Stretch for Illustration Friday

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
– e. e. cummings

Stretch for Illustration Friday – 4″ x 4.5″ Watercolor & Ink

Stretch is the word this week for Illustration Friday.  This little girl is stretching to get the snowman’s hat on just right.

About e. e. cummings

The writer who became known as e. e. cummings was an experimental poet whose idiosyncratic typography complements the music of his poetry; he published more than 900 poems, two novels, and four plays. He was also an accomplished painter. He was born in Massachusetts in 1894 and entered the ambulance corps in World War I but ended up in a detention camp after expressing his pacifist views. He died in 1962. “In Just-” was his most famous poem.

Whiskers for Illustration Friday

“What I think about surrounds me. What I allow to be entertained in my mind becomes a reality. If I think negatively, I will attract negativity in my life. On the other hand, if I concentrate on developing positive thoughts, I will attract positive people and events to my life. My potential will be increased.

 I cannot control what thoughts come into my mind, but I can control my perception and reaction to them.”

–Anonymous – from the book Help for Helpers, Daily Meditations for Counselors

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Whiskers for Illustration Friday – Watercolor

Whiskers is the word of the week at Illustration Friday.  I spent the weekend working on commissions, so my whiskers kitty was painted a while ago.  It is all watercolor and sprinkled with folly. 

That anonymous person has put into words what I live by.  I just love that!!

Water For Everybody!

Discover your magnetism!

 ”Plant the seed of desire in your mind and it forms a nucleus with power to attract to itself everything needed for it’s fulfillment.”
– Robert Collier

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Water For Everybody! – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor & Ink

This is for Illustration Friday and the word “Water”.  I had so much fun doing this painting!   The background is loosely based on a photo by Theclosetpainter on Paint My Photo.  The birds are painted from a photo by Robin Lovelock at the same site.   Don’t you just love those birds? 

Robert Collier

Robert Collier’s inspirational books have changed the lives of thousands. He was a prolific writer and progressive publisher who strongly believed that happiness and abundance were within easy reach.

Robert “Bob” Collier was born April 19, 1885, in St. Louis, son of Mary Ferguson and John Collier. His mother died when he and his older brother were not yet teenagers. His father traveled widely as a foreign correspondent for Collier’s Magazine (founded and published by his uncle, Peter F. Collier). Robert was educated in a church seminar school and was expected to become a priest, but before taking his vows, he decided against the life of a clergyman and headed for West Virginia to seek his fortune.  More about Mr. Collier here.

Fresh Water Delivery

“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.”
–Agnes Repplier

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Fresh Water Delivery – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor & Ink

The week’s word from Illustration Friday is water.

I painted this little painting from a photo of a Country Store delivery truck by goody4u at WetCanvas.  The background and buildings were from the mind of Beth, so it must be Bethville.  I had a lot of fun with this!

Agnes Repplier (April 1, 1855 – November 15, 1950) was an American essayist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her essays are esteemed for their scholarship and wit.

Just Your Average Llama Book Maker

“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
– Pablo Picasso

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Just Your Average Llama Book Maker – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor and Ink

Book is the word for Illustration Friday this week.  Bookie was the suggestion of my clever hubby.  I had a great time doing this guy, straight from my imagination. 

About Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter at the forefront of Cubism, is perhaps best known for his painting Guernica, which depicts the hopelessness and violence of war. The masterpiece hung in the Museum of Modern Art in New York until democracy was restored in Spain; the painting was then sent home, where it hangs now at Reina Sofí a, Spain’s national museum of modern art. Born in Spain in 1881, Picasso spent his adult life in France. Although he’s known for his abstract paintings, his realistic work, particularly his Blue Period, was equally accomplished. He loved to be surrounded by friends and had multiple love affairs. He died in 1973.

 

Scarecrows in Love

“Courage is the human virtue that counts most — courage to act on limited knowledge and insufficient evidence. That’s all any of us have.”
– Robert Frost

Yeah!  I like that!

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Scarecrows in Love – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor and Ink

Yesterday was my 10th wedding anniversary with my amazing husband.  So I may have been feeling a little sentimental when I was painting these scarecrows.  In the photo by JustJean at WetCanvas, they were not so close together or lovie-dovie looking. 

About Robert Frost

Robert Frost, the influential American poet known for his rural settings, uncluttered language, and meditative themes, wrote the poems, “A Road Not Taken” and “Mending Walls,” among many others. He was born in San Francisco in 1874 and moved to Massachusetts at age 11. He ran a farm for ten years, selling it to move to England and become a full-time poet. After achieving his goal, he moved back to New Hampshire. His ambition was to write “a few poems it will be hard to get rid of.” He died in 1963.

Kernel-dactyl-saurus for Illustration Friday

“If we wait for the moment when everything is ready, we shall never begin.”
– Ivan Turgenev

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Kernel-dactyl-saurus – Watercolor and Prismacolor Fine Art Pen

It wouldn’t surprise me if you have never seen a kernel-dactyl-saurus.  They are extinct, after all.  I’m afraid this species was one of the first to disappear, since they were extremely gentle in nature.  Not to mention… they look like food!

Kernel is the word this week for Illustration Friday.  It just made sense that I include the kernel-dactyl-saurus, so that you could see what a kindly looking beast they were.  I had an amazing time doing this painting! 

About Ivan Turgenev

Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, celebrated for his dark, realistic novels about Russian life, is best known for the novel Fathers and Sons, about the conflicting ideologies between generations. He was born in 1818 to a wealthy Russian family. He and his brother were raised by an abusive mother who was rumored to have smothered one of her serfs. He rose to fame with A Sportsman’s Sketches, which may have influenced the Tsar to free the serfs. He died in France in 1883.

Hitched for Illustration Friday – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor and Sharpie

“Allow me to assure you that suspicion and jealousy never did help any man in any situation.”
–Abe Lincoln

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Hitched for Illustration Friday – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor and Sharpie

The word of the week for Illustration Friday is “Hitched”.  I didn’t use any photo references for this one.  I just went with the happy little picture I had in my head.  I had a great time with this one.  The whole time I worked on it, I was in “the zone”.  Ya know what I mean?

This is what it looked like before I added the sharpie.

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Abe Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is one of America’s greatest heroes because of his unique appeal. His is a remarkable story of the rise from humble beginnings to achieve the highest office in the land; then, a sudden and tragic death at a time when his country needed him most to complete the great task remaining before the nation. His distinctively human and humane personality and historical role as savior of the Union and emancipator of the slaves creates a legacy that endures. His eloquence of democracy, and his insistence that the Union was worth saving embody the ideals of self-government that all nations strive to achieve.

More on Abe Lincoln here.