Woodland Party

I just finished another greeting card, and it's another oozing with cute piece. Sometimes cute is fun, but when you are stressed and freaking out, those smiling animals seem to be mocking you when painting them. I love Peaceable Kingdom Press, so I was pumped to deliver another card to them.

BACK TO WORK!

Cybils 2008!

Holy cow, I am on the slow bus for sure! This busy fall has left me behind in any and all news. I'm literally drowning in a deep dark ocean of deadlines (I hope to have posts of all the projects soon). BUT I saw that Hush Little Dragon, by Boni Ashburn, was nominated for a Cybils award! How cool! Here's a bit about the awards by Anne Levy:

"We wanted a literary competition that combined the freewheeling democracy of the Internet with the thoughtfulness of a book club. Cybils lets the public nominate books here on our Cybils blog, but then bloggers team up to pick the finalists and winners. The winning books must combine quality and "kid appeal."

It's the third annual celebration, so definitely check it on out. All of the books listed there are pretty darn amazing, and I am honored to be included. Buy books this holiday season! They last forever!

Excellence in Children’s Book Illustration: November 30th!

I just wanted to annouce that tomorrow, the Rhode Island School of Design's Museum of Fine Art is hosting a great panel review, and have included me on their roster. I am so excited! Here are the details:

Children’s books today meet a high standard of excellence, and the best are nationally acclaimed. Several RISD alumni author/illustrators—Caldecott medal and honors winners among them—join a panel moderated by assistant director James Brayton Hall to discuss the inspiration and hard work that brought them success. Authors include Christopher Bing (BFA 1983), Kelly Murphy (BFA 1999), Marjorie Priceman (BFA 1981), Alexander Stadler (BFA 1990), and David Wiesner (BFA 1978). Free with Museum admission. Afterward, begin your holiday shopping at a book signing with the authors at risd|works!

Date: Sunday, November 30, 2008
Time: 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: Michael P. Metcalf Auditorium, Chace Center
Street: 224 Benefit Street
City: Providence, RI

For more information, feel free to check out the Museum's website! Hope to see you there, I'll be the nervous one!

Girls, Girls, Girls

I am using these sanity breaks as a means to create original artwork for sale via Etsy. I hope to have a healthy amount of these available for a low cost by the beginning of December. Stay tuned!

Sanity Drawing

Just a quick drawing after a loooong day of work.

Eeka NEeka LEeka LEe
Here's a lock without a key

-Walter de la Mare

Illustration Friday: Pretend

It's been sometime since entering a piece into IF, but here I am again. I regret it's not a new piece, but from Dancing Matilda (HarperCollins) written by Sarah Hager. This was a fun but exhausting book to work on, but I really enjoyed drawing Matilda pretending to be the best dancer ever.

The Demo Memo

My titles are so lame! Ok, just another quick post since I am drowning in deadlines. Recently in my classes I've done a number of demos. I thought I'd post the monstrosities here. I have every intention of finishing them, but I think it will be after the New Year. I miss late spring when I didn't think I was ever going to get a job again.

Here's a 5 minute Fluff jar sketch in acrylics

And here's a demo using my own technique of a geisha


A sidenote, we have been having the strangest weather. I slept with my slider windows open last night. It's NOVEMBER! Where's the cold weather I love!? Now there are tropic rains. Very strange, very strange indeed. BACK TO WORK!

Happy Halloween

Even though it's one of my favorite holidays, I typically celebrate this one very quietly. I got to sketch a bit in the laundromat this evening, making a slightly naughty witch.

We All Need A Laugh

While catching up on billing this morning, I got into a discussion with a friend about in-fek-tus dance clips. And because we all need a good laugh from time to time... here are some of my fave moves:


Army of Lovers: When the Night is Cold


Elaine's Little Kicks: and yes this is how I dance at weddings


Alan Cumming Time After Time (hahahahaha)

and the best EVER

Claude François - Magnolia
Uploaded by unzip

Claude: Magnolias Forever

Ok, back to bills.

*******
NOTE
How could I forget this one!!!???

Bacara: I Can Boogie

Hallo-WOAH!

So, I've notice a mania that's developed over the past years. The pet industry has gone CRAZY. I mean, warehouse department stores for PETS? Seriously? Now, you all know, I love my animals. Dearly. I always have loved animals. But I think it's a tad on the insane side with the amount of gross marketing that comes with American pets now. Owning a chihuahua has made this EXTREMELY difficult. I like a giggle as much as the next person, but the most recent present from the niece and nephew is just plum silly!

And here is my homemade costume for the World Cup in 2006. She was routing for the Frenchies, thus why the coq motif. I'm totally sorry, that I am a part of the pet maddness, aren't I.

More Momotaro

We're finally getting into the nitty gritty of all the Peach Boy spreads. It's been fun, and I am really enjoying the oni!




Sorry for the short post, got to get back to another project!

Loved!

The one and only Dan Santat likes my blog! AWESOME! Apparently, this phenomenon has been travelling the interweb, and people are spreading the message about blogs they enjoy. I guess the rules are:

1. Add the logo of the award to your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Nominate 7 other blogs (book blogs?) and add their links to your blog

So here it goes:
1.) Benjamin Lacombe is an amazing French illustrator, and he NEVER disappoints.
2.) Gisele Jaquenod does it all, and in a crazy cute fashion.
3.) On My Desk offer a glimpse into some of the more creative places out there.
4.) Dots For Eyes, otherwide known as Maris is too cute to handle.
5.) Face Hunter offers me a bit of style.
6.) It's a Whimsical Life is the amazing Susan Mitchell. And I now own two of her little stuffies!
7.) Seeing Shiny Spots offers not only interesting jewelry advice, she's one funny lady!

I have a ton more of links I love, and feel free to check them out, over there on the right. Thanks again Dan. You the man! I'm your number one fan! SPAM!

Pumpkinhead, Makes Me Feel Fine

Fall has definitely arrived. Bone chilling mists, falling leaves, and the smell of firewood was in full force today. And the official change from light crisp ales to darker, more warming beers has also arrived. Today, I want to feature Pumpkinhead, brewed by the relatively new Shipyard.

Since 1994, Shipyard Brewing Company has been brewing fine quality products with a wide range of style profiles. All their beer is hand crafted from recipes developed by master brewer Alan Pugsley and entrepreneur Fred Forsley, some of the most influential people in the craft brewing movement in North America. I found a really great interview with the English-born brewmaster, in which he states, "We're now moving out nationally and getting great reviews. We're starting to fill niches in different areas where people can enjoy our beers and discover our styles of beer made with the Ringwood yeast. Our goal is ultimately to be available in all states. We're not out to conquer the world or be Sam Adams. We look for steady growth and on the beer side, consistently producing our world-class ales. We're here for the long haul and the Shipyard brand will be here long after Fred and I are dead and hopefully long after our grandchildren. We really believe in how this thing is branded."

Shipyard is available in 35+ states around the country and markets for our freshly brewed, hand-crafted beers continue to expand. In 2007, Shipyard Brewing Company shipped over 1,060,500 cases (82,641 barrels) of the award-winning, hand-crafted ales.
The total brewing capacity of the brewery is 140,000 barrels so they have the ability to double their production in the years ahead. Maine's largest brewery, it produces 12 varieties of award-winning English style and seasonal ales, in additon to seven flavors of hand-crafted Capt'n Eli's Soda.

Shipyard first began in 1992 at Federal Jack's Restaurant and Brew Pub in Kennebunk, which is one of Maine's original brew pubs and working breweries. Within two years, demand for Shipyard beer outpaced the small operation and, in April 1994, Forsley and Pugsley opened the Shipyard Brewing Company in the heart of the waterfront in Portland, Maine on the site of the former Crosby Laughlin Foundry.

Pumpkin Ale gets mixed reviews, but this is why I have grown to like it. Sometimes the specialty brews are way too overwhelming, and while their flavor is fine for one or two, they get nasty fast. The nutmeg, cinnamon, and pumpkin flavor is very gentle, and allows for more consumption without the urge to purge. I enjoy it as a nice transition into the heavier beers of the winter season. It's totally worth a try. At least support the Maine-iacs!

Visit Shipyard Brewery here!

A New Addition

More tasks being crossed off the list! Thank goodness, because the eye twitch is coming back, BIGTIME. Freelance should really be called "No Matter What Happens, I'm in a Panicked State". When you do and don't have jobs, you're stressed and always hoping for the other. It's a chosen lifestyle of borderline insanity, and I wouldn't change it for the world!

This piece is for a birth announcement, and if you notice, the crystal clear did some more funky things. Upon sealing the oil layer, it instantly beaded up. After a few layers, I got it under control. Maybe it's the weather causing these mistakes?

Hurrah, Keep Working!

Two posts in one day! Been cranking out some work, even though I've been fairly quite with posts here. Trust me, the desk is swamped. This is a cover for a girl's magazine... due out in November I believe.

Holy Cuteness

A recent painting completed for a collection of vacation stories, this this is OOZING with cute, but I'd like to think that the color palette doesn't blow it into saccharine orbit. As I was painting this, I must have gotten a bad batch of Crystal Clear, because it failed to seal some parts of the wet oil layer, thus smudging a huge chunk of the image, and wasting HOURS of painting. That was a good time. I have since bought the triple thick Crystal Clear, and I hope that whole issue is out the door.

I kind of like Ratty and Toad here.

I Need Me A Patches!

HOLY HORSE SHOES!
Patches not only rides in convertables, but gets his human BEER! My animals are so LAME!

Studio Friends Gone Mad

So, we took a short break last night to make a video for Antoine. I wish I was more productive on breaks, like reading books, taking a walk, cleaning the studio... but no. I make my dog dance to MIKA.

Dodos and Dirigibles

These sketches are for upcoming chapter novels I have recently be signed onto. These stories are beyond cool, and I am not just saying that. I could not have written a story myself that includes all of the things I love: birds (dodos!), atlases, explorers, sketchbooks, compasses, dirigibles, Bedouin, post World War One era... But I am not going to show you too much, I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Peach Boy in Color

Fall has quite literally exploded. School has started again at Montserrat, and in addition, this fall I start a new course at the Massachusetts College of Art. I've also got about five books in queue, with a few side commissions and cover jobs as well. Needless to say, I am keeping myself out of trouble, unlike this Oni pictured above! He's about to get a can of Whoop-Ass by our little hero, Momotaro! Hope everyone else is ready for apple picking and spiced cider. So long summer...