Heidi and Zeke Hidden Pictures.

These are some recent hidden pictures I did for Highlights Eagle Eye Hidden Picture magazines. The name of the character in the first story was Lucy who happened to have two younger brothers so I couldn't help but make her a little nod to Lucy Van Pelt of Peanuts. I added a few obscure nods to Lucy's world. There is also a nod to Peanuts in the second one as well We'll see who can find it...

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More Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures...

Hi. I don't know why blogger isn't working well for me today. It probably has something to do with my own lack of sleep, hydration and sanity that I suffered during a recent trip to Florida. Weeeee. Anyways, here are my recent Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures which can be seen in Highlights' Hidden Pictures Club advanced magazine called Eagle Eye. Get a subscription for the kids in for life today!

Fishing Hidden Picture

Inspiration for this hidden picture came from Philadelphia's Pennypack Creek. A park I spent many many days exploring and fishing at with friends (and once with my Dad who hated fishing there).

Can you find the following objects?
Pencil, Muffin, Tack, Chicken, Flag, Bell, Glove, Pen, Candy Corn, Banana, Slice of Pie, Carrot, Mitten, Slice of Pizza, and a Toothbrush.

That's Silly, Beach Lake!

... and some Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures.

My latest That's Silly! illustration is in this July's Highlights High Five issue. I took inspiration from many childhood summers spent at Pennsylvania's Promised Land Lake and some more recent memories of Rickett's Glen Sate Park (seriously the most beautiful park in PA).

The Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures are from July's Highlights Eagle Eye Hidden Picture magazine. Unlike regular hidden pictures, short stories accompany the illustration. In the first one Heidi and Zeke help a troubled young girl find her bunny rabbit before her family goes on a long car trip. Second, Heidi and Zeke help the Zamboni operator find his lost keys so he can clean the ice for the kids to get back to skating. 12-14 other objects are also hidden in each of these illustrations but I did them so long ago that I can't remember where they are. Wink!

My first cover.

Forgive my excitement. Here is my first cover art for Highlights' July issue which is available now. Nerdily, the sky is astronomically correct (as best as I could research it) for July 4th at about 9:30pm.

Highlights subscriptions are available here. Do it!

Heidi and Zeke snowman and soccer help!

In this month's Heidi and Zeke adventure: Heidi and Zeke help a friend find a cookie to complete their snow family and an absent minded soccer coach needs help finding a soccer ball!

Northeast Philadelphia's Vogt playground and a northeast Philadelphia rowhome can be seen in the soccer illustration. I grew up right next to Vogt playground- the largest playground in Philadelphia- consisting of 7 baseball fields, 5 soccer fields, an olympic size swimming pool, 2 tennis courts, a roller hockey rink, 2 outdoor basketball courts, a kid's jungle gym, several drunk teenagers (at night) and a large gymnasium (of which my brother fell of the roof of and broke his arm).

Oh, and our puppy (at the time), Abbey, can be seen in the soccer illustration as well.

Remember, Highlights makes a great gift for the kids in your life. There's magazines and hidden pictures for all ages! Get them a subscription!

My thoughts on Disney Princess Movies.

My Family was never what I would call a, "Disney family." Perhaps it was our somewhat rough upbringing or the fact that VCR's had not really been invented yet? Nothing Disney (especially the Princess movies) really appealed to us. Honestly, I'm kind of thankful it was that way. We grew up outside in a crowded neighborhood. If we did watch TV we watched the cartoons of Chuck Jones, Fritz Freleng and Walter Lantz which was fine by us. Now that I think about it, psychologically, it was more in step with our comically violent tendencies.

4 Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures.

These are my latest from Highlights' Eagle Eye Hidden Pictures. I love playing with lighting in my illustrations and these four were a treat! From the sunny beach to a dingy basement I tried to get it just right.

The challenge I have about making an outdoor illustration is that I really want the sun to look like it is out and not hiding behind a cloud somewhere. I find this is best accomplished through the use of warm shadows.

When we're indoors, as we have here, the light is more diffused, it comes from above and bounces off the floor creating some reflections. This is the trickiest to work on. I still don't feel like I've quite got it yet.

A dimly lit basement comes to life by placing a partly snow covered window.Lastly, my favorite lighting to work on is dark nighttime scenes. By just adding some small light sources the eye is easily drawn exactly where I want it to be.Be sure to get the kids in your life a subscription to Highlights. For ages 0-12 it's the best magazine on earth!

Birds Eye View

This busy piece appears in the May issue of Highlights High Five. The city is based on my hometown of Philadelphia. The original art can be seen below.

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