Get Well Soon, Soldier

Sketch

This is for a long time friend and neighbor who had to have an operation. He's a history buff and actually owns something signed by Abraham Lincoln himself! Hope the color comes out well.

Illustration Friday : Open

It's almost Halloween! Open wide and ROAR.

Boy have I been away from the drawing table too long. Drawing is like breathing for me, when I don't draw I feel like I'm holding my breath. It was nice to finally exhale.

Illustration Friday : Wedding

Click to Enlarge!

For "W is for wedding" I knew that the usual star of a wedding is the bride, but I didn't want her to be the star of my 'story'. The little boy and the mouse were the main actors, so I placed focus on them with darker colors, while leaving the bride almost void of color and very sketchy. I had a lot of fun with this one - a welcome change from some creative struggling I've run into this week.

Mommy?

Guess what's around the corner, kids (by the way when I say 'kids' I mean us illustrators/authors out there, who really are just big kids). Halloween--one of my favorite holidays! A book you might want to pick up this year--if you missed it last year--is Mommy? by Maurice Sendak, Arthur Yorinks and Matthew Reinhart. It's a beautifully created, extremely intricate pop-up book that will leave your jaw dropping to the floor.

I found a video on youtube which talks about the book and includes an interview with Sendak. This video is the first time I've actually seen Sendak 'in person' since all of what I knew about him previously was through articles and interviews in books. He's equally as animated and expressive as his characters. Enjoy!

Staring Contest 2

I digitally added eyes to this one. I like both renditions for different reasons.

Staring Contest

Happy Belated Birthday Jen!

Cover Image For Manuscript 2

Color Version

Full page sketch for manuscript 2

The Hiss Heard Round The World

From manuscript number two: this cat delivers some devastating news to his canine house-mate, and does it with a lot of sass mixed with a little evil ("Ev-Vil" - Austin Powers). Fortunately the dog is smart enough to turn the new bit of information around to his advantage.

More Character Sketches

Now these very rough (not final) sketches are for manuscript number two. The more I compare the two stories, the more I lean towards this one for my first submission. My goal is to just get one of these stories out of my house and in front of a pair of eyes - along with a couple final illustrations and character sketches. Come on girl, get your butt in the chair and follow through!

Postcard Countdown

Okay, this is my very first attempt at sending a postcard. Four hundred of them hit the mail today. So now, there's nothing left to do but sit back and wait. Yes I will be checking my website stats about 1000 times a day. I'll give a full report, for better or for worse.

Illustration Friday : Alphabet Pt. 2

I'm still trying to figure out what style of art to go with for my manuscript. I'll keep experimenting...

Illustration Friday : Alphabet

Who Are They?

These are just initial character ideas - nothing final.

Part of the fun of writing a picture book is figuring out what the characters will wear and what kind of personalities they'll have. Jack is very stylish, classy, calm, collected, while Zack is wild, sloppy and constantly stressed out. The smallest character of all, the unassuming little girl has the biggest impact on the story when she whispers one sentence. Maybe one day everyone will find out what it is (if I can make the impossible possible.).

Fall Postcards!

I accidentally, somehow, posted this on the Picture Bookies showcase, sorry about that girlies! It's been deleted. Lol, I've lost all my blogging skills since it's been so long.

Nice To Be Drawing Again

Well I am finally over this flu bug. Only today did I finally get rid of the nagging cough. Here's an illustration from a recent project - basically a colored sample of the characters.

Next post I'll be discussing the Write Now competition in which some of my fellow blogging buddies won! And I managed to place as well. :0)

Trip plus flu equals massive email backlog!

Summertime, Beaches, Fireflies....FLU BUG?

This is my official "I'm sick" image. Whenever I catch something I'll post this.

I was warned about catching stuff in airplanes, and boy did we. My parents and I were totally wiped out with the flu this past week. Our house turned into a sick ward with lots of coughing, tissues,Vicks Vapor, Halls, nose strips. I'd forgotten just how miserable a cold/flu combination can be.

So once again I'm still behind on email, I have library books due as well that are very VERY late and I can't get to the library to return them. I'm honestly expecting a horror show when I go to review my late fees online.

Feeling woozy again so off to lay down. Will post more stuff soon.