The Fox's Tower and Other Tales (Cover Art)

Hello friends!

I have some exciting news!
A few months ago, the lovely Yoon Ha Lee hired me to do the cover artwork for her eBook fairytale collection "The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales"  which has been released today!

It can be found at the following places:
– Amazon.com
– Barnes & Noble
– Google Play
– Kobo
– Smashwords

A peek at the contents can be found at the Barnes & Noble page.

The cover before text was added.

Close up of the tower

Close up of the fox

And a close up of some branches

This illustration is a media hybrid. It was mostly painted with waterproof coloured inks, watercolour, and gouache. However, the sky, wind, and a few other things were completed digitally.

Here's a fun gif of the process!

Cheers!

Pattern Pastimes Part II

Hello there and happy autumn equinox!

Alrighty! So amidst working on projects I can't show just yet, I've started a new mini series of patterned images.

They've become my turn to work when I'm falling short on optimal creative brainpower but still have enough energy and will to create something fun and finished.

I started with this umbrella and a desire to make a simple and seasonal design.

(Colour motif variations)

Naturally, a pattern also had to be made :)

Then, one night a pumpkin appeared.

(Again, exploring different colour approaches)

A pumpkin patch!

And then, I thought it might be a cute idea to come up with three of such stylized, patterned images per season (autumn, winter, spring, summer) and maybe make a mini calendar or postcard set or something at the end. So, that's what I'll be doing. Yay! Another excuse to add even more patterns into my work and life! =)

Here's the latest, Halloween inspired image:

These are all vector illustrations drawn mostly with the pen, line segment, and shape tools.

(Subtle variation)

(More subtle variations of ears, line weight and nose size with an inverted colour scheme)

And another simple, half-drop repeat pattern!

Oh, and for fun - above is what my patterned images look like when I'm working on them in Adobe Illustrator. I like to use lots of colours so that I can see well if lines are overlapping where they shouldn't be. Psychedelic! =)

Be well and till net time!

All images are ©Mariya Olshevska and may not be used or re-purposed without the artist's consent.

Plum Cake

While I'm completing some art, why don't I share a dessert I've made a couple of weeks ago. This is a recipe which I modified from my mom's recipe, and it's a perfect one to celebrate the start of the autumn season.

I give you - Plum Cake!

I also tossed some blueberries in :)

Plum Cake

Ingredients:

- 3-4 large eggs

- ½ cup of sugar

- 2/3 cup white flour

- 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour

- 10-12 small plums

- 1 tablespoon of almond butter

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1 teaspoon of lemon zest

- ½ teaspoon of cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- ½ teaspoon of lemon juice

- pinch of salt

-unsalted margarine for greasing

- bread crumbs for greasing

Directions:

1: Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the pie pan with some unsalted margarine and dust it with some bread crumbs.

2: Slice the plums. Set the sliced fruit aside in a bowl. Feel free to add any other stone fruit, like apricots into the mix too – it’ll be delicious! This time I thought I’d add some blueberries.

3: Pour the sugar in a large bowl and whisk it together with the eggs using a mixer on low speed until the two are well combined. Add the almond butter, a pinch of salt, lemon juice, and vanilla, then mix for a few more minutes at a medium speed.

4: In a smaller bowl combine the cinnamon, flour, baking powder and lemon zest. Now, slowly add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, a little bit at a time, while the mixer is at a low speed. Mix until the batter looks creamy and smooth.

5: Pour about half of the batter into the baking pan. Arrange about half of the sliced plums on top of the batter, and set the rest aside to decorate the top. Pour the remaining batter as evenly as possible over the fruit. Finally, take the last of the fruit and arrange them nicely on top.

6: Cook for 30-35 minutes at 350F until the top is lightly golden. Check to make sure the pie is baked by taking a tooth pick, bamboo skewer, or knife and piercing through the middle of the pie. If it comes out clean, then the dessert is ready. However, give the cake some time too cool before attempting to take it out. If it’s too warm, it will stick to the sides and break as it comes out.

Enjoy! It pairs perfectly with tea :)