Illustration Friday: Spotted

Last week I heard on the news that a family of owls had returned to nest in a tree at a courthouse in a town near where I live, so on my way home I had to check it out. It was easy to find the right spot as there were people staring up into the trees. I didn't see anything in the nest, but then someone pointed out that the owl was on a branch farther up the tree. I asked if there were babies, and was told that was a baby. Wow, I didn't realize they were already so big. With help from others I spotted the other 2 babies in different trees. I tried to take some photos, but they were only a speck in my little camera.

I bought this photo from a toothless man who got the shot a day earlier when they left the nest, and one fell to the ground. Animal control came out and scooped it up, and put it on the roof of the courthouse. It was o.k..
They aren't the famous Spotted Owls, but rather Great Horned Owls.

I went home to my parents house for Easter weekend, and we went up to Fernwood Nature Preserve. It was the most beautifully perfect day! I took lots of photos of frogs and flowers, and we hiked through the woods. I felt so fortunate to take a day to really relax.


I wasn't sure if I'd get anything drawn this week as I've been ridiculously tired. To prepare for the nature filled weekend I got a sample of the allergy drug, Astelin. I breathed very clearly, but was sleepy and very drowsy. These last few days I started to feel like I was in a fog, and couldn't concentrate. I felt like my mind was slipping, and I was forgetting simple things. I was useless by evening, and didn't have the energy for anything, and depression was setting in. I googled, and found that others had many similar side effects, so I stopped taking it. I feel almost 100% better today. I was so much more awake this evening that I jumped for joy, and there was some skipping too. I guess I'll be going back to Flonase and homeopatheic remedies. I only wanted to mention this here to warn anyone who's considering trying Astelin that there are some possible serious downsides that they don't mention much in their cheery commercials.

Illustration Friday: Speed

Sure bee boy enjoys buzzing from place to place on wing power alone, but when he has the real need for speed nothing beats a super fly sports car. (Just hope the fly doesn't notice he "borrowed" it.)

I had the inspiration for this illustration ever since the Insect topic from last month. Speed seemed to be a fitting topic to turn this concept into tangible art.

Illustration Friday: Spring

I was hoping we'd get a 'spring' topic. A couple of week's ago I walked outside to go to work, and the air was warm, and the birds were chirping. I looked up and saw two robins on a branch. The first robin is always a nice sign that spring is here, so I figured two meant that mother nature wasn't kidding around. Then I glanced over at some other branches and there were 4, 5, wait, there were another 2 dozen or so robins gathered in the trees. I'd never seen a whole flock of robins before. (If 'flock' is even the right word.) Of course I've seen flocks of other birds, sparrows, crows, geese, but I've never seen so many robins in one place. It was a beautiful morning.

Then in true Chicago area fashion the very next day it snowed.

Illustration Friday: Monster

Marshall was fed up with being picked on and bullied everyday at school. So, he asked the teacher's permission to bring his pet bunny Xander into class. She delightfully agreed saying that she just loved cute little bunnies. She had no idea what she was in for.

I started on the idea for this sketch awhile ago, and when I saw the topic I thought it was a perfect reason to to try and finish it. I had trouble deciding on my colors, so I spent most of my time playing with the hues in photoshop. Monster bunnies reminds me of how Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Anya said her biggest fear was bunnies. Oh, how I miss that show. : (

I saw this monster while mindlessly staring off into nothingness, and there he was. Lately, a lot of my illustrations start out from images I see when I'm not thinking about drawing. Daydreaming can be an artist's best tool.

I debated about posting this one. I have been keeping a clean potty-free sketch blog here, so this may be in bad taste. I was drawing this monster's portrait when he somehow got turned around, and appeared to be .....well, as you can see,....busy. So I drew him an environment, so everyone could see he was civilized, and not using the side of a building or other inappropriate place. Big thanks to Google image search for providing many, many references.

Illustration Friday: Feet

Rain or shine whenever he went out Eddie always put on his big red galoshes to cover his webbed feet, but his large bill always gave him away. Yes, Eddie was a duck, a curiously tall duck, but a duck nonetheless.
Dedicated to anyone who's ever felt like an odd duck.

Since my first illustration didn't technically show bare feet I did this quick sketch of Eddie just relaxing at home in front of the tv.

Illustration Friday: Tattoo

Although I don't have any tattoos myself, nor plan to, I do really enjoy the series Miami Ink. What I like most is hearing the stories of those about to go under the inked needle. Their tales are so passionate and heartfelt. They come in with so many different reasons for doing something so permanent. The father who got a tattoo of his young daughter beating cancer, people who get tattoos to remind them of family or friends who have passed, and those wanting a lasting reminder of a particularly trying time all are so touching. That's what is fascinating to me about tattoos. It's not just that they are a piece of art, but they often carry a lot of emotions in those images.

Illustration Friday: Insect

I was doublely inspired this week, and decided to do 2 bug versions. Now, I'm twice as tired. I picture the boy bee having the voice of Philip Seymore Hoffman as Truman Capote. Bzzzzz. Thanks Trevor for pointing out the Evangeline Lily pics that helped inspire miss girl bee's outfit.

I plan on making prints available of these at my deviantArt shop, and may try to make these available on some products at Cafepress if I can manage to figure out the process of opening a shop there, and if there's an interest.

Illustration Friday: Tea

I didn't want to be posting so late, but I've had a touch of a cold, and it slowed me down this week. Thinking of tea made me think of little girl's tea parties, but then my thoughts turned to what would make for an unusual social gathering. This lead to wondering what if Goldilocks and the 3 Bears could have made up over a nice cup a' tea??

I've been wanting to do a vector piece, but I'm not completely happy with the result yet. It still needs tweaking, or maybe I'll use this as a color comp, and try painting it instead.

Illustration Friday: Song

It's a shame when a bad singer happens to a good song.

I was going to skip this week's topic, but a song by Azure Ray, 'Nothing Like a Song' kept entering my mind as if it was prompting me to draw something song related.
This sketch seemed out of character for me, and I debated about whether to finish it, but I thought it would be good to experiment outside my comfort zone, and I was curious to see how it would turn out.

Illustration Friday: Simple

When life becomes hectic and complicated it's easy to miss the simpler times of childhood. Everything seemed simpler when all I needed to know was that I loved Kermie, and Kermit loved me.
I also tried to make this week's entry simple for me by coloring a sketch I completed a couple months ago.

Kermit is copyright ©Jim Henson

Illustration Friday: Chair

At first I thought this was an odd topic choice this week, but actually it could lead to endless possibilities. I reviewed some different options, but kept coming back to the pale yellow chair, and then just had decide who would sit upon it. Since I've been drawing a lot of standing characters lately this was a good exercise.

Illustration Friday: Glamour

I wasn't feeling very glamourous this week, and didn't think that I would complete this week's topic, but this young girl wanted her time in the spotlight.