Pigs and squids

... was the first hint that I got since Bart started to work on his illustration. Sometime later I got another clue: a detail of his drawing along with a diminute photograph of the entire draft. Next time I heard from the Moleskine we thought it got lost somewhere in the world. It took it exactly one month to cross the ocean, just like in the old times. Finally, a week ago, this envelope was waiting at my door...

... and inside, this amazing illustration !!!...

I tried to take several pictures of the painting but unfortunately none of them is good enough. I need to find a scanner soon!! In the meantime, this is the most decent picture that I saved.

After seeing this wonderful drawing I got really excited about our future illustrations! Almost two years since my dear friend sent me the Moleskine. Now the first round is over. Pretty promising for a couple of PhD students who became experts in the art of procastination... ;)

Being mean

Now I know I should not do this, but I can't resist.
After a long period of painting-drought I finally had the time (or "I stopped procrastinating") to make some progress on my part of the Moleskine deal. To be honest I feel bad about being so slow, which also motivates this premature post.
Most of the solid colors have been put down with just a couple of decisions left to make. Then it's shadows and detailing before I can ship it to the other side of the ocean.
Just to tease all of our thousands of loyal followers - and yes, I do count the voices in my head - I provide you with a sneak preview of a minor detail of the sketch, including a full albeit somewhat small image of the full-color painting at the bottom right. Can you figure out what's going on? Enjoy. ;)

The full picture

As promised I scanned the picture. So now you can see it in its full glory. Enjoy. :)

And we're off...

What does it take to turn a bad day into a good one? Not much apparently. Coming home after a long and frustrating day I found a lovely package in my mailbox.

Now how cute is that. :) I love receiving cards and packages anyway, but since I had a sneaking suspicion what the contents would be I gracefully hopped up the stairs (yeah, right) and before even thinking about my food I carefully opened the envelope. I was right!! Our shared Moleskine arrived.

Now I know that Sil warned me not to have "big expectations", but when was the last time that I listened to her. :) And I was right!!

My first reaction was "WOW", followed by a "how the hell am I going to follow up on this?". I will try to make a better picture one of these days, because this just does not do it justice. It's lovely. Sure, she will find excuses and tell me it's nothing special, but I LOVE it.
Now how am I going to continue this? I have some ideas already and they are different from what I thought I would do. But let's see how things work out. A good day after all. :)