And Meanwhile...

The new Baby Moose character sketches have been emailed to the art director at Dutton, so now while I wait for their response I'm going to work on my super-secret alligator story/book dummy over the weekend.   I'm also snowed in, so guess I'll just have to stay in my house and draw.  What a bummer right? :)

Thank You!

Thanks so much to my wonderful fellow artists who left feedback on the Baby Moose sketches!  When working so closely to something, a fresh eye and perspective is needed - your thoughts and opinions have definitely made a big impact on the book.

Friends of mine have asked how competitive the children's illustration world is - I tell them it's VERY competitive in terms of the talent out there- but you won't meet a kinder group of people.

Final Decision

After much trial and error (and worry) I think I've arrived at the final character designs for "Baby Moose Visits" :-))

Illustration Friday: Dusty

A sudden gust of wind kicked up dust, leaves and sprigs of grass. There was something strange in the air.

Characater Sketches Color

I painted these right in my sketch book, which is definitely the world's worst paper for watercolors. 

Sketches

Getting a little closer to my goal with these characters. :)

'Moore Moose'

Character Sketches/Style Test/Pencil

 

Many thanks for the comments and opinions on these character sketches.  It's VERY helpful!

Character Sketches/Style Test

Raj the Bookstore Tiger

Raj is now prowling around and waiting to pounce this February!   The very talented Kirsten Cappy has created a book trailer for the release, check it out!

Illustration Friday: Chicken

Elvira was not too chicken to follow her dreams.

Wow It's A Cow has won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award!

Oh my goodness, I'm so glad to be back in the saddle again!  The holidays have come and gone, and it's now time to sharpen those pencils, and tackle my current projects head-first!  What's on my plate now?  Dutton has responded with sketch notes for "Baby Moose Visits" including some text rewrites.  I'm still not a hundred percent happy with my character designs and still trying out some art styles.  I really want this book to sing, and for the relationship between the boy and moose to be believable and palpable in my drawings. 

I just finished up final art for the touch-and-feel book for Guidepost, "One Night In Bethlehem" - I can't wait to see it in print!  

With the end of the holidays I also have more time to check out the blogs of my readers (with a cup of hot tea in tow of course).

Also, thought I might include a bit of news:  my book "Wow It's A Cow" has won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award!!  Whooo hooo!!!