'Collector' Week 17 in 52 Week Illustration Challenge

It seems like you can never have enough friends, but not all of them can sleep in one bed together.

I felt like I needed a bit of a break from the world of saturated colors and heavily detailed pictures. So although the theme 'collector' is particularly suited for a detailed and jumbled interpretation, I chose to go with a subtle and calmer motif. 

Something that has occupied me lately is the idea of beginning to create works that are a kind of dialogue with some of my favorite illustrators. In this case I chose to search for a subdued and calm color pallete of warm grayish/brownish colors, inspired by Anita Jeram  (guess how much I love you and more...)

I wasn't interested in copying her colors directly, as much as trying to bring a similar quality of softness and mood that her illustrations usually have. I wasn't entirely able to stick to it and I didn't have the courage (that Anita would have) to go into this softness with pen and ink outlines... 

Nevertheless, it was an adventure to (consciously) try on another illustrators shoes.  

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It seems like you can never have enough friends, but not all of them can sleep in one bed together. A watercolor illustration by Ella Lapointe

'Ocean' Week 15 in the 52 Week Illustration Challenge

'Under the sea... Under the sea...'

I struggled a little to keep my head above water this week and not get lost in so many details. I was initially inspired to represent an ocean themed room- full of drawings and crafts that were related to the sea and it's inhabitants and to show a little girl enthusiasticaly drawing lots of pictures of fish. But ultimately decided to simplify my concept a bit and focus on an imaginary ocean that fills the room as this little future marine biologist dives into a book about the ocean.

What interested me was to see if I could convey that the world around the figure comes tom the figures own imagination or what is brought to life through her imagination. I found myself struggling to keep my imagination free from feeling obligated to scientific accuracy.

my scientific mind would nag me as I worked:
"do these fish come from totally different parts of the world? do corals and jellyfish even coexist in the same regions"

"Does it really matter?" imagination replied.

Here's the watercolor illustration I created to the theme Ocean

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Ocean a watercolor illustration by Ella Lapointe