Friday, April 24, 2009

Illustration Friday: Theater


This has to be the fastest I've whipped up an illustration in a long time! I actually scribbled a little pencil doodle while on hold with tech support this afternoon, then I scanned it in and painted it in Photoshop after dinner. I'm still pretty new to digital painting and can't imagine going 100% digital, but it's fun to try and I think it's growing on me.

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Friday, April 10, 2009

Pause button / Interruption momentanée des programmes


No time for Illustration Friday this week, I'm off to hang out under palm trees with the Easter bunny. Happy Easter everyone and see you in a week or two!

V.F.: Pas de barbouillage cette semaine, j'ai rencart sous les palmiers avec le lapin de Pâques. Il va pas avoir l'air con en paréo, lui. Allez, joyeuses Pâques les zamis et à dans une semaine ou deux si j'ai pas trop la flemme.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Cherry blossoms / Le temps des cerises (ou presque)


Last weekend we went to see the blooming Yoshino cherry trees at the UW. These 30 trees lining the liberal arts quadrangle are somewhat of a local landmark and draw huge crowds of blossom viewers in the spring. It's our local Sakura festival, I suppose. Sadly their lifespan is limited and they are declining; hopefully they will get replaced with something equally graceful.
More photos here: http://depts.washington.edu/mediarel/galleries/cherryblossoms/

V.F.: Ce weekend, on a fait un tour sur le campus de l'université de Washington pour voir les cerisiers Yoshino en fleurs. 30 cerisiers longent le square entouré par les bâtiments de la fac de lettres et sont un peu une curiosité locale; ils attirent toujours les foules au printemps. C'est donc un peu le mini-Sakura Festival du coin. Ils ont malheureusement une espérance de vie limitée et sont sur le déclin; on espère que leurs remplaçants seront à la hauteur!
Pour plus de photos: http://depts.washington.edu/mediarel/galleries/cherryblossoms/

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Saturday, April 04, 2009

Illustration Friday: Talisman


Pink bunny or lucky underwear: never go to a job interview without your talisman.

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Friday, April 03, 2009

Easter preview

The Easter bunny outdid himself and brought me a care package all the way from France! French Easter candy is definitely one of the things I miss from home (along with socialized medicine, but we won't go there).

Pâtisseries typically sell fancy Easter confections: large, hollow chocolate eggs, chickens, rabbits or bells (more on bells later), wrapped in ribbons and filled with smaller candy: little marzipan vegetables (I've always liked the little cauliflowers best!); "friture" (little chocolates shaped like fish, shrimp, mussels...); pastel-colored fondant eggs; little praliné eggs... They traditionally come in distinctive pastel, illustrated cardboard boxes.

So why the bell motif? In France, Catholic tradition oblige, it is church bells on their way to Rome that bring candy, not the Easter bunny. I've been told many times that flying bells that drop candy don't make sense, but personally I don't see how bunnies carrying little baskets make any more sense ;)

V.F.: Bon ben je traduis pas hein, tout le monde sait ce que c'est les oeufs de Pâques, ce qui va dedans, ce qui va autour... Merci les cloches, qui sauront se reconnaître!

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Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Kreativ Blogger Award


Many thanks to the talented Eva for giving me this award! Check out her blog if you don't know it already, her work is a delight. It is now my turn to pass the award to other bloggers and share things I love. So here we go, 7 things I love...
  1. My family and old friends, and picking up right where we left even if we haven't seen each other for a while.
  2. Cooking something nice and enjoying it over the course of a long, leisurely meal and good conversation.
  3. Getting lost in art supplies stores and losing track of time.
  4. Reading. I can't go to sleep, no matter how late it is, unless I've read at least a couple of pages.
  5. Goes with #4... books. Made with paper, that is. I'm no technophobe, far from it, and I will read news online, but I can't get into the whole e-book thing.
  6. Waking up to the sound of rain, warm in my bed and knowing I don't have to get up for a while!
  7. Coming home after a trip.
... and 7 blogs I'd like to give the award to:
[Note to the selected bloggers: You're off the hook if you already got the award or if tagging isn't your thing, I just like your work and blogs :) ]