IF-Hatch

I have not posted since Thanksgiving... wow time flies! The word Hatch inspireed me to embellish on a doodle that keeps popping up in my notebooks, sketchbooks and client's to do lists. This little chicken was created with one long stroke with the exception of the beak, legs and shading. (That was the part that I embellished). The word "Hatched" also created a funny story in my mind of a mama bird coming back to her egg, only to find this big polka dot egg, and nothing inside. You have to wonder, was this her bird? or was it something else? Maybe I can eventually build onto it...

IF-Crunchy

I finally finished this drawing inspired by the word "Frozen" from a couple of weeks ago, but Crunchy seemed to be fitting as well... I might tweak it a little more for my portfolio, but am glad to have just had this quiet time off while we were in NY for Thanksgiving to work on a couple of unfinished projects. Hope to get a couple more wrapped during football on Sunday.

IF-Music

I had an art professor in college who drew a beautiful illustration on rice paper of Dizzy Gillespie. He was actually sitting on front of him watching him perform LIVE, and he drew him blindly on the paper with only the light of the candles on the table and the stage lighting. Then he went back into the drawing and then drew Dizzy coming out of his own instrument. I treasure this drawing even today, and remember fondly how a large group of us would meet up after class at a bar on Sansom street in Philly and would smoke cigars and have a glass of wine after class. This drawing is a tribute to that professor who will remain nameless so he doesn't get in trouble. (Not sure if he still meets up with his class after school... it has been over 11 years ago :) But "Music" seemed like a perfect match for Dizzy!

Lilly's Big Adventure

I had been stuck inside sick with the flu for close to a week, so have not had much time to work on anything new other than this cover. I think it turned out okay. Could be better with more time, but just getting back into the swing of things.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving next weekend. Hope to work on some more illustrations during a few days off.

Happy Holidays!

IF- BLUR

This doodle is a reflection of my mood right now.



I have been swamped with work lately, overwhelmed with busy weekends through the end of December, inspired by many other artists & lately I have been re-studying colors, figure drawing, cartooning, painting & so many other things.

It feels like I'm in an overloaded BLUR of creativity, and not enough time to cram it all in (nor the energy since I just came down with the flu or a really bad cold... not sure yet)

But at the end of the day, I love what I do, am thankful for what we have, & look forward to a colorful whirlwind of adventures to come day after day. And even though I feel like I am always on the run... I wouldn't change a thing!

Melissa & Doug Giveaway!!!

Visit http://www.MelissaAndDoug.com for a GREAT children's kitchen giveaway. All of their products are so wonderful! So colorful, sturdy and great for kids! You can also follow them on Twitter: @MelissaAndDoug for great information. Good Luck!

SCBWI Eastern PA Chapter :: 2010 Pocono Mountain Retreat Winning Logo!

I am very honored and excited to find out that my logo was chosen for the 2010 Pocono Mountain Retreat that will be taking place in April 2010!!! I submitted two designs (with a variation of the 2nd option), and my second logo was chosen. The first design was symbolic of all of the wonderful things that can happen when you get wrapped up in a wonderful Children's book. I drew the Inn where the retreat is being held into both options because it is such a beautiful building. The owl option popped in my head before coffee a couple of days later, and I had to draw it immediatly, because it was so fun!


Here are what the others options looked like. I am still in shock, but very excited to attend the event and meet more wonderful people along this adventure!

IF- Skinny

Ironically this Fridays topic is "Skinny". I was up late last night, and decided to do a self portrait. I have always drawn other people, so this was something new for me, but it was a lot of fun. And even more fun to shed a couple of extra baby pounds with the click of a mouse! Who knew today's topic would relate! Hope everyone has a great Halloween weekend!

Inspired all over again...

I just attended the Fall Philly Conference at Whitford Country club this past weekend, and met many wonderful people, and learned a lot about myself, and the Children's Book Industry. I was like a very small fish in a VERY big ocean, but maybe in a couple of years, at least I'll start to see other fish from time to time. Here is my latest creation. Not my best yet, but in the brief portfolio that I brought along, the two agents that I met in a portfolio review said this was the strongest piece, and I should continue to build on this digital style instead of the water colors that I brought as well. My goal is to complete at least one Illustration a week for the next year... stay tuned!

IF- Strong

This is my first time participating in Illustration Friday. When I heard the word strong, a million images raced through my head... three ants piled on top of each other trying to reach a crumb from the edge of a picnic bench, or a man getting hit in "that area" but a wiffle ball bat, and still smiling for the pee wee baseball league... and then I started doodling, and this came out. I then scanned it in, applied a generic photoshop filter, tweaked the colors, and here we are. Looking forward to next week's topic!

New Beginnings

I woke up one morning, took our daughter to daycare, drove an hour in the car to my part time advertising job, opened up my calendar and saw a scholastic books order form that her teacher handed me, and THEN it hit me like a ton of bricks!!! I found myself daydreaming and doodling on yet another to-do list...

Why have I not pursued Children's Book Illustration until NOW?! Sure, I always had it in the back of my mind but never thought I could actually do it. But after 12 years in the advertising field designing logos, and illustrating portraits, and illustrating all of my own art for client projects, I realized it was my favorite part of the day... so why not take the leap, and in my free time pursue my life long dream!

I have been an Illustrator for my entire life, but I am quickly learning that I need to re-teach myself how to draw. So I did some research, and joined the wonderful world of SCBWI. I have also been re-learning perspective, figure drawing, and even watercolor. I even checked out a book from the library on how to draw comics & fashion illusrtations just to get other perspectives. All of this self education is in preparation to become a full time Children's Book Illustrator... some day.

Being in advertising for over 12 years, I have always drawn single images, and maybe a rough composition or entire scene for a storyboard or two. But to Illustrate Children's books, or more particularly Picture Books, my images need to tell the story. So here we go back to the beginning fundamentals. I am looking forward to this long journey, and not the destination, but for the long fun path that lies ahead.

I am attending a conference this October for my area, and there will be a room full of inspiration, teachers, critics, and so much useful information that my head might possibly explode before I walk out of there at the end of the day! I have been doing a drawing about every other day since I joined the SCBWI and I test them out on my 2 1/2 year old daughter. I show her the pictures and she tells me what she thinks is going on in the picture. Hopefully I can create 10-15 Illustrations for the portfolio review at the conference.



So far the best way I have found to come up with scenes to draw is to think of a story, and draw one scene. Illustrationfriday.com is another useful tool, where they give a word to interpret and draw before the following Friday. I will be posting many of these topics, as a way to test my discipline, and creativity week after week, all while building up my portfolio along the way... stay tuned!