Penelope the witch made her debut last Halloween as a #1 New Release on Amazon.
This year, I will be adding several new Penelope pictures to my Etsy store.
Here is a glimpse of the first greyscale image:
Greyscale on ETSY
This image and more will be available soon on YouTube, with instructional videos. Ronda Francis, my coloring partner in crime, will be doing the coloring, and there will be tips and trends galore.
The full PENELOPE'S GARDEN coloring book is also available at my Etsy shop and on AMAZON.
I am looking forward to this endeavor--I hope you are too!
xo
This has been a glorious November.
For the first time in many years it feels like we are having a fall. The leaves stayed green and on the trees for a bit longer than usual, and we were able to hold on to summer for a while.
But the wind came through the other night, and I thought I heard some freezing rain.
My yearly winter denial has once again been crushed, and Christmas is right around the corner.
I love the holidays, but there is still that tiny part of me that will be crossing my fingers for an early spring and looking forward to that first warm ray of sunshine.
Stay bundled up and cozy.
xo
My website.
I realize that the first day of fall in North America is in September, yet for me the summer does not officially end until today, November 1.
It is the same every year. Until then there is a feeling in the air; summer is hanging on for dear life and does not want to let go. The sun wants to keep warming us, the leaves hang onto their small places on the trees.
Until today.
Something chilly takes over. The sun rests.
I know this isn't actually true, yet there is something in me that believes our ancestors thought this too.
Maybe they lived by instinct a bit more than we do, or maybe it just had something to do with the end of harvest season, but now it feels like winter is around the corner, and we should take a bit more care to be home, snuggled up with our loved ones under a big puffy blanket drinking something warm.
So welcome November--welcome fall.
xo
(November also kicks of NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo for fellow picture book writers--check out Tara Lazar's explanation and sign up HERE. Yes! We kids book writers can have fun with this too!)
See you there!
Every year around this time I pull the decorations down from my attic and transform the inside of my house into a glowing black and orange Halloween explosion.
Starting on October 1st I began drawing ghosts to post on my Instagram account because the spirit moved me. I decorated a box of matches with a fiery little apparition, then I made Mod Podge Ghosts a few weeks ago and hung them in the dining room.
I love Halloween and not only wanted to share my art, but wanted to see art from others too.
So I started the Weekly Challenge.
The prompt will change weekly. Feel free to add paintings, sketches, or crafts--whatever medium grabs you. You can grab the Illustrator's Weekly Challenge button if you like from the right column.
This week's prompt is PUMPKINS~!!
Post below, I can't wait to see yours--I can't get enough.
To join the brand new Illustrator's Weekly Challenge Facebook group just CLICK HERE! A new prompt weekly--show us your work.
You can find us on Instagram too at @IllustratorsWeekly. I am on Insta at @dealenihan
xo
Everyone loves pumpkin picking and the smell of fresh cinnamon cider in the fall.
Here is a fun craft for the kids--they get to show off their amazing artistic skills and make the picture smell delicious!
What you'll need:
A set of watercolor paints
6 Q-tips
1 paintbrush
Elmer's or other white glue
1 sheet of thick white paper
Your choice of spices (I used cinnamon and nutmeg)
First dip a Q-tip in water and yellow paint. Using dots, draw the shape of an ear of corn, then fill in the individual kernels with some yellow spots here and there, leaving room for the autumn colors of corn--orange, red, brown and black.
Use the next Q-tip dipped in orange, and make some more kernels, again, leaving room for the next color. I did red next, then brown, and lastly, black.
Then take your paintbrush and draw the corn husk around the ear in fall colors like brown, rust, gold or yellow, and a little bit of green since it is the end of harvest season. You can paint the sky and a bit of the cornfield if you like--or just leave it as is.
When the paint dries, take another Q-tip and dip it in glue. Touch the darker kernels with the glue. While the glue is still wet, sprinkle your spices on the glue and tap them around the paper until all the glue is covered.
Tap the excess into the trash.
Voila! You have a beautiful piece of harvest corn that smells like cinnamon cider.
I hope you have fun with this craft. Please send me any pics your kids make--I'd love to post them here and in the Out Of This World art group. Click for ART GROUP.
Enjoy!! xo
