I’ve been working on more children’s illustrations – trying to beef up my portfolio. I like a sort of mix of sketchy and graphic (something I got to work on while illustrating the new Maru & Friends book, coming soon). This is my most recent illustration, a character I have in my head and her dachshund pup (yes, that’s my little Lady). I’ve got some more in the works and I think I’ll be offering prints in my Etsy store.

I really like how it turned out, and it makes me excited to draw more pieces in the same vein. I’ve got some other styles I want to work in, and hopefully I’ll get some new stuff done and uploaded soon!

I’ve always found painting tideous – and not to mention toxic (I used oils). So I hadn’t painted since graduating from Ringling. Then Scott installed CS5 onto my computer and I checked out Illustrator’s fantastic bristle brushes. And I really found painting in Illustrator to be quite therapeutic! I am really, really diggin’ it. So I painted my dogs of course, Duke and Lady.

Introducing the Duke of Davenport:

And our newest addition, the Lady of Davenport:

I had a lot of fun doing these that I’m offering custom pet portraits in my Etsy shop, as well as some prints of some popular breeds I’ve already painted. It’s different from my normal illustration assignments, and I really like that. I hope that I’ll have the opportunity to work on some portraits for people!