Owl Be There For You

I'm soaring along sketching out my next book published by Dunrobin Publishing. This is a debut children's book by author Jason Todd. I think we are going to see a lot more of his work in the future!
His writing is light, flowing and although the text is not written in a rhyme there seems to be a rhythm to his work. Phrases like, "He scampered and skipped and fluttered and flew..." dance across the page to a silent drum beat.
Refreshing and insightful you won't want to miss H-Hoo's There? set for release late summer 2013.

Here is a sneak peek of Caleb the main character. Can you tell what type of owl he is?

Gettin' Fresh!

It happens every year at this time. I take down the Christmas decorations and suddenly my humble abode seems huge and expansive. I love the feeling of open space, of freshly painted white walls, new fallen snow, and blank canvases. The possibilities seem endless at these times and so it only seems natural to reassess my illustration goals as well. To fine tune them and weed out the unnecessary blocks in the way. What once seemed like a great opportunity now seems like something to fill in a slot in my calendar or a box to check on a to-do list.

So here it is "Gettin' Fresh" list in 2013 (please hold me to it!)
Expossure

1. Take more jobs that get exposure to the masses. Better to work more on my portfolio than to work for less than I'm worth. This does not nessesarily mean money but I wouldn't turn it down.

      I know illustrating, for the most part, is not a lucrative biz. There is a reason we are called "starving artists." I'm just stating that I have set my sites on the next step up on the illustration success path and I don't want to go down a ladder rung just so I'm busy.

Extra Extra!
2. Send out those postcards, submit to agents and publishers and GET SEEN!
      I have this thing I do... I make a postcard/portfolio/tear sheet and by the time it is at point where it looks like what I had envisioned in the first place I hate the art on said materials. I then start work on a better idea and don't send anything out because the cycle keeps repeating.

Expertise

3. Fine tune my digital art. 

    I will watch more tutorials to see how other artists get the look I want in my work. (If you have any good ones please post them for me!!)

    I will ask for more critiques rather than live in my head so much. 

So there you have it I'm gettin' fresh with my art. Starting right now. No excuses! This year I will work for these goals even if it means a lot of down time in my calendar.

Beyond Coffee- What gets me going

So I thought I'd write a bit about what inspires me and gets me illustrating. As a creative person sometimes we can tend to be... procrastinators. We need somethings to give us the proverbial kick in the butt. Here is my first Aid kit for creativity.
1. Comfy clothes- I need to be able to feel cozy but also have a balance of feeling cute. I DO NOT wear yoga pants. I feel they are the 21st century sweat pants and to that extent do not look good on most people including myself. You will usually find me wearing a nice pair of jeans, an adorable top, and accessories (scarf, earrings ect.).  Look good, feel good do good!

2. Music- Because I am easily distracted I must only listen to wordless music or music sang in another language. I love Pandora! I listen to music that fits the feel I want to portray in my work.  So if I'm working on a Christmas book I will not be listening to Tim Burton Soundtracks,  though they are awesome, but you guessed it Christmas music! But perhaps it's an earthy piece with snow and fairies. I suggest Enya, Loreen McKennitt, Yo Yo Ma, Jean-Yves Thibaudet or just nature sounds. You get the point no Metallica for a Teddy Bear Picnic piece unless it has a twist. That would be interesting!

3. Pintrest- I use Pintrest to pin all my ideas for present and future pieces. I may pin a hockey player, a cute baby or a tree that I can incorporate into an illustration. Somethings that I pin in my Illustration Ideas folder just make me happy! I picture is worth a thousand illustrations.

4. A clean house or at least my room- If my area is not clean I have a nagging urge to do it while I'm working. No, I'm not a clean freak. Not by far. But it just clears my mind and if I do it before I start working it really helps.

5. Snack and or coffee- I LOVE coffee, hot tea, almonds, cheez-its, and apples with peanut butter.

6. Window Seat-  In the life of a creative person you can feel alone. I have worked in many places and have found sitting by a window is best. Even if I have to work non-stop for 5-9 hours to get a deadline at least I can see the world, even if I 'm not in it.

7. Friends- Find other artist friends even if your just FB friends. The FB artist friends thing is new for me. But I find that the more I see other people working on illustration projects the more I want to work on mine. Kind of like accountability. Also, again you don't feel so alone. Look me up!

8. Tutorials- I recently needed to find a tutorial on how to make my digital work look more like watercolor and found these gems Dani Draws or watch this one by ClaudiaMSutton. There are some great ones out there just google it.

9. Visit other artist's blogs or websites- yep

10. Goals- Write it down small goals on your calendar and stick with them. I have to make an art work schedule otherwise when I'm not working I feel guilty and when I am working I feel guilty I'm not with my family. Schedules let you off the hook, or at least me.

11. Stretch before and after- Don't become the Hunchback of Illustration. Get up stretch, take a walk, or  just adjust how your sitting. Here is a youtube on chair yoga

And there you have it! Just a few things I do to get me going and staying strong as I illustrate children's books. What do you do?

Owl Just Start Here...

Working on really getting the style of illustration I want.
Not what-
Looks good enough.
or
How I think others want it to look.

-but really looking at my art and making it look like the style in my head. (Yes, there is something going on in there.)

When I worked traditionally I used watercolor crayons. I loved the fluid, transparent, and somewhat messy look. So that's what I'm going for. There are many great tutorials out there on the web that can teach you how to get textures and such to accomplish your goals. Many are free or minimal!

Illustrators that inspire me include Helen Craig, Wendy Anderson Halperin, Paige Keiser and just recently Brooke Boynton Hughes.

Since my critique with Will Terry I've decided to really work on making my digital look like my traditional or at least until I was happy with it.

To the right is a small quick illo. of an owl for an upcoming children's book I will be working on. I'll be changing many things and truthfully by the time I'm finished it will look a bit different but hey it's a first draft!

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. - Abraham Lincoln

Yes, I'm still here.

So hello again!  Here is an illustration I did for the Feb. issue of Guardian Angel Kids Magazine.  Click here to read the story! Happy Valentines Day!

Animals of Israel

Here are some illustrations I did for a kids discipleship book for 10-12 year olds. They are animals from Israel. I think my favorite is the Lemur in the bottom right.

IF-Stir

Reese and her brother Riff suddenly had a stirring in their tummies for some Big Dipper ice cream!

Me and My Easter book!

So here is the cover of my Easter book "Why Do We Celebrate Easter?". This month starts the book tour and I'm really excited! I've been mailing out signed copies to those who can't make it to an event. Let me know if that includes you! (The tour is all local in and around St. Louis MO)
This is my first book I've illustrated so I am anxious to see how everything goes with events, sales, and opportunities that come in the future.
I should also state that this whole book thing is the reason I haven't been posting. So much to do!
Here is the link to the book on Amazon.

IF- Surrender

"Surrender the cookies Mam!"

Who Me? Valentine

Here is an illustration I did for my daughter's Valentines this year. As many of you know I absolutely LOVE birds. And of course there is our friend Snaid the snail.
My idea is that we will buy dum dum suckers and punch a hole just above Snaid. Then insert the sucker to make it look like he is holding it (some how). On the sucker will be a circle punch with the words, "Happy Valentine's Day" pasted to the front. Or maybe I should make a paper flag coming from the stem of the sucker with the words?! No... then it will look like he is calling the owl a dum dum. I'll go with the first idea. Thoughts?????

IF-Dusty (AKA Bunny Love)

Don't let your hugs get dusty,

Use them everyday!

Noticed I hadn't done any animal illustrations recently. I thought this weeks word went perfectly!

The Blue Truck

Here is an illustration I did for Guardian Angel Kids. There is a story that accompanies it and you can see them both in the February issue. If you have never visited them. They are a children's e-magazine. Very cute! Now on to illustrate the IF word-o-the-week!

apparently I'm stylish... or at least my blog is!

So Susanne gave me a stylish blog award. Why thank you Susanne!
Part of how this works is I tell you 7 things about myself then I present the stylish award to 15 other fabulous bloggers. So.....
#1 I believe matching socks with your outfit is optional.
#2 I love love love reading!!!!! Historical Christian Fiction Chic Lit is my fav.
#3 Most of the jewelry on my characters I own and some of it is from my awesome friend Amy. She sells it here!
#4 My first major of choice was Fashion Design. Oooo la la!
#5 I love doing food challenges. I was a vegetarian for a year, and a raw foodist and gluten free girl for a week.
#6 My favorite food is Ethiopian cuisine.
and #7 I try to put a snail in as many illustrations as I can.

Now the 15 lucky bloggers are...
aleksandra-chabros.blogspot.com
allididwaslisten.blogspot.com
annejewett.blogspot.com
callyjanestudio.blogspot.com
candaceillustration.blogspot.com
blogdebsart.blogspot.com
double-sideofacoin.blogspot.com
humbleartsjournal.blogspot.com
jessielilac.blogspot.com
kristahamrick.blogspot.com
lovetoillustrate.blogspot.com
sniplings.blogspot.com
shishir-naik.blogspot.com
shirleysillustrations.blogspot.com
sandygrafik.blogspot.com

IF-Resolutions

This is actually my thought from a few words back.."Winter" but I finally got around to finishing it so now it's for "Resolution". 

Click on the image to see it and the caption larger!

IF- Prehistoric

Penelope soared through the air spreading Christmas cheer with the help of her prehistoric friend Peppermint. The wind tickled her nose with the sweet scent of children's dreams. Tomorrow would be Christmas and although this tale is just imaginary, the story of a little baby coming to earth to save His people from their sins is true.
May the true meaning of Christmas penetrate your heart and fill the year to come with the joyful promise of an eternity with Jesus Christ.
This is an excerpt from a Christmas story I am writing telling the true meaning of Christmas with the help of some fantastical creatures and friends.

IF- Savour

Wow! It has been a long time since I posted. I've been hard at work illustrating an Easter book that will come out Spring 2011. Here is an illustration from the book that nicely fits with this weeks word.

It's a Party!!!

This illustration was created for an invitation for a new bookshop opening around my neck of the woods. They will host birthday parties in the shop. The theme is Cardboard Castle! Sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun!

Snaid and Birl

At first glance...

So I did this illustration after watching "New World". What a great movie!

This is done in watercolor and hopefully gives you a feeling of friendship and anticipation for what the future holds. This is my first try at depicting an Indian. It was a little tough because I had to use a lot of shades of brown but not make them smudge into each other. I'd love to know what you think.

IF- Wrapped aka Lucy and Mr. Tumnus Meet

"He was a faun. And when he saw Lucy he gave such a start of surprise that he dropped all his parcels." ...

We are really into Narnia right now at our house. We are listening to the entire series on CD and of course watching the movies. Mr. Tumnus is a personal favorite. He is so sweet to Lucy. as they say in the book it was, from their first meeting, "as if they had known one another all their lives."