An oldie, but a goodie.

I'm sure I've talked about some of the artists that have influenced me before, but there's one I just recently rediscovered. As a child, it used to be the norm for everyone in my school to get folders and backpacks and binders with cutesy little pictures all over them. Or at least is was for girls. And almost every year I would get several folders with art by the same artist; Lisa Frank. I absolutely loved her art. And still do! It's so vibrant and cute, and her characters are so lovely and sweet! My favorites used to be the horses, dogs, and bears that she drew. They always had the most adorable back stories to go with them. If you'd like to see some of the characters or their stories, you can visit them here.

I don't know what made me think of this artist after so long, but I'm so glad I did. I plan to check out her website more thoroughly and see what new characters she's created. Hope you guys check her out, too! Her art really is inspiring. :)

Book Reviews

I figured it was time I did something a little bit different. So I've decided to give a book review of my two favorite books (to do with art and writing, that is)! I just love these two books. They've become fairly essential in my writing and my art.

The first one is called Roland Harvey's Drawing book (Young Designer Series), published by Scholastic. Of all the many art books I've read through and looked at, this one has been the most helpful to me so far. Because I'm the type of person who needs to read and see something to learn it, this book is perfect. Roland Harvey's illustrations are very funny, cute, and clever, as well as informative and helpful. For a beginning illustrator and/or artist, this book is great. He even shows how he works on illustrations for books! If you're a new artist, or are just looking for some helpful tips or ideas, you should definately check it out.

The second book is The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood, published by Writer's Digest Books. This book is simply full of ideas. Literally. Monica lists all kinds of ways to get ideas for stories. There are even pictures that are meant to give you ideas. Very helpful if you're having writer's block. :)

A few sketches

I've been doing some new sketches lately and thought I'd share some with you guys. Hope you like them! :)

(I'm not really sure what this picture is. A flamingo perhaps?)

(This is a dog I started on and never seemed to finish.)

Happy Fourth of July!

Sorry this is late in the day, but I just wanted to say Happy 4th to everyone! :)