First Snow!

Beautiful sunshine and everything is white. Good start for winter I would say.

We haven´t build a snowman yet, but it is definitely on the to do list.

Meanwhile you can get your free What’s the Weather ebook here! It will be available for free download until the 26th. Just happy to share. Of course the paper version is also available.

Have a great weekend!

Winter is here!

First snow arrived, just on time for my daughters birthday and the What’s the Weather book release!

The project came to life when I had a creative blog and bought a bunch of colourful paper last spring. The dining room table was covered in paper and glue for about a month I think. The results can be seen here in this very colourful picture book for 1-3 years old.

It not only helped me through my creative block, but it is also a fun way to go through the seasons and different kind of weather.

Vertical snow fall is rare in Iceland. It usually hits you horizontally. Just like that. This is an almost accurate depiction of me going to the car today.

What’s the Weather?

I finally managed to finish the weather book! What started as a fun way to get over my creative block last spring, is now finally finished! Last spring I was stuck and a friend suggested to try something I have never done before. That’s what started this paper-cut project.

The finished project is a picture book that takes you through the seasons with funny weather pictures. You can see more of those in my earlier posts like here and here.

The book will be released on Wednesday the 22nd, just in time for my daughters first birthday! Until then you can find the kindle version here if you would like to take a look.

Feeling foxy …

Happy weekend everyone! I spent the last couple of days going over my old books (while I am working on a new one). I tried to see where I had improved and where I still have lots of work to do when it comes to my illustrations. I am currently working on a book project and I am quite happy how it is progressing. More about that soon.

Meanwhile I also rediscovered my first own story that I did, more for practice than anything else. The story called Picture Perfect starring the little Mr Fox and his best friend Mr Mouse, two characters you might be familiar with if you have followed my blog for some time.

This was 2 years ago. Back then I had no idea about book or cover design, or making a concept to start with, and just went with it. I certainly improved in that respect, after several children’s book illustration classes. I just finished my first proper book dummy. So stay tuned for more on that.

Anyhow, if you are interest in the Mr Fox story, you can currently download the free kindle version here ! Reviews are more than welcome.

Enjoy your weekend! Cheers from Iceland!

Picture Perfect Mr Fox Melanie Franz

Catching up with Inktober 2023 #2

I surprised myself yesterday! I actually managed to do the first 10 prompts in a day. I manage another 10 today I might be on track tomorrow…

#4 Dodge

23_04 Dodge_Inktober_ Melanie Franz

#5 Map

23_05 Map_Inktober_ Melanie Franz

The Weather Today XI

We are greeted with mixed weather for the weekend after a rather sunny week.

This is another page of my upcoming picture book – paper and gouache. I am still working on the cover. It will hopefully be finished soon.

Have a great weekend!

2305 rain frog paper boats paper cut _ Melanie Franz

The Weather Today V

No rain but also no sun today. Still time to go outside! I really miss the sun.

Another paper cut page from my upcoming picture book.

The Weather Today III

Another page from my upcoming picture book.

There seems to be no change to weather here for the next couple of days it seem. Soon I´ll be running out of bad weather pictures to post.

2302 Cat rain miserable paper-cut illustration _Melanie Franz

What´s the weather today?

As mentioned in my last post, I tried something completely different and made a picture book out of paper cut outs. The rain drops are gouache. It was so much fun!

Image fitting the weather today….Ah Icelandic summer…..

2302 rain paper-cut illustration _Melanie Franz

Getting Out of the Comfort Zone

Hola, I am back! The family and I had escaped Iceland for a while to load up on as much vitamin D as possible. After an extensive road trip in Spain and a stop over in Switzerland I am all tanned, inspired and ready to get back to work!

Something a bit different to start with and that I have been working on this spring.

I had a creative block in January and an artist friend suggested to me to just try something completely different. An that I did. I bought a gouache set and a bunch of papers. The result is an almost finished picture book about the weather and some bad first gouache painting attempts.

I had a lot of fun with making paper-cut pictures and I am very happy with the result. I used gouache for the details. Here is a first peek. What do you think?

2302 owl paper-cut _ Melanie Franz

Space Friends

I took an illustrator course in February which pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to do my first digital drawing. I also learned how to do design sheets and pattern designs. I also became a lot better with my time management and to-do lists… somewhat 🙂

If anyone is looking for a great course, I can highly recommend this one at WeIllustrate.co.uk.

Happy Monday!

Illustration practice IV

Another slight changed master copy. My favourite so far. It will get a spot on the wall for sure. You might be familiar with the boat crew. Original illustration by Janosch.

Ink and watercolour.

Have a great weekend!

My version

22 Janosh Fox fishing _Melanie Franz

The original by Janosch.

Illustration practice III

Another attempt at a master copy with my own spin. As a child I absolutely loved the stories and illustrations by Janosch. Maybe you have come across the Tigerente (lit. tiger duck)at some point? Absolutely love his whimsical style and his bear and tiger character. However, instead of copying his character I sneaked in Mr Fox’s cousin.

22 Janosh _Fox boat_Melanie Franz