"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?

Making Faces

Worried, Happy, Sad, Surprised, Angry, Hungry
by Lily

Cousin Lovin

Merry Christmas cousin Eden!
mosaic by Isaac, Grace, and Lily

"Backwards" by Gracie

"Backwards" for Illustration Friday
by Gracie, age 7

A mouse riding a cat backwards...

"Little Things" by Gracie

"Little Things" for Illustration Friday
by Gracie, age 7

A band of little princess fairies

"Excess" by Isaac

"Excess" for Illustration Friday
by Isaac, age 9

"He wanted donuts, not just a few but hundreds and thousands and millions -- more donuts than his mother and father could ever buy him."
(quote from "Who Needs Donuts?" by M.A.Stamaty)

Entomology

This summer Isaac started collecting bugs from the backyard, studying them with a magnifying glass, and crafting detailed visual records of his finds. Here are a couple of examples:


The pictures in the top-left corners are a record of where he found each bug, and the descriptions at the bottom-right are what Isaac was doing at the time.


You might be a bit surprised what sparked Isaac's naturalist endeavor. It was actually Tony Diterlizzi's fantastical Spiderwick Guides....

"Zoo"

"Zoo" for Illustration Friday
by Gracie (age 7), Lily (age 4), Elijah (age 2) and Dad

This was a fun family collaborative for I.F. this week -- Noah's Ark, the floating zoo. Dad drew a big ark on big paper, and then we filled it with animals - each person taking just one animal per pairing. Even Elijah wanted in on the fun, adding lots of air creatures up in the right-hand corner. You can click it for a larger view...

"Superstition" by Isaac

Black Cat for Illustration Friday
cut paper, by Isaac, age 9

"Scales" by Isaac

King Cobra for Illustration Friday
by Isaac, age 9

Isaac created this picture for the "scales" theme using our big box of cut-up magazine mosaic squares. Dad is impressed with how big the project was for Isaac -- he worked on it for four days! You can click the image for a close up...

What is it?

Gracie (age 7) has a puzzle for us:

Think you know? Scroll down for the answer....

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1


If you guessed magnified snake scales, you're right! (See the magnifying glass?)

"Scales" by Lily

Scaly Dragon for Illustration Friday
by Lily, age 4

Harvest

Fruity
by Gracie

A picture for our good friend Mr. Sandford

Art Imitating Life

Hand in Hand
by Gracie

I saw this picture lying around and thought it was so funny in concept: Gracie traced her hand on a piece of paper to make a picture of someone tracing a hand on a piece of paper. What random fancy sparked such a picture?

"Grow" by Isaac

"Grow" for Illustration Friday
by Isaac, age 9

3D art, made with cut paper

"Extreme" by Isaac

"Extreme" for Illustration Friday
by Isaac, age 9

Extreme biking: he's changing a tire in mid-jump!

"Open" by Lily

"Open" for Illustration Friday
by Lily, age 4

An egg cracks open and out pops a duckling!

Adam Rex

Family favorite author/illustrator Adam Rex recently added Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty to the links list on his blog! Wow!

We love his books!
Here is some Adam Rex fan art by the Z-Kids:

Elephant in a Tree
by Lily (from "Tree Ring Circus")



Clown Watching a Boov
by Gracie (from "Tree Ring Circus" and "Smekday")



The Narwhal Gets a Turn on the Zoomobile
by Isaac (From "Pssst!")

Check out Mr. Rex's books! I think he's nicely poised for near-future kid lit dominion.

"Blue" by Isaac

"Blue" for Illustration Friday
by Isaac, age 9

A frost breathing blue dragon in his cave...

"The Blues" by Gracie

"The Blues" for Illustration Friday
by Gracie, age 7

This little blue guy is singing the blues because he dropped his blue icecream cone on the ground.