It's a Capybara world after all

or is it?

Some would say it's a Dog Eat Dog world, but I wouldn't worry about these guys.

Speaking of dogs,

Doggy Bag and most products & prints in my Society6 Shop are shipped FREE this week!

Lotta Buns, Gingham Bear, Hello Love and Doggy bags, available in several sizes

Hello Love pillows and covers, available in several sizes 

Little Darlings is available as a print, bag or pillow, comes in several sizes

Nice catch, Cat! art print available in several sizes - Venice Gustavo gondolier series

One of the loveliest girls I know turns 11 tomorrow, her party was Saturday. 

Zex and baby Mirabelle

Time sure flies!

In Venice last month with her mom

*Happy* *Birthday* *Mirabelle*

May you experience many wonderful adventures in life! Travel is a great start :) 

It's Monday. There's no telling how the week will unfold.

I hope there are some nice surprises in store for us all!

:::

See more illustration work, browse some products or see more pics on Instagram

why not?

xo, A

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

To all the Beach Bunnies

These bags are for YOU! 

Bun Bunnies is available in several sizes as a bag,  pillow & art print in my Society 6 shop.

It would have been nice to have these guys ready for Easter, but there's no time like the present.

May is very possibly my favorite month and these buns agree :)

One is a little grumpy as he goes off to work, but otherwise this is a gleeful bunch!

I love this little bun. She started as a tiny sketch -

 with a few embellishments

I like the pencil lines, but for my products I went for the more painterly look.

She makes a sweet friend and would look quite lovely in a nursery or a young child's room.

She's available as a print.

as stationery

and also iphone skins and cases.

I have a dozen bags from which to choose in my shop.

They really do work well at the beach :)

See my illustrations and custom paintings & murals @ AllynHoward dot com

:: It's almost the weekend ::

Have a great one! 

xo, A

Gone Fishing

This is little Lou, Louanne. She's more defined and sports a tackle jacket

in the finished piece below.

I haven't submitted anything to Illustration Friday in a long time, but

I follow along on Facebook.

Kitty and Lou

It turns out, Thomas James, who currently runs the weekly challenge blog, 

is off this week. In other words, Gone Fishing and so,

Marc Scheff has taken the helm and assigned this as the Topic for tomorrow.

It feels a little odd posting an illustration when the the topic for last week's challenge is still up, 

Spark, but here I go.

I only have a handful of art that works for the theme and I noticed 

I uploaded Tuggy and the Mice to IF in the past. 

That leaves me with two cats who fish.

Above is Nice Catch, Cat! part of my Venice Animals series / story.

I went with Kitty and Lou because they are actively setting out to fish.

You might be asking yourself, why the explanation? why share artwork

we've seen on your blog before or

what I dream you are asking yourself right now-

why haven't you been published? Can I purchase your work?

where can I find more animals

fishing, playing, dancing, flying, whatever.... I WANT MORE

Artwork by Allyn!

You can buy original paintings & tees from Blip Blop Shop on Etsy

or Prints & Products from my Society 6 Shop, Allyn Howard - $5 off each piece

and Free Shipping. I don't know how long that deal lasts, but looks good at the moment :)

My dad always enjoyed fishing. 

The one time I went fishing with a group of friends,

I was one of only two people not to get sick out on the water.

Sadly though, I did not catch a single one. 

Great from the fish's perspective!

:::

Have a super weekend

xo, A

Animals with dreams, big and small

: Toby and a bird named Sue :

"The Question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me?" -Ayn Rand

: Claude cat and Lou, Louanne to be exact :

"Everyone should believe in something; I believe I'll go fishing." -Henry David Thoreau

: Bunny and Blue :

"Where there is love, there is life." -Mahatma Ghandi

: Holiday :

I painted this based on a 1959 issue of Holiday Magazine.

"It is not down in any map; true places never are." -Herman Melville

***

Prints of new work available in my shop - Society6.com/AllynHoward

Hope your September is off to a brilliant start!

xo, A