Wax Pioneer...

a brave little earplug armed with a Q-tip, boldly going places where noone else has dared!

Earplug sketches...

And the winner is...

3 crumpled lumps of wrapping paper nestle cozily in my christmas tree.

Santa's elf has already spotted the lucky wad and...

with a targeted pluck,

and a bit of uncrumpling, oohing and aahing,

unveils the lucky winner!

There you have it.

Ho, ho, ho and a merry christmas to Just Doodle It!

And special thanks to the other 2 participants... Alex from Australia + Shirley from sunny California for playing along.

Happy Holidays to all!

Christmas countdown!

Undone...

are christmas shopping and christmas wrapping and christmas sending and christmas decorating and christmas baking and christmas treats and christmas tree and, and, and... but done is my christmas dust bunny.

Check back on christmas day to see what exciting part of the world this little dust bunny will be relocating to in January 2010. And in case you want him to move in with you, there are still 4 days left to take part in my christmas present contest - see my last blog entry. And hey... I still have 4 days to do all the other stuff!

Undone...

In trying to pinpoint the difference between 'undone' and 'unfinished', I remembered the saying... 'a woman's work is never done'... which clearly leaves it undone (or available for another family member to tackle) and made me think of piles of dirty dishes, grass stains and dust bunnies. Dust bunnies being the most fun to illustrate, I went looking for them and realized that when your dust bunnies are as high as your belly button, it's time to confront them. Do it, go tackle those dust bunnies!

Merry Christmas everyone! I have some leftover homemade dust so just spontaneously decided to embrace the christmas spirit of giving and send one lucky little dust bunny to one lucky big or little person who wants to give him a good home. I have not made him yet but he will be small and matted and related to the dust bunny family above.

If you want to take part in my christmas present contest, all you have to do is leave a comment completing my sentence with your own creative verb.

_______ that dust bunny! (p.s. - tackle is already taken)

Use your imagination... the deadline is christmas eve and the winner will be chosen and notified on christmas day naturally.

Have fun + don't forget to relax and enjoy your holidays.

Do you see what I see?

I had lots of fun creating these accidental inkblots.

Making music...

a pale plaid piper + puffin

Music...

I already posted this (but not in connection with Illustration Friday) a few months back. It fits so nicely with this week's IF topic that I couldn't resist.

Discovering my fascination for birds...

Unbalanced...

Indian faces...

Random sketches...

A blurry flurry...

Skinny...

This is an old one which has been lying around in the drawer for a few years. I painted it back in 2003/04 when I decided (for the 2nd time) to make a serious attempt at telling a story with pictures. Since then, I've studied illustration for 2 years at the 'Fachhochschule' in Muenster and I try to sketch/draw/paint/whatever every day. Today, I see so many things that don't work in this picture (Hmmm, where are that giraffe's legs?) and I also like to hope that my watercolor technique has improved since then. I still like the characters though and am motivated to let them out of their drawer, recycle them and see what happens.

Lots of other things keeping me busy this week but all the while, this image kept running through my head so here is my sketch for

fast...

unveiling the secret of the Rennschnecke (translates to something like speedy snail)!

Germs...

Stripes...

(An oldie but stripy :)

Pig on a pattern, etc...

Infinite Apples Up On Top...

Inspired by a book I love which accompanied me throughout my years of being a kid and beyond.

The Welcoming Committee...

Magnify...

Caution...

is advised when landing on objects with horns!

(I like this idea but grow weak at the sight of blood... thus I chose to show the soft landing.)

Caution...

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

(click to enlarge)

Caution...

My owl story is developing...

Owl is such a groovy shade of blue in the 2nd illustration because he has landed on the hood of a taxi and skidded into the windshield!

Little bat

wrapped...

his feet around the branch and hung out.

Impatience...

Owl proclaims his love! Will it be requited?

Modify...

A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape. (Mark Twain)

Egbert gazed wistfully at the door and adopted a new motto. 'See square, be square', he told himself and consequently, modified his monocle.

Hi, I'm back and the opposite of

idle...

is 'busy' naturally.

Bicycle...

I'm busy, busy, busy right now but just happened to have this old

sweater...

lying around.

Drifting...

a la North Pole + just under the wire.

Work in progress...

Still thinking about how I want to render the polar bear's shadow and if I still want to add some darker tones to the rear part of its body. I also need to work on his ear. But first, I'll add color to the ringed seal and the ice fisherman. Stay tuned.

Drifting...

(Only my sketch but at least you get my drift. I'm wrestling with time at the moment but I'll post my illustration when it is finished.)