Caricatures, Silhouettes and Illustrations by Leona Hosack

Here are the finals in color for the book I've been working on for the US Baha'i Publishing Trust (Bellwood Press) Jamilla Does Not Want A Bat In Her House! So happy to be done, but also sad!  I had so much fun developing these drawing for Phyllis Ring's wonderful book about a girl dealing with her fears of a bat that's invaded her home! I love how Jamilla deals with her fears and I love how Phyllis resolves the issue of how to take care of the bat. That's a hint"take care"! I won't give away the ending!  Please buy the book to find out! A great gift for any child in your life who has ever had to deal with a fear!  Bellwood Press will be releasing this hopefully sometime later this year! It will be available on www.bahaibooks.com so keep a watch out for it! 

I had a chance to do this portrait of a mom and her two little ones for Mother's Day! The photo I worked with is below. I used a little artistic liscense, in adjusting the size of the boy on the left. I wanted the mom to be a little taller than the kids. It just seemed to work better visually. Working with the shadows on their faces was fun! Below are some of the facepainting work I've done lately.  My granddaughter Pheadra wanted the Cat with flowers design! Meow! My other granddaughter Bailey wanted the cat/flower face too! It was her birthday party! Other guests at the party! Below is an insightful talk by my favorite illustration teacher and children's book artist Will Terry. Good advice about time management for artists!

Pencil Portrait with descriptive words! Information on ordering a similar portrait design from a photo click here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/230405489/custom-pencil-portrait-with-descriptive?ref=shop_home_active_1 I love playing with words and portraits- incorporating them into one design. I also love drawing my family and the portrait I did above is my beautiful daughter and is based on the photo of her below! And the portrait below that is of my daughter and her two lovely daughters, my grandgirls! I also used this portrait as a sample in my Etsy Shop! https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/PortraitsbyLee/tools/listings/230660832

Mixed Media: pen and ink, colored pencil and collage Here's an illustration I submitted to Illustration Friday a couple of years ago. Actually this was the first one I ever submitted there, I think!  Thought I'd bring this one out again and share it! 

Here is my latest custom order for a silhouette. I just cut this today! What a sweetie-pie! I use two sided black and white silhouette paper, and I just look at the photo and cut, as I would do at a festival or event. It usually takes about five minutes! Sometimes when doing a custom order I'll do it over several times to get it just right, but this one I did only once. When I get the feedback from the mom I may still do it over, depending on her approval, but since it only takes a few minutes do-overs are not a big deal! The photo I worked from! I love silhouetting!

Drawings for a possible upcoming book project. I have had many opportunities lately to do drawings of people and animals which show various emotions and I have had a lot of fun experimenting with what different emotions might look like! A sad elephant- a submission for Illustration Friday I did a couple of years ago! A page from the upcoming book I'm illustration for Bellwood Press, Jamila Does Not Want A Bat In Her House, written by Phyllis Ring Here are some sketches I've done over the years of children showing various emotions! And a great video by well-know Illustrator and Teacher Will Terry on drawing emotions!

My son Adam,  a creative and innovative musician among many other things! I did this just for fun! Just a sketch in my sketch book! A sketch for my latest Etsy order. The final! Regretably there's a shadow on this picture, that I took with my camera. But don't worry. The clients got the original! The photo I worked from for the Caricatures above! My granddaughter-Bailey Butterfly! I did  a little face painting at the Ayyam-i-ha Party at Green Acre Baha'i School today!