A Book by any other cover is still a Book!

This weeks word is "Book".

Back in 1983 I was fortunate enough to get my first illustration job and it was to be in color as well, a reap coup!  Random House had asked me to design a cover for their new catalog of books.  

Because the books inside covered a wide and varied range of stories, I did this drawing, where the contents or characters in the books' stories appear to be escaping from the book on the cover. 

I also tried to replicate the style of the illustrations each of the books where drawn in that were to be included in the catalog.  The person who had hired me was very pleased with the result and it has been a very popular cover design when I show my work.

This is my weeks entry to Illustration Friday's word of the week, "Book"!

Does this say "Burst"?

The word this week at Illustration Friday is "Burst".  As I pondered what I had in my cache of cool drawings, which at times feels like centuries of drawing I've done that could best describe this weeks word, I came across this drawing.  I drew it when I had realized I had forgotten something really important and I believe it was a family member's birthday, however when I drew it remains a mystery.  This is what a  burst of emotion moment feels like to me in picture form. I always liked this drawing because of its' comical point of view. This drawing is my interpretation of me having a "burst" of coherency, just as it arrives in one's mind and says very loudly, "Duh!"

Every have one of those moments?  It seems so simple, you are lost in thought about what you forgot and it eludes you until that moment occurs, then you scream out loud a single word where the people around realize you have been talking to yourself and they are not part of this conversation.  As these strangers start to shake their heads and mutter to themselves about your sanity, you smile, just like a crazy person, because the moment of sanity just came back and you can move forward with your life knowing you remembered what had been eluding you.

Thank you Illustration Friday, once again, for providing me with an outlet for my work!

Pet Portraits for your Event

On Sunday, September 16th, I had the great honor of being the portrait artist at Pet Centric's annual Client Appreciation Party.  Wendy Fisher, owner, called me to be a part of her event and to meet the clients she works with, providing pet care, feeding, walking, and training tips through her company.

It was a beautiful day up in Santa Barbara and I was there for about three hours.  During this time, Wendy mingled with her guests, told great stories about pet adventures, served delicious food and wine, and of course, romped with a few pets who tagged along.

During the event I presented three of her clients with beautiful, hand drawn pet portraits, in pencil pastel all on 9" x 12" paper.  Drawing is my favorite pastime, as I have been drawing since the age of two.  The first two clients had photos on their cell phones and one had a printed photo, as per Wendy's Invitation to her guests, who were encouraged to bring their favorite photos of their pets with them to the party. 

The first portrait was on a Blackberry phone screen of Blackie and Honey, two adorable cats sitting on either side of a vase of dried Red Lantern Flowers.  The image was no more than the size of the length of my thumb, so I did my best to capture their personalities quickly.  The next portrait was on a larger cell phone of Boo Boo, an adorable small black dog with Chihuahua mix, sitting in her pink harness and waiting to play catch with the yellow ducky at her feet.  The final portrait of the day was Lily, a beautiful Russian Blue colored cat, whose proud owner, Jennifer, was on hand to help Wendy with all of the guest's needs that day, including helping me from getting lost as I drove to the event.

The three clients all expressed their joy at how I captured their loving pet's personalities and commented they would be framing my portraits when they got them home.  I love to see  and hear the joy when I do portrait work, as it is the greatest gift I can get. I have always had a love of animals, as does Wendy and her Pet Centric Crew, which could be seen in the calm presence of the pets in attendance.

I look forward to seeing photos in the future of the framed portraits and I thank Wendy again for a lovely day in Santa Barbara! Pet Portraits by JP Denyer

"The Girl Who Wore Many Hats" ©2012 JPDenyer

This weeks Illustration Friday word is "Imagination", something I feel I was born with an over abundance of, that is imagination.  One day while cleaning in the kitchen a sentence popped into my head.  Now, while this is not that unusual to me, I am always getting thoughts about a variety of things, this one was a bit louder than the others so I stopped. what I was doing and jotted it down.  That sentence soon mushroomed into a full blown children's story, which then started me to create a series of drawings to illustrate the story, which is about me so to speak.  I like the story, however I have drifted away from it a bit with the responsibilities I must pay attention too, however tonight, I asked my children, to chose one of two drawings I was thinking of submitting and this one, won hands down.  So here is my entry, hope you like it and if you do, well encourage me to finish the drawings and get the story published!  All artists need encouragement and support, I am no different!  That sentence is also the title of my story, "The Girl Who Wore Many Hats" and takes you through very important moments in her life. ©2012 JPDenyer

This weeks entry, Illustration Friday

This was created from a list of phrases provided to me by a T-shirt factory.  They were looking for new designs  for shirts.  It didn't make the cut.  In fact none of my drawings did for them made the cut, however no worries, I keep on trucking and drawing.  I am used to creating funny things and moving forward on life.  I am not much of spending time to look back and reflect on what doesn't stick. I think that would hold back my creative juices more if I did.
I like this drawing for Illustration Friday's word of the week, "Identical", because of how it is the same and yet not.  The same face, however two moods, before and after.  Hope my viewers like it.  I am having fun getting my art out into the world for all to see and thank Illustration Friday for being on my conscience to step up to the plate, though I missed last weeks!