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There are lots o' cool things going on in November like PiBoIdMo and NaNoWriMo. My friend, Sara Weingartner, had a terrific idea: posting a sketch a day for the month of November (the most excellent Nancy Carlson has been posting her daily doodles for the past two years now!). I thought this would be a fun thing to do (Barb Björnson, Anne Adix Fabie, and Alicia Schwab are doing it, too). I've had an idea rattling around in my head for ever such a long, long time and I think it is ready to find it's way to paper... Happy November!

A Peek at Mural 2

Happy Wednesday! Thought I'd quickly post the little sketches I did for Mural 2 (including a unicorn I drew a while back that never found a home!). I was instructed to include (along with the unicorn), a baby fox, Baby Gordy, Gus the cat, and a mother bunny and some baby bunnies. My client is adorable and infinitely patient (as I finished her sister's room a good month ago), so it is nice that we are moving forward again. Sending off my registration today for KidLit Con 2010 that will be here in Minneapolis on October 23, so that will be cool. I am busy now printing up new art samples for my portfolio so it will be extra spiffy for my portfolio review on Oct 2 at the MNSCBWI Fall Conference. It is nice that the more conferences I attend, the less jittery I feel beforehand. I still end up with a ooey gooey brain when the conference is over, but I recover more quickly now. :) It is so great to get all that great information, to hear amazing and talented speakers, to walk away feeling so inspired! And so fun to spend a day with kid book friends!!!!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Howdy! Thought it might be fun to do a work-in-progress-type-post. The story is something I wrote and I'm working on putting a dummy together and then working up the nerve to submit it sometime this year (a New Year's Resolution). We begin with a thumbnail (2x3, something like that).
This was another sketch from a different thumbnail. There were a few. Very "ruff" :)

After moving things around a little, I made the sketches less-sketchy. Knew there would be a wiener dog, but didn't know the big dog would be a great dane until I started re-working it.
I used transfer paper to transfer my drawing onto my nice watercolor paper (I used to work for the Department of Redundancy Department). I inked it all with my trusty Micron pens and began painting with watercolors the following day. The springer leaping for the frisbee is our old dog, Larry!
Action Photo: The paint is still wet. Oooooh....

The finished painting! This is a photo, I haven't scanned it yet, so hope it reads well (click on it to get a better view)! It ended up taking more time to paint that I thought it would, but I am happy with how it turned out. The blue ribbon was fun to paint (actually blue, turquoise, and violet), the silver tabby is our old cat, Lila, and the photo of the dog with the bone in his mouth was taken directly from a thumbnail sketch. The dog has that classic, goofy, young labrador look and I think it might be my favorite thing in this painting. I have no idea how long this took from beginning to end, but it spanned a few naptimes and a whole lot of iTunes! In other news, I am twittering now. It has been a really fun way to meet other illustrators and authors and see what folks are up to. Hope you had a nice weekend!

Zoo Part 3

This terrapin really actually had two back legs.

The Gemsbok is actually much larger in real-life.

This fish was constantly moving rocks out of his little hidey-hole... Cute!

Check back on Saturday for some new art!

Zoo Part Two

Three prairie dogs

and one bison.

Zoo Camp

Last week my kids had Zoo Camp at the Minnesota Zoo. I did a little sketching, a lot of walking, and got to hang out with a cool friend (we go all the way back to 7th grade!). This Amur Tiger was amazing- but very active. Every time I'd start to draw it, it moved.


The tiger paused to sniff the breeze- this is my favorite photo.

Coming soon: MORE zoo sketches! Have a groovy weekend!

Sweet Dreams

Thank goodness for heavy sleepers! Tonight I flipped on the light in the hallway, sat on my youngest daughter's bed, and did some sketching. I have also been working on some postcard designs to mail to publishers, and looking forward to learning as much as I can at the MNSCBWI Spring Workshop (all about promotional materials!) on April 26th. Happy Birthday to Super Sonic Sara!

Sunday Evening Post

I determined this week that sketching a nearly-thirteen-year-old sleeping spaniel isn't that difficult. The three-year-old child is rarely in one place long enough to speak to, yet alone get on paper. The cat fell somewhere in between, and these were my favorite sketches.