Somewhere, Someone...

Still searching for a publisher.

Our poor little friend, look how tragic he is. He still doesn't have that special someone. Soupir...

Illustration Friday: Fierce

A spread from Hush Little Dragon (Abrams Books for Young Reader), written by Boni Ashburn illustrated by Kelly Murphy. I just found out that it's in its fourth print run! Holy fireballs!!

Hope and Tucker

This is a recent commission for a good friend's husband. I've done a picture of their other Dane, but the "little one" needed his own spotlight.

On a sidenote, I just found out two of my titles (Good Babies and Loony Little hardcover edition) will be deemed out of print in a few month. Sad times, but such is the life of a book.

Spicy!

Something about the color in the latest painting made me title this post absurdly. While drawing and painting this little ditty, I started to think of the meaning of body decoration. Nose rings? Really? That's comfortable? I'm a total no nonsense, no extra fuss person, so the aggravation of putting more things on my body that required pain or disfigurement just never appealed to me. So I researched a bit.
Nostril piercing is a body piercing practice often associated with India. In Northern India the outside of the left and in Southern India the outside of the right nostril is the preferred position of the piercing as this is supposed to make childbirth easier. Who, what... huh?? Slightly apropos that my woman is kneeling in a pool of blood. This is because Ayurvedic medicine associates this location with the female reproductive organs. The word "Ayurveda" roughly translates as the "knowledge of life," "knowledge of a long life" or even "science of life." In India piercings were regarded as a mark of beauty and social standing as well as a Hindu's honor to the god Parvathi the goddess of marriage in the 16th century.

So next time I see one of the teen aged Food Court Wizards at the neighborhood mall all bedecked in their nose rings, I'll give them a wink. "Anything to make childbirth easy, kids!" They might whip their Auntie Annie's pretzel at my head though.

Hedgehog in the Fog

Just a quick post of awesomeness.

Yozhik v tumane (1975)
Director: Yuriy Norshteyn
Writer: Sergei Kozlov (writer)

Studio Animals

And I mean the live ones, not the dust clumps that turn into animated beasts dashing under furniture. Recently chatting with different people who work outside of their house, I sometimes get melancholy working long days completely by myself. In fact, there are strings of days where I never even open the front door.

But, thank goodness, I have some friends to keep me company: Lily, Mama, and the three fish (which lets face it, aren't the best companions). Occaisionally when feeling frustrated, I take a look at this critters and start drawing. You know it's gotten bad when you start to have full conversations with them, AND you imitate their voice. It's gotten so bad with Lily, that people imitate me, imitating her! "Hiii!! I'm ovahh hee-yah!" She has a very thick New England accent, being from Maine and all. The cat on the other hand, has a very prissy voice, constantly saying, "Nnnnnnaaaaaoooooooow!" when she wants me to pet her, NOW.


Sheesh, maybe it would be better to work in cube land! I kind of miss it there... well maybe not.

Prints Available on Etsy!

Hello everyone! I thought I would announce that my shop is now open on Etsy. What or who is Etsy you ask?

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade. Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.

Since our launch in June, 2005, over 100,000 sellers from around the world have opened up Etsy shops.

As of now, I have a few prints, but in a couple days I hope to have a boatload more, including originals! Thanks so much for taking a read and supporting handmade artists.

Click here to see the shop!

I Wish I Had A Voice (and a morning doughnut)

Oh gosh. Well, you have to start somewhere. It's just the beginning, so bear with me.

Going 3D

On the train ride back and forth to NYC, I was working with some monster sketches. It was quite fun, to make ridiculous creatures, and then think of them with my cut out, movable limbs. I would have started to animate them tonight, but I couldn't find my 4-6 prong firewire. Went to Best Buy to get a new one, and guess what idiot forgot her wallet. THIS ONE! So, perhaps in the next few days, I'll be able to upload something here.

On a sidenote, things have fallen behind here! I have some imported Belgian beers to review, courtesy of Tracey and Sal. We spent a bit of time artichoking and boozling with these two beers, and it was love at first sip. Stay tuned friends!

Self Love

Just one of the drawings created while waiting for the season finale of Lost. I also starting creating an arsenal of monsters for a potential manuscript. SO excited.

The Cabin

Working with mid-toned palettes. Instead of lots of contrast, lots of grey tones!

B.O.W. wow!

I just got the official info about the coming book signing for Hush, Little Dragon. Look at the lineup! My knees are knockin'!

Come on down to Books of Wonder for the first book signing of Hush Little Dragon! Books of Wonder is New York City's oldest and largest independent children's bookstore, as well as the city's leading specialist in children's literature both new and old. Whether you're looking for the newest books just published, classics from your own childhood, or old, rare, and out-of-print editions, Books of Wonder is your source for the very finest in children's books.

Will you be in NYC on May 31st? Please say yes, I'm so nervous. I'd love to see you there! Here's the scoop.

Please join us on Saturday, May 31st as 7 authors and artists present their wonderful new picture books for this spring. On hand will be Caldecott Honor artist DIANE GOODE for Baby Face: A Book of Love for Baby by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant; DEB LUCKE author and artist for The Book of Time Outs: A Mostly True History of the World’s Biggest Troublemakers; RAINA MOORE, author of How Do You Say Good Night? ; KELLY MURPHY, illustrator of Hush, Little Dragon; EDEL RODRIGUEZ, author and artist of Sergio Makes a Splash! ; NANCY TUFARI, illustrator of Blue Goose ; and MATTHEW VAN FLEET, author and illustrator of Alphabet. Beginning at noon, each author and artist will give a brief reading from or talk about their new book, after which they will answer questions from the audience, and then sign copies of all their books.

When: May 31st, 2008. 12pm-2pm
Where: 18 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
Why: Why not!

Girl With A Shifty Eye

Another straight watercolor on coventry rag experiment.

It's kind of nice to learn patience with the subtle build of layers again. Here's a small detail. Look Ma, no lines!

Another Creative Outlet

While spending sometime with my brother's family in North Carolina, my castle making obsession is in full force. In the past on riverbanks and beaches, my brother Mike and I would construct the best civilizations that laughed in the face of nature. An isthmus in a river? They said it couldn't be done, but it was done and our civilization survived! Made mostly from dripping sand, we'd discuss how our city was building residences and forming their government, so on and so forth.


Now, back at the beach after a long hiatus, I am instilling a healthy creative outlet for the next generation of Murphys (even though at the age of 6 and 3, they mostly want to Godzuki crush everything). This is pretty much super fun.

Practicing What I Preach

At the close of each semester at Montserrat, all students have to have a final panel review. An assortment of teachers from each discipline assemble to give their input as to the year's progression. One thing I find myself constantly telling ALL majors is: Keeping drawing, loosen up, try new media...

Being under persistant deadline pressures as an illustrator can force you to lose focus of what really is important in improving one's skills. Now that my freelance load has been lightened slightly, I am practicing what I preach. No more are the days of tight renderings! No more are the days of tickling! I will be EXPRESSIVE! Well, ok. Slow down, we're not making Pollacks here, but at least it's nice to experiment with more liquid sketch materials.

I almost feel a bit nude, as an illustrator, not to have a mission. It feels almost uncomfortable not to have a set dimension, art direction, style, and character list. I am back in the days where I am the true master and commander. So what do I like to do? I dunno! I think it's time to find out again in order to propel myself into the next chapter. Being a borderline hermit, working late at night, I frequently enjoy looking at the assortment of apparel and body shape of Yvan Rodic's (also know as the Face Hunter) photos. I hope he doesn't mind. SO I will use this a spring board.

Birds by Pleix

This pretty much has nothing to do with anything. But, it's very entertaining!

Birds by Pleix.
I am putting the studio in a couple bags for a week, and heading 12 hours south! A bit of a working vacation, you might say, to a little place called Duck. I think there will be many a pun made next week. "Look out! DUCK!"

Emerging Safari

Quick drawing from the back lawn, as the animals lay scattered about.

Illustration Friday: Electricty

A Poster for Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Cat Tuesday

It all started with the idea of drawing cats, then the horrible pun Cat Tuesday. Sometimes, you just shouldn't need an excuse to have fun and draw.

Illustration Friday: Seed

Here are some of the preliminary character designs for A Place to Grow (Bloom & Grow Books), written by Stephanie Bloom. It was a ton of fun to try and capture big emotion in a simple shape.