Children

Children were warned, "Be good, or else..."

This drawing is part of a larger project in progress, and happens to fit the bill for this week's topic in Illustration Friday.  The original sketch has the children in front of a door frame, but I think that the final composition at side of the school house has more gravity.  Pen, ink, graphite, and acetone transfers.

WiP - original sketch

WiP - inked in figures

Tension

The tension may not be apparent just looking at this drawing.  However, if you watch this little clip of fish hatching from eggs, these little guys just SPRING out of their embryonic homes.  The composition was originally intended for an earlier Illustration Friday topic, "Future."  Missed that deadline.  So, by changing the crystal ball to a fish egg the drawing works for this week's topic, "Tension."  Come to think of it, the fish egg would have been a much better solution for future than a crystal ball.  Pen, ink, and watercolour.

WiP - photo collage and first wash of ink

Mom

Happy Mother's Day

pencil and watercolour

Train

Last weekend I read, The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWitt, heard Mac Barnett read aloud, The Three Robbers, by Tomi Ungerer, and drew shadows in a class taught by Sophie Blackall.  So the answer to this week's challenge in Illustration Friday for Train is a combination of those influences, and a bit of True Grit too (shadow is of Rooster).
Graphite, ink, and newspaper transfer.

original sketch and image of Rooster

Urban & Wild

Urban

Last week, the topic for Illustration Friday was "Urban."  An image of mice below the subway was my solution.  I worked about half way through the drawing before the dreaded thing happened -- knocked over my entire ink pot.  Hours of masking and inking were gone in a single nervous twitch.  Above is attempt number two.  It pairs nicely with the "Wild" mice, originally illustrated in February.

Wild

Let's call the pair...

City Mouse and Country Mouse

Both images are ink, graphite, and pastel on Rising Stonehenge.

This is "Re-Sendakify"

This is in response to Elizabeth Bird's call for submissions to "Re-Sendakify Sendak!"  Here, we have Miroslav Sasek (1916-1980), famous for his "This is" series of picture books.  Sasek's books have a way of drawing readers in with his cheerful tone of someone experiencing a place with wonder and amusement.  Just imagine how he would take us on a tour of Maurice Sendak's, Where the Wild Things Are.  It might go something like this:

So here we are.
There are many wild things living here - dozens with yellow eyes, gnashing teeth, terrible claws - and there is a king of the wild things.  This one is called Max.

The cover is loosely based on, This is Paris.  Below are works in progress, as well as images that inspired the drawing above, which is pen and gouache on bristol.

WiP - inking in text over blueline

WiP - after mask removed

Surrounded by reference materials and cup 'o java!

This is Paris, p.12

This is Paris, p.50

Talent - The Accordionist

He stood shaking and shaken in the doorway.  "Do you still play the accordion?"  Of course, the question was really, "Will you still help me?"
-The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, 2005

I read this book more than two months ago and still think about it.

Pen and ink.