Ocelot

Smartie Birds, Mixed Media

Two little birds on a dictionary page from 1936. Just a fun thing I stopped to work on.

IF Topic : Wheel

My Illustration Friday submission for this week:

Picking Out a Lawn Ornament, Colored Pencil and Ink on Bristol Board

Here's a little bit of the process:

Lately, I've been missing summer (I always miss summer as soon as Christmas is over...). This is a farmer character I've been working on. So, thinking about summer....and wheels..and yard art (who doesn't love yard art?)...I decided this farmer needed a pinwheel for his yard. Here he is picking one out.

Owliphont

A fun illustration I did...all for myself!

Colored Pencil and Ink on Bristol Board

New Lady

New Lady, Colored Pencil and Ink on Bristol Board

Oswald and Egbert with a new friend. ACEO (2.5"x3.5") card - colored pencil and ink.

Madman

An illustration rough for a client:

Madman, Colored Pencil on Bristol Board

Mug Giveaway WINNERS!

WINNERS!

So, the time has finally come to announce the winners from the giveaway!
All entries were put on a list in the order they signed up, and then Random.org was used to generate number picks.

First up is the GRAND PRIZE winner of the hand-painted Walter mug:

Annnnddd it's HAPPYGRAPE! @happygrape2
WoooHOoo!

Next are the following 10 winners of prints:

1. Cindy @oxcindyxo
2. Heather Peagler @bestgirkfriend
3. Melanie Chan @MLCillustration
4. Plantie Bee @Plantiebee
5. Tara Lazar @taralazar
6. Shawna @shawnajctenney
7. Cathy Hatterman @catinhatt
8. happygrape @happygrape2
9. Lydia Ondrusek @littlefluffycat
10. beadsofcambaydotcom @beads_of_cambay

Congratulations to all the winners and a HUGE thank you to all those who participated!
I will be contacting the winners to get print choices as well as mailing addresses!
You can follow me on Twitter: @almiart for the latest updates and announcements.

Look out for more giveaways to come - for the next few weeks I will be giving away ORIGINAL drawings every Friday! I have a huge project coming down the pike and I'm hoping to get lots of people paying attention to this blog before I make the announcement! So, stay posted!

ALMI

What a Stretch...!

This week's Illustration Friday topic - Suspended

He thought up such a great plan.

Everything was set..but there was a slight hitch in the process.

Still undaunted, but slightly suspended from success:

Not sure how he will get out of this one, but as long as the cat stays away he will be fine.

I was going to add a background, but changed my mind...seemed like it might get a little busy and the tension would be lost. Working on this little mouse for my upcoming project... (still a secret!)

IF - Puzzled

Here is the story of Bronton the bird.

All his friends call him "Watt," but until you know him better you can call him Bronton.
Is this the face of a Puzzled character?

Certainly not.

He's called Watt for a reason - he has an answer for everything and lights up like a lightbulb at a challenge.

He's read the dictionary front to back 7 times and has it memorized pretty much word-for-word.

In fact talking to him is like reading a dictionary. Or Thesaurus. Or Encyclopidia. 

Even when he hasn't read about it, he can make an educated guess to answer any question.

Who needs the World Wide Web when you have Bronton around?

Puzzled?

Just ask Bronton.

But you might get more than you bargained for.

For sale in my Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/97733434/almi-art-bronton-aceo-vintage-book-page

Life Is Like a Bowl of Fish

It took me a while to come up with an idea for this week's Illustration Friday topic "yield." Eventually, I thought about circumstances that might yield one outcome or another, and this was what resulted:

It made me smile - I hope it does the same for you.

Oh, the Places I'd Like to Go!

This week's theme for IF was "Intentional" and today happens to be Dr. Seuss's birthday.

I absolutely love his work (he is very much an inspiration to mine) and have drawn him in the past. I see him as a very "intentional artist" with his bright colors and bold lines. He created a whole new genre of children's books that were nothing like the traditional "Dick and Jane" stories his generation was used to. Once, when at a book signing, he disappeared into a back room, where they later found him striking out the prices on boxes of new "Dr. Seuss" shoes and repricing them because they were too expensive. He never read his books in public, got very angry if reproductions of his work looked "cheap," and created all kinds of personal work that never was published.

Here is my "intentional" entry in colored pencil:

The time had come,

But Marvin said "NO!"

So Walter climbed on the Crunk-Car

And set it to "slow."

But slow was no fun,

Slow would not do.

So he cranked it to "fast"

and, boy, that thing flew!

I'm a little disappointed in how the colors came out when I photographed that one - in the original the blue is bluer, the owl is teal and the tree is orange. Also, I wanted to include the portrait of Seuss that I did two years ago for a Museum show. I realized I never put this into a blog, so I wanted to make sure I did! :) It's all colored pencil (no ink or any other mediums) and it's 18"x24" (poster size). I was illustrating his less-know characters with a little of my own style and coloring - little did I know they'd be making a movie out of the Lorax!

It's framed for my Office:

Wish I could have met him!

Preparing for Lift-Off

Took some extra time on this week's Illustration Friday theme "Capable" and came up with this:

"Preparing for Lift-Off"
A capable teacher, an optimistic student,

Perhaps this lesson is not really prudent.

But the charts all look right - it's possible to fly

And he's always heard "It never hurts to try."

ALMI Owls :: Egbert :: Walter

Colored Pencil on Bristol Board

I kinda took the theme and ran with it. Nothing came to mind for "Capable" for a while, but I started thinking about my owls, and which one was the least capable flier. It then just made sense for the smartest owl to try and teach him. :)

On a side note, my sister was laughing at me yesterday because I try to use my pencils to the fullest:

Which can get a little ridiculous.

I hope to hear from you!

Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

          A new ACEO card for my La Chat series:

"Fly, Little Bluebird"

ALMI Art :: La Chat

Colored Pencil on Bristol Board

          And a new illustration for theme "Soap" over at Monday Artday:

"Rub-A-Dub"
ALMI Owls :: La Chat
Colored Pencil on Bristol Board

If you are interested in buying prints or originals Click Here.
Thanks for looking!

Dream A Little Dream...

Two new ACEO's for your viewing pleasure :)

   

Owls can dream too.
Colored Pencil on Bristol Board
ALMI Owls :: LeVert : Walter

A Plethora

A new illustration from my La Chat series:

Colored Pencil on Bristol Board
This is a small tribute to Dr. Seuss.
To purchase prints click Here (bid starts at $.01).

Happy Birthday Bob

Today is Bob Marley's birthday (or at least everyone thinks it is :), so I decided to do an ACEO card in honor of the event.

I enjoyed drawing it. I debated for quite a while on the background, but I felt I needed to keep the Jamaican colors. I did add a pattern to give it more of my style.

I sell my ACEO cards on eBay, you can see Bob Marley by Clicking Here.

My husband and I went to Jamaica for our Honeymoon, and Marley's face was on everything! I absolutely LOVE the Jamaican accent. They said with out his glasses, my husband looked Jamaican (his bone structure and dark skin), so he tried to talk Jamaican the whole time.

It's A Spring Thing

Illustration Friday :: Tension

Love Hexagon
Colored Pencil
ALMI Owls (from left to right) :: Bradbury : Walter : LeVert : Oswald : Egbert : Gertrude : Regina

What creates more tension than undefined admiration around Valentine's Day? This was a great chance to put most of my owls on one page. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I did creating it.

My original drawing is for sale on eBay Here.

Leave me some LOVE! :)
P.S. Regina came out a little more blue in the photo than in the original - she is Parma Purple in person.

'Shrooms

Crazy Amigo Challenge :: Mushrooms

Just a Few Friends and Some 'Shrooms

Interested in buying this ACEO card? Bid for it on eBay (starting price at $.01) by Clicking Here.
To view the challenge on the Crazy Amigo blog Click Here.

Those Early Morning Days

Homeowner, or Tree-owner, we all have the daily chore of putting up with the neighbors.

Created this for a blog I am part of: Monday Artday

Subject: Daily Chores

ACEO (3.5"x2.5") SOLD on eBay

Owl My Love

:: sketchbook of owls ::

I hope you enjoy my work. This is a blog dedicated to my personal creations for eBay.

Would you like to own an ALMI print or original? Check out my work on eBay by searching for:

ALMI art

Here are the other blogs I am currently running:

crazyladyillustration - more of my work

Turquoise Umbrella - Graphic Inspiration



"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living." - Dr. Seuss