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I recently did an illustration for my cousin's lovely little boy Levi. The London scene is something a bit different for me, but it was really fun to paint!

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I'm back from summer break! Not that summer is entirely over: here in Colorado, it's still a balmy eighty-something degrees, with no end in sight... I'm kind of looking forward to fall, to tell you the truth.

But it's back to school time, which means I'm back to work. I'm writing a crime novel for adults (work-in-progress, stay tuned), and generally getting caught up with what's happening in mystery, YA, MG and for us grown-ups.

And back-to-work also means I'm stocking up on school supplies while they're on the shelves, including a good stack of spiral notebooks. They're my tool of choice when outlining, brainstorming, pretty much anything to do with writing. I should plant a tree for all the paper I go through...

How about you?? What are you up to? Read anything good lately?

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Meet Patience the hare!

Here are some photos of my painting process...










































And finally, it had to be done, a hare selfie!!

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A bit late, but I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

I was a very busy bee at the end of 2014 working on a couple of exciting commissions, which I can hopefully share soon. In the meantime, here is a christmas illustration I did for my cousin's baby boy who lives over in New York!

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I've got a very exciting delivery in the post this week! Earlier in the year I worked on a fun commission for the US children's magazine High Five and illustrated the front cover of their November issue. The brief involved bears, autumn, knitting and jumpers...some of my favourite things! It was a lovely brief to work on and it's an amazing feeling to think my artwork is all over the US at the moment! My cousin, who lives in New York, went on a hunt for a copy and bought hers in Barnes & Noble New York! Yay! Please let me know if you live in the US and see the magazine...it's out now!

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Those who've been following my antics for a while may remember I draw a regular monthly comic illustration for Japanese airline ANA's inflight magazine Wingspan. Here's a recent selection with links to the article themes.

Experiments indicate that carrying a musical instrument makes you sexier

The illustrations accompany short news snippets collected from around the world, unbelievable-but-true nuggets from the obscure depths of journalism, they're always fun to draw because the topics are invariably oddball and sometimes bizarre.

Appenzell New Year Bell Ringers in Switzerland

Report about an exhibition of work by Cholla the Painting Horse

I love to explore visual ideas, so when I receive the brief I send the designer a selection of sketches to choose from. I like to explore fantasy and surrealism, but for this series the stories are often odd enough in themselves they don't need much embellishment, I'm under instructions to play it straight for the most part.

Beard Advertising

The world's only modern day School for Gladiators

Although I work a lot with Photoshop I wouldn't call myself a digital-expert illustrator by any standards, I prefer to hinge my drawings on hand drawn pen lines and keep the pixel-manipulation simple and minimum. One of the most satisfying things about creating these drawings is that they allow me to explore textures and colour schemes within the parameters of my style.

Guinness World Record attempt for Most People Dressed as a Penguin in One Place

Since beginning this series I've learned a lot about the human world, this is indeed a remarkable planet we live on!

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My agent for children's books in the USA is the Laura Rennert of the marvellous Andrea Brown Literary. This year the head of the agency Andrea is celebrating a milestone birthday, and the other agents had the idea to commission a piece of original artwork from one of the agency's illustrators to be framed and presented as a gift from the staff.

Guess which artist they chose?

I painted Andrea and the staff in front of a cabin of Big Sur Lodge, where the agency holds it's annual Writing Workshops, a location that has deep significance and is full of memories for the agency.

The painting, which measures 43 x 37cm, was presented to Andrea on her birthday.... last night!

Many happy returns Andrea!

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 Hey everyone! Just a couple more quick illustrations of some pups sporting some very fetching jumpers. I'm trying to get some new work done at the moment ready for an exhibition I have coming up next month. The show is taking place at the Gardens Gallery in Cheltenham and will have work by me and a few other very talented ladies! I'll post all the details in the next week or so if you are interested.

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Hello everyone and Happy Sunday! Just a bit of fun with these two illustrations, if you follow me on Twitter you may have already seen a glimpse of them! They were inspired by an old knitting pattern for doggy jumpers my Gran found in a charity shop. There are three more I've still got to paint and I'll post a pic of the knitting pattern with the rest of them because it's so funny! Hope you like them. You can follow me on Twitter here... Lucy_Boden :-)

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Happy Easter to everyone! Hope you are all having a lovely, relaxing weekend and enjoying your chocolate eggs!

I'm afraid I don't have an Easter illustration to share with you, but instead here is a little character study I've been working on recently. One of my NY resolutions this year was to become more confident with drawing and painting children/people characters and this is my first attempt. I want to move on to doing characters more suited to picture books, but I figure this is a good start!


Please follow the link to take a look at my painting process...
I thought it would be nice to show a glimpse into my painting process for this illustration. These are just a few quick snaps, but I will definitely be doing a more in depth post about my process soon. I love reading these kind of posts on other blogs and seeing how illustrators/artists create their work.

I paint in Windor & Newton gouache using a sable brush (at the moment I'm using a Pro Arte one in size 4, but I have a variety that I use). My basic process starts with a pencil outline, which I trace onto watercolour paper using a light box. My painting process goes something like this...I start by painting a base colour, then add light and shadow and blend out. Once this is done I will add details such as eyes, hair, fur, grass etc.




A very simple explanation, but you get the idea I hope! Please link me to any of your process posts, I would love to have a nosey at them!

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend :-)

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I love getting things in the mail. These arrived recently– maps for an ongoing series of books about the USA for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. More states to come!

(Hairy Little Assistant #1 likes to read.)

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In just a few more days it will be officially Fall!  My absolute favorite time of year!  It feels like the HOT balloon of summer has been pricked and it is slowly releasing all the hot air, giving way to cool mornings and evenings. The studio is a bustle of activity.  New dreams and new hopes are coming alive.

You may say, all of that?… just because it is September 12th?  Aren’t you depressed because things are dying?  No!  Not at all.  Every season is glorious!  All have their pros and cons but for the most part, I love them all and I love being…. ALIVE!  haha!

The last few weeks have been busy with preparations for my SCBWI conference (http://www.scbwi.org/). I am a speaker and I am so excited.  I love meeting more creative people and hearing about their dreams.  The air is charged whenever we meet.

After that it is back to my studio for more fun!  There is never a dull moment. Ideas are bouncing off the walls at times and knowing which one to work on is my biggest problem.

So, back to work with me! Happy Fall!

Filed under: Work is Play....?

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© Holly DeWolf- It's The Little Things

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© Holly DeWolf- Mermaid

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© Holly DeWolf

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© Holly DeWolf

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© Holly DeWolf

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©Holly DeWolf

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© Holly DeWolf

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© Holly DeWolf

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Gadzooks! Did you know Tony Cliff has completed his first graphic novel—Delilah Dirk: The Turkish Lieutenant (all 160 pages of which are viewable online FOR FREE!)—and has now embarked on a second volume? You do now!

A brand-new Delilah Dirk adventure, blossoming this Spring! Delilah seeks to extract a signature from a tyrannical property owner while coping with an obnoxious merchant and a handful of Turkey’s sourest apples. Delilah Dirk and the Seeds of Good Fortune (working title) will be 36 pages of self-published high-quality black & white adventure (plus full-colour covers).

The second book will debut at TCAF, as well as VanCAF, and San Diego Comic-Con this year. 

(via Delilah Dirk and the Seeds of Good Fortune)

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©Holly DeWolf- And We All Float On!

This is my latest illustration loosely based on the song, Float On by Modest Modest. Day to day we float on, carry on, create on and live on. We have good days and challenging days. We can be happy as Larry one moment and then have moments when we need to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off... but we all float on, alright!

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