Courtney's Notebook

re-do of the month

2008-08-27T15:17:00.002-05:00

you can see the original a few posts down. I do like this one better, a few tweaks are needed before I'll consider it for the portfolio.

Capturing the last few weeks of summer.

2008-08-25T16:47:00.002-05:00

Illustration Friday "Sail"

2008-08-13T16:07:00.001-05:00

I'm not too happy with this version but I like the idea so I think it's next for a re-do.

In progress

2008-08-11T19:50:00.002-05:00

My entry for illustration friday's topic of sail. The coolest part of this is that the pud's contribution of suckers on the tentacle closest to the boat. I love that kid. :)

Cute Pud Quote

2008-08-10T17:32:00.002-05:00

Only a four year old can express the simmer of a hot day.

-"i'm hot like a pot of boiling soup on the stove. with pepper. and salsa."

Work in Progress

2008-08-08T22:07:00.002-05:00

not quite what I had hoped it would be.oh well.

Summertime Favorites

2008-08-04T07:25:00.000-05:00

Summer storms and home grown tomatoes.

After the Rain

2008-07-24T09:36:00.004-05:00

Illustration Friday "enough"

2008-07-22T14:50:00.001-05:00

I think the little boy has had enough surprises for the day, don't you?

New work!

2008-07-14T15:46:00.002-05:00

A new drawing for a story that I recently wrote.
I'll clean it up, fill in the tree and add a few more small details, then paint.

Happy 4th!

2008-07-03T15:18:00.001-05:00

We're driving up to NY for the holiday weekend.
The guy above will be occupying most of my time.
Hope everyone has a great 4th!
See you on Monday.

faces

2008-06-28T16:43:00.003-05:00

I have noticed that whenever I am in a funk (sometimes serious, usually temporary), I draw faces.

There is something comforting about imaginary portraits. This lady likes sweet coffee, croisants with real butter and Stargate.

Stuff

2008-06-25T18:01:00.002-05:00

I never thought I would be the type of blogger to let 3 weeks slip by without a post, but here we are. Things are okay at the pippin-mathur frontier. I have (amicably) parted ways with my agent and am now looking for a shiny, new one.

We have had a string of family visiting and will continue to have through mid-july. This is just dandy by me as I love the company.

And, I have realized a passion I never thought would be mine. It is is gardening. My grandparents were farmers (50 acres, grew tomatoes and such) and my mom could grow a serious houseplant (we had one we called the monster that could almost block out a window) . I thought the gene had passed my generation but I am thrilled to welcome two budding tomatoes to our household. I'm even more proud because I grew them from seeds. Almost all of my plants are from seeds and this makes me even a bit more proud of my little container garden.

Bragging photos to follow.
Be warned that more plant photos will follow as things come into full bloom.

Illustration Friday "Baby"

2008-06-03T18:42:00.001-05:00

even the big guys can act like babies.

New work

2008-06-02T20:33:00.002-05:00

this is an image from a story I am working on. I got an excellent tip from ms. johanna to turn the take-out box (which I was never happy with) into a chinese carton. These are the times that I bow to the digital artists, who can fix such a problem so easily. I might try tinkering with it but most likely it is back to the drawing board.

2008-05-30T21:41:00.002-05:00

I have debated on if I should post the following on my blog. This is a blog about my illustration after all with a little life mixed in. But, because I danced around it in the last post and I think that it is something that is kept secret when it should not be. Because many of you who read this are my friends, I have decided to tell. The post might disappear though if I have decided that too much sharing has happened.

I was pregnant again after our loss in February. I'm not anymore. This time we found out earlier. It is something that I prayed wouldn't happen but it did. And it does happen to a lot more women that you realize.

I'm keeping myself busy with a book idea and just enjoying the here and now. We're okay.

Bad days

2008-05-29T20:09:00.002-05:00

You know that day when you get really bad news but you don't process it? You deal with the day to day details, just getting through the slog. You remind yourself everyday of the ways you are blessed, and they are enough to keep you from crying when it's quiet. But, then something tips the scales, something like an illness that just won't go away and that freaking hurts but you can't get into the doctor's office until after the weekend. So, you feel like crap, you think of nothing but the crap that is the bad news and you just wish for a bit of good news, of assurance that things will get better, that they will not get worse, please, just better and new and maybe a little different. You know that feeling? Yeah. me too.

Books we love

2008-05-25T17:00:00.002-05:00

Pirate Girl by Cornelia Funke, Illustrated by Kerstin Meyer. We ordered this book per a friend's recommendation. Turns out she was talking about a differ net book. But, I'm glad we got this one. It is funny, silly, has one brave little girl and loads of mommy pirates. Plus the illustrations are jam packed with details and the style is Quetin-Blake-ish fantastic.

Grumpy Bird, Written and Illustrated by Jeremy Tankard. I read Jeremy's blog occasionally and have wanted this book for some time. The story is simple and funny but the illos are psycho-delic fantastic.

Cinderella, Illustrated by Mary Blair. Mary's concept illustrations for Disney's Cinderella. Beautiful.

Sunshine

2008-05-20T22:51:00.001-05:00

This is what keeps me going through tough times.

New work

2008-05-16T15:09:00.001-05:00

I'll take a better pic soon.

Disney Trip: Summation

2008-05-14T20:06:00.002-05:00

There were princesses, rides, food, castles, activities, crowds and perfection. Not a chip or dent on any ride or attraction. It was strangely perfect and crowded but only a little crazy. I thought the crowds would bother me but we never waited very long in line, these people have it down to a science. Every night we would come home and drop into bed, completely done in by exhaustion but it was simply wonderful. The rides and attractions and look on the Pud's face reminded me of the wonder of the original movies and how some of them inspired me to be an artist.

Disney World

2008-05-06T18:56:00.002-05:00

Today I am posting from Disneyworld.

The hubby came up with the idea to come here a few months ago and here we are! I have to say, it is really cool. We are staying at the Polynesian, which is retro cool, like Hawaiian movies from the early 60s.

We ventured into the magic kingdom via the monorail this evening, after getting our room. I highly recomend asking to sit with the captain in the front of the train. After arriving at Magic Kingdom, we wandered around in the heat for a few minutes. (it is HOT here, even at 5 pm, I am so not used to that anymore)

We finally decided to head into fantasyland but were distracted by tommorowland. What a good distraction it was! Our first stop was the monster's inc laugh floor. It is an interactive show and the pud and the hubby got to be on the big screen! They got lots of laughs with extra points for the Pud's cuteness. We then hopped next door to the Buzz lightyear ride, then the tommorow land transportation authority train which takes you behind the scence of other rides. We stopped for icecream, watched a show starring mickey and his gang, the three big princesses, peter pan and crew and malicefent in front of cinderella's castle.

After that we took a ferry back to the hotel and are now sitting in our room waiting for room service. All of the park fun took 2.5 hours. We had hardly any lines and by the time we were getting ready to leave, there was a nice cool breeze. What a lovely start to our vacation.

Illustration Friday "Primitive"

2008-04-18T17:58:00.001-05:00

old houses always have primitive pipes.

Signs of Spring

2008-04-18T14:55:00.003-05:00

freshly planted herbs

bird with nest materials

dinosaurs and gnomes in the garden

which leads to fairy sightings

and of course, blossoms.

Check me out!

2008-04-06T07:26:00.001-05:00

http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1210.

A big thanks to the wonderful Jules and Eisha for featuring my work!