Mirror, mirror, on the wall

At work I've been spending some time trying to make icons for our new extraction software. For the last few days I simply couldn't come up with anything -- it was like a tremendous brick wall looming before me and I didn't have a key because there wasn't even a door. Today, however, I said a little prayer and then checked out some icon websites (mainly Jakub Steiner's). After my lunch break I sat down at the computer and started drawing some sketches. Ideas started flowing and I quickly opened Illustrator and began work. It was as if I was a completely different person, watching myself create art as I'd never done before. Here is the result (though I hasten to mention that they're not finished by any means):





I also found some really neat books on kid's books at the library, namely Martin Salisbury's Illustrating Children's Books and Julie Cummins's Children's Book Illustration and Design. I'll post my sketches and other artwork as they arrive.