The Pond

The weasels and I went fishing today down at the pond. It looked so pretty cause the leave are just starting to change colors. I had to snap a few photos.




Not only is autumn my favorite time of year but being around a lake at autumn is my favorite place to be. I love the calmness of the water in fall. It’s dark and calm and sort of mysterious.





My friend the snapping turtle came by to say hello. I think this is the most interesting creature. I could watch her all day long. The neat thing about this photo is you can see my reflection in the water. I’m not sure this is the same one we caught last time we were here (see this post)




Here is one of the fish. This thing was huge. I would say three inches. At least! :P

One of the projects from my Art 1 class found its way to my house this weekend. This project was a lesson in proportion. The students wrapped each other in clear tape then cut the tape away and reassembled the parts. The results were these life sized, see-through tape people.

This one is sitting on my front steps, a nice Halloween decoration.

You can read more about the project on the Apex Art Blog…

http://apexart.blogspot.com



I need a haircut!

Pen & Palette / IF Trouble

I was offered to illustrate the cover of the Pen & Palette, which is the newsletter for the Carolina’s Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. How very exciting!

Also, I think this makes a pretty good entry for this week’s Illustration Friday word, Trouble.




click on the image to view larger version

<

I decided on a fox dragging a kite in its mouth. The fox cause I thought autumn colors would be nice for a Fall issue, the kite because it’s like a logo thing for the SCBWI. Sort of like a donkey represents the Democrats or the elephant represents the Republicans.



I had a few other ideas like a sleeping beer with a kite in its paws. I also thought about doing a moose with the kite tangled in its antlers but… I like the fox.



This is the second stag; the sloppy painting part. This is a hard part to get past cause the work always looks trashed at this point. I think, "Oh no! What have I done to my sketch??"



Here I have gone over the pencil drawing with black paint. With this step and the step before, I try to be loose. But I still feel I'm not loose enough. Like maybe I'm not brave enough to let the original sketch go.