Sea Dragon Illustration
In this illustration I used  my usual technique of playing with black and white notans. I then worked with 5 values to develope value studies as a a guide for how light and dark to work with the paint. I painted the finished illustration with watercolor and sumi-brush pen along with some white ink marks to give the illusion of splashes of water! What is the story? Well, the kids went fishing and caught a rather large scaled friend. I love watercolor for the looseness of the paint! The clouds were exploding with moisture and about to rain!
- Michelle Rodes

This month's illustration is inspired by the New York Times Square countdown to the new year. Confetti, streamers, balloons all help celebrate the birth of a new year and all the possibilities that come with it. A stork stops to let the new year baby lion unwrap and swing the cowbell that chimes the start of 2022. Goodbye 2021, hello 2022!
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One of my favorite things to do is take a sketching break outside. It only takes 20-30 minutes to set up, with a morning cup of coffee, my sketchbook, some water, and my little palette. Put it on a breakfast tray and go find a comfy spot to linger for a while. Pick a happy flower or vegetable. Draw lightly with pencil. Then try to make a sketch that has some emotion.  A peaceful way to start the day.

I had a blast with this way of making characters! I made a shape for each head. Then started drawing around it to see who would come out. The characters each piped up with their name. And then revealed their little buddy! I learned this in a class with illustrator Sarah McIntyre at Curtis Brown Creative. 
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