illustration friday~winter

ok...i'm so biased here. but this week's i.f. theme might be my favorite! I LOVE WINTER..LOVE IT!!! this illustration was meant to be made into a rubber stamp, but time did not allow for it. oh well, there's always next year:) i sketched it first in pencil and then hand-inked it with my good ole' rapidograph pens...the BEST!:) i am hoping to turn it into a full-blown color painting SOON!
below are a few other sketches and designs i felt fit the topic of "winter". did mention it's my favorite season...?;)

tobias family portrait

okay...here is the finished piece!:) let me start by saying that if there appears to be a line going down the painting, it's because i suck at stitiching scans together in photoshop. it didn't fit on my scanner in one piece. hence the fact that i had to do some "stitching". definitely not one of my many talents;)
i am so happy to have beeen given the opportunity by my friend laura to paint her sweet little family in my illustration style. right down to the 2 dogs;) i anxiously await seeing a photo of this hung on their wall!

next up...LOTS of sketching for some new ideas and some more custom nursery art is on the way. looking at doing some hand-painted wooden growth charts...as soon as i can get some decent wood from home depot and/or lowes...

illustration friday~mail

here is my contribution to this week's i.f. theme of 'mail'. i painted it last year so that i could use the image for my 'contact page' of my website.
http://www.theenchantedeasel.com/
it's me...in my uggs;)
btw, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all my friends out there! thank you for traveling with me on the road to becoming a successful children's illustrator:)
can't wait for lots of new endeavors in 2011...

yes, i do fine arts too...

here is something a little different (from my children's art). i just finished it and wanted to post it here...until i get the time to put another blog together for my fine arts. i am trained in fine arts so this is another side of me that i love just as much as my children's art. i thank God for the ability to do both and consider myself extremely blessed!
this is entitled "whispering amongst the tree...the melodious song of love". and no, it's not for sale (sorry). it is done on 2 16x20 canvases and uses acrylics as well as collage material. i had lots of fun using a palette knife to paint the tree:) i hope to be able to do more fine arts in 2011...that i will be selling.
stay tuned for yet another blog devoted just to my fine arts...

tobias family~custom portrait

here is one of the things i am currently working on for a christmas gift. it is a family portrait of my dear friend laura, her husband adam and their GORGEOUS littel girl mia. AND, can't forget the other members of their family...murphy and oliver, the cocker spaniels:) this will be an 11x14 and will be done by the week after christmas...due to the custom orders ahead of laura's. i can't wait to get this done for them. they are such a lovely little family and i am so happy to count laura as one of my friends:)

lila~the lilac petal pixie

here is my final fairy for the 'petal pixie' series i designed. lila is a sweet little fairy who loves the heady fragrance of lilacs....and so does her little bumblebee friend;)
lila can be found FOR SALE as a REPRODUCTION here http://www.etsy.com/listing/63938868/lila-petal-pixie-reproduction
in my etsy shop. also available in my shop are the rest of the series of 'petal pixies'...



now, onto making some christmas gifts...

sakura~the japanese cherry blossom pixie

here is another addition to my 'petal pixie' series...and undoubtedly my absolute favorite one! anyone who knows me knows i am obsessed with all things japanese/chinese...seriously! and i am crazy, crazy, crazy about cherry blossom trees. especially the japanese sakura trees...they are just gorgeous and the smell is intoxicating. one day i hope to be able to travel to japan. it has always been my dream destination place. the culture, the beauty, the simplicty...i am fascinated by all of it. so little sakura here is my homage to those lovely trees/flowers. oh, and it's also the only perfume i wear;)
next up is my final 'petal pixie' for a while...lila.

then it's time to make a few special christmas gifts...one being a large, mixed media canvas which i am excited to do!

how sweet is she....

little miss daisy petal pixie in all her glory! this turned out better than i thought (which is always a good thing;)). she is FOR SALE as a REPRODUCTION/PRINT in my etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/listing/63158944/daisy-petal-pixie-reproduction
also be sure to check out her pixie friends "blue belle" and "lily" also for sale in my shop.
up next is the beautiful oriental pixie "sakura"...the japanese cherry blossom petal pixie (and my favorite)!

lily~petal pixie #2

here is the second little pixie in my series entitled "petal pixies". her name is lily and her favorite flower is a beautiful calla lily. she carries a bouquet of them (which can be magical at times if she waves them a certain way;)). and of course, she wears them in her hair as well. lily's sweet little friend is a canary named sunshine. a REPRODUCTION of her can be found here in my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/listing/62896874/lily-petal-pixie-reproduction
and don't forget blue belle who can also be found in my shop.

coming up next will be beautiful little daisy...:)

"sneaky" illustration friday 11/19/10

an older piece from last year, but SO appropriate for this week's i.f. theme of "sneaky"!
me and my brother on christmas eve..."sneakin' a peek";)

blue belle petal pixie

meet sweet little blue belle:) my first in a series i have designed entitled 'petal pixies'. she is for sale as REPRODUCTION in my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/listing/62290393/blue-belle-petal-pixie-reproduction and ready to be framed and hung up in your little girl's room.
next up will be lilly...the calla lily petal pixie. be sure to check back soon...;)

meet lila and lily...

the last in my "petal pixie" series...for now anyway;) i need to start painting them for the holidays. i have decided to sell them in my etsy shop as REPRODUCTIONS with the pixie's name on it. i am actually already done painting blue belle and i will be posting her tomorrow!

daisy and sakura~petal pixies

meet daisy and sakura...the 2 newest petal pixies:) i have a thing for ANYTHING japanese so i am really liking sakura (based of course on the tree of the same name). i intend to do a few more sketches of these cuties over the weekend and then get to painting them next week. just in time for the holidays! check out sweet little blue belle (seen in the pic below).

meet 'bluebelle'...

she is first in a series of little fairies i am designing called 'petal pixies'. as odd as this sounds, i was inspired by the color name of a yarn i was using while crocheting. just proves inspiration can be found anywhere at anytime! i intend to do a few more and paint them up and sell them as personalized prints in my etsy shop. i'm thinking they would make the cutest little christmas gift(s) for any little girl:)
also, i am thinking of making them available as custom paintings as well...sold as originals, not prints.
below, i have attached a very ROUGH colored pencil sketch of the colors i am planning on using once i pick up the paintbrush.

the latest...

i finally have gotten my new website/blog up and running at
http://www.nicolesnurseryart.blogspot.com/
here is where i will be posting all of my custom nursery art. some already for sale in my etsy shop at http://www.enchantedeasel.etsy.com/
and samples of some custom listings. occasionally i will post them here as well. i am trying to keep this blog for my illustrations and future projects (stamps, books, etc.) and i might even post some of my fine art here as well.
the cute little bears above are listed FOR SALE in my etsy shop and my first full set of paintings since my second surgery a few weeks ago. painting has been rather difficult and painful these last few weeks due to the posterior cut in the back of my neck, but i'm slowly getting back in the game. and ready to take on custom orders for the holidays!
once again, i give thanks to the amazing neurosurgeon who fixed me and made me all better...AGAIN! words truly escape me for this man...
www.andrewfreese.com

illustration friday 10/15/10~spooky

here is my contribution to this week's i.f. theme of "spooky". this is alex and his friend andy dressed up and ready to do some tricking...and obviously a whole lot of treating;)

i love cute little halloween illustrations. i always said i wanted the first book i ever illustrated to be a halloween book. just something about cute little kids in cute little costumes...just LOVE it:)

NEW NURSERY ART WEBSITE

i FINALLY got around to finishing up my website devoted just to my custom nursery art. please take a look when you get a minute. i would appreciate any and all feedback! thank you:)
www.nicolesnurseryart.blogspot.com

illustration friday 9/24/10~old fashioned

this is my contribution to this week's i.f theme of 'old fashioned'. it's called 'sneakin' a peek'.
i can't help but remember being a little kid and sneaking downstairs with my brother EARLY on christmas morning (like we actually slept right?;)) and taking a peek to see what santa claus had bought us. the excitment, joy, anticipation and pure delight at the thought of all our toys that would hopefully be waiting for us underneath of our tree. the tree that my mom and dad used to decorate with those BIG GAUDY colored bulbs (as you can see today i prefer white lights;))! bobby (although today he prefers 'rob') and i used to wear those pj's with the feet and pretend to 'skate' around on our kitchen floors...much to my parent's dismay;)
ahhh...those were the good old days...

LET IT SNOW!!! LET IT SNOW!!! LET IT SNOW!!!

i am SUPER EXCITED to be working on my first series of rubber stamps!!! i have been working with a great lady who has her own rubber stamp company out of canada. she approached me for some fall designs earlier in the summer but due to my surgery, we kind of missed the production cut off for this fall. so...next up some winter stamps to be released this november (yay!!!). as everyone who knows me knows already, WINTER is my FAVORITE season so i couldn't have been more elated to sketch out some cute little winter designs. these are the finished inked designs. HAND-INKED...bec i'm 'old school' like that;)
more info. to follow as far as the release date...

meet alex and andy...

they are out to do a little bit of tricking...and a whole lot of treating!;) this is a sketch for a little halloween illustration i am working on this week. i LOVE LOVE LOVE cute little halloween characters. as a matter of fact, i always wanted my first picture book to be a halloween book (yeah, i'm getting there;)). i think sometimes little kids can be scared of halloween so i always wanted to do a cute take on it:)
i'm also working on some sketches this week for a line of winter rubber stamps for a great little company. stay tuned for those...and the finished painting of "trick and treat":)

self-promo fall 2010 mailer~PROOFS

well, i decided to go with vistaprint http://vistaprint.com for my self-promotional postcard/mailer. i just placed the order after receiving my proofs (above pic). delivery is slated for 2 weeks. i'm actually pleased with the way these came out. can't wait to see the printed piece...and get to mailing them to art directors!!! not too bad for my first "mailer";) SUPER EXCITED!!!

fall mailer 2010...pick me!!! pick me!!!

here it is...my fall 2010 promo piece for art directors! i love this piece (ok, i'm biased). it's ME and my tiny self a top some mighty large pumpkins:) i love fall and pumpkins and halloween and this whole time of year...especially the cool air!
next up is playing with some type/text in photoshop that will read "pick me!!! pick me!!!" i think it's appropriate for a few reasons...1)i'm in a pumpkin patch and what does one do in a pumpkin patch...pick pumpkins of course;) and reason #2) i want art directors to "pick me" for upcoming illustration jobs for kids publications.
i have always been a fan of self-promo postcards bec they are easy, accessible and pretty much a one-stop shop for your art work. it just hits them right in the face when they receive it...no envelopes to mess with. don't get me wrong, i also intend to send out tear sheets of some of my work along with a cover letter to a certain publishers. but the postcard is quick and an easy way to promote yourself:)
i'll be posting the finished piece (with text) as soon as i'm done which will be SOON so i can get started on having them printed. i think i'm going with vistaprint http://www.vistaprint.com/ this time...a good amount of postcards for a good price!

illustration friday 9/3/10~dessert

here is my submission for this week's i.f. theme of 'dessert'. just a quick sketch i did this summer for a line of fall stamps. i am hoping to be able to paint it up in COLOR soon!

finally...the whole order is COMPLETE!!!

AVA'S room is now going to be completely adorned with 5 custom paintings by ME!!! i have to say, i am relieved to finally be done with this order. it's been back and forth with slight changes made by the customer and myself for weeks! i am excited to be able to move on to the next thing...
currently i am working on a self-promo piece/postcard to be used as an autumn mailer...sketch is below. i am super excited about this piece:)))

he wants candy!!! which makes him...

IMMOVABLE~this week's illustration friday theme! i did this piece a while back and it is entitled "i want candy!" i thought this was a cute little take on the word IMMOVABLE. meet brady. he's just NOT MOVING until he gets a lollipop, a peppermint stick and maybe even a gumball or two;)

part 2 of AVA's room...left panel DONE!

here is what i have been working on for the last 2 days...the second part of a custom nursery art order for baby ava. this is a large 16x20 and there are 2 panels...this being the left. it coordinates with the name panels i did a couple weeks ago (see pic below). also, i have i have posted the pics of the sketches and bedding...obviously some changes have been made from the original sketches. but, whatever the customer wants;)