Birds, Acorns & Fluffy Tails

Some days don't start out so well, but who knows how they'll end up.

This is a little study of a bird who appears in my work again and again.

 Little yellow birds play the part of best friends in my series,

Animals at Work and Play!

More in bird news....

and sketching. 

I love sketching, whether in pencil, pen or charcoal.

It's tough to create a finished piece with that same energy, looseness

and humor that a sketch may have. 

woof

Below are sketches I made for a CBIG event, Illustrator Day, which was held yesterday.

The assignment was to pick a time tested story and recreate a spread from the book.

I chose the classic "Miss Suzy" written by Miriam Young in 1964, 

illustrated beautifully by the great, Arnold Lobel. 

It's about a sweet grey squirrel who is chased out of her lovely house atop an oak tree. 

She finds a place to live and makes new friends, but longs to return home. 

With some help, she does just that!

I chose Semadar Megged, art director at Philomel, Penguin Group 

to critique my piece. 

I received constructive feedback from her about my sketches and she suggested I

work up the one below for my final.

Unfortunately, I did not complete my final piece, but for some reason I wanted to share.

I'm disappointed that I've let Miss Suzy and myself down.

My jobs in the film business, on commercials, can be unpredictable, 

sometimes hectic, sometimes long hours. Last week was a busy one for me. 

That's not an excuse, because had I simply started sooner I would have had work to share.

I will continue to work on Miss Suzy.

She's one of the kindest characters, down on her luck and in need of a hand,

one that she deservedly gets :)

Everyone can relate to that.

:::

Hope your week is off to a strong start!

xo, A