Semper Fidelis! (or...... a belated Veteran's Day post)

I have to say, right here, right now.... that I have a massive  soft spot for soldiers. They are so brave, so loyal..... so awesome.

There really is nothing quite like a soldier.

And because I always cry over happy reunions, I felt the need to share. You have to watch these marines surprising their families. It's awesome.

God bless, y'all!

*Trots off to NaNo her life away*

My favorite illustrators.

Illustrations make a children's story.

I mean, think about it, would Fancy Nancy be the same without the illustrations? What about Angelina Ballerina? When you say Angelina Ballerina, you don't think:

"More than anything else in the world, Angelina loved to dance. She danced all the time, and she danced everywhere, and often she was so busy dancing that she forgot about the other things she was supposed to be doing."
                                   From Angelina Ballerina by Katherine Holabird

No, you think:

Am I right?

Illustrations are very important in children's books.

I'm warning you right now. This is a very long gushy post.

My very favorite books when I was really little were the ones with the most diverting pictures.

                    Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona books are awesome.

                        Madaline? She was such a brave little girl!

                                  The Sam books are adorable...

And then, by the time I was reading actual novels, I'd gotten to the point where I wouldn't actually read the picture books: I'd just look at the pictures. And then I figured out the kind of artist I did not want to be. Ever.

Did Dr. Seuss's illustrations scare anyone else?



Or how about M. D. Bodecker's Half Magic cover? (that book is awesome, by the way...)

I started really liking Trina Schart Hyman's work. The woman was incredible when it came to colors and style!

from Snow White

Snow White

Her illustrations for St. George and the Dragon were some of my favorites.

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

And Sleeping Beauty

And of course... there are all the rest, but I'm going to restrain myself. Ish.


My sister bought me The Ordinary Princess when I was about nine or ten. It's a delightful book, written and illustrated by M. M. Kaye. I wonder why she didn't draw more? I think that was the only book she ever illustrated. **sigh** The book itself reads how the pictures look, if that's anything to go by.

        The end of this book makes me cry every time. It's so sweet. :)

Kinuko Y. Craft does absolutely gorgeous illustrations. She captures light so well, and she has such detail in every picture that you can just sit and look for ages.

Even her black and white drawings are beautiful:

P. J. Lynch illustrates my favorite version of The Gift of the Magi.

And also The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. Both books make me sniffle by the end of them. In a good way.

Robin Preiss Glasser does the illustrations for Fancy Nancy. Seriously... Can anyone imagine these books without the pictures?

The books would not be the same with out the over-the-top fancy illustrations.

Okay and finally! My sister Kat is a huge source of jealousy for me, because she's quite the artist herself. I tend to look at her work and think, "And I used to think I  was talented." But hey ho, that makes me practice.

Katrina DeLallo Copyright

Katrina DeLallo Copyright

Katrina DeLallo Copyright

(You really must click on the dragon one! The dragon itself took her three hours--She did every scale one at a time. twice.)

As it is, I hope my style of drawing manages to take on a few of these illustrators' characteristics. They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, but I don't want to copy them, I just want to do their inspirations justice. They are an amazingly talented group people and I find that when I look at their work I get the feeling that maybe one day I'll manage to pluck up the courage to take a few art classes... and maybe come a children's book illustrator myself.

God bless!

Treskie

On inspirations and upcoming crafties.

   Poof! I'm here! Now what were your other two wishes? (Don't ask me where I learned that, I'm not sure.)

   Something about the word inspiration makes me want to say "Lightbuuulb" in the same way Megamind does.

   Things Which Inspire Yours Truly:

   For me, it's mostly songs that make me go, "lightbuullllb!" and usually, it's just one line of the song, or the refrain that really speaks out. It's crazy how many times I listen to a song and think, "Dang, I need to draw this." A lot of the time, also, this happens when the song makes me cry. (Yeah, I'm that kind of person: Sad song? *Cries*. Sad movie? *Cries*. Happy endings? *Cries*.)
 



Pictures inspire me. I see pictures and go, "ooooh. I love. I copy."


(Or I just get depressed and think, "Disaster! I will never be that good! I will never draw again!")







   People inspire me. Weird people, especially. Well.... maybe weird is too harsh a word? Odd. Odd people inspire.

   Clothes also; Usually period clothing in movies. Or just...cute ones.

      Cool sayings. W. Clement Stone said, "Always aim for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. **sigh** Isn't that awesome?

                         Reach for the moon, people! Do it! NOW!

My dreams daunt me. I think they're big enough. =)






 





And finally: Movies. I love movies. Especially when the leads are people you can really look up to and want to imitate.

And now: Upcoming Crafties!

For a while, I've been in the mood to be creative. So I had my mom pick me up a big apple box when she went shopping today, and I will start making a big cardboard dollhouse. I can't give you exact dates for when I will be putting it up, but I can almost guarantee that I'll get it up before I start school (my last year!) in September.

There will also be dolls for said dollhouse.

   I am currently trying to break out of my mold with drawing. I draw people all the time.

....and sometimes trees. But that is about it.

 I need to work on landscapes, animals, houses, and cars.

So I checked out a library book on how to draw cars.

To semi quote Pixar's Up,  Cars are hard! (But I have to admit, the Land Rover Discovery I attempted this morning looks pretty darn accurate. Just saying.)

And no, that's not it. But that's what it looks like.

One day I will own a maroon Discovery.

Or a green Range Rover. **nods knowingly**

And that's it. I have officially used up my blogging creativity for the day.

God bless!

Treskie