Oldies But Goodies!

Books, Illustration, Kid Lit Art

Just finding time to post has been really challenging as of late. Between paying jobs and trying to find time to get a promo done (fall didn’t happen, likely not Christmas either)I have no time for personal projects, which is really disappointing… I am still making Halloween costumes though, will I get mine done? I doubt it! In the meantime, I thought I’d share some work that I’d done in the past few years. I’d actually forgotten some of them, and with a lot of my reference, and work, accidently deleted, I was so happy to find these in the depths of my Mac!

Puzzlers-Highlights for Children

Houghton Mifflin

Leo’s Dancewear (I created the prints on the shoes, and they sent me a pair!)

Christmas Gift Card – Tesco

Usborne Books

Poetry Illustration-Pearson Learning

Everyone Starts Somewhere…

Creative Self, Illustration

Sorry it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post! I am happily working on a couple of different assignments, but I wanted to show you some things I’d dug out not too long ago. I will tell you a story…

I’m getting ready to put my Sketchbook Project in order. For me though, it’s been really difficult, because I usually work digitally. I wanted my SBP to be an exercise in getting back in touch with how I used to work, albeit a bit more updated! ; ) I did take courses in college, but never graduated, so I hold no degree in art whatsoever. Although, I have enough experience for a Master’s Degree! ; ) If there’s one thing I regret though, it’s that I didn’t get enough foundation courses in to really learn certain “rules” in illustration. Now I’m working a little backward, and relearning what I missed. Not in a classroom right now, but through my plethora of books I’ve never cracked!

I like to have a proper straightened up space when I start something new, even if it’s clean on surface. I really have to “cleanse” you know what I mean? So I did a clean out, and dug out some old pieces that I’d submitted to various things early in my freelance career (mid nineties).

These were all rejected…

There are two photos that are not of submissions: one is “Ol’ Whitebeard” a Christmas card I’d created when I first moved to IL (I make all my Christmas cards, but I retooled this idea many years ago, submitted it to SCBWI’s “Santa Who” competion, and was one of the winners!) There’s a poem as well, I used to write, a LOT!! I may share those another time…

The last photo is of the beginning of my Sketchbook Project…I have Night Time Stories, I call this “campfires and cowboys.” I don’t even have a ground yet, but it will read at the bottom “Tell Me A Story…”

Drumroll….

Page 1 of my Sketchbook Project (er, partially complete)! ; )

A Slight Preview…

Creative Self, Illustration

I am very protective of my ideas. Not because I think people will take them, on the contrary, I feel that when I show what I’m working on, I get a feeling of underwhelm-ment from the person I’m showing my idea to. Usually because that person isn’t visual, and seeing the rough idea isn’t conveying the big picture, I get a bit deflated. But so many of my illustrator friends are willing to show their sketchbook skeletons, and the process by which they’re building their books, here’s a little piece of mine! I’m not trying to be artsy (okay, yes, I am with the photo) but I’ll show more when I have a real story story to show! : ) Right now, it’s a lot of open ended ideas…