Caricatures, Silhouettes and Illustrations by Leona Hosack

  Quarentine Projects! What things or projects I have been able to focus on during the last 5 or 6 months during Quarentine that I may not have done before? This is a question I've been asked a few times recently. I appreciate that I already had some projects in the works and something to focus on besides all the changes going on around us! I've was pretty busy but not so busy that I didn't have time to walk on the beach several times a week with my sweet husband, which was and still is absolutely wonderful!  I learned a few more chords on the ukelele! And like everyone else I learned and am still learning a lot more about reaching out to friends online via Zoom and other platforms! I finally had time to finish the illustrations for two children's books that I was in the middle of illustrating. One is the third in a series of Mr. Muffins books, written by Bill Pagum. The other a middle reader called Jelly Bean Jones written by Jane Fraser. And I'm about to launch in...

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!