Children's Story Illustrations: Finding a Locket

Yesterday, I finished up illustrations for a sweet story for Sparkle magazine.

Most folks wonder "how did you do that?" So, here's a bit about the process.

First, the sketches:

Then, the under-painting:

And, then the drawing re-applied in color as the last step.

#illustration #childrensbooks #art #painting

Thanks for stopping by!

Thunderstorms Illustration for Sparkle Magazine

Summer is well on it's way (er, well, that is if it will ever stop raining here in Pennsylvania this Spring!). But, the continual rain does give a perfect segway to introduce the most recent illustration that I completed for Sparkle magazine, a young girls club magazine.

The illustration:
Two sisters huddle in dad's ole' pick-up truck after they get caught in a thunderstorm in their backyard.



The activity:
Find the two matching thunder/lightning clouds.



What fun! I can remember loving these kind of magazine activities when I was little.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy:
* Painted Violins for the Harrisburg Symphony

Thanks for stopping by!

CSI of the Cookie Jar!/Sparkle Magazine Illo

Somebody stole the cookies from the cookie jar! A crime scene investigation is underway. That's the latest illustration I just completed for Sparkle Magazine/GEMS Girls Clubs.

The Final Illustration:



The Sketch:



A thumbprint from the illustration below will be added beside each family member's photo at the bottom of the illustration. The Sparkle graphic designer will then add thumbprints throughout the illustration, and the young reader will have to figure out 'who did it'!



If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy:
--Sebastian and Sylvester/Two Cats Amid Roses
--Lost Gifts/Sparkle Magazine Illustration

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheryl

"Lost Gifts!"/Sparkle Magazine Illustration

"Lost Gifts"....a super fun illustration that I recently completed for Sparkle Magazine. This is the first opportunity I've had to create an illustration with hidden items. Can you find the 10 lost birthday gifts?



If you enjoyed this post, please check out my last illustration for Sparkle:
--Trapped

Thanks for visiting~

Cheryl

Spiders Web Illo/Sparkle Magazine Story - "Trapped"

I recently finished a new illustration for "Sparkle" magazine for GEMS Girl's Clubs for a story called "Trapped".

Biggest challenge:
Creating a birds-eye view to give the spider's web primary importance

The Final Illustration:


The Sketch:

Previous "Sparkle" magazine illo:
* Hiking in the Dark

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheryl

Sparkle Magazine Illo - "A Change of Heart"

Creating illustrations for Sparkle magazine are always enjoyable. This one called "A Change of Heart" depicts a sister who is feeling as though everything is unfair. The story starts with her brother getting to open a box holding a butterfly chrysalis that they found a few weeks earlier.

The final illustration:

The rough sketch:



Base colors added in:



And, a few extra little illustrations to go with the story:





If you enjoyed this post that shows the creative process, you may also enjoy:

* Illustrating a Dog-Gone Cute Christmas Card
* Bumble Bees for Sparkle Magazine

Thanks for stopping and come visit again!

Finished - Sparkle Magazine Illustrations "Too Much"!

Colors are added and illustrations for the "Too Much" story are off to Sparkle magazine. I'm liking the color combination and think that the dark hair and red shirt really make the main character pop! Even kitty can tell that she is a little overwhelmed! Enjoy~

The rough artwork can be seen in the previous blog posting of sketches.
The last illustration I created for Sparkle Magazine was all about cupcakes! You can see it here: Cupcakes

SKETCHES for Sparkle Magazine - "Too Much!"

Here are sketches for my next assignment for Sparkle Magazine about a little girl who gets overwhelmed (ie., "Too Much!"). They are rough enough to help me figure out how the characters will flow in the composition space, and some details to help me see expressions and emotions I want to convey.

The story GEMS Girl's Club gave me was packed with activity and scenes, so it was difficult to narrow down the focus to three scenarios that would be enough to complement the story.





I actually had hubby lean over and pretend he was hugging someone so that I could get the angle correct for the Dad's back in this last sketch! He was a perfect model. ;) A few dabs of color at the bottom as I consider pallette choices.



Next phase will be adding color. Stop back to see the final version!

The last illustration I created for Sparkle Magazine was all about cupcakes! You can see it here: Cupcakes

Cupcakes! - New Sparkle Illustrations

I'm excited to post a few illustrations I recently completed for Sparkle, a magazine for GEMS Girl's Club.

These two illustrations will appear in the October 2009 issue:

And this illustration will appear along with the Sparkle mission statement on the back cover of the magazine for one year:

I have so much fun creating the illustrations for this magazine. Their stories have really helped me in developing girl characters in my artwork. I've always got to think about how to create the emotion in the character's faces and body language; and make sure that the clothing is fashionable with the young gals.

I'll be posting a few more in upcoming blog posts. Thanks for stopping by!