High Five Magazine

Check out this month's High Five Magazine- featuring this spread I illustrated called Fix the Flat. Also in the same issue is my friend and fellow Illustration for kids member Anette with her awesome double page spreads- check it out here. Yay!

Creating a Board Book Cover

I thought I would share my rounds of sketches in creating the book cover for The Great Matzoh Hunt. Even though this was a simple board book, a dynamic cover is a must to grab the attention of kids (and parents buying the book.)

• Round 1: When I think of matzoh, I think of matzoh ball soup. Thats why Duck is holding a ball. Oops! There are four characters in the book, yet all of them on the cover seems a little too crowded.

• Round 2: The matzoh is fixed and three characters are now on the page. Although all three characters are given equal attention but Duck is the one who finds the matzoh.

• Round 3: Duck is scaled bigger for a much better layout. Ready to go to color!

• Round 4: Question about the bunny's gesture- does she look like she is searching?

• Round 5: Testing out a different gesture on the bunny- maybe she needs to be on her hands and knees? Shaved duck's "feathers" on his head too. Hm....

• Round 6: The first bunny was OK afterall. The pale yellow background was changed into a brighter green for a bolder look. This is the final-hooray!

• With the type and on the book!

The Great Matzoh Hunt

I illustrated a board book that was just released a few days ago called The Great Matzoh Hunt, a companion to Light the Menorah, both published by PSS. A funny coincidence: this is the second book I've worked on in which the title starts with "The Great..." (the other, The Great Reindeer Rebellion.)

Anthropomorphic animals going around the house looking for the matzoh? Oh yes, I did like this job very much!

Its also a lift-the-flap book, and I had the freedom of coming up with where the flap was and what was underneath. I hope the kids will enjoy the fun little things I put there while they look for the matzoh with the animals.
If I can get away with drawing anthropomorphic plates and cups, I will do so!
I also sneaked in some chicken goodness in this book (which I actually try to do in all my books.) A little teaser for you to go and check it out in the bookstores at least! Also available on Amazon.

Breaking into Freelance Illustration

Lately I've been getting quite a few emails asking for advice on becoming an illustrator. Sometimes I'm quite surprised (and flattered) that people want to ask ME for advice, when I'm still learning and finding my way everyday. However, I've realized that I've been doing this professionally and full time now for about 4 years. I've learned a thing or two along the way and would love to pass it along.

Thanks to Holly DeWolf, I got to contribute to her book, Breaking into Freelance Illustration. She sent me a comp copy back in December- with the holidays and traveling I didn't get a chance to blog about it here. It is a great read for people starting out and even professionals who sometimes need a reminder on a few things. Alot of familar names and blog friends are in it, be sure to check it out if you are interested in becoming a freelance illustrator.

I'm thinking of writing more posts on topics like this, such as what I've learned so far as an illustrator, and my journey of getting there. I feel like I need to pay it forward, as when I was starting out, I looked to bloggers like Keri Smith and Danny Gregory for encouragement and inspiration. So stay tuned.

**OTHER AWESOME NEWS** I'm so excited- I'm going to Japan in May! Just booked flights there for a vacation AND it will be the same week as DesignFesta- which I did purposely so I can attend that as well. It will be a heavy dose of creative inspiration...hope I don't OD! :-)

New year, New Banner

Happy New Year! Kicking off the year by changing up my blog banner. These new colors and textures are the kind of style I'm striving for lately. Doesn't seem to match the rest of my blog right now but it feels like the right direction!

2009 Year in Review + My Eureka Moments

2009 was one of the craziest year of my life to date. Some highlights: **Warning: Long blabbing post!!**

-Books published! Two "my first graphic novel readers" published by Capstone Press: Lily's Lucky Leotard and T-Ball Trouble, Light the Menorah published by PSS, and The Great Reindeer Rebellion published by Sterling (a wonderful review of it here by fellow illustrator Kathy Weller..thank you, Kathy!)

-My baby gift card design for Target is now in stores. Had to keep this quiet till now, which was hard to do!

-Participated in Surtex. So grateful to have had the opportunity to experience doing a trade show.

-Partnership with I {heart} Papers to produce my own stamping line.

-And some how in between all of that, I got married and moved out of NYC to a completely new place in which I've never been to or know anyone.

-New place gave me my very own room as my studio = dream come true :-)

Some Eureka moments/lessons learned for this year:

Looking back at this year, I realized I was all over the place with where I wanted to take my work. I spent a good chunk of the time working on projects or portfolio pieces for industries I really have no interest in. So why was I doing it? I'm not sure. I got into the mentality that I must diversify my income and look for other industries that I can do work for. Which I still think is smart, but creatively I wasn't enjoying some of it. But I pushed on, like I needed to prove something to myself. In the end, I feel I spread myself way too thin, forgetting what I was passionate about- which is story telling and creating amazing children's books.

Perhaps the computer sometimes is way too easy to come up with quick, slick, images that can easily impress. I feel like I haven't spent a good amount of time on one amazing piece...but rather, a bunch of quick ones where I can get easy, instant gratifications. Thank goodness for some amazing illustrators out there that inspires me...I'm reminded again that what I want to do is Good Work. (thanks to Tara Lazar, I was invited to pick my top 3 picture books of 2009, check it out here. Some of my inspirations!)

Its time for me to work on more personal projects rather than come up with images which I think can be used in multiple places. Business wise it might be smart, but creatively, it is very stifling to me. The funny thing is, those personal projects of mine usually bring in work for me- work that I enjoy doing! What a concept!

So with that in mind, I'm going to come up with some fitting goals for 2010. I would love to hear some of yours. Much success and creativity to all this coming new year!

Gift Card design for Target

The wait is over! I was honored and humbled when I was contacted by Target a little over a year ago to design some baby gift cards for them. Definitely one of those "wow, really, you want me to design it?!" kind of jobs. And here is the one that finally made it into the stores.
There is a a bit of felt texture on the bear and clouds, which I didn't know about-its a nice touch. So if you are going to get a baby gift card, you'll surely pick this one, right? ;-)

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday...I was offline and took a nice break, traveling to see family and friends. Its time for reflection and think about goals for 2010. I'll be posting some of that. Cluck cluck!

My Table Display

My modest table display at a craft fair this past Saturday! I'm so glad I did the show; the best part was meeting many local artists and chat with fellow vendors. I'm slowly but surely finding my way in this new town of mine.

With the new year coming, I've been having many "Eureka!" moments in terms of what kind of direction I want to take my work for the new year. More on that later. Hope everyone is surviving in the meanwhile...I feel like I'm always super busy with work right before the holidays!