Mini book and new work

Hello!!!!*grin*

Here I am, happily for having the opportunity to sit and write a post. It has been so very busy here at the farm. We finished planting our garden, repairing all 4 chicken barns and so much more.
I was able to visit some blogs this past weekend and to my dismay many of them were not taking my comments. That was so upset but I guess many people are having the same blog problems.I shall persuade!!!

Well, to the news.....*smiles*

My little book is listed on my esty store. I will truly tell you this, the cost of printing , plus the materials and time to make, does not pay to make them for sale but I was determine to make few for Christmas gifts and some for sale. If you like a copy, send me note or buy at my store. I won't be making more than the ones I already made.

Now... the illustration above is my newest work. I am taking a big breath and some ( NEEDED) courage to put together some work and send out to publishers. It won't be ready for while as I am taking my time and reviewing my work until I am satisfied. At the end, if I am not completely in love with the results , I won't send it until I get there.

Opposite of most of work that I do, when I illustrate , I do one page at a time although I like to have all my sketches done first.Developing a character is difficult at time because so much has been created with animals that leaves very little room too be "original". If one draws from reality, almost for sure it will look like some one's else work, so for that reason I decide to draw in a fantasy level this time. Also this book is all about fairytale animals , there are only a farmer (person) - very different than the rest of my work in which are mostly with children.
I am glad in taking my time because this will allow me to pray about it and to rest in the Lord Jesus for His perfect time and will. I want so badly to be a published illustrator that sometimes I wonder *if* this is the Lord's will or just mine. Then I think of God himself, creator of all Heavens and Earth and its majesty and "how" he created and how he said : "It was good". *grin*

As all good things come from the Lord, I do believe my gifts comes from Him and no matter what , if I do or not become published , still I should continue to create.

The satisfaction and good feeling of finishing a picture is only truly known by the artist and I know that other artists like me can relate to me and how I feel.

Okay... I hope this did not sound as if I am rumbling.... I am so very happy today and all the little encouragements that God has sent me.... including .... YOU!*smiles*

click on picture below to go to my shop:-D

The Rainbow Collection of Proverbs for the Young miniature book!

Last year I shared in this blog some illustrations that I was working on however; I did not say what they were for.

Now, I am excited to share that these illustrations were for a proverb's book that I illustrated using my "children's illustrations" to describe few Probervs from the Holy Bible.

I then made into a miniature book. I honestly could not have been able to make it if was not for my dear friend and incredible bookmaker Pat Sweet from Bo Press Miniature Books .

As you can see, this is a hard cover book....

.... with a jacket cover .Book measures 2 1/2" x 2 5/8". One can read and enjoy this mini book just like a large one. Also , it is scale for any MDS BJds, American girls or any other dolls .

There are 24 pages and 12 illustrations . below is a sample of few that I used for this book

Oil, watercolor and Character choices

Hello dear readers~*grin*

I have been thinking for while to do a post like this and the reason is because I wonder so much my self about sketching,painting, and so many other aspects that involves creating an illustration, that Idecide to share with you some of my "findings", grin, if I can call it that way.

You see... as long as I can remember , I have always painted with oil painting and never , ever used a pencil to draw. When i finally came to the point of deciding that i want to illustrate children's book, and after trying *painting with wool* ( a whole different post) , I started to draw and tried water colors. It has been less than 2 years now and I consider this medium very new to me. I love the way the watercolor makes me free and more and more I feel leaning to become even more "adventurous" with this medium.

The picture below , is my oldest daughter - Sthefanie when she was 14 years old... almost 10 years ago. The painting above is an example of how I painted with oils.... I always knew I could never have been a portrait painter... I was never good that way; However I was able to paint subject that did not show face completely and as a matter of a fact , I did several portraits of my children and they hung around the house but nothing like what I am doing with the watercolors today.


My children have always been the biggest inspiration of my life for everything i do. I think I was born to be a "momma" more than anything else. When my children were young, I had 6 under 8 years old once!!:-)) it was a little crazy , but because I have a wonderful husband and incredible father to my children , it made an amazing difference , I think!

So, here I am trying to illustrate and because I feel that I like to illustrate from life, Like dear late Tasha Tudor, I had to find my own source of direction. How? I use pictures. I have Thousands and thousands of pictures from my children at all the stages of their lives and this is has become my most valuable source of information but I am not limited to that alone, they , the children are also my models for my today's illustrations.

This is a wip of an illustration that I am currently getting ready to finish and paint. Here the children are picking wild blackberries. This is a common thing for us during the summer time. It is normal to have one of them"eating" the fruits a little more than they should ,grin.

In here , you can see that I actually had my daughter Gabriela posing for me. the reason i do this is because I don't have enough experience to draw from my memory yet , only some very simple poses but i find that if i have a reference it helps me to see when the light is coming and when I draw and paint I can add the "folds" for the skirt for ex, much much better because it comes from the real thing.

Another aspect is that is important to me that my children be part of my illustration. They are my life!*smiles* and as blessings they are to me, I feel that I want to share and this is *my* way to do that.

I can add or make changes as I see fit once i can the most important in- the faces and hands! I find these very very important!

It normally takes me 10 to 15 pictures to get one that I like. Mostly because my teenagers laugh to much when they pose and i don't help it either... I feel as I am still 12 years old my self!*grin*

I am also inspired by other ways too. I have to be careful with my distractions, specially in church. As much I trained my own children to sit still in church at a very Young age and they did, I see that not everyone thinks the same and I have to be careful because a little child in front of me can lead me to smile in which does not help her momma , *blushing*, and I totally get distracted from the service, not right either,*severe blushing* ....

so as I say... been an artist is a blessing and a curse.... Blessings as our own Creator is the Master of all and a curse because everything to me is poetic and drives me to places that I shouldn't always be, but Jesus is Gracious and teaches me every day to focus in the most important of all - Him!

My miniature dolls are often seen in my illustrations too. So as you see , I am influence by all around me. I hope this post was interesting for you and if you are an artist searching for way to progress your work, perhaps this will help you to have some new ideas!

I would love to hear from you!*smiles*