DOODLE DAY JULY - DAY 30

 

Welcome to Day 30 of the Doodle Day July drawing challenge! Only 1 more day this month - is everyone doodling? I am very proud of all of the participants and have really enjoyed seeing everyone's doodles.

I will post a summary on Thursday with one of my doodles from each day of the month and I encourage you to do the same and share the link on our Facebook Group page and Twitter. You'll see how much you have grown as a doodler by taking a few minutes to create something each day.


Today's doodle prompt is FLIP, FLAP, and FLY.



You can doodle dinosaurs or anything else that flips, flaps, or flies. Think of anything from bugs to birds to pancakes to gymnasts and create a doodle.

Some of you may already know that my debut picture book released last year, FLAP! So I am always inspired by flight. Have fun!

 

Alayne is posting tomorrow's prompt and I will post a link to it.

Don't forget about the Character-a-Day Challenge at the end of August!

Sketching My Way Into 2013

As we enter the new year, I begin with creating loose drawings in my sketchbook. Sure, I have stories to write, stories to revise and edit, and stories to send out on submission but my goals also include getting back to a time in my life when drawing was easy.

I used to draw all the time. Bold black lines. I sketched everything and journaled about anything that moved my spirit. I was a professional toy designer and created nearly a hundred sketches a week with more than a dozen renderings due every Friday morning for a meeting where I presented my ideas to corporate management.

I injured my left arm in 1996 and drawing became impossible. A goal that was unatainable. After months of physical and occupational therapy, weeks of "pain plus therapy", and years of rarely drawing, I was presented with an opportunity to illustrate a story for a picture book that I had written and already signed with a publisher. I grabbed the opportunity before it flew by me and held tight. I was in pain every day for 10 weeks. I could barely move my arm at night and had to use my right arm for most other tasks throughout the days. I illustrated FLAP! and it released in Nov 2012. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Since finishing the art for FLAP!, I have been drawing in an effort to build my illustrator portfolio. My style is cartoony and loose. I do not labor over each drawing. I can't. I participated in SkADaMo (started by Linda Silvestri) in November of 2012 and it was wonderful. I created quick sketches and drawing became fun again. Now, here we are in 2013 and I've made a promise to myself that I will not accept projects that cause me pain. I want to illustrate another of my stories but I will insist on a longer timeline than 10 weeks for a 32 page picture book or I simply can not accept the project.

Below are sketches that I created both yesterday and today. Drawings that are both loose and fun. Drawings that do not take a lot of time and do not require a level of motor control that causes a silly amount of pain. Welcome to my 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

SkADaMo 23

This is the last official day of SkADaMo 2012. Including the drawing below, I posted 23 sketches in November. I sketched every day, I just didn't post them all because I am working on a book dummy for my lastest picture book manuscript and those drawings are not ready for display. : ) I appreciate all the visitors this month and all of the wonderful comments left below my sketches. I will continue drawing every day (it is like my morning coffee) and posting many of them so keep checking back to this blog for new posts.

SkADaMo 23 - Happy New Year!
 

To see past sketches from this month, click below:

Sketch 22

Sketch 21

Sketches 19 & 20

Sketch 18

Sketches 16 & 17

Sketches 13, 14, & 15

Sketches 10, 11, & 12

Sketch 9

Sketch 8

Sketch 7

Sketches 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6

To see Linda Silvestri's Sketched Out blog with her SkaDaMo sketches and links to all the other illustrators participating in this challenge, click HERE.

Leave a comment below to let me know you stopped by.

 



FLAP! Coming Soon

FLAP!

A humorous picture book

written and illustrated by

Alison Hertz

Coming Summer 2012

FLAP! Book Trailer

My debut picture book, FLAP!,is coming this June (2012) so I have been taking steps to promote myself as an author/illustrator as well as promote the release of FLAP!. The story takes place on a beautiful autumn day with colorful leaves in the background of many of the illustrations so I filmed a little girl who looks just like my main character running and flapping on top of a mountain in October.

Here it is:

FLAP! Book Trailer