What's-On-My-Work-Table? Wednesday: More Mercer Mayer

I was recently commissioned to make some more Mercer Mayer inspired Nubbins from someone who saw the Professor Wormbog inspired Nubbins I made for my husband's co-worker 2 years ago, and is a BIG Mercer Mayer fan.  This time, I have been challenged to do Little Critter! Luckily, I have a ready supply of my own Little Critter books from when I was a kid! No trip to the library was needed this time!

Preliminary sketch...

 Cut-out pieces...

 Placing buttons to get a feel of how the eyes will look with pupils.

I embroidered the pupils of the eyes to get that "illustrated" look... 

I still have to figure out how to do the hair and sew the buttons onto the straps of the "overalls", but I am so satisfied with how his face came out!

My next challenge that is a part of this commission is to do the "Little Monster" character (a character I was unfamiliar with until I got the book "Little Monster At School" at the thrift store!)  He's going to be much more of a challenge, since Little Monster's face is usually in profile...but I have a plan!  You'll have to stay tuned to see how I pull it off!

Rest in Peace Maurice

I heard about Maurice Sendak's death today.

He is most well known for "Where The Wild Things Are" (which I paid tribute to in Nubbin form a couple years ago).  Somehow, I never had a copy of "Where the Wild Things Are" while growing up, but I had another book he wrote "Chicken Soup With Rice"...(which I just happened to read to my friend's kids the other day while babysitting)

The book I had when I was a kid came with a 45 record with a song where the lyrics were the words of the book.  When reading the book, I still hear the song in my head, even though I haven't heard he song for years and have no idea where the record is (it's probably at my parent's house somewhere).

It is a sad thing that there is one less writer in the world...but he left behind some of the most beloved children's books of our time.

Art Lesson With Eli: Drawing Garfield (Session 1)

I'm still doing weekly art lessons with my friend's son, Eli. Last week I decided to try and move on to trying to teach him to look at something and draw what he sees. I have a memory of my 9th grade art teacher telling us "Draw what you SEE, not what you THINK you see." That statement has really stuck with me through the years and it really made me think differently about drawing/painting.

He's been really into my Garfield books I've been letting them borrow lately, so I figured we would start with trying to draw Garfield...since it's always more enjoyable to draw what you enjoy and are passionate about. When I was about 11 or 12, I was obsessed with The Lion King and drew pictures of the characters all the time. (I still have a lot of my sketches. I'll have to scan them and share them in another post).

I brought over a "new" Garfield book and had Eli try to copy an illustration of Garfield. I drew too, to try and help guide him, since the idea of "Here, draw this thing." seemed a bit intimidating to him, since he didn't really know where to start. I have to remember that he is only 5.

My drawing is on the left...Eli's is on the right. I think he did a pretty good job! My plan is to have him draw this same picture every week. My hope is that the repetition will help him and that he will keep improving and learn the value of practicing.

Barn Owl Plush

I've been inspired to make some more owls lately. They seem to sell well at shows and I usually don't make enough. But I'm trying to keep up and build up a decent supply to keep up with potential demand. Today, I got inspired to make a barn owl.

As I was sewing these owls, I was wishing I had my own DVD of "Legend of the Guardians" to watch (I'd gotten it from Netflix before). I actually ordered the book from the library a few days ago. I'm hoping it comes in soon. I have a thing for reading the book that a movie is based off of...after I've seen the movie.

I took a trip to the thrift store today (half price day!) I was looking through the kids' books, trying to get lucky and maybe find an Ed Emberley book...unfortunately, no such luck. But I did find some books I wanted...by Eric Carle, Steven Kellogg, Dr Seuss...a Fraggle book, some Sesame Street books...and an owl book. Children's books are free (up to 5 books...after that they are 25 cents). I have no kids, but I like kids' books..plus it's nice to have books for my friends' kids to read/look at when they come over.

Since owls are cool now, I figured I'd get this little educational book. A picture of a barn owl is what inspired me to make my little barn owls today...

Of course, whenever I thnk of owls, I think of my friend Casey, who is a fellow RNEST member. She was into owls before they were cool! For some cool owl plushies and needle felted stuff...go check out her Etsy shop, PeachesProducts!

The Joy of Ed Emberley Books

I have recently re-discovered the awesomeness of Ed Emberly. Who is Ed Emberly you ask? He is the author of a plethora of drawing books for kids. He is probably most famous for his thumbprint book. At least that's what I remember the most. I remember getting that book from the library and busting out my mom's ink pads and making thumbprint drawings.

I mentioned these books in one of my link roundup posts last month, and have since been keeping my local library system busy with ordering a few Ed Emberley books every couple weeks.

I've mentioned before that I'm teaching weekly "art lessons" to my friend's 6 year old son. This week, I brought over Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals, and we were drawing for about an hour and a half!

Monkeys...

A giraffe and alligator...

And the big one...a dragon...

Eli's dragon (left) and my dragon (right). This was the first week I drew along with him. I think it helped a lot to keep him interested and engaged, as well as to help him see how to draw in addition to the book's directions.

These are some faces he did last week from Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Faces.

I may just need to buy some of these books for myself.

Finished "Professor Wormbog" inspired Nubbins

I've finished the Nubbins I was comissioned to do, inspired by the book "Professor Wormbog in Search of the Zipperump-a-zoo"! (wow...that sentence sounds like a children's book rhyme).

Professor Wormbog...

Little Laff...

...and the elusive Zipperump-a-zoo!

Professor Wormbog Update

Custom order for "Professor Wormbog" Nubbins

I got an email a couple weeks ago from my husband, saying that one of his co-workers who had bought a set of my "Where the Wild Things Are" inspired Nubbins had a special order request for me. He wanted me to make Nubbin versions of three characters from the book "Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-A-Zoo" by Mercer Mayer...

I had previously known of Mercer Mayer as the guy who wrote the "Little Critter" books I read as a child, but had never heard of the "Professor Wormbog" book...and thankfully, the local small-town library in Medina just happened to have the book...so I could have more reference pictures than the one on the cover (which does not show the Zipperump-A-Zoo).

I have a deadline to finish all three by March 13th. What have I gotten myself into? It's going to be challenging, but I always say I'm up for a challenge. (Want a little sauce on those words you're going to eat Kira?)

Keep in mind these are preliminary stages. I am simply cutting out the fabric and trying to figure out how I'm going to construct these. The finished product will probably look much different. I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished products!