R.I.P. Kazuhiko Sano

I woke up today to the sad news that my former teacher, Kazuhiko Sano has passed away, only 59 years old. Way, way too soon. My condolences go out to his family and friends.

I sent him a little note the other day when I heard he was very sick. I thought I'd share it here how I remember him.

May 20th, 2011

Dear Kazu,
I wanted to write you a little note to say that I am thinking of you. You are one of the best teachers I ever had and one of the nicest person I have ever met. I will never forget you and everything you taught me.

Every time I hear " Here Comes the Sun" with the Beatles (which is a song we here in Iceland really appreciate once the snow finally starts melting;), I think of you. Every time I'm wondering if I can accomplish something or not, or whether I should go for it or not, I think of something you once said to me. I had been thinking about it if I could and should stay in the US after school, and asked you how you (as also once an international student like me) were able to stay. As much as I wanted it, it felt somehow impossible for me to do. You said you once knew someone who told you at a similar moment as I was having, that you could do what ever you wanted to do, you were entitled to do everything you wanted. The road can be tough, but if you want it you should go for it. I think about this often. Every I am puzzled or meet someone who's puzzled about the future, I tell them what you told me.

I remember once when I was taking you class, my son was sick. I sent you an email letting you know I couldn't go to class because I was taking care of him. You sent me such a sweet and wonderful email back, so understanding, letting me know the most important thing for me was to be with him, nothing else mattered. I know you are surrounded by the people who love you to take care of you in your sickness.

Thank you for everything Kazu, I will always remember you,
love,
Linda
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You can see more of his wonderful artwork here.

Illustration Friday - Asleep

I don't think there really is anything more beautiful and peaceful as a sleeping child. Whether your day has been wonderful or just crazy, all is good at the end of the day when you have a little something like this snoring in the bedroom.

I did this sketch of my son sleeping a few years ago, been so busy lately so I decided to use something old for IF this week, just wanted to participate because I love the topic so much.

This little girl...

...reminds me of this little girl....

always drawing...

drawing while eating some cheese and salmon...

drawing with a little help from big brother...

drawing and smiling...


Drawing has always been my favorite thing to do. I doubt the day will come when I don't enjoy it anymore. Ever so often I find old drawings of mine, framed on some family members wall, and usually I find it pretty embarrassing. But this one here above, I have to admit I'm actually a little proud of.

I drew it when I was 12 years old in my grandparents summerhouse. It's of my grandpa doing a crossword puzzle, always in the same seat, in the same pose, finding the right words, ..and it actually looks kind of like him.

A recent trip to my grandparents summer house made me think of all that time I've spent drawing. And it made me realize that I might be raising a little artist in my own house :)

Happy faces, silly smiles

After my last post, where I couldn't stop talking about the sun finally arriving, it started snowing again, in May!!! Come On!!! But NOW, Summer is here for sure, which makes me and everybody I draw have this silly smile on their faces.

This is a detail of the painting from the 'O' spread of the book I'm illustrating (you can see the drawing a few posts below). The paintings are going well, at least I can see the end of it. So, in about two (ok, maybe three) weeks, I'll have that smile stuck on my face, plus some teeth showing...

A mouse and a rooster

This morning was so lovely! The sun finally woke up after a looong nap. I was starting to wonder if it would ever make it's way up here. The brightness outside made it very easy for the whole family to wake up and leave the house bright and early, everyone ready for their task of the day, whether it was in school, preschool, work or studio.

Finally I'm seeing a glimpse of color on the illustrations I've been working on for the last few weeks. Many, many, (in fact incredible many!) left to finish, but I am looking forward to spend the month of May painting.

This sunny morning started with a very black cup of coffee, the Royal Wedding streaming on my computer, and this mouse and this rooster...

'O' is for 'Ormur'!

This is a drawing for the book that I'm working on now. This spread is for the letter 'O', which in this case stands for the word 'Ormur' which means 'Worm'. I tried to fit the whole story into this one spread, creating a kind of a collage/comic strip into the worm circling around the page.

Oooooh, and it's snowing again! Come on, it's April!

Apaknús!

I've been busy, busy lately working on a Learn-how-to-read book for an Educational Publisher here in Iceland. It's such a fun project with many different stories and scenes, so I spend all my time on it right now. I'll post a few sketches from it in the coming weeks, but here's one I just did with a little help from my friend Elísabet, the monkey-hugger :)