Book Giveaway!

I just received copies of my Penguins Perfect Picnic book and I'm giving away a copy! Please visit my blog for more details.

Friendship

This is actually a rough vs. a finished piece. Well, not even a rough. I was doing sketch after sketch of two dogs playing, hanging out, etc. I always like the free-flow of line at the sketching-concepting stage, so thought I'd showcase that. It's probably not that far off from how I'd finish it off, but I'd make sure that most lines connect and that the doggy's foot doesn't look mangled.

Friendship

Hello friends! There is a lovely interview with me over at Monday Artday. Please go check it out! (Thank you, Bearuh!)

Friendship

Friendship

I painted this for my best friend for her birthday a couple of months ago. It's a portrait of her.

More Inspiration

The above is a collage I did a couple of years ago.

I've been really inspired by collage artists lately. Maybe is because of all the found object work I've been doing, but I can't get enough of it!

Here are some from my bookmarked illustrators:
Michelle
Judy
Claudine
Christiane

And for continued inspiration I go here!

Sources of Inspiration - John Byrne

John Byrne - self-portrait

I thought it might be fun for us to take turns talking about who or what inspires us. Other artists have always been a constant source of inspiration for me - not necessarily just children's book artists. Saying that, I want to talk about the painter John Byrne and I just read recently that he is illustrating a children's book, so I am pretty excited about that!

John Byrne is a successful Scottish painter and playwright. I first saw his work when I was a student at art college, and I was completely captivated by it. He creates characters with huge personalities that are very finely drawn and beautifully detailed.

John Byrne - The Slab Boys

I worked on one of his set designs as a scenic artist's assistant at the Royal Lyceum Theatre many years ago, and served him coffee on the opening night of his play Cuttin' a Rug (I worked in the Lyceum Bar too!). There we were, just me and John, and I had my chance to tell him how much I had admired his work over the years....and I was speechless, completely tongue-tied. I still kick myself when I think about it.

I was lucky enough to catch an exhibition of his when I was over in Edinburgh at Christmas time. It was called "Me and Them self-portraits and characters studies by John Byrne"

I am not very eloquent when it comes to describing why someone's work affects me so much, so I will let the pictures speak for themselves. I hope that you enjoy them:
John Byrne - Lucille and Miles, mixed media on paper

John Byrne - mixed media on paper

John Byrne - Phil, mixed media on paper

John Byrne - Me and my Shadow, oil on board

Spring Promo

And here is my contribution to our spring promo postcard. It's fun seeing them all together.

Spring promo - Claire

I did a previous version of our Spring promo - but wasn't quite happy with it. But I did like some of the details. So here is my final piece:
And here's a detail - I love drawing and painting birds.Don't forget to sit outside with a book this summer!

Spring Promo Illo

The postcard with all our images came out great! Above is my image depicting spring.

Here's Mine!

Here's my piece I did for our spring mailer:



Happy Spring!!

Spring

It's spring here in Norway too - and it's fantastic! We actually had an early spring this year, with a surprise weekend of snow in the middle of the warm weather. Well.. no more snow now, just flowers and singing birds. Hurrah!

Here's my acrylic paiting from our spring promotional postcard. The character looks a bit like me, I guess I tried to paint myself from spring and directly into the warm summer.

I hope you're all enjoying the weather!