Caricatures, Silhouettes and Illustrations by Leona Hosack

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. ...

So excited to announce that my book "Babysitter Blues" published by One Voice Press is now available at Barnes and Noble.com. Click here to  order  it!: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/babysitter-blues-leona-hosack/1120693411?ean=9780989115261 Here's a caricature I did recently for a recipient of a gift certificate given out when I did caricatures at the  Franklin County Fair in Greenfield, Mass two years ago! It is soon to be posted as a sample in my Etsy shop.   "Let's Be Friends" an illustration I worked on recently just for practice. A new piece for my portfolio! Happy Drawing!

Title: "Bearly Asleep" The theme this week over at illustrationfriday.com  is Sleep! Does this little sleeping child look happy or what? I had fun with graphite and watercolor pencil in this one!

This is my latest submission to Illustration Friday. The theme this week is "Disguise" Felt like practicing my "face painted" butterfly in an illustration just for fun! After all face painting is a form of disguise. Right? I needed to practice my face painting again and my granddaughter Bailey was happy to oblige. She wanted a dragon this time. How cute! I tried it on me too.

Story-telling!  It's such and important part of visual art, believe it or not. Especially in illustration! When I saw that the Theme of this week's Illustration Friday challenge is "Refrain" I instantly thought of two meanings of the word. Refrain-to keep from doing something, and -the chorus of a song. I think I managed to depict them both in this illustration. What do you think? What is the story here? The illustration below is one I did a few years back for a book idea I had called "Katy Has A Kitty." I still have a lot to learn about story telling in Illustration but practicing helps! My newest submission to Illustration Friday! The theme this week is "Refrain"! Cover for "Katy Has A Kitty". Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite American artists!  He was both an amazing portrait artist and illustrator! I remember with fondness visiting the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. with my family when I was a kid. And throug...

Black and white caricature sketch of Justin as a pilgrim. Thanksgiving is here again. So hard to believe! I had a wonderful trip with my husband a few days ago to visit our son and daughter-in-law and their 5 month old daughter down in South Carolina. We are so thankful to have been able to finally meet this granddaughter, our third  grandchild. And we are so grateful that we live right down the road from the other two granddaughters and can see them often! Here is a caricature I did for someone for Thanksgiving. The black and white sketch is above.  Justin as a pilgrim in color. Plus I thought it would be fun to include a video on how to draw a turkey for kids. I think I'll be sharing this video with my older granddaughters today. They are 8 and 3 years old! H ere's my latest submission to Illustration Friday! The theme this week is "Shadow"! I thought it would be fun to draw a little girl catching her shadow in the act of sticking out it...