Hamburg, Germany trip 2009




Madonna Davidoff at the Winter Market in Hamburg, Germany:




I bought some real delicious german fruitcakes in this stall:











 More German Goodies:







Madonna Davidoff Shopping:













Some Hamburg Street scene:





Madonna Davidoff snacking and drinking German mulled wine:





More German snacks:




      







The night Market, Hamburg, Germany:








Some street performers:



Madonna and Bart Davidoff at night (Hamburg, Germany 2009)





At the Diechgraf Restaurant:








Another Restaurant:





Madonna Davidoff at Freiser Heller:

Stockholm Xmas Holiday trip 2009




My plane arrives in Stockholm via Amsterdam




Madonna Davidoff in Stockholm Airport



Welcome to Stockholm!



Grand Hotel Stockholm


Boat Tour Stockholm
Some Stockholm Harbor scenes from the boat:











Getting out of the boat to bus tour Stockholm:



 Bus tour Stockholm on to the Famous Vasa Museum:



In the Vasa Museum:






Swedish Winter Night market:


Buying some x'mas gifts:



Starting to Snow!!


looking for directions in Stockholm:


Found a quaint Swedish Cafe Cellar in the Old Town Stockholm:


Going down the cellar cafe:



Inside the cellar cafe:



Traditional Swedish drink and cookies:




At the Ice Bar in Sweden:







Swedish Spa overlooking the city of Stockholm:



My Nordic Hat and Mittens:




I am leaving this week for Europe and Scandinavia


I am traveling again: 
This time to Europe and Scandinavia:
below, my travel checklist:






So far, here is my European trip itenerary: Hamburg, Switzerland, Stockholm, Finland and Norway. I will be going to Scandinavia with my Swiss best friend Rose Hansen of Zurich. I am truly going " North" this time. Will be keeping warm with Schnaps on the way.

Picture Book Making: My Process


I am working on a picturebook right now.
Here is my process:

First, I made 32 page a blank storyboard template. I used InDesign  to layout my pages here:

    
Then I created a storyboard which is  a pencil sketch of how the pages of my 32 page  book will look like.
It's like a comic strip where I can plan the sequence of events.

Below, a few very rough sketches for  my storyboard:



More samples of page layouts:




After the storyboard, I make a small rough book dummy.
More on how to make a small rough book dummy on my next post.
to be continued.....


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!!

Postcard Art



This is a painting I've done based on a story of a Little Girl and a Turtle. It was exhibited at the Society of Children's Book Illustrators 2003 conference in New York City. I was surprised and happy to find out that it won an award as one of the 10th finalist out of 250 submissions.

Here is an article about the award : Maria Madonna Davidoff at SCWBI Artist Showcase

The original water color painting was sold at the exhibit , but I had postcards of it printed professionally.

So for those who would like to have the postcards, here is the link to my shop:CraftyMadonna





My Upcoming Exhibit Nov.2009

I was invited to exhibit at the Art Harmony Regional Center in Maryland for their 20th Retrospective Show in November. I shall post the invitation soon.

Below is a sneak preview of the exhibit:

This is an acrylic painting on canvas, size is 18" x 24"

My " Little Girl Series" are composed of paintings I made after my mom passed away a few years ago. As a way to heal myself during that sad period of my life, I created several Little Girl sketches which I made into paintings.






Launching of My Online Store at Etsy



Welcome to the launching of My Online Store!!

This is my store logo at my Etsy Site:



My Handmade Plush dolls:

Inspired by my travels to Japan and Kokeshi Dolls, I introduce you to Mitsuki
She comes with her own cute parasol:



From the Island of Hawaii, I introduce you to Leilani:
Aloha!



My Original Paintings:

This is my mixed media painting entitled:
Fairy Tea Time:

size: 10"x10", acrylic paint,handsewn fabric with collage on canvas

Another one of my mixed media painting entitled:
Island Fairy:

size: 10"x10", acrylic paint,handsewn fabricwith collage on canvas



My Artsy Craftsy and Sewing Studio




I have been busy like a Bee preparing for my Online Shop which
I will launch very soon. Below is a new addition to my Art Studio :
A crafts and sewing corner where I have been creating some
really cute plush dolls, and mix media canvas painting plus a lot of
other things which you will see soon.

Here is my sewing corner:




Here are some of my materials and tools for my Artsy,Craftsy and Sewing projects:


Book Making & NYC Zine Festival


This weekend, I attended the NYC ZINE FEST '09 at
the Brooklyn Lyceum building.
Below is the official poster of the event:


The NYC Zine Festival are made of self-published, homemade,
independent and small publishers.


Some of the Zines I got from the festival:
By GBtran: A Vietnamese American Cartoonist

Below a handmade book by John Mejias:
spread and front cover


I drooled over the
Microcosm Publishing Catalogue below: ( love the illo on the cover) where they've got loads of Zines, books, posters,etc..

Another favorite of mine : Robin Enrico
she created the "Jam in the Band" below:
cover and inside pages:


Las Vegas trip, Day 2

Welcome to Las Vegas:

In Las Vegas, my hubby and I stayed at the Palazzo Hotel .

A view from the Hotel room:

I visited my childhood friend Gochi and Tifanny:

Tifanny prepared a delicious Chinese meal :
Duck & water chestnuts wrapped in Lettuce with Hoisin sauce
Delicious!

We visited the Springs Preserve


Gochi and Madonna at the Springs Preserve:

Cactus:



Gochi and Tifanny's dogs named CuCu and Euro:

These are the dogs wardrobe closet:
Tifanny and gochi holding CuCu and Euro:





School Girl Memories: Las Vegas trip, Day 1

There is nothing like re-uniting with childhood friends and schoolmates again. I sketched this inside the plane bound for Las Vegas where my Friend, Gochi, now lives. We were classmates in a school called Maryknoll, an all girls-private school in the Philippines. Maryknoll is now called " Miriam College" but I, of course, prefer the old name Maryknoll. I have lots of good memories from that School and as an illustrator, lots of nostalgic images appear in my sketches:

This is how our Maryknoll Uniform looked like:
We were such a disciplined bunch!



Oh the Joys of Lunch break:



That's me in our grade school picture below- what a hair!


And here is Gochi:


And here we are at present: Taken in Las Vegas:


Gochi and Mado( my nickname then)