This guy isn’t in the next book, but I was inspired to draw him today. Last night I was up late and was praying for some things on my heart, and right as I finished an owl began hooting outside my window. I live in Los Angeles, and I don’t often get to hear these birds. It brought a huge smile to my face and seemed like a little blessing from my Father who knows how much I love owls. I looked up the call I heard to confirm it – my nighttime friend was a great horned owl. And maybe looked a bit like this…
What’s your favorite animal? Let me know and it maybe I’ll sketch it up in a future post!
The newest story is going to have a little frog character, and as I began to sketch ideas for page layouts in the book, I quickly realized that I hardly knew how to draw a frog.
First frog sketch. Kinda a fun little guy but not quite right…
You quickly realize how little you know about how something looks when you try to draw it from memory! Try it now – doodle a frog! Then see what you can learn along with me 🙂
So I hit up Google for some frog images and set to sketching. I LOVE drawing animals. They each have these amazing surprising details about how they move and are shaped and proportioned. So I started by drawing real frogs.
Notice how their eyes kinda point out to the sides? And their backs have that squarish hump in them? They have little nostrils or pointy noses. I also noticed that their back legs don’t bend like a dog or cat’s. They can go out or down or backwards!
After the realistic drawings (there were a lot of them! All different kids of frogs) I began to get a sense of what makes a frog a frog. So I started to make them a little more cartoony, a little more Mixedupalot-y.
Still a bit too detailed…let’s get a little more cartoony…
Almost there. Then I got this guy.
Still rough, but his personality is emerging and his shape is simple while still incorporating some of the true frog details I learned. Might be onto something here!
Hi friends! Well, if any of you wondered how a picture book gets made when the author/ illustrator has kids, the answer is:
Very slowly.
I don’t want to rush. I care a lot about the quality of what I create to share with you, and try to pour love into every page. Because these stories and characters come from my heart.
And they’re covered in prayer too!
My hope is that every one of you young and old (and everywhere between) would walk away from Mixedupalot with a smile and a little taste of what our wonderful God is like: how He loves and cares for us.
I’m still working on book three. But I thought maybe instead of this long silence, I could take you along on the journey, show you sketches and talk about the process as it unfolds. If you have any questions, ask away! I’d love to hear from you, and to all my artists out there, show me what you’re drawing too!
Stay tuned, and let me know what you want to know!
To kick off, here’s a page of quick sketches from last month for the new book. Pretty rough at the start…
Mommy & Me Monday comes to you this week with a special mashup coloring page. Sir Bumble and Princess Pristina do live the same castle afterall – did you notice Sir Bumble’s appearance in Princess Pristina? 🙂
Grab some colored pencils, cups of cocoa, and the little ones in your life, and let’s color and talk about our amazing God together!
When the angels appeared to the shepherds, they sang a heavenly song that said “Glory to God in the highest heaven!” It meant something like “Let our praise be so loud and clear and strong that it reaches all the way to the furthest bit of creation and the furthest bit of heaven!” The angels praised God with all they had in them. And that is what all of us should be doing too! There is no one like God, perfectly good, perfectly powerful, perfectly wise… can you name some more things about God that make Him the best of the best?
If you think about who God is and all the good things He has done, your heart will naturally start to fill up with praises. Take some time every day this season to think about God’s goodness and faithfulness till you feel it start to move your heart. Dwell on it! And praise or thank Him for just one thing, until you’re so full of praise you want to shout that praise to the highest heavens with the angels.
He is so good, and so worthy of everything in us.
Much love from this author’s home to yours this Christmas. Joy to the world! Let everyone sing it!!
Greetings Mixedupalot friends! I know I’ve been absent from the blog for a spell and I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know why. (drumroll)
I’ve written the next book!
I’m in the editing stage now, and researching for the illustrations. No hints yet about what this one is about… well, OK, one little hint. This story involves a bit of a musical mess. So start warming up your vocal chords – the next character to come to Mixedupalot loves to sing.
🙂
But I can’t leave you without something fun to do this week! So grab those toilet paper cardboard tubes and the tissue paper you’ve got stashed away and have fun with this adorable dragon craft from Debbie at onelittleproject.com. You can blow through the tube and make the flames dance. So fun!
Well, Monday was one of those best-laid-plans kind of days. But I couldn’t wait till next Monday to share this one with you all! If you’re new to this series, I give you two coloring sheets – one for you and one for a younger child. Same idea, but everyone gets their own page at their level of coloring ability. 🙂
And as you color together, talk about Psalm 139:9-10.
I used to travel more, and have lived in and seen some wonderful places. But I have also experienced dangers – even facing bears out in the Alaskan wilderness or encountering storms at 20000 feet over the Atlantic. And I’ve learned that fear has this way of overpowering faith if we let it. Such a powerful emotion! And yet we must keep repeating the truth to ourselves – taking every fearful thought captive and setting it in its place by stating emphatically what we KNOW is true. God never, ever abandons His children. David knew this, even though time and time again he found himself in terrible danger, being hunted by an angry jealous king Saul. David was wonderful at telling God his fears (and his angers!) and then turning to praise and thanksgiving in the end. He KNEW and clung to the truth that no matter where he was or what was happening, God’s hand was holding him. And if we belong to God, then we too can be confident that He is always just a “Help!” away…
And we know that no matter what we face in this life, God is leading us on to beauty and goodness forever in His presence. Oh glory! No matter what I’ve seen on this earth, nothing will be more glorious than that!
I know, I know, it just doesn’t have the same ring to it. But my husband surprised the kids and me with a Monday off work and I have a leeetle bit left to do on this week’s post, so it’s just not going to get posted today. I know! Such a slacker! But check back tomorrow. And have a fantastic Monday!*
*I do realize that this may not be a fantastic day. If you’ve happened upon this page and need prayer, please feel free to post a prayer request. I WILL pray for you. Hang in there.
Hello coloring fans! Just popping in to let you know that I’m on vacation but will be back for next Monday’s coloring pages. Hope you’ve had a blessed day honoring those who gave their lives in service to our nation. God bless and comfort those who are grieving today.
Hey everyone! My computer failed recently so Mommy & Me Monday’s and Fun with Food Friday’s won’t have new posts for a bit. But stay tuned! We’ll be back soon, Lord willing!
