Illlustration project for the UCSF Parent/Infant program. This is only one of the (hopefully) multiple images I will be creating for their website and other marketing uses, and despite my common sense, I decided to go ahead and carve a linoblock out of this image, even though the illustration below (plain old graphite on paper) is cleaner in some ways. There is just something about my favorite medium (and sharp knives) that I just can't resist.
I've learned a lot through this project already- not being a mother myself, I am challenged with the unique and quite funny challenges of drawing people coddling babies, without looking menacing or distant. Things that might seem totally innocuous to those of us who are still awkward when a relative or good friend pitches their newborn into your arms saying, "can you hold her for just a sec..." and launches off before you can really protest know exactly what I'm talking about. Floppy, doughy, big headed...but really ultimately adorable. I don't have a babe in arms just yet, but I can carve one out of clay.
