Tomie dePaola Entry 2014

This year's challenge came a lot earlier and was SO fun! I love projects that really push you just a little bit further. This year's challenge is a 2-part. The first part was to create a 4-6 panel series (while fitting within the limits of an 8.5 x 14 page) It could be BW or full color & vertical or horizontal... most importantly the panel of illustrations were not allowed to have any words! They had to portray a visual sequence that conveyed a feeling, action, storyline, an interest and character.

I have been working on these characters Blueberry & Carrot for a while now. It's a story that has been unfolding for the past 4 years. I actually worked on three different stories and simplified them down to 6 panels, but at the Illustrator Day in Philadelphia this weekend someone mentioned again that Tomie wanted to be surprised...

The ending of the other two stories were great compositions, but kind of a boring ending. Blueberry & Carrot have so many adventures, & this was one of them. It's not perfect, but hopefully you get the idea of the story & the adorable dynamic between these two!

So grateful for Tomie's generosity with so many illustrators and mostly for believing in everyone and pushing the bar a little higher every year!

Tomie dePaola Entry 2013: Sneeze

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - © Kelli Thrasher-Brooks - - - - - - - - - - - -

I finally put down the pen & watercolors & sent in my entry last week... I thought long and hard for a month or two about this composition, and in the past month the image really came to fruition. She had 3 different style pony tails until they made sense... the animals sitting at the table transformed from several different characters until they seemed to balance out and made me smile... and I went through several canvas boards and paint until I found the perfect hue and grain/texture to use as a foundation for this digital painting.

I originally created the Illustration for the 2013-2014 Tomie dePaola Award Competion, but it was more of a personal challenge for me, because I have been trying to add more narrative into my Illustrations since I got back from the Highlights Advanced Illustrator Workshop in August. It's a win for me no matter what the outcome is. I really appreciate and look forward to Tomie's challenges each year because they really get you to think outside the box a little and push you even further from your comfort level! Can't wait to see all of the creative submissions and interpretations of this poem!!