Enter the Wildcat!!!

Dear Readers,

Yesterday, a very exciting event occurred!  My sister had a healthy baby boy- my new nephew!  So I was a little distracted from blogging.  I can't wait to meet him this weekend!  But in other news, Owl's adventures continue!  When we last saw him, Owl was sitting on the ground after falling out of the tree.  Suddenly....

                                                     Oh no!!                                 (And I apologize for the blurriness)

                                                            
                                                                What will Owl do?

Come back next week to find out!  Keep me posted with any comments/thoughts you may have-I'd love to hear them!!

Owl falls from a tree!

Dear Readers,
Happy Memorial Day weekend!  I have high hopes that in 3 weeks, once school is out, I will finally being blogging more than once a month! :)  It's been a busy month since I last wrote, but I finished the owl book that I have been blogging about!  I mailed it in and everything, and I received an email from The Sketchbook Project saying that it would be cataloged and online in June!  I'm very excited about that.  Here are the next few pages of the book-

When last we left our hero, he had become entangled in underwear.  Today, he falls out of a tree!

What will he write on his list this time??

 Check back tomorrow for what happens next to our hero!  Also, Husband and I are taking an adventure to a lake, hopefully I will have some new sketches to post.  Happy Grilling!

Adventures in the City of Brotherly Love

Dear Readers,
 Well, yesterday I had an art adventure.  Husband and I went to Philadelphia for the day!  We tried cheese steaks, posed in front of the Rocky statue, and went to Independence Hall.

                                                                            (teehee)

 But the best part(for me) was going to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and seeing the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit they have right now.  It was amazing!  There were so many paintings that I had never gotten to see before, and a few I've loved for a while.

Husband's favorite painting was Van Gogh's Almond Blossom-

Mine was a lesser-known picture called Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital

 I found this exhibit very inspiring, since it was all about Van Gogh's paintings of nature.
It made me want to go out and draw more!


 As I promised two days ago, I have been doing some sketching outside. 
Here is a drawing I did in my lovely in-laws backyard of their beautiful cherry tree:

And a final picture of a flower I drew in downtown Annapolis:

I look forward to more sketching adventures- thanks for sharing them with me! 

Busy as a Bee in Spring!

Dear Readers,
Spring has sprung!  This is why I've been away from my blog for so long-it is my busiest time of year as a teacher, and as an artist, I can't stay inside with all of those new flowers! So I've been away for awhile, but now it is spring break (hooray!) and I have lots to share with you! 

I am almost finished with my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project!  It is due April 30th, and I just have a few more pages to draw and paint.  So today I have a lot more of the book to show you.  I have been getting attached to my owl, and I will be sad to mail him away. 


When last we left our hero, he was sneezing over a field of wildflowers.  What happens next?

Well, the butterflies find sneezing funny!

I have to confess, the owl having a list is one of my favorite parts of the book!  Now where is he going?

 

 Well, a cow's sense of humor may not be very refined!

 

I have to confess, I have loved writing and drawing this owl's adventures!  What do you think so far??

I'll be back tomorrow to post pictures of my spring flower sketches!

What a difference color makes!

Dear Readers,
 Spring is here!  And with the beautiful days outside, it has been hard to draw inside lately!  But this past Wednesday, I took my lunch hour outside on a picnic bench, and I was amazed how much art I got done.   Hopefully I can keep this up.  And on Friday, my dear art friend A and I sat and shared our sketchbooks with each other.  Hers is so beautiful, I am humbled by it!  She is doing portraits of people she knows.   She drew me wearing a Renaissance dress. (Is anyone surprised? ) :) She is going to scan it when she is finished, and I'll post it here.  In terms of my own sketchbook, I have been adding watercolor to my sketches. And what a difference it makes!  The pictures really pop.  I had one person comment (love you Mom!) that it was really hard to see the pencil drawings I posted last time.  And she was right.  Hopefully this way you can see these better.
 Here are the first two pages again, this time with color.

 

What do you think?  I will post more as I finish them....

My question for today (and I welcome facebook comments as well) is :

How do I create my own header for the blog?  I want to incorporate my own drawings into my logo and header, but I don't have the blogging expertise to do that.  Any advice??  Thanks!

The Owl embarks!

Dear Readers,
 Two weeks ago I first showed you the beginning of my sketchbook.  I had a lot of people ask me what the story was all about, and I want to share some of that with you today.  For copyright reasons (and to keep it a surprise!) I can't tell you the whole story, but I will be sharing parts as I sketch away. So to begin.

 Basically, my story is a fable about an owl who sets out to find out what makes everyone laugh.  He has various misadventures along the way, and keeps a running list. (Probably one of my favorite things to draw so far has been an owl holding a list!) 

So far I am about halfway done with the sketches.  I discovered on the first painting that the paper is very thin, so I am going to wait to paint until the end.  Today I want to share with you the first two sets of pages. 

 What do you think so far???

After my question of last week, I have decided to hand write the words.  I also wanted to note that if you want to make a comment but can't because you're not a blogger, you could always comment on the facebook post I always put up about the blog.  I really REALLY want feedback!  I hope that you are having a wonderful Sunday!  :)

Why did the Owl make everyone laugh?

Dear Readers,

Hello again!  I've actually managed to blog again within a week!  Hopefully I can keep this up.  As I mentioned last week, a friend and I are taking part in The Sketchbook Project.  You have to choose a theme, and I chose the theme Why did the Owl make everyone laugh?  

I have been working on this now for about 2 weeks, tossing different ideas around.  Finally one night I just sat down and wrote a very simple story about why the owl made everyone laugh, and what happened to him.  It only took me about a half hour to write- its a very simple story, but it makes me smile.  I'll post pieces of it as I illustrate each page.

Here are some images of the title page of my book---

Here is where I need your help!  I typed up the story, and I'm trying to decide if I should just cut and paste the printed words in (as above) or hand write them.  I would love some feedback and ideas on this!

Thanks for your support-(and hopefully comments!!! )
I can't wait to show you more!