I'll begin my weekly post with a sketch for Illustration Friday's theme - Lesson. Last week we were desperately out of food in our house. Old Mother Hubbard's dog was long keeled over. So I did the unthinkable - I grocery shopped with two children. Allow me to set the scene: Fry and Sprout had been to Sweet Cece's Yogurt joint earlier in the day and the sugar buzz was just ratcheting into high gear. Then there was the Holy Grail of shopping carts in the waiting area, the red Shop Buggy. After they clambered in with Sprout riding shotgun, I (stupidly) agreed to let them remain unbuckled. We set off to purchase wholesome and nutritious food.
Fast forward forty-five minutes.
We are now exiting the store. Instead of following my carefully prepared list I have purchased spaghetti sauce, but no spaghetti; a gallon of milk, some pretzel crackers, and a box of Kroger breakfast bars. We also have in tow, not one, but two helium filled balloons that a store employee foisted upon me as we rounded Aisle 9 in a well meaning attempt to distract my little darlings from starting a chain reaction of falling soup cans with their outstretched arms.
Said balloons are attached to two giant suckers.
Just what we need, more sugar.
For a while afterward Baby Sprout was content to garner Mommy's attention by slathering her unwrapped sucker along the floor beneath the Shop Buggy. Fry popped his lollipop directly in his mouth and proceeded to garner Sprouts attention by encouraging her to pop her balloon - and when she didn't fall for it, trying to pop it himself.
Thus we become one of those families in the Nippers Corner Kroger.
The moral of the story? It is better to drive through McDonald's for the third time this week than attempt to keep your wits, your coupons, and your calorie counts in order while accompanying two children to the grocery store.
Lesson learned.
However it was not all cheap dusty suckers this week for the Fabulous Illustrator
I did have some sweets, particularly these sketches for a licensing project. Each cupcake will be for a different greeting card - birthday, new baby, wedding etc, Here's some of the sketches. These will be done with flatter color and some repeating patterns behind them. Again a bit of a departure from my usual style but I'm really digging this not having to worry about light source thing.
The first few sketches:
The final sketch for the wedding cupcake:
And finally I'm pleased to show the first finished illo in my "portfolio facelift" series. This is for The Princess and the Pea
7 comments:
Man, are your kids lucky - we don't have red shop buggies or helium balloons in our supermarkets! The sketch is hilarious. Move to Tasmania if you want a duller shopping experience.
I really enjoyed this post. It's great that you are juggling it all successfully! The Princess and the Pea illo is great.
Oy! I feel your pain (and I only have one child to wrangle on shopping trips). You did far better than I would have!
Family bonding :) Love your Princess and the Pea illo.
All of this is fantastic. The evil queen is priceless. And shopping with little ones can be a disaster. I overheard a mother with FOUR young boys in the dairy aisle sort of shouting.. "WHO put that PIe in here!" They were such eager helpers.
I really love both your art and your blog!
Oh Mary, commiserations on the supermarket trip. I too have two and having to take them grocery shopping frankly sends chills up my spine. But on the up side it does make for a great story and an even better illustration. : )
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