Lilly the Kid's School for Bandits (working title)

So last February I went to the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators conference in New York City. Made the journey all by myself, leaving my toddler 871 miles away with daddy in Atlanta. The first night there I got food poisoning, forcing me to miss the entire morning session on Friday. Oh, did I mention I was 2 months pregnant as well? It was an experience for sure.

But none of that really matters. What matters is what I learned from the convention and what came out of it. I've wanted to attend for years and was not disappointed. Learned a lot, including how to approach my portfolio and branding for the next time I attend.

What's especially wonderful is how many art directors/editors are right at your fingertips. The conference allows for a lot of self promotion. During the open portfolio showcase, where you get to display your portfolio as well as leave out business cards and postcards, I had an editor ask me about one.

He especially liked the little girl and wanted to know if there was a story to go with her and if I would send it to him.

"Yup!" I replied. I did have a story, just didn't know what it was yet.

So after the excitement, nervousness, panic, and anxiety went away, I asked a few experienced illustrators and writers at the conference what I needed to do exactly. Elizabeth O Dulemba gave me some great advice. If an editor or art director asks you if you have a story, always say you have a story (check). Then take a couple months and write it. Editors expect it to take some time, and 2-3 months is not out of line. But make sure it is perfect! Illustrations to accompany are a bonus, but not necessary. He already liked my illustration style, he just wanted to know what it was all about.

So I followed their advice, kind of. Being pregnant and moving just a few months after the conference set me back a bit. Then a severe case of writers block set me back even more.

"You need to work on that story," my husband would often say.

"I know," was my only reply.

I have a lot of picture book ideas. I'm not saying every one is gold, but they are an idea, a place to start. But having an illustration and being told "come up with a story for this" put my mind in a fog I could not overcome. So I did the only thing I could do, took my time. Did research, had some creative procrastination and worked on the story little by little.

Till voila, I had an idea. Which developed into a story. Which has since become a world with characters and setting and concept. Here is a little peak.

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Once the storyboard is finalized I will send it off to the publisher! Only 6 months late.

Cats

Mew.

Gangstas

Carl Did Not Belong

See if you can guess which one Carl is.

And a detail.

Wish I Was Doing This Right Now

Annabell and Clover

"Annabell is a creative introvert who rescues an abandoned baby raccoon. The two are inseparable until Annabell realizes clover feels left out not being with his own kind. Can Annabell let go of the only friend she's ever had? Will the other raccoons accept Clover?"

I changed "Huckleberry" to "Clover". Huckleberry Fin is a bit to famous to share the name. Here is the process on a possible illustration direction.

The sketch has already been posted (see below). Here is the line drawing.

I scanned in the line drawing and painted digitally. Starting by blocking in the general colors. I knew I wanted it to be bright and fun. I kept thinking "Pinterest" colors.

After many many layers, I made the whole image grayscale to make sure my values were ok. The background could be a tad lighter.

And the final image.

Take care!

Botanical Knits

I recently finished working with Alana Dakos on her newest book, "Botanical Knits." The patterns are inspired from plants, trees, leaves, etc. I love the designs (as always when looking at Alana's stuff) and once again wish I had the physical dexterity to knit. 

Working with Alana (see also "Coastal Knits" and "Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf") is really great because there is a lot of room for exploration. For example, she gave me several photos of her knits...

...along with images that inspired her to create the patterns. Then essentially said, "here is what I created, now you create something." So I did.

If you have the book you could play a fun "Where's Waldo" trying to find where some of the illustrations ended up. The interesting thing for me is to see what made it into the book (of course not all do) and where. 

Alana also asked me to design the title. Always a fun challenge. She wanted something natural, rustic, with tall letters, almost like they are growing. So here are some examples I came up with.

But ultimately this style was the winner (see above cover).

Another interesting request was for the resource page. She knitted little leaves out of the fabric she used for the knits in the book, and used those as reference for where she got the yarn. Photos of the knitted leaves were eventually placed onto an illustration of a tree branch. You can get an idea for it from the color studies. You will have to buy the book to see how it all really comes together.  :)

Thumbnails.

Color Studies.

Final Illustration.

 That's it! Thanks for reading.

The Yearling Colored

Ink, gouache, and digital. I tried to follow the value study as closely as possible.

The Yearling

"Almost every day he took his gun and shot-bag 
and went into the woods with Flag."

In college we were taught the importance of value studies before starting an illustration. It only took me four and a half years to fully appreciate what our teachers were trying to hammer into us.

This is based off an excerpt from "The Yearling." So excited to paint this now!