Thursday, October 9, 2008

Turtles, Turtles Everywhere

So, I've been working on an idea that has developed into an all-out obsession. Quite a few months ago I drew a little turtle character. He turned out quite cute. Then I started thinking of all the things I could illustrate the little turtle doing. And because I'm particularly exhilarated by alliteration all of the scenarios sounded something like this, "Turtle Trapeze", "Turtle Tots", "Turtle Teeter-Totter", "Turtles Tobogganing", etc. etc. Okay, stop shaking your head like I'm crazy or something.....this is just how my mind works if left unattended!

So I happened to show these turtles to a friend of mine. This isn't just any ordinary friend, she is the kind of spirit that comes along when you don't have confidence in yourself, when you can't quite see your talent or strength or worth. Everyone should have friends like these. My friend, Katie, immediately noticed that I had dreams, I had ideas, but I lacked self-esteem and was letting everyday life take up all of my time. So at her insistence we've started having weekly "art-dates." We've set aside a night and we get together, talk, have dinner, and jump into artwork. She has now also become a little obsessed with the turtles...they do become so lovable!

Now, in all my free time I'm trying to draw these guys. There's a local craft fair coming up in November that I'm going to try to debut at. It's a scary idea for me....will I have enough to bring? will people like them? will I really make any money? Who knows. That's all part of the learning process I guess.

Here's a pic of the first one I drew....his name is Toby. He picked a dandelion for you and he wants you to blow on it and make a wish...isn't he a sweet turtle!

It's 6x6" on a very rough paper so I purposely used crosshatching light strokes with colored pencil. I'm still thinking children's art here...so....what do you think?


It's been hard to find frames, square frames are hard to come by. And there are some turtle's that require a larger wider frame, hopefully I'll have some of those to show soon. Here's some more that I have started....

So what turtles would you like to see? If you wanted to hang one in a little girl's or boy's room, what would that turtle be doing?
Stay tuned for many more turtles to come!