Ella German

I received Runner-Up #2 at the Blown Cover Contest with this sketch.

Françoise Mouly and Nadja Spiegelman wrote:

I’m grateful for this image. Ella German did a lovely Sendak wild thing gay marriage image last week – she clearly knows how to capture that “aww” moment.

Aww, I’m grateful for their comments!

Kids who live without a parent — be it due to military service, divorce, tragedy or jail time — have always tugged at my heartstrings.  I wish every little kid out there could physically touch their daddies this Father’s Day.  

My image came about from this doodle that I chose as most promising of my idea notes.

My initial concept had the father reaching toward the screen, as well as the kid.  But when I adding the kid’s drawing to the image, I thought it would be overkill.  Now I kind of wish I had kept it…

Here’s my full-size pencil sketch.

I printed it light, and quickly tested some colors with markers and pen, assuming I would do a second print for my final.  But I was hit over the head with happy, and pleased enough to fill it up and call it done.  I’m proud of myself for completing an image that’s still a sketch.  It still amazes me how much the color and shading add to the emotion. 

I love this contest because it forces me out of my comfort zone.  I’m forced to work quick and be okay with a looseness I normally try to control.   

Lots of other aww moments and funny ones to see on the site.  The two that beat me are amazing — a powerful winning image & funny/sweet Runner Up #1. 

I’m thrilled to place in this week’s contest.  I received 1st Runner Up!

My Wild Things were beat out by an endearing image of Bert & Ernie.  How cool is that?

This was my tribute to Maurice Sendak and to gay marriage.

Françoise Mouly and Nadja Spiegelman commented the following:

The overwhelming outpouring of love after Maurice Sendak’s death makes any remembrance of him poignant. Maurice Sendak wasn’t closeted but neither was he a Gay activist. We had to talk about whether it would be fair to use his characters to represent Gay marriage. But he was, after all, always an advocate for being true to yourself.

Lots of fun and thoughtful images to see in the gallery.  Don’t miss #9, #28 and #48.  And I wasn’t the only person to think of Sendak — see #38!

I tried a little more of a cartoonish style with this attempt at the New Yorker Blown Cover Contest.  This is my first time drawing people this way and I’ll be the first to admit it’s not quite “there” yet.  I need to rework the faces of those two older gents right now – I can’t look at them without cringing…

Anyway, this weeks theme was graduation.  I tried to illustrate the privileged few who have jobs offered to them on a silver plate.  The wealthy helping their own kind of thing.  That’s supposed to be Dad on the graduate’s right-hand side.

The gallery of non-winners can be viewed here.   The top 11 are being posted separately.

Here’s my second try at the New Yorker Blown Cover Contest.  This weeks theme was Books.

Books have saved this mother from many public tantrums and are an endless form of comfort to me and my kids.  So I played out a scene in a doctor’s office, where reading a book has helped many a child forget they’ve just been painfully poked.

All entries are in the gallery here.