Aug. 6, 2025 - On Being Artistic

I’ve been an artist most of my life. I still have drawings from when I was 8 and 11 years old! I’ve shown my art in several countries and belonged to art co-operatives since I retired from teaching . I’m self-taught, but I’m often told I have talent. (I was offered a full ride scholarship to the Ontario College of Art when I was 18, but that’s another very long story, for another day! It's a very dark tale about attitudes about "woman's place" in the 50's and 60's. I'm sooooooo glad we've moved beyond that phase!) Art has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Now I’m tackling illustration. It is so much more demanding that simply creating art. I had no idea!

My studio is littered with artist’s wooden and plastic posable models for men and women, left and right hands, even some posable super models (no they don’t have capes, but they are very buff!) I’ve even gone so far as to make play dough to sculpt some models. It’s been extremely helpful.

However, I’m determined to create illustrations for my children’s picture book - a fantasy in rhyme for ages 3 to 8. It’s the story about a wizard named Devaro who travels around the countryside helping others in times of crisis. A MOST CURIOUS MAGICAL TALE finds the wizard helping the forest folk rescue a strange creature stuck in the hollow of a tree named Bruce the Spruce. Today I attempted to bring Phildor, The Dragon Bear, to life by creating a colour palette for the character. I’m currently working with shades of blue with a bit of purple (it's still a work in progress), but I’m not convinced that’s what he’ll look like in the end. I may try a second version in shades of red and orange. Next I’ll try working on Devaro. I already have a couple of costumes and poses with shading, but so far I haven’t created a colour palette. I’ll work on that over the next few days.

Phildor the Dragon Bear from A MOST CURIOUS MAGICAL TALE

Above you can see Phildor the baby Dragon Bear in his stages of development. I wanted him to be a cute dragon - not scary - age appropriate. At first I forgot that dragons have wings, so in the second image I added wings and in the centre is the partially completed coloured version. What do you think? Blue, Red?

I hope all’s well in your world! Best wishes always …

Best wishes always...

P.S. Welcome to my blog! My intention is to keep followers up to date on my latest writing adventures. My current focus is on fiction genres including children's picture books and YA/NA historical romanticies. I'm also preparing to write an epic fantasy for the young adult audience. As a debut author I face all the challenges of breaking into the traditional publishing market. I need your interest and support to do so! Please consider following me here and on other social media platforms, which you can access on the Home page of my author's web site. I'll be adding more in the weeks to come so please check back from time to time. Thank you so much, in advance, for following my blog. You are potentially helping me enrich the lives of future readers. I just need this break to attract my first agent representation! Your efforts will make all the difference! Thank you once again.