Apple Orchard

The Guest Artist on my blog today is my almost-first-grader! I love the vivid colors she used and the happy look on the kid's face! Pretty soon it will be apple picking time... yikes!

Shawn McCann

My friend and fellow MNSCBWI and CBIG member, Shawn McCann, took the coloring page idea and ran with it, creating fabulous Valentines! Aren't they wonderful!?! Wow! He posted them on his blog, too, along with sheets of valentines for you to print at home! Very cool! Shawn has been a illustrating like crazy lately, one of his books just won an award, and he is the 2009 MNSCBWI illustration mentor! Very inspiring, and you'd be hard pressed to find a nicer guy!

Sharon Wagner

Hats off to Sharon! She totally rocked my coloring page! Wow! I love it! Ok, here's the skinny on Sharon Wagner: She is an amazing artist, a fellow Minnesota SCBWI member, CBIG member, and one of my wonderful art friends! She is also a skilled baker, cat wrangler, and happens to have the same birthday as me (only 23 shopping days left)! Make sure to check out her website and blog! I feel so honored that she did my coloring page! Thanks, Sharon!!! In other news: I painted the title page illustration for the book, and just finished inking a double-page spread today! So fun! I love it! Though, I must take leave of my work for a couple days as I will be attending the Minnesota Association of Veterinary Technicians annual convention. Though I am not currently working as a tech, I have been one since 1997, and need to keep up my certification (I live in fear of having to re-take that exam. The horror!). I need to be prepared in case a woodchuck has a soup can on it's head, a cat has a toy truck's wheels wound tightly in it's fur, or a hamster needs CPR. Okay, I assisted with the first two examples, but have never done the third....yet. I wonder if they are offering that at the convention this year?

John Lennon

John Lennon was the winner of the Favorite Beatle poll! Dang! I should have drawn a walrus!
Here is a new coloring page of winter animals for the kiddies. I would be happy to post any colored-in coloring pages if kids would like to send them in! Or, we could start a new feature: Coloring Pages by Guest Artists! Ooh! Great idea! If any of my lovely art friends out there want to color in this page... send it to me and I'll post it and have you be a featured artist on my blog! It would be so cool, like crossover tv shows when Laverne and Shirley end up hanging out with the Fonz on Happy Days! Send your image in to nvc@drawnhome.com Happy coloring!!!