“Sleeping?” Part 2

“Sleeping?” Part 2
11x 14 pens & ink with water color,
At this time a computer was considered a dirty word I had very little use for one I didn’t even own one. As I mentioned in an earlier post what I was doing was rebuilding or relearning my craft I already had the job I was not looking to build a new portfolio.
Just getting down to basics given my self challenges working off themes that I enjoyed,
Example “Sleeping?” based on “The Hobbit” by J. R. R. Tolkien Smaug sleeping in dungeon-hall. The Scales took me about four and a half hours to ink alone It took me about two weeks from beginning to end to complete the piece.
Water color takes time to dry and some times I needed to let it dry over night just to see what the final color would look like. But I think you can tell that the work is starting to come together that I’m connecting the dots so to speak It takes me time to dig threw sketch books to find the art work I’m looking for but I’ll try to find some of the in-between work after Part 1 and this post we will call Part 2

My new start part 1

I decided to give a glimpse of some of my past work and instead of cramming into one post I'll break it up into as many as needed.
By the end of 2003 my life was changing for the better. Certain goals were met, and I was starting to think on what's next?
At my niece birthday party at a family type restaurant, I was sitting with my father & mother waiting for my brother & his wife and the two kids to arrive. We all seemed to forget a card how this happened I don't know. But what is a birthday without a card? I took the paper place mat grabbed the crayons off the table and put together a card for the three of us to sign.
My father suggested maybe I should try greeting cards. The idea of art was already on my mind, and it stayed there a little longer until a friend & coworker was talking to me about stories he had written and wanted them illustrated for kids, well as you can guess I reminded him I went to school for this kind of stuff and maybe we should get together and talk.

He told me once he did some rewriting we would get together. But it was ten years since I did anything seriously and it took me time to get back into the grove. My Avatar was one of my fist successes. I went out bought some paper, brushes and other goodies and started working. I love Fairytale, magic, dragons, and so on. I started using them in my work. This illustration was one of the earlier successes I had to relearn patience and in art it is needed I was working in pen & ink with watercolor as I post some more illustrations over time you will see that I become more involved with the work, adding more texture. It took a year for the meeting to take place but that will be for another time.

Valentine's day

Happy Valentine's Day

Two Published Children’s book I have illustrated

“Angeline Jellybean” by Crystslee Calderwood & Colors by Dana warren, is two picture books I have illustrated and are available to purchase threw publisher 4RV Publishing or amazon.com

Reviews : "Angeline Jellybean - yay! My son went into fits of giggles every time Angeline said "Blah!" However I suspect he wasn't entirely convinced about the yumminess of the salad greens ;-) Gorgeous illustrations. Can't wait for the next one!"

Review: Can somebody who doesn’t like jellybeans write a book review for Angeline Jellybean?
I hope so because I don’t like jellybeans, and I’m writing this review. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.
Angeline Jellybean by Crystalee Calderwood is a story about a girl who is obsessed with jellybeans. She loves them so much that she doesn’t want to eat anything else. Finally, when she gets to have all the jellybeans that she wants to eat, Angeline has a physical epiphany that changes the course of her life.
This story is a great read aloud book. It flows smoothly for the reader and sounds great to the listener. Crystalee uses precise language to make Angeline’s story come to life for her readers.
The rhymes are comfortable, natural, and never forced. Unexpected rhymes like “string beans” and “carotene” are just crazy enough to make children giggle and parents smile. Additionally, introducing new words like “carotene” to young children in a friendly read aloud setting will expand vocabulary quickly.
Every storyteller knows that one of the most important things for a read aloud book to encourage is audience participation! And Angeline Jellybean delivers. Small children will love to “blah” along with Angeline. For deeper participation, there is a question at the end of the book that parents might like to incorporate into a discussion with their children: “Does Angeline keep her promise? Should she?” Crystalee leaves this up to reader interpretation.
The illustrations are a wonderful match for the text! Somehow Stephen Macquignon caught a glimpse of Angeline floating, midair in story stream, drifting from the imagination of Crystalee. Then, he painted her into the book. Angeline is so beautiful that one of my daughters wants to hang her portrait in her bedroom. Her repeating sunflower buttons weave all the different views we see of her together into the definitive style of one little girl. Her Halloween kitty-face is Angeline. I for one, can’t wait to pick up whatever he illustrates next.
Most important of all, Angeline Jellybean reflects life. Children can understand immoderate behavior through the medium of jellybeans. Crystalee mentioned in one of her interviews that chocolate is to her what jellybeans are to Angeline, and her experience makes the story authentic. We all have our jellybeans, even those of us who don’t care for real jellybeans have our “Angleline Jellybean’s.” Crystalee’s charming book puts the “jellybeans” of both her children and her adult readers into a broader perspective. I look forward to reading more of her work.
I thought I could write this review, and I did. Maybe, like Angeline, I’ll broaden my palate and try something different. I might even try a red jellybean.
Please visit the publisher 4RV publishing to order a copy of this book.
By Laura Peters

It is a good Day!

my art work has won Fist place in the 2008 Preditors & Editors Readers Poll for Best Artwork
"A Grand Dilemma"