Magic Sphere

2010-04-02T18:56:00.003-07:00

Something a bit different. But that is, after all, the purpose of After Hours Drawing for me - to be free to stretch my characters and experiment with style. In this case, the character stretching is, obviously, somewhat literal. The character of Pierrot is very intriguing to me. This drawing started with the nose. Just the nose. It all seemed to flow from that long, exaggerated, elegant nose. Pierrot emerged. I think there are some problems with this drawing that could be resolved with color. I'll let you come to your own conclusions about that. For me? I might have to take it to color and see what happens!

I've Been Honored.........

2010-03-31T19:22:00.001-07:00

I'm very honored to have this award, bestowed by my friend and fellow illustrator Susan Miller. Thank you, Susan!

Here are the rules for this award...
1) Thank the person who gave you this award.
2) Share 7 things about yourself.
3) Pass the award along to 5 bloggers who you have recently discovered and you think are fantastic!
4) Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

Here are 7 things about me:
1) I love Pearl Jam, Puccini, Vivaldi, and Bagpipe music.
2) Browsing used book stores is a favorite hobby - I buy too many!
3) My husband and daughter are still surprised by things I do sometimes. To be honest, so am I.
4) I love taking day trips with my husband and my dog.
5) I'm tall.
6) My collection of Italian soap is fantastic and growing!
7) My daughter lives nearby - I love her like crazy and I'm very lucky!

Here are my top 5 blog picks:

Susan Miller's blog Behind the Pencil, is fresh and fun with lovely artwork and beautiful craft projects.

Judith Moffatt's blog, Ms. Moffatt's Blog is full of her wonderful artwork, photos of her dog Lula Belle (my dog's best buddy!) and clever craft projects too!

Diane Mayr's blog, Random Noodling, is often beautiful, always smart, entertaining and a joy to read. Diane describes herself as "a children's writer, haiku nut, librarian, and lover of noodles."

Laura Jacobsen's blog, Laura Jacobsen Illustration, showcases Laura's beautiful artwork as well as her insiteful, wry and humorous writing. I love her voice!

I always enjoy Paula Pertile's blog, Drawing a Fine Line. Paula has a great sense of humor which shines along with her lovely artwork. She's good at posting newsworthy things for illustrators as well as entertaining things about her life and art.

After Hours Drawing - Big Brother Dragon

2010-03-25T17:56:00.001-07:00

An adolescent dragon, big brother to the baby below. Maybe someday I'll put these two together in a drawing. Maybe not. The baby below has more energy, but this guy's got some character.... I think.

After Hours Drawing - It's Hatched!

2010-03-10T13:43:00.001-08:00

"Spring has sprung, the grass has ris, I wonder where the flowers is." I think I heard that in Junior High.

Well, no flowers around here yet, but...... something has hatched!

About Licensing

2010-02-26T11:25:00.001-08:00

Well, it's an image about licensing anyway. It's a portion of an image that will, eventually, be on a website page of licensing images. This is all in the works - amongst other things in the works. Never enough hours in the day for an illustrator!
I've always loved pattern and borders, so developing licensing images feels natural to me. Licensing imagery and illustration are like different flavors, I think. Licensing tends to be decorative, while illustration is narrative. Different flavors of artwork. And, if done well, it's all a feast for the eyes.
My friend and fellow illustrator, Paula Pertile, has just done a very informative blog post about licensing on her excellent blog, Drawing a Fine Line. Thank you for sharing all this information, Paula!

After Hours Drawing - Running Man

2010-01-24T18:38:00.001-08:00

So .... this sketch a day, sketch a week thing isn't good for me.... or I'm not so good at it.... so far. Life is too unpredicable lately. The best I seem to be able to commit to is - sketch when I get to it. So, I've decided to call it "After Hours Drawing." Speaks for itself, I hope. To me, this means drawing in any style, any way, any how, depending on how I feel at any given moment. Who knows what will come out of my pencil? It's a good thing. This one started with a glance at a photo, in a magazine, of a guy jogging. He was a model - generic, hooded sweatshirt, blah, blah, blah. Not much drama there. Somehow or other, my drawing came out like this. Some sort of PO'd Walter Mitty thing going on here......... I think.
So, I just Googled Walter Mitty. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Walter Mitty as "an ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs". Yeah! That's IT! Definitely a Walter Mitty thing, complete with the frustration of being ineffectual.
Sigh, Sad.
The original Walter Mitty was a fictional character in James Thurber's story, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."

Let the Celebration Continue!

2010-01-13T21:05:00.001-08:00

OK. It's an extremely belated holiday card. I knew it wouldn't be done until after the holiday season, but I decided to share it anyway. Another image to add to my licensing collection.

After Hours Drawing - Some Guy on TV

2010-01-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

As part of my New Year's resolution to produce, produce, produce! - I bring you the first in my series, "Sketch a Day"....or "Sketch a Week," or "Sketch Whenever I Get Around to It." (I guess the last option kind of defeats the purpose, but.... hey! It's a start!) This was last night after I was tired of working on my unfinished post Holiday Holiday card. It's called, "SOME GUY ON TV" Actually, it looks absolutely nothing like the guy on TV, but to me, that's not the point. The point is.... uh.... OH! Yes! The point is to draw, draw, draw! I'm not particularly concerned about likenesses. In fact, I prefer non-likenesses. The guy on TV was just a jumping off point. I jumped off of his hair. Just a glimpse and then ---- see what happens on the page. Let it go wherever it goes. Preferably, NOT in the same old direction. We'll see........ Maybe next time, I'll jump off a nose, an eyelid, or a pose. Characters - it's all about new characters. Whatever catches my eye and whatever I think MIGHT lead in a little different direction. It's really ALL about challenging myself.

Featured Illustrator

2009-12-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

As part of a showcase of End of Year Celebrations, I am a featured illustrator at PaperTiger.org. The beautiful Santa isn't mine, but you can see a piece of my work if you click "view gallery." There's a lovely review of Shante Keys and The New Year's Peas by Gail Piernas Davenport, which I illustrated for Albert Whitman. Thank you, PaperTigers! Let the End of Year Celebrations begin!

Welcome Virginia!

2009-11-28T14:16:00.000-08:00

This is a card that I did recently. It was inspired by photos of the beautiful, brand new baby of a fellow illustrator. This is the final version with type added in Photoshop. Lots of colored pencil. This is one technique that I use. I hadn't used colored pencil for a long time. Most of what I do in color these days is painted in Alkyds. It was nice to get back to the pencils for this piece though. Below, you can see the steps to it's completion - in reverse order. I did greeting cards years ago. It was nice to get back to that too, with a little different, hopefully updated style. Updated, at least to the style that feels more like me these days - for this type of thing. Still experimenting with the ratio of paint to pencil though - as well as the type of paint.

Here's the underpainting. Light acrylic washes. I'm not good at blending acrylics, but they lay the groundwork for the next step - colored pencil. This is a bit of an experiment. Similar to the way I've worked in the distant past, but also a little different. Long technical story!

I suppose I should show the earliset versions of this sketch - much messier! That makes for a richer looking sketch, but mine tend to be so messy that they can be hard for anyone but me to read. This very clean version is what I print onto watercolor paper to produce the finish. I print at a low opacity so that nothing will show through on the final version. My earlier, messier sketch was also much more realistic. It looked like a Gerber baby. Not that there's anything wrong with that! It just felt way too realistic for me --- now.

Norman Rockwell, FDR, Lincoln and the Cider House Rules

2009-10-14T19:50:00.001-07:00

Wonder what all of the above could have in common? They were all part of a wonderful fall weekend we just had! We visited The Norman Rockwell Museum where I learned about a connection between Rockwell and FDR. We saw Chesterwood, the country home of Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial. And, we went to Ventfort, built by Sarah Morgan, sister of J.P. Morgan - where the exterior scenes for the movie The Cider House Rules were filmed.

2009-10-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

The Norman Rockwell Museum is in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where Rockwell lived for the last twenty five years of his life.
There's a very interesting article about Norman Rockwell in this month's Vanity Fair. Many thanks to R. Michael Palan who brought the article to my attention at the Illustrator's Party!

2009-10-14T19:47:00.001-07:00

This is Rockwell's studio. It was the last of 20 that he had in his life. It was originally located in the town of Stockbridge. Towards the end of his life, Rockwell donated the studio to the museum. It was cut in two and moved, on two flatbed trucks, to the grounds of the museum.

2009-10-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

Wonderful north light! We couldn't take photos inside the studio, but if you'd like a small peak, click here.

2009-10-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

There's so much to say about the work of Norman Rockwell that I would hardly know where to begin! And, the Vanity Fair article mentioned above says a lot! So, I'll just focus on something that I learned about this past weekend - something that I found to be extremely moving. The poster above is called the Four Freedoms. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress, giving his historic "Four Freedoms" speech. At the time, Europe was under Nazi domination. Roosevelt gave the speech to convince Congress and the country of the necessity of war and to appeal to American's most profound beliefs. Rockwell was so inspired by the speech that he created these paintings to illustrate the "Four Freedoms" theme. The paintings became part of a massive, successful U.S. war bond drive.

2009-10-14T19:12:00.001-07:00

Here is a portion of FDR's "Four Freedoms" speech.

2009-10-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

And commentary about the paintings from the Norman Rockwell Museum.

2009-10-14T18:37:00.001-07:00

This building is a "cottage" on the grounds of the museum. It was built by the original owners of the property and is now used for events, weddings, etc.

2009-10-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

Sculpture by Peter Rockwell, Norman Rockwell's youngest son is displayed on the grounds of the museum.

2009-10-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

The grounds are 36 acres of parklike beauty.

2009-10-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

Another shot from the grounds of the museum. Leaf peeping at it's best!

2009-10-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Later in the day, we strolled around the center of Stockbridge. This is an alleyway of shops off of the main street.

2009-10-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

In front of the Red Lion Inn - Stockbridge.

2009-10-14T18:05:00.001-07:00

Peace, Love and Chocolate? Works for me!

2009-10-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

More fall splendor in Stockbridge!

2009-10-14T17:51:00.001-07:00

Chesterwood. Also in Stockbridge, near the Norman Rockwell Museum, this is the country home of Daniel Chester French who is best known as the sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

2009-10-14T17:50:00.001-07:00

This statue of Lincoln is on the grounds of Chesterwood.

2009-10-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

2009-10-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Ventfort in Lenox, Massachusetts. This was built in 1893 by Sarah Morgan, sister of J.P. Morgan. The exterior scenes of the Cider House Rules were filmed here.

2009-10-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

2009-10-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

continued.... a couple more photos in "older posts."

2009-10-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

Shot from the porch of Ventfort. I love this photo! (I didn't take this one!)

2009-10-14T17:18:00.001-07:00

There's no place like home! Well, this was on the grounds of our temporary home for this lovely weekend! We stayed in Lenox.

2009-10-14T17:17:00.001-07:00

A couple more shots of the grounds around our inn. It was hard to leave!

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2009-10-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Trails! On our last day, we had a hike in the woods. Then, it was time to head home. A slow meandering drive. Great weekend! Fall in New England!

Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden

2009-09-28T11:43:00.001-07:00

Last Friday, we visited The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield. Massachusetts. Theodore Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield in 1904. Sculptor, Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, who is also Geisel's step daughter, created the sculpture for the Springfield Library and Museums Association, located in the heart of the city. Springfield is in Western Massachusetts on the Connecticut River.

2009-09-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

This was really fun!