See Horse Evolution

This was a fascinating process for me.  

Kirsten Hall @HallWaysKirsten the Managing Agent, USA at Bright Group - International 

put out a Twitter blast asking for (bored) illustrators to make her a rainbow seahorse.

I knew I had a seahorse in my sketchbook pile so I loaded it up and answered the call.

She responded:

"That is fantastic. Color it! Seriously!"

So I did!

She responded:

"Love it. Can he look happy?"

So I went back the the drawing board and attempted happy...(not a normal emotional state for me - I had to Google reference photos)

It is harder than you think to make a seahorse look happy!

*where, exactly, is their mouth?*

*do they have eyebrows?*

I learned a lot about the evolution of creativity, about pushing through and digger deeper.

I learned that I can get stuck on being TOO LITERAL and GETTING STUCK IN MY HEAD.

I learned that I give up too soon and too easily on a lot of my projects

I learned a bit about art direction and how it forces an artist to think outside their own little box...(I LIKE ART DIRECTION, BTW...)

*how does one make a seahorse look happy?*

*how does an artist who can't really paint find a happy medium?*

When I closed the book on my seahorse last night I wasn't sure of his success so I posted him on Facebook and went to bed.

This morning my notifications were off the charts!  I've never had so many likes on a single image unless it was a post about my daughter or my dog!!!

A Caldecott Award winning illustrator, whom I admire greatly, messaged me to say the "new illo was banging!" - it was such a lovely compliment!!!

So, my little seahorse may not look the happiest (and I wept many a frustrated tear in his crafting)

but he sure made a lot of people smile today!!!!

Including me...

and I thank God for that gift!!!!!

IF: Sweet/Children

Well...I am a week or so behind, but I did finish my 'Sweet' illo for the Illustration Friday -5/31/13 theme. And I have a sketch in the work's for this week's CHILDREN theme...just in time for Father's Day!!!!

(that's a National Geographic they are looking at, btw :)

2013 Tomie dePaola Award Entry - Tom Sawyer

Trust me!  It was just like birth'n a baby.
Wish I had the energy to say more about it other than "IT's HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I have to admit I am beaming like a proud mama.  Just a bit.

I knew I couldn't fail myself again by not rising up to this year's challenge.  I've watched from the sidelines for the last two.  And, boy, did Tomie dePaola ever throw me for a loop.  We had three titles to choose from:  "The Yearling," "Little Women," and "Tom Sawyer."  AND it had to be completed in black & white.  (Have I told you that I stink at working with values?)

I picked the title I felt worked best with my personality and style - and wouldn't make me sob like a blubbering idiot when it came to selecting my passage.  So - TOM SAWYER it was.

I had my thirteen year old dog-ear passages she thought met my next set of criteria: movement & humor.

As is my way I THOUGHT about composition a lot once the passage was selected.  As I thought I worked on PiBoIdMo ideas during November, I had a crisis of style that month too. I wrote a mission statement and adamantly researched vintage/retro children's books to remind myself of what I loved most about illustrated picture books.  I started do draw without references other than my own mind's eye...and I stopped apologizing about how I drew or wondering 'is this right?'

I honed my paint palette to vintage Sears paint colors, I winnowed my Photoshop brushes to only the few I used constantly, I OWNED my angled shapes, I started to doubt myself less, I started to HAVE FUN!!!!!  I knew instantly when the composition didn't click and I began to make intuitive changes.  I also allowed imperfect bobbles slide...

I may not win, but feel like I've already WON the biggest award of all...breaking through what has been holding me back - myself.

There are lots fantastic entries this year.  Check them out at the Unofficial Gallery of the Tomie dePaola Award 2013

IF - Shy

Maurice was never SHY about ordering his Venti Macchiato, until he discovered it wasn't really pronounced (Mack-Chi-Ah-To).  Now he knew why the Barista never marked his caffe with a milky heart but, rather, a tiny little fig leaf.

(From my new Mug Shots - People of the Coffee Shops series. I hope you will follow along weekly.)

Psycho!

(based on actual events)

A Cover Story - "Conversations With S. Teri O'Type"

This week Conversations With S. Teri O'Type, by Christopher Allen, goes live on Amazon.com. I am so thrilled to be the illustrator chosen for the cover.

Admittedly, I did have an 'in.'  Christopher has watched me show my butt and bare my soul on the inter-webs, since 2007, when we met in an online critic group.  His words captivated!  They made me feel - something, often times keenly.  My poetry touched on the inane, but he saw through to the fragile vulnerability, and somehow we forged a bond. So when I launched into illustration, Christopher was there as my biggest fan.  He believes in me the way I believe in him.

His writing is flecked with pure pulses of candor, humor, self-deprecation, and honesty...in a nutshell, he writes what many of us are thinking, when it comes to one another and to ourselves - we are invited in, like a fly on the wall, to the neuroses that flaw us all and motivate us toward the most satirical living.

I wish this book Good Luck and God Speed!  I know the author is so deserving of the greatest success!!!  Christopher Allen is the great modern voice of our generation and I am honored to have my work hug his words into perpetuity.