"Wrinkles" by Lily

"Wrinkles" for Illustration Friday
by Lily, age 5

It's a very wrinkly elephant face!

"Primitive" by Isaac

"Primitive" for Illustration Friday
by Isaac, age 9

Arthur pulling the sword from the stone... a primitive weapon. (And a pretty primitive method for choosing your new leader...)

Save or Trade?

It's been a while since I've posted any Family Trading Cards, so... here are some more.  We have well over 400 cards currently in play, so the following are a mere sampling.  The ones I'm sharing today come primarily from the collections that Gracie and Isaac have saved.  Enjoy!


by Isaac


by Gracie


by Lily


by Mom


by Dad

"Homage" by Isaac

We have well over 2,100 children's books at home in our collection. Dad told the kids to pick their favorite story and draw a literary tribute to it. The following "homage" pictures are the result....


The Horned King from "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
by Isaac, age 9

Dad has to say, I think Isaac's design here is the best imagining of the Horned King I have EVER seen! Way cool!

"Homage" by Lily

Tribute to "Oink Oink" by Arthur Geisert
by Lily, age 5

Piglets falling from the sky into a cornfield...

"Homage" by Gracie

Tribute to "Babymouse" by Jennifer & Matthew Holm
by Gracie, age 7

Babymouse approaching her homework-eating locker...

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Here's a little song Dad made up while preparing dinner:

Once
There was a chicken
Who married a pig
And they had
Cor-
don
Bleu
Babies

Well, Gracie decided to flesh out this little tale with illustrations!



The chicken and pig are falling in love


The wedding


The chicken lays a bunch of eggs. The first one hatches and out pops a cute little cordon bleu patty! Happy papa looks on...


The chicken finds the pig snacking on their babies!


...so she kicks him out.

A tragic tale indeed!

Metamorphosis

Werewolf
by Isaac

(You can click the image for a closer look.)

Metamorphosis 2

Lily saw Isaac's werewolf picture and decided to draw her own transformation: a girl who turns into broccoli...


Werebroccoli
by Lily

And I say "hey"

Arthur and the Gang
by Gracie

"Pet Peas" by Isaac

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "Pet Peeves."
Isaac doesn't have any pet peeves. So instead he drew...


"Pet Peas"
by Isaac, age 9

That's a pea pod taking his pet peas for a walk! And for bonus pun fun, there's a car-rot driving in the background. (Dad especially likes the font made out of little smiling peas... you can click to see it closer)

"Heavy" by Gracie

"Heavy" for Illustration Friday
by Gracie, age 7

The little girl (see her in the red?) is holding her giant baby sister who... is... very... HEAVY!

Fierce

Lion
by Isaac

An overheard conversation:

Gracie: No they can't!
Lily: Yes they can.
Gracie: No... Imaginary friends cannot die.
Lily: Yes they can. Then why can I never find Too-too anymore?


Imaginary Pet
by Lily

Saving the World and Looking Snazzy

Super Spy Girl
by Gracie

What an outfit! With matching lipstick! And dad likes the way Gracie drew her hair blowing in the wind...

Li'l Cutie

Puppydog
by Isaac

I'm so used to seeing Isaac draw knights and robots and mutants, that I was Shocked Beyond Belief when I saw this adorable puppy that he drew for little brother Elijah. Cute?! Isaac can draw Cute too?! Awwww.....

"Garden" by Lily

"Garden" for Illustration Friday
by Lily, age 5

A bumblebee guardin' his garden...

"Garden" by Gracie

"Garden" for Illustration Friday
by Gracie, age 7

It's the Garden of Eden! Adam is gathering some berries. Eve is in the background and... what is she doing? Eve! Stay away from that snake in the tree! Don't eat the fruit!
Too late...

"Garden" by Isaac

"Garden" for Illustration Friday
by Isaac, age 9

Plants, trees, and a lovely little garden path.
(What the.... Why does that pigeon keep popping up in Isaac's pictures?)

"Leap" by Gracie

Belinda the Ballerina
by Gracie, age 7

This picture is for our friend Miss Amy to congratulate her on her latest Belinda book: Belinda Begins Ballet!

We love all the Belinda books! Gracie's picture shows Belinda through the ages... Baby Belinda (see her large feet sticking out of the carriage), Young Belinda leaping, and finally Grown-up Belinda.

We have a funny family Belinda story: when Gracie was 2, Amy gave us a flexible, rubber, gumby-like Belinda figurine - very cool! Within just a day or two, Gracie bit the bun off the top of her head and stuck it up her nose. It was lodged pretty tight and took quite a bit of effort to get it out. Thinking this hilarious, we relayed the story to Amy. I have to imagine that she however, as a former laywer turned children's book author, was actually rather mortified...

Congrats on Belinda #4 Amy!

Long, long ago...

Clone Trooper
by Isaac

Colored pencil on black mat board

"Choose" by Isaac

Isaac (age 9) made a game for us!

The large image is a detail of which animal? The giraffe, the pigeon, or the rhino? Take a guess and then scroll down to see if you are right!



Did you pick one? Find the correct answer below...

5

4

3

2

1


It's the pigeon wearing a mask!

(For more pigeon fun, click here and here)

Dancin'

Dog Wearing a Tutu
by Lily

"Blanket" by Lily

"Blanket" for Illustration Friday
by Lily, age 4

Lily made this for I.F. -- a girl lying on her bed, head on a pillow, tucked under a blanket. Dad loves the toes sticking out of the bottom!

"Legend" by Isaac

"Legend" for Illustration Friday
by Isaac, age 9

Here's King Arthur... see the image of the Sword in the Stone worked into his armor?