Creating Awe and Wonder
One Illustration at a time.
Recipe Cards
One of my goals this year is to create 24 collaged illustrations with children in them. Since each illustration is connected to a family favorite recipe, my working title for this series is “Kitchen Kids”. I’ll have to see if the title sticks.
Picture Book of the Week: The Yellow Bus
Two of these books I thought were going to go head to head as my favorite book of the week. So I was surprised when those two books were not as impressive as I thought they were going to be.
Picture Book Pick of the Week: Buffalo Fluffalo
Inside the cover it says: “The artist created hand-carved woodcuts of the characters, printed them, and scanned the prints into a computer. They were colored using scanned textures and paint in Photoshop. The characters were combined with acrylic gouache and woodcut-printed backgrounds to compose the scenes throughout the book.”
I’m in LOVE…with Collage
Now I’m stuck in on this medium and the process I’m developing. My goal is to do at least 24 collaged illustrations before I move onto something else.
The Miracle of the Chairs
It was a mini business model right there on my Hopeful Profit and Loss Statement for 2024.
Collage is Calling
I’ve been interested in collage for a few years now. So I tried it out 2 or 3 years ago and absolutely hated the process. I set it aside and went back to painting. But it is still calling to me.
Slip Casting and Poetry
I learned a couple of fun ideas that I can use in my social media posts from UK’s youngest Poet Laureate: Joseph Coelho.
What do you listen to when you make art?
I was 40 something and I didn’t have the luxury of a 20 something student who could roll their eyes at the professor and wax on about how I could both listen to music and make great art.
Why CT is a great place to be a Children’s Book Author/Illustrator.
CT is a great place to be a Children’s Book Author/Illustrator. Here are some reasons:
How much does it take to own a business?
If there is something in my shop that you have been putting off buying, now is the time to buy it.
Portfolio: The Pirate’s Treasure
A day or so ago, I pulled off a Character Design book off my shelves that I haven’t read yet and started working with it. It starts with the most basics of Character Design: who are your characters.
Portfolio: Sir Frederick
It’s not like I can take a trip to the Zoo to do some character studies or observational drawings that will lead to a character design. A dragon is made up of lizards, birds, and snakes. The closest thing to a dragon in real life is a Komodo Dragon.
Portfolio: The Monster Under Jacob’s Bed
The grey sketch in the background is my initial sketch and Lily just has stick figure arms and hands, which I think are charming.
Portfolio Building and Paige and Webb
Building a new portfolio with my characters Paige and Webb.
Perfect Penelope.
Perfect Penelope could scuba dive, play soccer, fish, fly kites, wash dishes and even brush her teeth without being asked.
Birthday Postcard Reset
I think the most time consuming part is picking out a card for each person. Most of them fall into categories, however: Young child, pre-teen, teenager, young adult, young adult with children, middle age parents, older age grandparents and great grandparents.
Picking up Juicy Morsels off the Cutting Room Floor.
There are always these nuggets of delicious writing or illustrations that have to be cut to help a story stay on topic. They can often be made into a different story.