Caricatures, Silhouettes and Illustrations by Leona Hosack

A number of years ago, I went to a children's book conference at the University of Mass. with some friends. We got to see Tomie Di Paola (StregaNona, etc.) speak about his Italian-Irish family and how he based many of his books on his upbringing in that culture.  One of the workshops I took that day was presented by the noted African-American children's book illustrator James Ransome. He showed slides of his work and discussed his method of illustration and especially how he used composition to compliment the action in his books! After the workshop I got to ask him a question I had because I was working on a children's book at the time that featured an African-American child.  I asked about illustrating children from a different culture or race of your own. I had recently read an article saying that illustrators or writers should stay within their own race or culture in their artistic endeavors. In other words, since I'm white do I have the right to illustrat...

Happy Valentine's Day! Been going through my digital art files and found these designs for cards I made a while ago. Not sure if I still have the originals, but  thought I'd share these here. I love cut paper collage! Most of my work is portrait work- caricature, silhouettes, or pencil portraits, as well as illustrations for kid books. The materials I usually rely on include, colored pencils, art stix, permanent markers, or even watercolor. But not often collage or cut paper except in silhouettes! However I did include some collage along with watercolor in my book Kamal's Day (available from www.bahaibookstorestore.com). I find that using cut paper or collage is a way of freeing up my style and allowing me to move places artisically, that I don't usually work with. This is the cover for Kamal's Day.   I used bits and pieces of collage paper, including some origami paper, in every illustration. The first illustration in Kamal's Day. ...

Here are some samples, that I drew from looking at faces in google search. I think I typed in "faces of Diversity".  I included these "practice" caricatures in my Etsy Shop as samples for custom orders. Valentines Day is coming and I like to offer my custom work as possible gifts for any specific holiday coming up! Here is a silhouette item I'm offering: Hand-cut Silhouettes in a hand-cut border! And yes, it's Mandala Monday. So here is my favorite video on making mandalas! It shows how to keep track of the marks you make, and encourages you to turn the paper to make marks in a circular pattern. It's a very user -friendly video and specifically designed for beginners! Happy Drawing!

I tried to get this blog post out yesterday but my computer was down . It's back up now, so I'm sharing some more mandalas today! I've been keeping a mandala sketchbook for a couple of years now. I find it almost as effective  as meditating and is a  calming and reflective activity that helps me center myself, and gives me what I need to move on positively in my day. I enjoy adding quotes from my favorite authors! Here are some samples from my sketchbook, which is a small beautiful leather sketchbook, which was given to me by a friend a couple of years ago. "If anxiety tells you to seek greener pastures, remember that desire is your navigator, while anxiety is a witless liar" A great quote from Martha Beck! Just a soothing design! "Ye are the stars in the heaven of understanding..." From The Baha'i Writings. My little leather sketchbook. Happy Drawing!

I love doodling! And doodling in the form of Mandalas is something I've been doing a lot lately- just for fun! It's very relaxing and meditative to me. And sometimes I work in a quote that I like! So I am devoting every Monday's blog post to sharing some of my mandalas! The quote below is from the Baha'i Writings. And this quote is also from the Baha'i Writings! The marks at the left are a record of the type of lines I used in this Mandala. Happy Drawing!

The cover art for Jamilla Does Not Want A Bat In Her House soon to be available from www.bahaibookstore.com So excited that soon (hopefully in time for the Baha'i winter holiday called Ayyam-i-ha, in February) the picture book Jamilla Does Not Want A Bat In Her House, written by Phyllis Ring and illustrated by me, will be released by Bellwood Press! This is the first sketch I came up with for page 3 of the book. I ended up changing the format when I learned more of what the editors wanted in terms of size and shape. Jamila watching her parents trying to catch the bat! In the text it mentions Jamila getting dizzy watching the bat fly, so I decided to add some lines and stars to show the dizziness! The color version of page 3! And h ow do you go about developing a character for a children's book anyway?  Below is a great video by my favorite illustration teacher Will Terry on how to do just that!   Happy Drawing!

Well, It's the start of a new year again, right? Time to take stock of what you accomplished in the last year and make new goals for this new one? Right? Oil Painting of a girl in yellow dress by me. I've looked at quite a few videos concerning goal making, especially for artists and freelancers, and the one thing I'd like to say about goal setting is: that if it makes you feel happy and excited I would go ahead with it, but if trying any goal setting method makes you miserable or makes you feel like it's a hopeless cause, why bother?  Anyway I like this video and found it especially helpful. Hope you will too!