Painted another one of my plants. Painting them has been a form of self care for me. I don't have any notes to address, I don't have to make them look realistic, I can paint them however I please. 

I really enjoy taking a break from digital work and using real paint. There are some things that are a little more rewarding when working with real paint. It's easier to get certain textures, and variations in color. There's no undo button and many times you have to work with whatever mistakes you have made. 

It's also nice being able to hold a painting in your hand. It doesn't live on a screen or requires to be printed to be enjoyed. 

If I could, I would paint more often. The days and weeks are filled with so many tasks though. It makes the time that I do get to paint feel very rewarding though. 

happy thorsday

 

Forgot to post this last Thursday! Happy Thorsday! 

I'm really excited to see Thor Love and Thunder. It looks so fun and I love everything Taika Waititi does. 

i love my teacher

 

Happy book birthday to "I Love My Teacher!"

So happy to work on another book in this series. I'll be sharing more artwork from it soon. This book received a great review from School Library Journal too!

"I Love My Teacher!" is available now! 

rhcbooks.com

easter cactus

 

It’s been a while since I’ve painted! I’ve been wondering what I should paint, and when my Easter cactus started blooming I thought it would be great to paint it. I’m a little rusty, but using gouache is always fun and it can also be very forgiving. 

One of my goals this year was to fill my home with plants. I've been very hesitant in the past because I don't know much about plants or how to take care of them. I've been inspired by people sharing pics on Twitter and Instagram of their indoor spaces with lots of beautiful plants. Because of the pandemic, I'm at home a lot more and I wanted our space to have some of the beautiful green that's outside, inside. 

One of my other goals for this year is to paint more! I have a nice painting desk but for this one, I sat on the floor so I could get the nice sunlight that floods our living room in the afternoon. A few minutes into this painting and I wanted to start over because I didn't like the color I chose for the plant's pot. As I mentioned before though, gouache is very forgiving and I was able to mix in a few colors and got the color I wanted. I hope to do more paintings of my plants. It's nice to paint just for fun, and if I mess up I just keep going and it can look however I want it to, because I'm the art director and I have no notes! 

abbott elementary

 

Here's a little Abbot Elementary fan art. This show is pretty funny and lighthearted. I've been having a hard time focusing because of everything going on in the world right now. Reading books and watching movies and shows has been my way to escape. 

 Since I'm blogging again I thought I would do a new Meet the Artist! It's a fun way to get to know other artists. I looked back at some of the MTA's I've done before and they were all before the pandemic. It was interesting to see what my likes and dislikes were before. For example,"Parking in LA" was a dislike of mine but I don't have to park anywhere much these days because I'm mostly home. 

Some things never change though! Still love hockey and museums. I try not to get too heavy with the dislikes because I start getting mad when I think about all the things I don't like, haha. 

I hope you enjoy my Meet the Artist, it's nice to meet you! 

first words

 

Excited to share First Words Primeras Palabras written by Rosie Pajaro, illustrated by me! It's a fun lift-a-flap book for babies and toddlers with words in English and Spanish. It's the first bilingual book I've illustrated. 

When Cottage Door Press approached me to work on this book, I had to say yes. They encouraged me to draw from my own experiences and culture. I designed the grandpa and grandma after my own parents. The grandma has a different hairstyle than my mom, but the grandpa looks just like my dad! 

If I could go back in time and tell little Erendida that she would be illustrating pan dulce in a children's book one day, she wouldn't believe me!

Another great thing I love about illustrating books is how I get to draw diversity! I try to illustrate as many different skin tones as I can. For the wheelchair, I did a little research to make sure the representation was accurate. I also love that I got to draw a street vendor! 

I really love how the colors came out and the photos aren't actually that great at capturing it, haha! Sometimes figuring out the colors for a spread can be difficult. There has to be a good balance of warm and cool colors. The story drives the choice of colors of course, and for this book all the pages are fun and vibrant. I change my mind about colors a lot as I'm working on a spread. The rug in the photo above for example, was probably pink, yellow, purple, or blue at some point. I change the colors until everything feels right and balanced. It's challenging, but when it all comes together it's a great feeling! 

I'm so happy I got to work on this book, it's one of my favorites! 

 

Happy Valentine's Day! I made a valentine you can send to that special scruffy looking nerf herder in your life. :)

hello!

It's been a while since I've posted here on blogger! I've been inspired by friends who are blogging again. I'm excited to update this space with new art and share my thoughts with you all. Hope you'll follow along and start blogging too!