My Balinese Children's Book: Next project

This is a picture book I wrote and illustrated based on a mythological
little Balinese fairy living in Bali and a girl, named Wardani who found her.

I started this book while living in the Island of Bali, Indonesia.
Whenever I am in Bali, I try to stay in the same town called Ubud
This is the view from the porch in front of my bungalow:


I got the inspiration from one of the sketches of a particular Balinese lantern in
front of my porch which looks like this:


I imagined the little fairy living in this lantern that looks like a small Balinese temple.
The setting for my story started with this image:





Below is the porch where I sometimes wake up just before dawn ( yes--that early!)
 and I start to sketch the Balinese lantern below in the dark :

I love to wake up very early and sketch or write in my journal until
I hear the cock crows.
In Bali, you will always hear them crow when the sun rises.
They are actually music to my ears.

Here you can see one of my sketches while drinking coffee. 






Another illustration of my fairy character living in the lantern house:
More on my Little Girl in Bali story next time--to be continued....

Congratulations President Obama!


Barack the Anointed One: Children's Book I Illustrated

Just in time for Kwanza, Christmas and the Holiday Season,
 This  picture book I illustrated is published and available at the Publishers site as well as in Amazon.
 
 Barack the Anointed One ( Book Description from Amazon)
"Barack Obama elected President of the United States fulfills the wishes of people all over the world, who would like to see a new global direction. This book explores the magical nature of his journey from birth to the presidency and will inspire children to seek broader ideals other than for only themselves."


You may see it in My Facebook Artist page as well.

Another Invitation to All: Madonna Davidoff Illustration Exhibit


A Reminder for May 24, 2010 (Monday) Illustrators Exhibit and Dinner Reception:

On May 24,2010 ( Monday) - One of my illustrations will be exhibited during the book launching of a children's Book called" One of Us" sponsored by Tilbury House, Publishers. 
The launching will be at The  Book Culture (536 West 112th Street, NYC) at 6 pm and the the exhibit will remain up  at Book Culture through the end of the week. 
The dinner reception will be in a different place---at the Community Food, 2893 Broadway ( bet. 112th & 113th Street) from 8:30-10pm. Tickets for the dinner receptiion may be purchased here: http://oneofus.eventbrite.com

Here is my Illustration exhibited at Book Culture:


© Maria Madonna Davidoff 

A Doodle A day: from my new Sketchbook

 It's been almost a month since I last wrote anything here. I was busy with my new work, lots of new projects and art events and finding a new character for my graphic novel in progress. 
I still don't have a name for her but here she is:

She came to me while going to work one day.

Busy like a bee, or is it a bunny?
Time for Spring, I guess...
  and on her way to the big City:

To be continued....

Have A Nice Spring day!

Painting on a Snowy Day Today

It's snowing heavily again today and so as a tribute to the weather, 
I created this painting entitled " Walking on a Snowy Day". 
Let me share you my step by step process:

1. I did a rough sketch with pencil on newsprint paper: 
( based purely on my imagination-no photo references or model was used here )


2. Using acrylic and canvas , I started painting the background using
mainly sky blue diluted with Titanium white.


3. Then I continued putting on other colors of yellows and cadmium orange with
bits or raw sienna and white for the skin tone


4. I continue to cover the whole canvas with colors:


5. I continued the painting by outlining all the elements with a brush. 



6. Finally, I painted the snow falling:
Voila! The painting is finished:  total time of work:  3 hours
medium: acrylic on canvas size: 16" x 20"


How I develop my character for illustration

How do I create characters for my illustrations?

First, I get inspired in creating a character for my illustrations through either personal acquaintance or relationship.
In this case, a little girl named Rose came over with her parents to spend the day with us last Friday. Rose is an adorable girl adopted from China by Jan and Jon.


Below are some sketches I made from a scene in the playground with Rose:





Next, I traced the whole sketch to a watercolor paper on a light box and started painting in watercolor.

Below is the work in progress entitled " A Day in the Playground with Rose".

TO BE CONTINUED.... watch out for the finished painting!!

Illustration inspired by Bali

My entry for Illustration Friday's theme this week : CRAVING

I created this illustration based on a Balinese mythology, inspired by my travels to the island of Bali. I was in Bali last April and I rented a small bungalow which resembles the one in my illustration below. This is an illustration of a Balinese witch who likes to devour children. In the myth, the Balinese children saved themselves from being eaten by dancing.

by: © Maria Madonna Davidoff