The Mokie Chronicles Day 2 #kidlitart28

February 2, 2015 | Doreen E. Lepore

Day Two – Toys don’t need ears!

Mokie - Toys Don't Need Ears - ink, pastels — Mokie – Toys Don’t Need Ears – ink, pastels

The Mokie Chronicles

February 1, 2015February 1, 2015 | Doreen E. Lepore

Day One – Toys – There are never too many!

Circus Elephant

May 1, 2014 | Doreen E. Lepore

This is an illustration for a picture book that I’m working on. It’s an Asian elephant that I saw at the circus last year.

The paper is 140 lb. Arches hot press and the painting was done with watercolor and drawn, first in pencil then ink. There weren’t very many colors used, mostly purple, yellow and blue. There is actually a decorative border on the painting but it didn’t fit on the scanner.

Before you get all angry activist on me for going to the circus, you should know that Ringling Bros. founded the Center for Elephant Conservation here in Florida in 1995. The “200-acre, state-of-the-art facility is dedicated to the conservation, breeding, and understanding of these amazing animals.” http://www.elephantcenter.com/about-us/about-cec/

The Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) weighs between 3-7 tons (6,000-14,000 lbs.) and is between 7-12 feet tall. They have been on the endangered species list since 1976.
Ringling is putting their many years of experience to good use and these heartwarming pictures of their elephant calves are proof of their success: http://www.elephantcenter.com/meet-our-herd/elephant-calves/

The circus is where we get to meet and fall in love with the elephant in person. Once you see an elephant you never forget them.

Changing Course in 2014

January 12, 2014January 12, 2014 | Doreen E. Lepore

As usual in the beginning of the year I think of all the millions of things that I want to do and this year I’m going to start with focusing on one thing. It’s a huge thing, sort of overwhelming at times, but, I think I need to do it …… and it will consume the whole year.

For the past two years I’ve been participating in PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) held in November – which is a challenge that Tara Lazar has organized. So, now I have two files of ideas, about 65 in all (not all good ideas) and it seems there ought to be something worth pursuing. http://taralazar.com

This year I’ve joined Julie Hedlund’s group – 12 x 12 in 2014, which is a writing challenge to write 12 children’s book drafts during the year, one a month, from the ideas generated in the aforementioned idea challenge. http://www.juliehedlund.com/

So I’m challenged and motivated to get some work done this year.