Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Happy Hanukkah

For my friends who celebrate- Happy Hanukkah!
(older piece I did for The Land of Nod)

Saturday, December 24, 2016

You Can Count on ME.

                                 
No matter how you get there-Happy Christmas!
Sending YOU an abundance of warm wishes.

Monday, December 19, 2016

In the hood...

Season's Greeting from my house to yours!
That was my theme for this year's holiday card.
I wanted something personal so I featured our house with my little studio on the 3rd floor.  
(Along with a few other houses on our block.)

We designed our house with some help from Studio Build over two years ago
& it's a truly beautiful place to call home!



Thursday, December 15, 2016

Soft Ornaments


When my son was younger he was just like his mom & gravitated towards the
shiny, glass ornaments.  My solution was soft ornaments the first 4 years.  I wanted something festive & fun but also kid proof. (no shards of broken glass)
  I came up with these.  Years later we still have fun hanging them on the tree.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Deck the Halls...

With a sweet little birdie!
My friend Gina's bird.  I love this sweet guy!

Friday, December 9, 2016

Fa, la, la, LA, la


Fri, fri-DAY!
*Sing, it's good for your soul.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Merry & Bright

Deck the halls with a rainbow evergreen garland.
(why not right, made this one a few years ago for Land of Nod)

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Warm & Cozy Wishes...


All  season  l  o  n  g!
(I'm on a holiday art kick.)

Friday, December 2, 2016

Brrrrr...


Time for warm winter drinks!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Holiday Hugs...

For EVERYONE!
This personalized ornament & many more I designed for Oopsy Daisy
are available at here

The back is cute too!
xoxo

Monday, November 28, 2016

Hello, Holiday Season


27 days until Christmas but, who's counting?
This time of the year makes me a little crazy!

Friday, November 25, 2016

I am Thankful...


Particularly, for my right hand!

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Fall Medley


Eye candy patchwork of everything fall!


Friday, November 18, 2016

Modern Thrive Interview

The team at Makers Mentors has my interview up & ready to read.  Check it out!
Myself, the talented Katie Vernon & Sophie Dufresne will be giving some behind the scenes info at our upcoming workshop, Growing Your Freelance Illustration Business.
December 7-9 2016. (I'm up December 9th) 
Join use if you can!  
*In the meantime... Keep on MAKING! (not a bad mantra, right?)

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Acrylics




Switching it up & painting at night instead of playing around in my sketch book.
Having fun with it but, I can see the canvases stacking up.
Looks like it's quirky paintings for all this Christmas!


Sunday, November 6, 2016

Friday, November 4, 2016

Do it...

If it's worth doing... Do it well!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Bird With Borders


Use what talents you possess;  the woods would be very
silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
-Henry Van Dyke


Monday, October 31, 2016

Happy Halloween!


Wishing you a positively ghastly Halloween & a ghoulishly good night!
Until next year...

Monday, October 24, 2016

Pattern Play



I love to paint patterns!  I've been playing around mixing & matching in cool & warm palettes. Thinking they wold make great rugs or upholstery for a an oversized chair.
Lots of possibilities!


Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Something New

Felt like I was channeling my inner "grandma" when I was painting this.  Definitely not my usual color palette.  Trying to push myself out of my norm & into some NEW.
The challenge continues ...

Monday, October 17, 2016

Modern Thrive Workshop


Come on a voyage with me, be part of the Modern Thrive 3-day online workshop, 
Myself,  the talented Katie Vernon & Sophie Dufresne will be giving you an inside look at how we've gone about building our illustration business.  

If you sign up before 11/1 you get a special price with discount code: JillMcdonald

*Looking forward to sharing a few of the tips I've learned along the way!


Sunday, October 16, 2016

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Happiness!

Holding fall colors in my hand.
I love to wander around the yard gathering leaves & flowers.
(my happy place)

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Caffeine...


Does the trick every time!

Monday, October 10, 2016

Dinosaurs

Working on writing & illustrating the 5th book in the Hello, World! series for Random House Kids.  
This has been such an exciting & personally rewarding experience for me. (#grateful)
Can you guess what this next book will be about?
Hint.... "ROAR"

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Meet Birdie


This is Birdie, my good friend Gina's pet parakeet.
He's a pretty boy & oh so photogenic!
Gina takes lots of photo of Birdie with interesting props.
(& lots of fun photos in general)
You can take a look here.

We decided to try a series with my illustrations as a backdrop for 
Birdie.  Stay tuned for more. 
We'd LOVE to make a book out if it.  
(dreaming BIG but, isn't that the only way to dream?!?)


Friday, October 7, 2016

Rambunctious Garden




Cut paper garden... No green thumb, no problem!

Monday, October 3, 2016

Sundown Color Study

Have you noticed it's getting dark earlier?
Trying to appreciate the colors of the setting sun to ease my way into
what I know is ahead.  (brrrrrrr)

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

A little note...

You are the cat's MEOW! (it's true)

Friday, September 23, 2016

Cut Paper

Playing with some cut paper on a beautiful Friday afternoon.
I've been hearing some other artist saying they don't really use or like purple lately.
Um, What?  I love a deep, rich purple, endless possibilities!  So deep & inviting makes me want to jump in! (like blue water)

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Gratitude

The root of joy is GRATITUDE. 
I'm feeling it!

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Is this thing real?

She's pretty sure she's made a new friend!
We walk by this mosaic bear daily & she always stops to greet, sniff & study.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Blues...

for Monday.  
(watercolor, ink & the bottom right is a monoprint)

Friday, September 9, 2016

A Peek Inside My Mind


I made a NEW blurb book to send to a client I've dreamed about working with.
It arrived earlier today but it's already been packaged
back up & is headed to California. (lucky book)
This is the first time I've had some of my newer work bound together in one spot. I'm really visual so it was fun to see & I felt a certain power holding it in my hands.
So grateful I get to draw, design, paint & make each day.  
I can't imagine any other way I'd like to spend my time!

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Book Recommendation

The super talented Jennifer Orkin Lewis has a NEW book out with Abrams Press.
Draw Everyday Draw Every Way is a creative journal with written prompts & suggested mediums broken down in monthly increments.  The book is a journey through a year of exploring your own creativity.
FUN!

This is a spread I recently worked on in the white & gold pen section.
The prompts Jennifer provides are great.  Particularly, after a long day.  You can just sit down without thinking too much & play.


Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Shine...

Visited Grinter's sunflower field in Kansas yesterday.  Such a magical place!
Wore my sparkles to see the sunflowers!

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha!

She is a funny little animal.  I've been brushing her teeth more often.  (They crack me up I call them her baby corns, they look just like them!)  I'm a sucker for an underbite!
*photo by my friend Gigi 

Monday, August 22, 2016

Late August-

sketchbook painting.
This is the time of year my son was born. 
On the cusp of the fall season.
Feels like new beginnings to me.

Friday, August 19, 2016

MWAH,


I love FRIDAY!
Here's to a great one!

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

No Strangers-Just Friends

I love this quote from William Butler Yeats.
(pen, and a little watercolor-voila!)

Monday, August 15, 2016

Farewell, Summer.


And just like that, it was time to head back to school.



Saturday, August 13, 2016

Carpe Diem

Particularly, SATURDAY!
Cut paper fun.