a wrinkle in time turns 50

I'm happy to announce that the 50th anniversary edition of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time is out today and it features my illustrations on the cover! For this commemorative edition the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, asked me to modernize the silhouettes from the original 1962 cover (see below). It really brought back memories of when I first read the book as a child. An updated look for a true classic!

words of wisdom...

©2012, Monika Roe

...from 64 year old Susan Sarandon. I think this is true. Her message to stop worrying so much about looks and enjoy life works for any age though, not just 25 year olds!

twirl

My illo for this week's Illustration Friday topic of "twirl" was inspired by a look from Jason Wu's 2012 Spring/Summer collection. What a gorgeous design! Here's picture of the actual dress:

illustrating the world's best eats

That's the title of the feature The Daily Meal just did on They Draw and Travel. They mention my illustrated map of Paso Robles as one of their nine favorite food and drink maps and also include it their slideshow! I'm so excited!

zesty!

Thanks to Nate & Salli at TheyDrawandCook.com for including my Lemon Tart recipe in their featured collection entitled "Zesty!". It will be on their homepage jumbotron until January 22nd!

prepare

©2012, Monika Roe

Illustration Friday's topic this week is "prepare". One of the best things I think you can prepare for is a party!

dandelion inspiration

Today while organizing my studio I came across a group of photos my man took last fall. His subject was a dandelion in my backyard that was illuminated by the "golden hour" of the setting sun. (I knew that dandelion would come in handy!)

I love this photo. I like the subtle earthy colors and textures. I'm touched that my man has such an eye for small details that he saw this out of the corner of his eye, grabbed his camera and ran outside to capture it. I love the quiet beauty of this weed, which no doubt grew from a seed that drifted from my front yard where my war against dandelions is constantly waged in the summer. Sigh.

This was the perfect photo to challenge myself and think about how I would translate it into an illustration. The result is the following illo of a carefree woman/fairy/sprite/nymph swinging away in the wind. Whatever you want to call her, just know that if I'm drawing her, she must have fabulous shoes!!!

My studio is still a mess, but I will continue on, cleaning and organizing. Who knows what inspiration I'll find next?!

grounded

The Illustration Friday topic this week is "grounded". I immediately thought of a woman who was rooted to the earth through personal growth.

A great topic for the new year!

featured on theydrawandcook.com

My illustrated Curried Lentil Soup recipe is 1 of 6 recipes in the Featured Collection just posted to TheyDrawandCook.com's homepage jumbotron! It will be up from now until the 7th. Thanks for including me in your collection Salli!

This was an illo I worked on for months. As in, I started it, put it away for months and then finally dug it out and finished it up! Originally the background color was spice orange but then I played around with a few other options and couldn't resist the pop that the pink gave to the green lentils and yellow framework. Looking at it now I really love how the still life of ingredients turned out in the bottom right hand corner!

I hope you enjoy this illo and perhaps try the recipe. It's a great vegetarian recipe for January and one of my faves by Molly Wizenberg of Orangette. I think I'll make it again!