Illustration Friday | Poise

A kitty, poised to jump on her unsuspecting friend..

A gata, pronta para pular em cima do amigo que nada suspeita...

Stop Animal Abandonment | Diga Não ao Abandono dos Animais

Artist Eunice Rosado has done it again: she has created a beautiful stamp against the abandonment of animals.  You too can add it to your blog and join in this great campaign for animals all over the world!

A artista Eunice Rosado retorna com um novo lindo selo contra o abandono dos animais.  Você também pode colocá-lo no seu blog e unir-se a esta grande campanha pelos animais em todo mundo! 

Illustration Friday | Subtract

Literally... and like me, another leftie :-)

Literalmente... e como eu, outro canhoto :-)

Spotlight on Books and Illustrators

It's been a while since I posted about books! I want to get back into the habit of talking about books and illustrators I like, and I hope to do so on a weekly basis. After all, this blog is about art and books!

Check out the work of Frank W. Dormer. So far he has illustrated two beginning reader books by Lori Ries and one picture book by Diana Hutts Aston, all published by Charlesbridge Press. The stories are adorable and the books have been well received. Frank's illustrations are a big part of their success. I love his style and technique: loose and expressive pen and ink line work and rich watercolor washes.

Look for his books at your public library :-)

Illustration Friday | Legendary

Balto is the legendary dog who led a team of huskies through a blizzard in 1925 to deliver medicine to halt a diphtheria epidemic in Nome, Alaska. In Central Park in New York there's a beautiful sculpture honoring this amazing dog. It was one of my favorite spots in the park when I lived in New York. Once my husband and I went there after a blizzard when the park, and the statue, were covered in snow. I don't like winter, but that was just perfect :-)

Balto é o famoso cachorro que liderou um time de huskies durante uma tempestade de neve em 1925 para levar remédios necessários para curar uma epidemia de difteria em Nome, Alaska. Em Nova Iorque no Central Park tem uma estátua comemorando este cão fantástico. Era um dos meus lugares favoritos no parque quando morova lá. Uma vez eu e meu marido fomos lá depois de uma tempestade de neve quando o parque, e a estátua, estavam cobertos de neve. Não gosto de inverno, mas isso foi simplesmente perfeito :-)

Play | Brincar

For Watercolor Wednesdays

Para Watercolor Wednesdays

Sketch for Play | Rascunho para Brincar

Illustration Friday | Breezy

Some of us cannot wait for the warm and breezy days of spring...

Alguns de nós mal podem esperar pelos dias quentes e cheios de brisa da primavera...

Award!

The lovely and multi-talented Caroline Soer has given me this adorable art blog award. Be sure to stop by her blog and see all her beautiful work (and some amazing pictures as well!)

In accordance to the rules, we are supposed to list 7 things we love and pass the award on, if possible. So here they are, in no particular order:

1. Children's books (and not just picture books, but also middle grade and young adult fiction)
2. Reading comics (such as Peanuts, Mafalda, Asterix, Calvin and Hobbes, etc.)
3. Anything handmade
4. Movies, both live action and animated (when I was growing up I used to enjoy watching the same movies several times -- wait, I still do!)
5. Art supply stores
6. European style dark hot chocolate
7. Warm and sunny weather!

Not to mention, of course, my family, friends, and pretty much all animals. Okay, I have to admit, I'm not too fond of bugs (it's fear, mostly!)

Feel free to participate as well! This was certainly fun. Thank you, Caroline!

Illustration Friday | Celebrate

... and jump for joy! I almost didn't make it this week: lots of work and a bit of a head cold got in the way :-)

... e pule de alegria! Quase não participo nesta semana: muito trabalho e um resfriado de cabeça me atrapalharam :-)

Illustration Friday | Time

A piece of friendly advice: bears do not like to be kept waiting!

Um conselho amigo: ursos não gostam de esperar!

Illustration Friday | Climbing

Some can climb trees really well, others just need a really long neck ;-)

Alguns sobem e escalam árvores muito bem, outros só precisam de um pescoço longo ;-)

Illustration Friday | Pale

A white kitten ponders a large, pale full moon.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post about redoing old illustrations.  I find myself feeling a bit divided: on the one hand, I like the opportunity to revisit an illustration and improve some of the things I don't think came out as best they could -- in the case of the illustration below, for instance, the containers.  On the other hand, I sometimes find when I try to fix something I end up losing something else that came out right!  Lesson of the day: stop being a perfectionist!

Uma lua grande, cheia, pálida e um gatinho branco.
Obrigada a todos que deixaram comentários no meu post anterior. Eu perguntava quanto a re-trabalhar ilustrações antigas, e eu me sinto dividida: por um lado gosto de ter a oportunidade de revistar uma ilustração e melhorar aspectos que não saíram tão bem como eu queria (no caso abaixo, por exemplo, os vasos), mas por outro lado, eu as vezes descubro que ao consertar algo eu acabo perdendo outras coisas que tinham saído certo! Lição do dia: deixar de ser uma perfeccionista! :-)

Illustration Friday | Contained

Flowers in containers? Okay, I'll admit it: not enough time this week to do a new illustration, so I needed to be creative with a previous one. :-)

Whenever I use old illustrations, I feel this urge to do them over again, to fix the mistakes and improve them. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Flores contidas em vasos? 'Tá bem, eu admito: não tenho tempo esta semana para participar com uma nova ilustração, então precisei ser criativa para usar uma antiga. :-)

Sempre que uso ilustrações antigas, tenho essa vontade de refazê-las, de consertar os erros e melhorá-las. Você também passa por isso?

Award!

What a great way to start a new year!  

Many thanks to Shiva from Friends in Glove blog, who has given me this very special award.

It has certainly brighten my day! 

Thanks again, Shiva!

Illustration Friday | Resolve

It's that time of the year, when one makes plans for the new year. Well, my resolution for 2009 is to show my artwork and hopefully get some illustration work for children's magazines. So, I'm going to work on my portfolio and learn more about how to promote my artwork. Sounds good, right?! :-)
Sepia color pencil and watercolor. The pencil sketch is below.

É aquela época do ano, quando fazemos planos para o novo ano. Bem, decidi me esforçar mais para divulgar as minhas ilustrações e talvez conseguir trabalho ilustrando revistas infantis. Então vou trabalhar no meu portfolio, e aprender mais sobre auto-promoção. Boa idéia, não é?! :-)
Lápis de cor sépia e aquarela. O desenho a lápiz está abaixo.

Best friends | Os melhores amigos

Happy New Year, everyone! Let there be peace on Earth!

Feliz Ano Novo a todos! Paz na Terra para todos nós!

A gift for me? | Um presente para mim?

I guess Bunny is done knitting... :-)

Acho que o Coelhinho acabou de tricotar... :-)

The story continues...| A estória continua...

It all started here.

Tudo começou aqui.

Freddie is here!

Freddie the Escape Artist has arrived and, as you can see, Lolly there on the right is already smitten. :-)

Both are Original Sock Dogs created by plush artist and illustrator Stacey Hsu from Three Red Trees. I was the very lucky winner of a surprise raffle on her blog and, thanks to her generosity, was able to add Freddie to our family.

Thank you, Stacey!