kid lit art

Georgie is about to have a bad day

| Gina Lento

I have a few “prepped” homemade sketchbooks with patterned backgrounds that I use for characters. Sort of like a staged background. Today I used the background to randomly “find” a character.

This guy almost jumped off the page. But then he looks very terrier-ish so that would be normal for a terrier.

Georgie is a happy guy. Everyone loves him except……

The Cat Bully….

Happy Labor Day

| Gina Lento

We are less than a month away from Inktober and that means the return of the Little Witch and her Dragon.

They are taking a vacation at the shore and are enjoying their Labor Day on the beach. Dragons love the sun on their hides. The laughing gulls are wondering if there are any handouts coming. The Little Witch is enjoying her latest issue of Broom Network Magazine where she is picking up decorating ideas, recipes and reading about the new cauldrons and brooms that are coming out this Fall.

Soon, it will be pumpkin and apple picking time!

((This is the raw sketch. There are some things that I would def tweak if I did this digitally but the joys or working with traditional materials are the quirks and happy accidents that make original art…original….))

I used Arches Text Wove paper and didn’t realize that the watermark is on every page of this sketchbook….LOL. At least I know it’s genuine! This paper is a little more textured which makes the pens I use act up a little bit but I am finding ways to work with it. Watercolor would def work better but I have a set color palette for the Little Witch series with Arteza Brush pens.)

Ooops

| Gina Lento

I forgot to post this bunny. Lol. I thought I had and scrolled through and yup, no post. So one more bunny, coming up!

Gigi practices for the cheerleading tryouts every day. She wants it to become an Olympic Sport and wants to get the first Gold medal.

(I had to check to ensure it wasn’t a sport yet, lol.)

Jenny

| Gina Lento

There, hidden in the palms! Jenny saw another creature, just like her!

This is an abbreviated version of what I just wrote about Jenny. Jenny is already, unexpectedly, becoming a story. Yeah, she’s weird looking and could potentially be scary

But looks are often deceiving, aren’t they?

This is an Artist Trading Card sized art. ATCs are traded between artists and they have to be 2.5 x 3.5 in. I prepped a few ATC sized pieces because I can do those quicker than larger pieces. And I can also work on them from anywhere.

An ACEO (Art Cards, Edition and Collection is a ATC that an artist sells. I have seen ATCs/ACEOs that were framed very nicely. They are tiny art but they are also fun to collect.

Carmella

| Gina Lento

Just hatched this morning, everything was new to Carmella. She looked down at her feet.

“Wow, what are those? Can I eat them?“

This is an Artist Trading Card sized art. ATCs are traded between artists and they have to be 2.5 x 3.5 in. I prepped a few ATC sized pieces because I can do those quicker than larger pieces. And I can also work on them from anywhere.

An ACEO (Art Cards, Edition and Collection is a ATC that an artist sells. I have seen ATCs/ACEOs that were framed very nicely. They are tiny art but they are also fun to collect.

Think of them as baseball cards for artists.

Where did the bunnies go?

| Gina Lento

I am happy to say that the bunny sketchbook is full, so I can retire that one to the bookcase shelf. It’s time to move on from bunnies to other creatures. In the mean time, here’s some odd birds……

The green parrot and sapsucker hummingbird were not happy that a bunch of groundhog faeries moved into the neighborhood.

They liked to spit blueberry juice.

The green parrot, sapsucker hummingbird and groundhog faerie.