Today, I introduced my drawing students to the process of illustration, specifically concept development. I have a small container of nouns and another of adjectives. My students pick one word from each container, then combine them to create a random concept, from which they must develop ten rough sketches. I decided to work along with them this morning. My concept? "Mad Winter". I began with several rough sketches of a grumpy winter king, explored dragon-like ice creatures, and then wrapped up with some thumbnails sketches of a snow queen standing on a high peak overlooking a snow covered mountain range. I then drew one more, not so angry, but winter inspired. This one interested me most, so in my painting class I took a few minutes to put some acrylic paint on it, as seen here. The sketch is about 4 inches tall. And it has me hooked. I want to create a large painting based on the sketch. Hopefully tomorrow I can prep a canvas or a board and get it ready to paint. I'll try to post updates.