Little Bird

I recently finished this Hidden Picture for Highlights High Five. It will be featured in the February issue's "My First Hidden Pictures" which are hidden pictures designed to be easier for younger kids and they are also accompanied with a poem. This was my first time coloring one of my hidden pictures. I have been experimenting with a colored pencil Photoshop technique and decided to try it out for this illustration.

Look for the following objects:

Magic wand, birthday cake, mitten, spool of thread, ruler, pencil, eyeglasses, and a tea cup.

There were many changes to the original sketch (the one posted above is actually the second revision). You can see in the sketch how the window was changed to make it easier for the younger kids to "read." My technique in making a hidden picture is usually to make a purposefully busy composition and then find the objects in the sketch with some manipulation. With this one I felt I really had to pull back and simplify which was much easier on my brain.

Below is the line art minus the bird. The bird was done separately so I could control the depth/color of the line in the finish.

High Five is a beautifully illustrated/written magazine. Click here to get a subscription.

Sketching in Delaware.

I didn't draw much while on vacation in Delaware. I always have the intention to (I bring a lot of art supplies with me) but I find that I do more reading especially when I am at the beach. Honestly, I don't really like the beach. I am a mountain and trees person simply because there's something to look at other than a horizontal line all day (aka, the ocean). We did see several large pods (10 or more in each) of dolphins this year which was quite exciting and something I have never seen in the wild before.

Anyway on the 3rd day there Daisy needed to pick up some maternity shirts at the outlets (she is now 20 weeks pregnant) so I tagged along with sketchbook in hand since I usually do a lot of waiting around. However, I was surprised to discover that there was a new park behind the outlets with a long hiking trail so I went off while she went shopping.

I was entertained by a songbird for a few minutes before he flew off (above) and on the way back I discovered a snake skeleton on the side of the trail (below).