Ugly Duckling Painted

Here's how the first Ugly Duckling print turned out. I didn't originally know if the central image and the border would fight, but I think they are working together ok!

I've just started carving the second image. I'll post that when there is something worth seeing.

I wanted to share a little inspiration for the style of this linocut. I've always loved doing borders, but they are sort of old-fashioned for illustration. Sometimes I give in though, like in Dreaming of Flowers above.

One of my favorite illustrators who uses a lot of black and is not afraid of decorative patterns and borders is Julie Paschkis. She has a wonderful blog about children's books with several talented friends called Books Around the Table. Here are some of Julie's illustrations:

There's a Czech illustrator named Josef Paleček who I discovered online while poking around. Wow! I just love his colors, textures, and his style. Here are some of his Ugly Duckling illustrations:

And in an older style- Maxwell Armfield. I love the detailed paintings with the ancient style borders and text.

I just wanted to share some of the beautiful illustrations that were stirring around in my head as I created my own version of The Ugly Duckling. Thanks for taking a look!