Tag: garden

alphabet, fantasy illustration, fonts, Illustrations, kids, Pen and Ink Drawing, simple photoshop

A Hammock rests here

Michele B. Naquaiya

hammock-web.

She was reading but my bet is she won’t finish this book and very soon it will gently fall to the ground.  She is looking pretty relaxed with her pet rabbit on her shoulder.  I had a pet rabbit once in Pittsburgh, PA.   This little pen and ink sketch done with black ink on white watercolor paper dates back a few years when I was contemplating writing an alphabet book.  I am sure I had slated it to be H for Hammock but, since I’ve been putting images on kids t-shirts I’m opting for the word “Rest”.  I have a feeling moms would like to rest so I did this for them.  They could think about a little rest when they dress the baby or child.

The font is Lieb Doni and I hope people find it appropriate.  When it comes to fonts, there are so many ways to go and so many choices, it can get confusing. I colored this digitally with my Wacom Intuos Pro tablet and pen in photoshop CS6.  I need to practice using brushes again…it’s been a really long time.   I love using the big brushes and keeping the opacity always somewhere from 30 to 50%.  I’d rather build up layers of transparent color.  I love painting this way.  It is very relaxing.  I think all the black strokes around the hammock are making the whole image a little dark.

I would appreciate comments and critiques.  That’s what I am using the blog for.

Here is the link to purchase.

alphabet, animals, fantasy illustration, Illustrations, kids, Pen and Ink Drawing

Fun Frog with alpha-blocks

Michele B. Naquaiya

frog-color-text-web

Here’s a leaping frog full of color and maybe a little nonsense. He is painted in watercolor and drawn with a crow-quill pen. I have colored and added a stylized text to match his personality.
Frogs are a subject of fun, ridicule, and story-telling.  Have fun with this. You may need one in your collection.
Here’s the link to purchase.

animals, flora and fauna, Illustrations, Odd Little Stories, thoughts behind the work

I love the Forest with deer

Michele B. Naquaiya

deer-LUV-forest-web

I’ve seen lots of deer in the forest because I lived in the northwest for a long time.  How can you describe them except to say they are very sweet and can win you over.  Although I remember many mornings shaking a string of empty soda cans at them to make as much noise as I could to chase them away from my flowers and plants.  They always won and grabbed some nibbles before they fled.

Or when driving down a main street, a mom with her twins would come out of the woods suddenly and very slowly cross the street.  They understood traffic and I swear they knew stop signs. The only really dangerous  part is when they would try to cross a main highway from the woods to get to the cool riverbank.  All  you could do is slow down and pray they make it.

check out my online store to see this little guy on various products

fantasy illustration, Illustrations, kids

You Are the Best, 2 kids’ portrait

Michele B. Naquaiya

you-are-the-best-web

The boy has the flower and the girl has the lollipop.  They are dressed in brown and white and their outfits don’t make any sense at all.  What was I thinking?  Perhaps they just walked out of a fairy tale.  This watercolor is a little retro looking I think and is reminiscent of a time when gingerbread cookies were the rage. ha  ha.

I am having fun with my wacom tablet and exploring new fonts. Even though the tablet is old, it still works great.  I wish I could say the same for me.  Not everything works..but  if you get the job done, does anybody really care?

I think this would be fun for grandparents.  Here it is in my on-line store.