Here's Teddy!

In college I wrote and illustrated a book called "Teddy the Turtle." I didn't move forward with it because the story line didn't seem quite right. I discovered my Teddy sketches the other day, and thought they were still cute, but needed to be updated... so here we are.

Making some pizza theme art!  Pizzas making pizzas…I guess that makes them cannibals?

Working on a quick design for my friend Morgan, who is selling t-shirts to raise money for her mission work in Honduras.

Coloring

blocking out a color sketch for an old illustration that I’m re-doing

Happy Mother's Day

Some images from the baby books I've been working on...

Sneak Peek

Here's a peek at one of my favorites from the books I’m illustrating. 

Monkey Mayhem

a sneak peak at some stuff I'm working on:

Monkeys are creepy in real life, but they're fun to draw!

Toned

Love using toned paper. There's something about it that makes my ideas flow better. 

Progressing on my project... I dreamt about a musk ox last night. I read somewhere that the musk ox represents endurance, strength, determination and service. I've decided to take that as a subconscious pep-talk, as well as a reminder to stay humble.

I'm working on a t-shirt design for a local Girl Scout troop. I hope these girls are having some awesome experiences. Most of what I remember from Girl Scouts relates to getting hot-glue burns during craft time.

Same thing

I found this in an old sketchbook of mine. I don't really know why I like that quote so much, but I do. (from the movie 'Closer')

Rough It Up

   In addition to my freelance pursuits, I also work at a toy company called Peachtree Playthings*. When I started there I only knew the bare essentials of Adobe Illustrator that I needed to do my job (which at that time was basically b&w linework.) Now, two years later. I'm probably more confident in AI than any other program. Here are some characters I've been working on recently for some PTP craft kit packaging.

  

  I find that the images I make on Illustrator look more interesting when I rough them up a bit. For example I almost always start with a hand drawn image. I try to find ways to use texture, warp the color, or use intentionally non-symmetrical shapes. In this one I tried something new and used a gradient to fill some of my linework. I was going for a lost and found line effect similar to watercolor. I think including these organic-inspired elements helps the illustrations to look less cold and clip-art-ish. 

*If you're interested, the product I work on most of the time at Peachtree Playthings is called "Fashions You Color." They are adorable, colorable purses (and other accessories.) They come with pre-printed designs (by yours truly) and markers, to color it in and make it yours! They are available at several major distributers, but are probably easiest to find at Wal-mart, Toys R Us, or Hobby Lobby.

xLaura Dollie

Bounce

Inspired by Illustration Friday's theme, "Bounce"

Work in progress...

Slurp

Just playing with some old sketches...

Holly's Garden

an illustration based on a sketch for the painting I made for my niece's nursery room.

Here's a little peek of an illustration I'm working on...

I've been working on my vector skillz...

Quote

Quote by Rick Warren, Text by me : )

From My Sketchbook...

I bought a new sketchbook the other day, so I decided to play around with some hand lettering. (The quote is from Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life.)