Happy Holidays!!

Priscilla ~ The joy of it all

Gratitude

Most thankful for my family and my magical childhood that was filled with music, creativity, a never-ending supply of Crayola crayons and a bucket of Playdough.

I hope I created some of that magic for my children when they were little.

Guest Renee Kurilla- Gratitude

Today's gorgeous sketch depicting gratitude is by the lovely and talented Renee Kurilla. If you'd like to see more of her work, visit her blog or her Etsy shop. 

Priscilla ~ "Gratitude"

Grateful for the big blue sky and trees and thinking and water and saved band-aids and my favorite book from the library and pretty leaves and air so we can breathe.

This turkey was supposed to have painted, "Giving Thanks 4 All of You!", but obviously had her own plans.  Funny how characters we sketch and draw can take on a life all their own. . .


We are Giving Thanks for all of you who stop by for a visit here week after week.  =)


As we are taking this week off to enjoy the holiday ~ We say a very cheery Happy Thanksgiving to you!  

Harvest- Joy

I have an illustration I did for the IF topic "propagate" (see it on my blog) last year. I figured I'd do a quick sketch showing the little girl about to harvest what she planted. It would be fun to actually complete this image and maybe even come up with some story.

Have a great weekend!
Joy

We have a BOUNTY of Friends - Thanks Kathy Blackmore

When I think of an autumn harvest, I go back the apple picking excursions of my joyful youth. The Lynd Family would open a whole new field of apple trees in their Ohio orchard just for my family (we were/are so many!) Oh! the BOUNTY of sweetness - of all kinds.

I am grateful to be a part of this blog ~   where else to post a sketchy sketch than The Sketchables?
With joy ~ Kathy B


Katherine Blackmore is hard at work on her first picture book but took some time to pinch sketch for me! You can find her bounty of art @ http://www.katherineblackmore.com/

Harvest

Harvest Success!

Farming is a lot of hard work, whether it's a tiny backyard garden or the back 40 acres.  I raise my carrot in a salute to all those who bring us those yummy fruits and veggies. 

I know our table next week will be filled with the season's best:

Pumpkin pie - that counts as a veggie right? 

Guest Greg Matusic- Harvest

The fabulous Greg Matusic is pretty well known around the #kidlitart circles, but I thought I'd give him a chance to say hi to the rest of you folks. He's helping me out and sharing his interpretation of Harvest:

You can see more of Greg's fabulous work at his website and blog!

Priscilla ~ Harvest Fun This Week!

Cozy- Joy

I've been drawing a lot of kids for a while now and felt like mixing it up a bit. It's funny because I used to always draw animals. This is my second sketch. The first one was another drawing of my son and dog, and let's face it, I need get back to some variety :o). I do admit though, I thought of a mother and son and what could be cozier than a snuggle and nap? The image is drawn with pencil, then scanned into Photoshop and painted digitally.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by.
-Joy

Cozy - Heather

A nice cup of hot chocolate on a snowy day.  

Throw in a fluffy blanket and good book and that's my definition of cozy!

Guest Nina Crittenden- Cozy

Nina is doing this great project through November where she posts a page a day from a developing story. It's lovely work, really. You should go to her blog and see for yourself!

Priscilla ~ Cozy Week

comfy pillows, warm blankets, toasty toes snug in soft, fluffy slippers, and a friend to enjoy = cozy.

Wanna trade?

I remember, after the parents checked all the candy, making the trades. The candy bars were the biggest score in my book! Chocolate, chocolate, CHOCOLATE!!!

Hope you all had a sweet Halloween!

-Joy

Halloween After-Party Kid

Diandra-The After Party

On those evenings in college when my friends and I had been out all night, we always ended up at the IHOP for post-evening refueling before crashing out at home. These ghouls and guys look like they're doing the same! What were some of your post-revelry habits?

Priscilla ~ The After-Halloween Party Week

Pinata Girl will either be having a nightmare tonight, or her Vampire Brother will have his wish come true!   Tune in each day this week to see just what happens after Halloween is over. . . !!

(by the way, hope your Halloween is a sweet one today!)

The Crypt Kicker 5 - Kelly

The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds   /   Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds The coffin-bangers were about to arrive   /   With their vocal group, "The Crypt-Kicker Five" 

Listen up all you Boys and Ghouls; It's the album every body is talking about! It'll make you rock -n- roll over in your grave!

Don't sit there like a zombie! Run out and catch this sound 'cause IT'S ALIVE!....IT'S ALIVE! 

available on FAT-EL Records.

Diandra-Monster Mash

"They did the mash

They did the monster mash

The monster mash

It was a graveyard smash"

I've had the idea for this sketch for at least a year. Every time I tried getting it on paper, it fell flat. This time it finally came out! I am loving my monsters boogeying on down. I want to take this to final-quality so I have work to do, least of all to change the setting, but I look forward to spending more time with these monsters. ;)

Priscilla ~ It's a Monster Mash theme week!

"my monster needs some friends so they can have a mash party. i'm not sure what kind of party that is but it sounds fun."

Ghoulish Dirt Dessert!

When I was younger, I used to make a really simple and fun dessert to bring to parties. I don't remember what it was called exactly, but we'll just call it dirt dessert. All you do is mix chocolate pudding with some crushed up OREO cookies! I used to line a flower pot and fill it with the mixture, then put in fake flowers. For Halloween, you can have a lot of fun with it by adding things like gummy worms or whatever else you can think of!

It's fun and taste yummy, too!

Ghoulish Delights - Kelly

Why did Frankenstein kill his Bride? Ok- She did reject him with the "OH HELL NO!" look to end all "Hell No!" looks... BUT... little  known fact.... a tiny photo slipped from her dress, close to her heart, down to the floor. When Frankie saw this photo - it was a murder suicide of the undead kind.


 What Frankie didn't know- was Elsa went abroad for a semester in college to study German Expressionism. While shopping for furniture at The Cabinets of Dr. Caligari - their eyes met over a nice end table. It was love at first fright. The love they shared burned as hot as a witch at the stake - and was as short lived. Their first passionate weekend away together on the French Riviera, The Count forgot himself and his sunblock. Their future went up in smoke. Elsa vowed over her dead body-she'd never love another. She went thru the rest of her days like a zombie. Heartbreak sucks.

Ghoulish Delights

Monkey Brains - EWWW!

www.heatherpowersart.com

Diandra-Ghoulish Delights

What's more ghoulish and frightening than a witch fattening up a child so she can eat him?!

I love our topics for this month but I am having the hardest time getting pencil to paper, so I thought I'd share this old comic panel. (Note the dot eyes, the overworked watercolor and scanner induced color blow-out-augh!) I'd like to think I've grown significantly since this piece. 

Priscilla ~ Ghoulish Delights!

who wouldn't love a yummy six-legged-grape-eyed peanut butter and jelly sandwich?! ....right?
this week will be a blast, as we share our Ghoulish Delights with you all!  Hope you're hungry.....!

The Pumpkin - Kathy Blackmore

The Pumpkin

"Oh! - fruit loved of boyhood! - the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!"

~ John Greenleaf Wittier (1850)


May your Jack-o-lanterns effectively guard against nasty spirits! ~ Kathy : )


I am very grateful for carving out friendships with my fellow illustrators. Thanks Kathy for filling in!
You can see Kathy's Tricks and Treats HERE.

joy-o-lantern...HA!

It's amAzing some of the jack-o-lantern designs people come up with! So cleaver and fun. I can't wait to create a jack-o-lantern with my son for the first time. Not to mention, just seeing his expression when he sees one!

Happy carving!

-Joy

Jack-O-Lantern

You know, some of us are planners and need to have that face planned out perfectly before we start carving.

www.heatherpowersart.com

Guest Post-Nina's Jack O' Lantern's

   "I'd imagine that a scary witch would prolly carve happy faces into her pumpkins. "

    (Thank you so much for helping out in a pinch, Nina! You're a real peach!)

Priscilla ~ Jack-O-Lanterns this week!

"We're all in this together", sang the huddled bunch of fall friends.


And here below was my inspiration ~ a mini pumpkin that was just begging to have a bit of personality.  

Fall means...PUMPKIN PANCAKES!!!

In our house, we watch the shelves of Trader Joe's at this time of year. Only in Fall do they carry their pumpkin pancake mix. It is mmm, mmm GOOD! We were so excited to see our old friend again, we bought TWO boxes!

Hmm, I think I'll go and make some now...

Do you have a favorite goodie you like this time of year especially?

Thanks for stopping by!

-Joy

Fall for it! - Kelly

She felt more colorful than ever. 

It was her season to express herself. 

So much beauty bursting all around,

she would take it all in 

and 

glow from the inside out.

Fall Means...

Autumn is a second spring 

when every leaf becomes a flower.  

- Albert Camus

www.heatherpowersart.com

Diandra- Fall Means...

When I was thinking about this week's theme, I went on and on listing my favorite parts of my favorite season: Cinnamon, sweaters, baked goods, apples, more baked goods, crisp breezes. Then I had a truly "duh" moment. In Texas, Fall means FOOTBALL!

Football is one sport I do enjoy watching. Hockey is a blast, baseball is okay, basketball is a snooze, but football is wrapped up in so many of my memories of Fall in Texas, that I have a hard time separating the two. In fact, when my husband and I were dating, football games were a significant part of our courtship. (Touchdown= a kiss from your sweetheart) Nowadays we don't go to so many games, but my husband is already looking forward to the day when we can bring our kids are old enough to go see this in person.

Priscilla ~ Fall Time Favorites

Candy Corn and Candy Apples ~ two of my favorite fruit and veggies during the Fall season! 

"Three is the Magic Number" -Joy

Yes it is, it's the magic number...

"A man and a woman had a little baby.
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family.
That's a magic number."

Who didn't LOVE Schoolhouse Rock?! That's how I did most of my learnin'. Just brilliant and a fun way to educate. To this day, there's nothing like it.

I picked "Three is the Magic Number" because my husband and I added a little baby to our family this year, and of course this was the first Schoolhouse Rock song that came to mind :o).

Check out the rest of the words to the song here.

The YouTube video is here

Do you have a favorite song from Schoolhouse Rock?

Thanks for stopping by!
-Joy

Kelly unpacks her adjectives...

A child of the seventies. She was very Peppermint Patty, that camper-girl. Tom boyish.  Now she's a Mom, with three little not so happy campers of her own. She escapes online and looks up her old pals and unpacks her adjectives once again.


I really wanted to sing this song- and post it up- I know it by heart. That's the thing about Schoolhouse Rock! - the genius. They taught us thru song. They found a way to make it fun and it stuck! 35 years later- I can sing every song. And I still love them.

Watch the video HERE

Got home from camping last spring...

"A Shot Heard Round the World" - Michelle Henninger sees the whites of their eyes...

As a former New Hampshirite, (I lived in New Hampshire for almost 10 years, right on the border of Massachusetts) and as a total history nut, New England was the perfect locale for me!!  I had access to all that Revolutionary War history, and you better believe I ate it up!  Whenever we had company in town, we always made a point to visit the Old North Bridge and Concord and Lexington.  AND then when we got home from the day's outing ... we'd pop in the ole SchoolHouse Rock DVD and we'd watch "A Shot Heard Round the World" and as soon as they got to the Old North Bridge part, we'd all say "We were there, we were there!!"  Ahhh, yup.  Those sure were some good times!!

http://www.michellehenninger.com/
http://www.michellehenninger.blogspot.com/

A BIG SKETCHABLES! Thanks to Michelle for Subbing in for Heather today! She rocked the Schoolhouse Rock!

Diandra-Conjunction Junction

"Conjunction Junction, what's your function?

Hooking up two boxcars and making 'em run right.

Milk and honey, bread and butter, peas and rice.

Hey that's nice!"

This song has been a favorite of mine for a long time.  I used it when I was teaching grammar units. I even taught my seventh grades students to diagram conjunctions by boxing them in.  Of course, several of them would go the extra step and add wheels. ;)


Perhaps my favorite part of sharing these songs with my students was seeing 12 year old's forget that they were trying so hard to impress each other and sing these songs.

Priscilla ~ School House Rock! Week

Now everybody try to find a good hiding place. This ol' tree is gonna be the base. I'm gonna close my eyes and hide my face and count to a hundred by fives.

Ready? Go!

This week we are going to have some School House Rock fun!  
My pick from the song list is "Ready or Not, Here I Come!" (click to read the whole song!)


It is going to be a GREAT week! October is almost here!! 

Teacher's Pet- Joy

Here is my quick sketch for "Teacher's Pet". It's the typical cliche, but I wanted to focus on expressions. I left the sketch real messy, too. The pop of a color object is something I've been playing with lately as well. Just tried to have fun with this one in the limited time I had to work on it (notice the Photoshop paste job on some things I didn't want to take time to draw, heh). If I took this farther, I'd add some details like backpacks and the like.

Have a great weekend!

Thanks!
Joy

"Teacher Pet" - Kelly

 I took the " 'S " out. From teacher's Pet- to - Teacher Pet, and played fast and loose with this week's theme. I had the same idea as D, a teacher who was a monster... with normal kid. I spent 4 days this past week cleaning out my studio. I found a lot of old sketches - this being one of them. I went back into it a bit to come up with this idea.

When eighth graders in MR. Hopper's biology class are faced with dissecting frogs, vegetarian Harper Brody is a conscientious objector.  Mr. Hopper, a man of science, threatens to fail her. Lucky for her, her science partner, Matt Fulford (who is crushing on her) is the son of the wealthiest man in town who owns the Pharmaceutical company at the top of the hill. Matt will use any diabolical means necessary to get Harper to go to the eighth grade dance with him. Taking the class on a tour of the lab - He merges their science teacher with a frog.

Mr. Hopper never saw them coming.

Chaos, adventure,weird science, animal rights and young, crazy love ....   sounds like a good book, huh?

Diandra- Teacher's Pet

No matter how hard he tried, Simon just did not understand how things worked at his new school.

Priscilla ~ It's Teacher's Pet Week!

Fall is coming!

I love Fall, especially after a particularly HOT Summer. It's just a beautiful time of year. I can't wait to share my son's first Fall with him. We read "I am a Bunny" illustrated by Richard Scarry. Harrison loves looking and grabbing at the leaves on the page where Nicholas says, "In the fall, I like to watch the leaves falling from the trees." All of the lovely fall colors...

Plus, I just look better in my fall wardrobe, hehe. No shorts for these white legs!

Do you have distinct seasons where you live?

Thanks for visiting us!

-Joy

Fall is for Squirrels - Kelly

Fall is for squirrels. The joyous abundance of nuts falling off the trees.. makes them want to dance. You've seen them move- with the ease and lightness of Astaire. Their swooping tails like the chiffon of Ginger's dress...  strike up the band with some sweeping melody and watch the show. It's pretty colorful! I love Autumn.

You can see the squirrels dance more over on my BLOG