Work in progress

My sister just had a baby so I'm making a Noah's Ark painting for his room. This sketch alone took me all day. I'm thinking the painting will be a looonnnnggg process.

Illustration Friday-"Clandestine"

Girl detectives rock!

Illustration Friday-"Wise"

This illustration belongs to a series featuring this old man in the black and white shirt. Something about long, white beards says "wise" to me. He probably strokes it and says unfathomably deep things all day. 

Association of Booksellers for Children picks Patrick the Somnambulist!

My book, Patrick the Somnambulist, has been selected by the Association of Booksellers for Children as one of the best children's books of 2008! Hooray! 

Illustration Friday-"Packed"

How many birds can one suitcase hold? They must have been packed in pretty tight...

This is an old one, but one of my favorites, and it fits the topic that incidentally I suggested :) Wish I had time for a new one this week, but it's not looking like that's going to happen!

In Color

Work in progress

What I'm working on now. It needed to get off my drafting table and into the blogosphere. 

How to Make Fried Bologna

Yummmm. One of my favorite snacks as a child.

Monday Artday: "1 Character, 4 Panels"

This was my illustration for the Monday Artday challenge "1 character, 4 panels". And I won the weekly challenge, hooray!

Illustration Friday-"Enough"

I'm not too happy with this one. I did it twice, once in acrylic and once in watercolor and now I'm sick of it. It just didn't turn out the way I had pictured it and it looks overworked. Oh well, live and learn. 

Podcast featuring my book!!!

My book (Patrick the Somnambulist) has been featured on the podcast JUST ONE MORE BOOK. I love this podcast as it is all about children's books. They gave my book a great review!

To listen, go to this site and click on the play button under the blurb about the book:

http://www.justonemorebook.com/2008/07/16/loving-your-label-patrick-the-somnambulist/

Illustration Friday-"Foggy"

I just moved to San Francisco and it is frequently foggy in my neighborhood. I kind of like it but sometimes I wish the sun would hold it back for awhile. 

This illustration is of me making my epic journey from Texas to California. Except for in real life I was in the cab of a UHaul with my husband, 2 cats, and a Mexican Petunia. Traveling by umbrella would have been nice. 

new stuff

I did these illustrations to round out my portfolio so not everything is trade book oriented. They're not going on my website, so if I don't post them here they may never see the light of day. 

Illustration Friday-"Fierce"

This snake is so fierce. Watch out.

Illustration Friday-"Hoard"

My cat hoarding my space, my time, and my affection.

Illustration Friday- "Forgotten"

A forgotten balloon is a sad sight.

Illustration Friday-"Save"

I once donated $15 to the World Wildlife Fund in a fit of generosity, and ever since they have hounded me with mailings about saving those pandas. I haven't donated a dime since, and I think several trees have lost their lives to the newsletters, promos, and misspelled address labels I have received from the WWF. But that's beside the point. The point is, this Illustration Friday's topic was "save", and I am doing my part by telling other people to donate $15 to forever be on WWF's mailing list. The address labels are really nice...if they spell your name right. 

Illustration Friday-"Homage"

This is my first time to participate in Illustration Friday, a weekly art challenge for artists of all shapes and sizes.

The topic for this week was "Homage". My illustration is meant to pay homage to the great Kevin Henkes character, Owen, who inspired me to write and illustrate picture books. The penguin is my own character, Patrick, and he doffs his plunger to the esteemed Owen.