Thursday, February 28, 2013

"Whisper"

The Illustration Friday topic this week is whisper.

A whisper shared in American Sign Language (as depicted below) must be a secret of the most sacred kind.

I chose an 18th Century figure to do the whispering because that era strikes me as having plenty to whisper about.


"Whisper"
Linda Beck
Pencil with digital enhancements

Monday, February 25, 2013

"Dandy" for Mary Mallon Social Club


"Dandy"
Linda Beck
pencil and vintage wallpaper

As I was drawing this lion, I became more and more fixated on the absurdity of his coif.
It seemed only right to give him some form-fitting stockings and a walking stick.
He is a dandy lion indeed.

(originally posted on Mary Mallon Social Club.)

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

"Wool"

I found about Illustration Fridays on Twitter.  A new topic is posted each Friday and participants have one week to come up with a piece of art reflecting the theme.

This week's topic:  Wool

This started as a pencil drawing but, as the texture of wool is so rich, I couldn't resist adding some digi-collage photo elements in Photoshop.


Thursday, February 14, 2013

Peppery Muenster Biscuits


These were the biscuits that launched my biscuit frenzy.  I originally posted this on my pal's blog: http://fillthebelly.blogspot.com in August of 2010.  They still stand as my favourites.

A friend of mine brought over some amazing biscuits from Little Buddy Biscuit Company in Brooklyn the other night and after greedily devouring them, I was determined to recreate the deliciousness. Here's what I came up with. They are scrumptious and don't need butter or anything as a topper.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
10 oz. Muenster Cheese, coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450°F.
(I put the Muenster in the freezer before making this recipe to make grating easier)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground pepper in a bowl, then blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in Muenster cheese. Add buttermilk and stir until just combined.

Spoon dough into mounds (size depending on how many you wish to make) about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

These are best eaten right out of the oven. The next morning, they were delicious, but the texture was less like that of a biscuit and more like a crumpet.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Otters

I've never been a big football fan, but I enjoy the sounds and the coziness of watching the game with friends.  Years ago, I decided to use the time in front of the tv as art time.  This time I was interrupted by kids and my own food and beverage reups, but I managed to scratch out these two otters.



Bear character sketches...

This little bear surprised me on the page after I'd been sketching out some otters.  I'm not yet sure if it will be a children's book character or if I'll take a stab at animating...