bookshelf – Paper Opera

I am working with Inktense pencils, Micron ink pens, and Canson Illustration 11×14″ 150lb art pad to create 15 illustrations (that is how many pieces of paper are in the art pad) of my current family life and inspirations.

This work is narrative in content and uses color in a monochromatic way accentuating one part of each drawing. These fun and quirky illustrations are a reflection of the current joy and activities I have been experiencing.

“Costume Parade at the Library Center,” was a fun Halloween costume parade at the Library Center in Springfield. All of the librarians dressed up and set up trick-or-treating stations throughout the library. They had the kids line up and go through the library collecting fun toys and stickers from each of the librarians. This was a super fun event, and because my kid had no intention of staying in the line, we caught the end of the line and wandered through at our own toddler pace. I used Inktense Pencil Saddle Brown to accentuate the library’s architecture and add to the structure of the space in the drawing.

My favorite things about this drawing are all of the fun costumes and patterns,

the cool arches and architecture of the library,

and the plant and “hold” bookshelf.

Inspiration for this drawing

“Finding Nemo with Friends” features some of our friends from Arkansas (and Romania). Our friend Nana and her three kids were so amazing to help me navigate the land of having a kid. We were invited over – an open invitation – for whenever we wanted. Nana’s husband put together a “Finding Nemo” fishtank and E loved watching the fish. I used Inktense pencil Iris Blue for the color and used it on the water in the fish tank, the sky in the Romania painting, and placed a wave pattern on the rug.

Some of my favorite things about this drawing are Nana’s daughter reading to E,

Nana’s son playing cars,

Nana’s dog (and Ein’s friend Jack) watching W play with his cars,

Nana’s oldest daughter reading a good book,

the fireplace,

the painting of Romania that Nana commissioned for Livada orphan sponsorship,

the awesome “Finding Nemo” fish tank,

the fun wallpaper pattern,

and the waves in the carpet, which I put to not only use the color in an interesting way, but to show that our short time together (before we moved to Springfield) was in some ways metaphorically like the “Finding Nemo” dentist fish tank scene.