Illustration Friday 2: Idle

Detective Rhino Continued

I love you Photoshop...

Detective Rhino and his Partner Featherbrain

Illustration Friday: Idle

He won't be idle for long! This is one of those pictures where I just started drawing on a piece of watercolor paper and adding things as I went along. I don't know the story behind this, why the cat is there, or where this mouse lives, it's just an image I had in my mind. It was fun to draw that way, very unrestrictive.

In Color

Illustration Friday: Tango

If you can't make it out in the scan, there's a couple dancing the tango in the house window.

Antonio Revamped

This is Antonio in my watercolor/colored pencil style - a bit more rotund, more depth and shading.

Raj's Softer Side

I'm considering going back to my softer style for Raj as opposed to the pen and ink pieces earlier. I'll see what the Charlebridge folks think. One of the curses of having multiple styles I'm afraid..that constant worry of: did I choose the right one for the story?

Come to think of it, I might resketch some of my Antonio images in this style as well, just to make sure I'm going in the right direction for my dummy book.

And We're Off

First spread of the book...actually totally redone after spending three hours on another version and completely scrapping it after looking at it in the mirror. Those mirrors are the worst critics aren't they? They show you every mistake within seconds.

The lines are basically marks of where the text will be. I'll be adding the text later via Photoshop.

Dav Pilkey Book Dummies!

If you need some inspiration while you're working hard on your own book dummies, check out Dav Pilkey's site. He has posted the full mock-ups of some of his books along with stories about how he got them published! Great stuff from a great author/illustrator. Enjoy!

Dav Pilkey

My favorite posting is "Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving" because he struggled so hard to get that one published and finally found a publisher (the 26th one I think?) who had some sense! Look out how detailed it is - he almost didn't need to paint it in the end, it would have been great in black and white as well.

Who knows how long these treasures will stay online, but I intend to download each book onto my hard drive :-D

***Edit: another link added by the very talented Woody Miller. Thanks Woody!

Click Here

Antonio

This is my little side project: a character study for another story I've written. I've decided never to submit a manuscript without a full dummy/mock-up ever again. I dare say I think I lost out on getting one published because of not doing so. I should always present my work under the best light possible, don't you agree? Ah well, lesson learned.

It's 1am.... time to get some book dummy work done :-)

I'm not giving up!

Raj the Bookstore Tiger

I'm sorry I've been away for so long, I've had some "life" things come up that have been time consuming--some difficult and some (such as my recent book projects) very wonderful and enjoyable. Raj (star of the book: Raj the Bookstore Tiger, written by Kathleen T Pelley) has been keeping me company. Always purring and jumping in my lap, wanting attention. He's such a charming kitty I can't wait for everyone else to meet him. I'm now getting to my favorite part of the book-making process...the painting!!! It's where the magic really starts to happen. I created my wall of art, where I hang wires across the walls and hang the book art in order to see how it's all coming together. I then put up the two color pieces shown in the photo below, and while I was talking on the phone the wire came undone. Argh! Down came the two spot pieces! It was not far off the ground, but still, it startled me lol. I'll be using nails for the wire this time instead of tape! I'll also post photos of the wall as I progress through the book.

The bw ink drawing is unfinished - still need to add more books, and of course the watercolors after that!

The Quest for Inspiration

Edward Degas

Inspiration is a tricky little bugger. It plays hide and seek, arrives when you least expect it, and leaves without a trace.....sometimes for weeks at a time. If you think your job as an artist is just to paint, draw, and create then boy are you in for a surprise.

Many artists feel alone when they're uninspired. They wonder if others go through the same thing (yes we do) and wonder if other artist's slumps have lasted as long as their own (yes they have). But please take comfort in this fact: losing and gaining inspiration is part of being an artist. It is the ebb and flow of creativity; a natural swing of things that you will continually try to weather and work with.

It's careful balance. Don't push too hard when you're just not inspired, but also take responsibility and try to gain that inspiration back. Reading books about your favorite artists, visiting museums, going for a long walk on a beautiful day, whatever works for you. Sometimes the best thing to do is take a break from drawing and do something completely different for a while. That way you'll return to your desk feeling refreshed (of course don't do that sort of thing when you're on a tight deadline!).

The main point is this: don't let it get you down or scare you. It's just the wave pulling back from the sand for a bit. It always comes back. Believe me, I have to remind myself of that many many times.

My First Teddy Bear

My first attempt at 3d needle felting. He will look much happier when my niece Emma adopts him--she's visiting today :)

Illustration Friday Cracked II

Pig sat with his rear stuck tightly in the cannon and listened while the fuse sparkled and cracked. Suddenly there was a big KABOOOOOOOOOOM! He popped out like a buttery ball of dough. The crowd roared their approval.

Illustration Friday: Cracked

This elephant is a little cracked in the head.

Good Dog!

Off to School

I'm doing these recent paintings to practice and figure out which styles I want to do my books in. The book sketches are almost done so I'll have to make up my mind very soon!

I added some 'ink' digitally since my scanner isn't picking up the softer pencil outlines too well.

Illustration Friday 2: Contagious

Margaret came down with a cold, and has been banished to the lonely side of the lake so others won't catch it.

Illustration Friday: Contagious

Grumpiness can be contagious.

Wow It's a Cow Sketch 2

Here's another sketch from Wow it's a Cow. The squared off area is where the flap will be. I'll draw and paint another illustration so that when the flap is lifted, a bird is sitting on the branch instead of a cow. A really cute and funny idea, I've enjoyed working on this one.

Sketch from recent book: "Wow it's a Cow!"

Publishing date 2010
Scholastic

Talent Show 2

Another more detailed version of the "Talent Show" post.

Reading

Painted this for my Mom for Mother's Day :)

Illustration Friday: Parade

He watched the parade of cars circle around the track, their tiny lit windows sparkling like stars. "It's raining," said Bernard. "Shouldn't we head back?"

All That's Left To Paint is the Bear!

This is going to be my illustration Friday submission when it's done. I'll probably complete it by tonight.

Bad Review

A quote for those of us who have received a bad review or few..

"A critic is someone who never actually goes to the battle, yet who afterwards comes out shooting the wounded." -Tyne Daly

Things to Be Thankful for As An Illustrator

"This book was illustrated using..."

Don't you just love when they include this information in the copyright info of books you admire?? I'm only unhappy when they say 'mixed media'. Which media did you mix? More details please!

Train Set

Boy do I love drawing any kind of scene that involves rain!

I'm working on a story right now (not connected to the sketch above) that I'm so excited about, but it needs to be fully dummied out in book form before I can present it to an editor. It's one of those books where the illustrations tell a little over half of the story and the text alone just wouldn't do it justice. Of course the minute this happens all my other projects suddenly pile up (very fun projects so I can't complain about that)! I guess I'll have to weave a little bit here and there while I'm racing deadlines. A page after dinner, a page when I get up in the morning - eventually the dummy book will get done...right? Right?? :) We shall see.

Ho Hum...

Ever get that feeling that if you keep pushing through the jumble of drawings that just aren't exciting and inspiring to you, that you'll finally hit on something that reminds you of why you started in the first place? I'm seeing sparks of things, but I'm not quite where I want to be.

Outside of the projects I'm hired to do, I've been working hard on my own, struggling to find some sort of solid voice that is mine. I guess I'll keep plugging away. My thought is that if I can narrow down my work to one or two styles, then I can get so comfortable with that style I'll only have to worry about the emotion and content in a drawing instead of all my energy going into the execution/draftsmanship of a drawing. If I could get it down to where it turns into pure poetry with even the simplest of spot illustrations, I would be a very happy artist. Now if I could just get my mind to agree instead of flitting all over the place. Ha.

Yet another library fee that sucked the wind out of my lungs, recently--ouch. I'm going to put a giant piece of paper in my studio with current library book due dates written in thick red marker. I'm all for contributing to the Library system but my goodness.

The Talent Show

Hippo Tales

Dad's Boots

A hierarchy of shoes (for illustration Friday : Hierarchy).  I know it's a stretch lol.

Theater of Dreams

Frogging

My scanners have all hated cold press paper....this is a washed-out, over-textured version of the original. Herumph!

Bee-Have (behave)

My Not So Great Beginner Art From Years Ago

The very worst art is unfortunately not available to post because I was not shy about tossing (often with great frustration) art into the trash can that didn't live up to my expectations. This is stuff that is bad, but at least had some spark to it to warrant saving.

I can definitely see my 'phases' here where I copied my favorite artists (again...badly) to try to learn - and I did learn a great deal this way! I never sent off anything that looked too much like an artist because I was terrified of copying someone's style, even accidentally. What I have done is gathered all the things I liked about different artists and incorporated those things into my own style.

So, with a bit of embarrassment (haha) here we go. Some of these are ok or fairly good, but just look too much like the artists I admired. Others are just....bad,

My Lynn Munsinger phase:



My Tony Ross Phase:





Dav Pilkey stage:



Mercer Mayer phase:



Aliki phase:



Willam Joyce (his early style) phase:



Oh dear....still learning:


Mary Engelbreit phase:



Yikes..



Obviously one I started then jumped ship before it was done because I didn't like it. To the right I think was my Simon James phase.

My Desk Right Now

On the wall are spreads from my recent book for Scholastic: "Wow It's A Cow" - a lift the flap book. The red glass is cranberry juice (Ocean Spray). YUM. The cow is almost tromp l'oeil-like in that he appears to be reaching right out at you lol. Hope I don't wake up to an empty red circle tomorrow!

YAY! Spring Is HERE!

Noises

Illustration Friday: Subtract

Teacher: Hector! For the love of Pete, please pay attention.

Here's What I Did

After receiving a few emails from illustrators and friends asking what kind of things I did to get my recent assignments I've decided to make a blog post on the subject. I still find it very useful to read how other illustrators promote themselves or what steps they took to go from unknown to getting their foot in the door, so just thought I'd add my own story here from start to finish.

In the beginning I was terrible, and I knew it. I had been trained as a fine art painter and knew how to paint what was in front of me. Painting from the imagination is a whole different ball game. I also knew next to nothing about composition. It was just....ghastly.

So...I practiced---a lot! I have painted probably hundreds (thousands?) of paintings, many of which were done over and over to 'get it right' (and will never see the light of day). Looking back over my work, I have improved greatly - I just didn't have the chops at all when I started. And I was not a natural.

I went to the library constantly, checking out tons of books by my favorite illustrators for both inspiration and to learn from them. I accumulated some serious late fees (oops).

When I started sending my own stuff out, I got lots of rejections and only a couple notes saying they kept my work on file. This continued for a couple years more - --I didn't know that this is the norm and that I just had to hang in there and be patient. It's hard not to take rejection personally!

Finally, my illustrations started to improve. A kind illustrator friend of mine took me under her wing and told me about Cornell and McCarthy and how great an agent they were. I held my breath and sent my best pieces to them, all presented in a folder with matching cover letter etc. Weeks later, they accepted me! Hoorah! I was over the moon.

Almost another year went by and I still didn't get a whole lot of work, but this was expected. I was a new artist and there was also a slump for just about every illustrator I knew.

Finally, I began receiving a steady stream of educational work. It was an excellent way to get my foot in the door and get a feel for how the publishing world worked--and it was fun! Almost 90 percent of the projects I illustrated never got back to me in print which surprised me. I guess since edu publishers are working with so many artists at a time they would lose a lot of money sending everyone copies of their printed work. I often bought my own books if I was able to find them.

I started to set my sights on being a trade book illustrator and eventually, an author as well--but I put all my energy in the former trusting that the other would possibly follow if I was successful.

Many more years passed (for the most part, documented in this blog) of struggling to improve my art and find my style. Since I wanted trade books, I started adjusting my art to look more like trade book art and found that I was more comfortable with that direction and enjoyed it immensely. But I still needed to put in more practice. And I did--I was hard on myself, doing scenes over and over again and probably being overly critical. I kept posting to my blog on a regular basis and found the community of other blogging children's illustrators to be extremely supportive and encouraging. I would post something, see the responses, and it was sort of a ping-pong effect of bouncing ideas back and forth. I commented on other artist's work as well. We had all found a little nook away from the mostly solitary atmosphere of being an illustrator.

As my art started improving and reaching a level that I felt was 'ready' I started chomping at the bit to get my first trade book assignment. I began doing anything and everything that would get my art out there. Sure, I have an agent promoting me, and I can't begin to express how much Cornell and McCarthy have impacted my career, but you also have to do your part (I believe) and I started sending out extra postcards, updating my website often, and advertising on childrensillustrators.com (I have received many assignments through them, they are absolutely the best out there).

Still....nothing tradebook-like.

Argh! What was I to do? Then one day my agent offered to send out a Christmas card to everyone on their client list with my illustration on the front. This is something they do every year and each time, they pick an artist from their group for the job. I jumped at the chance! Coming up with a design was difficult - I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and you know how that goes. I couldn't come up with anything I liked - I filled a sketch book with ideas. Finally, with the suggestion from my very smart agents, I went back to my favorite subject--PIGS! The ideas finally flowed and I came up with the two designs in this post. The image of these two pigs was finally chosen.



After the card was sent out, it was a quiet holiday season, then boom! January/Feb hit. I started seeing some big publishing companies on my website stats, and .......they were googling my name to find me! Wowee! Even if I had not received any assignments, this in itself was something to celebrate! They had shown interest.

A few months following this initial reaction, I received three trade books in a row and most if not all said they had seen and liked the Christmas card. It just goes to show a couple things--draw what you enjoy drawing the most and your best work will no doubt come out, and two, you never know which sample will get the attention of art directors so keep sending them out.

In the end, you have to love what you do. It was a long road of five or six years before I came to this point in my career, and had I been wishy-washy about being an illustrator, and not put everything I had into this dream, I wouldn't have made it this far. The love for your craft gets you through the hard times and the rejection letters, and the months without work. Then one day, unexpectedly, things begin to finally fall in place (and they will if your heart is in it) and it's really quite a feeling when that happens. I still have lot of hard work, learning and practice ahead of me of course - and always will, because the art of the picture book is a complicated and beautiful thing.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :0)

It's Been Too Long!

Wow, an entire month without Fox posts!  Definitely not my usual style, but sometimes life throws curve balls and you have to take a break.  I have to say, I've never caught flu bugs and colds so many times in one year before.  From what I've read though, I'm not surprised, as I'm in a care-taker's roll and that is a constant strain on the immune system.  They're not kidding!  I'm going to try to get my exercise routine going again so I can give the ol' immune system a boost.  

I'll also be catching up on emails this week so if you haven't heard from me I have not forgotten you!

Let's see, currently I'm working on three books.  One is Baby Moose Visits for Dutton - I'm waiting on responses for the thumbnail sketches (that I posted here earlier), Raj The Bookstore Tiger for Charlesbridge is in sketching phase part 2 and Wow It's a Cow for Scholastic (my first lift-the-flap book, hooray!) is in sketching phase as well.  

On the writing side of things, I've submitted summaries for eleven of my manuscripts to an editor that as shown interest in me as an author/illustrator!  These are stories I wrote for fun over the last eight years or so.  I guess they are finally seeing the light of day!  Haha.  

Thanks so much to my very talented friend Ginger for pointing out the listing of Little Green Pea in Publishers Weekly!  I would never have known otherwise, so I very much appreciate that!  Green Pea is being release April 4th for anyone interested.  From what I've heard, I will be receiving copies of the books in late March--my very first trade book, so I can't wait!!

Lots going on both professionally and personally, but I think I'm back in the groove of posting on regular basis.  

Till next time!  Keep drawing, and practicing (that's what I'm gonna do) ---I'll leave you with a character sketch of the star cow in Wow It's a Cow!