My Latest Picture Book!

How long did it I wait to post this!? Let me introduce to you my latest picture book, The Haunted Ghoul Bus, written by Lisa Trumbauer, illustrated by me. I got my advance copy a few weeks ago and was so excited about it, or was it "omg omg omg omg omg!?!!!"

I also got an opportunity to design the book, so I felt in total control. Having an art director and an editor who completely believes in me makes me want to give 110%. Its hardcover with embossed pages, with a beautiful, high quality printing. I'm super pleased.

A favorite detail in the book, my vampires drinking from "blood juice" boxes:
It will be in bookstores in October, and on pre-order on Amazon right now. I'll be posting more about this book till its release!

Oh and goodness, thank you for ALL the comments about my "routine" entry! I think I have a name that I like for the Pink Bear. I promise you'll be seeing more of him (yes, its a him) soon!

Illustration Friday-Routine

Its been so long since I've made a fresh piece for IF. Here is a new little character of mine, Pink Bear. I would like to give him a name. I know he is pink and maybe he is really a she. But I feel like he is a boy bear. Any ideas?

Out of the Comfort Zone

About two weeks ago, I was asked to submit a sample for a possible children's Bible storybook assignment. At first, I must admit, I wasn't quite sure about it, since I was not brought up religiously and this was something outside my comfort zone.

The publisher had a specific scene in mind for the sample and gave alot of reference. Here is the piece I did:
To my surprise, I was very comfortable! I had alot of fun doing this and learned something in the process. (It was pretty neat to see how my interpretation of Jesus would turn out.) Too bad though, I did not get the assignment. But now I'm ready for the next Bible storybook assignment when it comes my way.

So the moral of the story is, try something out of your comfort zone. You might surprise yourself.

More Goodies!

I know its been over two weeks since I've posted anything! Lots to post about, but I'm trying to stay off the computer and enjoy the summer while I can.

Well, I've got more goodies in the mail! These cute chicken card holders are from fellow illustrator Kristin Sorra. I first met Kristin at the Highlights illustrators' party last year. She is super talented and I'm so happy to have met her and her hushand, who is also an artist. They are so nice and super cool. Thank you for letting me adopt them. I'll take good care of them :-)

Math Boy thought they looked like chicken bumper cars?!? So funny!

Goodies and other fun things

Thanks to Alicia for sending her book, The Wish Trees, to me and my chickens. We enjoyed it very much and the artwork inside is adorable!

Other tidbits:
-Sarah at Spadazzle teaches English class in Japan with my book, The Penguin's Perfect Picnic! There are so many more cute penguin drawings from the kids. I hear a kid did a penguin manga, now this I have to see!

-Zime is doing something called Pay It Forward, in which you send a handmade gift to 3 blogger friends, and in return they do the same to 3 other blogger friends. I love the idea! I will do this too except I think I will make the gifts first, then post about it. (I owe at least 2 people some ATCs, so I am very backed up right now!)

Thats it for now. Stay cool in this heat, everyone.

My New favorite Children's books!

Last weekend, I went browsing at the Kinokuniya bookstore...checking out all the Re-Ment Miniatures and resisting the temptation to buy any...then only to discover these books instead- they are now my new favorite! I can't read Japanese ( I guess the Japanese I learned from watching anime isn't going to help me now) but after some research, I found out they are a popular series called "Bam & Kero" by Yuka Shimada.
Although I can't read the text, I can tell what is going on just by the pictures. They have a cute yet off-beat quirkiness and humor about them; my favorite combination.
Oh yes, and the illustrations are to die for. Yes, I want to live in that world. (I know this sounds really dramatic, but I am definitely in love with the art!)

I only bought two of the books but now I am tempted to buy the whole series. They are that wonderful!

Whats Up in the Coop

Its been too hot to blog! I've been:

READING:
-Giant Robot magazine with cover art and interview with James Jean. Good stuff.

-Computer Arts magazine: I splurged (import from the UK, comes with a disk. I spend $17, ouch!) mainly for the article/tutorial about creating textures with vectors. Haven't gone through the tutorial yet, I'll let you all know how that goes.

MAKING:
-Some cards for a friend who just graduated, and wanted to have custom cards to send to her professors.

THANKING:
Lisa, Tracy, Jenn and Mike for awarding me! I feel like the most popular chicken shack in town! ;-)

The rules for accepting the award are as follows:

1. Add the logo of the award to my site

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Add links to those blogs on your site

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

AWARDING:
Linda, Crystal, Sherry, Zime, Pati, Roz, Ellen

Stay cool, everyone!

Ben and Ruby Character Sketches

Thank you for all the comments on the I'm Reading Now series! Working on a big series like this, the most important thing is to have the character sketches down pat when I start. I got a short character description of the whole family, and here is what I came up with. Here, the main characters Ben and Ruby:

Ben is suppose to be 5 years old and Ruby is 4. Here they look a bit too old. Try again!

Better here. But what's up with the Elvis hair on Ben? And I was told the dress on Ruby was a bit too old fashioned (Hey, I would wear that cherry dress at 4!)

Perfect!

Ok, actually there were many more rounds back and forth with the art director and editors before I got it just right. But its better to get it right in the beginning than later.

And last but not least, a BIG shout out to Alicia Padrón's kids for their fantastic critique of my tree entry for The Wish Trees giveway! It was a gift in itself listening to their reaction (I've never heard directly from my audience before) and it truly confirms I am in the right profession! It was so gratifying and made me all warm and fuzzy inside!!! So thank you, Gabriel and Alexandra. And kudos for everyone who entered, I had alot of fun looking at everything!

I'm Reading Now! Series

I'm so excited to show these books after working on them for over a year. They are a series for Scholastic called I'm Reading Now! There are 4 sets to be published throughout the year, with the first set (shown here) coming out in September. Available through Scholastic Book Clubs.
Each set comes with 8 books, about the adventures of a 5 and 4 year old named Ben and Ruby.

I just recently finished the last set; it was sad to see Ben and Ruby go. But it was very rewarding to see the printed books for these- I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Happy July 4th to the folks in the US!

Trees

The very talented Alicia Padrón is holding a lovely giveaway of her book, The Wish Trees. To enter, she asked everyone to submit an illustration that demonstrates the importance of a tree, so here is mine.

I thought about how trees were homes to animals. Or cafes. Somehow it morphed into looking like a book cover. A possible book idea?!

Anyways, visit Alicia's blog and enter, the deadline is July 4th!

High 5!

This is a spread I did for the July issue of Highlights High Five magazine. Its like my little homage to Richard Scarry, one of my favorite illustrators of all time!

Drawings from the kids!

A wonderful package from Tracy Cundiff and her kindergarten class! The kids illustrated their favorite part of my book, The Penguins' Perfect Picnic:


I enjoyed each and every drawing and this is definitely one of the best things about being a children's illustrator! Here are a few of them:

Check out the awesome snowflakes stacked up there on the bottom! Love it.

One of the things I noticed is that the kids' drawings are so incredibly BOLD! Even in the writing too! They might not know how to spell something but that doesn't stop them. So inspiring.
AND to top things off, Tracy sent over a cute chickie kitchen towel! Thank you so much, Tracy. To receive drawings from my readers is priceless. Hugs to you and your class!

New Goodies!

I got some new goodies I would like to share with all of you! First...more Re-Ment miniatures goodness:

I love how there are raw AND cooked meat patties!!!

This was a perfect one for summertime.

So both of my siblings are going to Japan this summer (why am I stuck here?!?) Hopefully, I'll be getting more Re-Ments!!! (hint, hint.) My mom came back from Asia and brought me a bunch of goodies, including:

A chicken massager!

and the cutest kitchen sponge scrubbers you'll ever see! Too cute to use!

I'll leave you all now with a cuteness coma.

21 Day Challenge- Day 21 of 21!!!

Finally!!! 21 of 21!!! It only took me, oh- 2 months! How embarassing, seriously! Most of you who are on the challenge is on your second round already. It was very difficult for me to draw people. I'm glad I did this though, I came up with some good stuff (along with the bad.)

Now I must go back to drawing some weird packaging or anthropomorphic food characters or something. Ahhh, hello comfort zone. I can be myself again. Hehehe.

21 Day Challenge- Day 20 of 21

Its been getting hot here, yet I'm working on a Christmas book at the moment. Thats why I have an elf, just some character design for the book.

Theres been lots of things I want to post about, but I just haven't gotten a chance to. More soon!

21 Day Challenge- Day 19 of 21

Honestly, a little time away from the challenge worked out for me for the better. I've got two more to go- but the ultimate question is: how many more days will it take me? hahaha!

Illustration Friday-Baby (carrot)

Hello IF! Its been so long since I participated. Here is a super duper quick one- I can never draw enough anthropomorphic food.

21 Day Challenge- Day 18 of 21

Hey guys! I'm still alive!

The good weather got the better of me, and I was out of town visiting my family for a couple days. It actually felt good to be off the computer. Before I knew it, its been a week since my last post.

I decided to spend a little bit more time on this to make up for lost time. I also needed a piece for our Illustration for Kids Summer mailer, so I've combined them and here it is.

21 Day Challenge- Day 17 of 21

Ok! No more drawing of old people for a while! They are no fun. This feels alot better and a touch of cuteness. Whew!

21 Day Challenge- Day 16 of 21

A friend tells me I'm slacking, so I better get back to the challenge. I think I am slacking because its getting difficult for me to draw something "fun" that involves drawing people. (If you missed it, my challenge was to draw people for 21 days.)

Anyways, some experimenting with line and texture. This doesn't look like my usual work. I'm not yet sure if I like it or not.