Season changes

Hello all!
This will be a quick update, because I need to work on a piece for Square Carousel before heading to work (I now have a second job at The Art Garage, a walk in paint-your-own-pottery/art camp/classes/birthday parties place just outside of Austin!).

I completely neglected to show you the last challenge from Square Carousel, which was "Spirit Animal:"
"Wolf," Gouache, 2011.

Visit the site for the whole explanation of why I chose a wolf, but I can tell you this: don't think of the animal as the vicious carnivore from children's stories.

And I've completed another piece for the group, this time the challenge being "Fairy Tales with a Twist." I chose to illustrate the Mother Goose rhyme "The Three Little Kittens," which I suppose is less of a fairy tale, but it was something I held dear from my childhood. Here's the illustration:

"Kittens' Mittens," Gouache, 2011.
I have been getting some feedback lately suggesting a brighter color palette, so I pushed myself a little with this piece. I'm sure I still have progress to make, but I'm proud of myself for using so much pink!


Let me also show you my very latest piece for Square Carousel. The prompt was to illustrate your greatest fear. I have many fears, but I knew immediately that my greatest was to lose my loved ones and be alone in life:


"Greatest Fear," Gouache, 2011.

This piece was actually extremely difficult for me. The first painting I did was absolutely dreadful, and you aren't going to get to see it! Luckily, with a little inspiration from my dearest Mary Blair, I was able to pull this one out of the hat. I realized, although I have no issue seeing the negatives in life sometimes, I truly struggle with portraying it through my art. I suppose for an aspiring children's book illustrator, that isn't such a bad thing! You can read more about my piece on Square Carousel's website.

Also, some exciting news: I have been featured on several websites thanks to They Draw and Cook! The first was on their own art shop, where you can buy prints of my recipe, and even have the option of getting it framed. Then I was notified that my piece was up for sale on Great Big Canvas, a website that sells prints on stretched canvas of varying sizes. The great news about both of these is that I'll see a profit from any purchases of the prints. Thank you again, TDAC! And for the folks who read my blog-- if you have ever wanted a nice quality print of my work, this would be your best option at this point!

After that exciting news, then I found out that Halogen TV.com featured They Draw and Cook, with my recipe front and center, as the first of several example works from the site! And this happened on my birthday, no less! What a great surprise!

Last, but not least, I have one quick piece left to show you. This painting was for a very dear friend of mine who had a baby in August:

"Teddy Comes to Life," Gouache, 2011.

And now it hangs in the baby's room!


That's all for now,
adios
caitlin