There's a Donkey in the Tree!

An illustration I just finished for a book that my agent is hocking. It's based on a story that my father loves to tell us (and his father told it to him and his siblings) about the Jewish holiday Tu B'Shevat. The holiday is the new year for the trees and as the story goes, all trees, bushes and plants bow down to God at midnight on Tu B'Shevat. Well, it's at this time that a traveler ties his donkey to a tree and goes to sleep at an Inn. He wakes to find his donkey is now at the top of the tree...

Pizza in 4 parts

Last night I decided to make some interesting pizzas for dinner. I can make pizza in my sleep (it's a fall-back meal when I've got no other ideas) so sometimes I like to be creative.

-On the first I put oil on the dough, some basil, sliced tomatoes, salt and fresh mozzarella.
-On the second I put chopped tomatoes over sauce, with shredded mozzarella and cheddar and Romano and Parmesan. After it was almost done baking I added baby spinach and fresh roasted pepper (which finished cooking JUST in time for me to use).
-On the third I did a simple (turkey) pepperoni pizza with Romano and Parmesan because that's the one the wife likes best.
-The fourth was a regular pizza with part of it folded over to create a stuffed-pizza for my son who was so hungry he wouldn't wait for me to photograph his section.

Yum.

Quick Sketches

I was in Austin with the fam to meet my new niece but the three of us got sick and couldn't hang around her too much (there were moments when I would run to another room mid-sentence so I could sneeze). These were just a few of the sketches I did while Leo was napping- I didn't have much attention span to do anything more interesting or more involved... 'Scuse me, I have to go sneeze.

Math Map

Here's an interesting map I illustrated for a math book. In order to find the proper route from Start to End, you have to finish 10 math problems correctly and match the answers with the streets. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Sketch to finish

Here's an illustration I'm working on for a book. I thought I'd show the before (sketch) and after (finish) to give an idea of how a spot illustration starts.


As I worked on the finish, I decided that the boy's head needs to be larger to help balance him (then again- who wouldn't fall over with a head so big?). It also helps to keep him looking young (it's like an illustrator's beauty secret!).

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY 2009!

I've been creating these cards for years and years, took a break and now I'm restarting it. Here's a compilation of parts of past favorites:


You can check out a bunch more Groundhog Day illustrations on this blog by clicking HERE.