Katie McDee

Happy New Year

2012-01-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

First post of 2012! I have a lot of new year's resolutions and goals but I fear if I share them with you I won't actually accomplish them...

Oh well!

Ok, so this year there's the inevitable go to the gym and eat right. I haven't once been to the gym due to a lingering cold and I may or may not've eaten a lb. of chocolate last night. So far so good :)

Then there's the time management goal. Making sure I stick to a schedule. 9 days and I'm doing ok with that one. I've just made sure that my to-do list each day has plenty of 'procrastinate' and 'get distracted' time factored in.

A few more from my long list are: • draw more • sit up straighter • promote more • get a rep? • read more and watch tv less • be fearless • cook more • stick to a budget

What about you? What are your 2012 goals and/or resolutions?

PS: These illos were done for the Jan issue of Friend Magazine. I'm also adding the sketches. I'd like to try to blog more this year and also attach sketches along with final art because that's always a little more interesting, don't you think?

2011-12-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year!

Now go wreak some havoc and may your dreams come true!

"Alas, ear wax!"

2011-12-13T14:39:00.000-08:00

A while back I posted this piece in progress (inked). So I thought I'd show the final product. I've been having a blast painting fan-based art lately.

R2 meets DD2

2011-11-21T02:44:00.001-08:00

A little birthday painting for my friend Karen :)

Introducing Robo Math!

2011-11-15T22:55:00.001-08:00

Having trouble remembering your 7 times tables? Can't seem to divide 84 by 4? Or maybe, just maybe, you've got a child who needs a fun and simple way to practice their math facts so they can ace those pesky pop quizes.

If any of these fit your situation, have no fear! Robo Math is here!

Helo Games invited me to created the art for this awesome App and it's been on the 'What's Hot' top 20 page in Educational Apps on the iTunes store for weeks. Pretty mathtastic, huh?!

click here to visit the Robo Math iTunes App page

Pockets Mag - Just Like Me

2011-11-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

Do you ever find yourself craving the food your drawing? Maybe it's just me, but it happens all the time. Last month's Pockets Magazine's illos had me drinking juice boxes and munching on crackers.

You can only imagine how bad it was when I was designing these toy food labels last year... "Must have peanut butter." [15 minutes later] "Must have apple sauce."

Gimmee a High Five!

2011-09-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

Here's the "That's Silly!" spread illustration I created for the October issue of Highlights High Five magazine. So much fun. How many silly things can you find?

And if anyone would be interested... I'm thinking I could put together a step-by-step for this illo.

Hulked out

2011-08-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

A 5x7 painting for my friend Jay's birthday last week. Doesn't he make a cute Bruce Banner and an incredible Hulk? Smash!

Avada Kedavra!

2011-07-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Wotcha Harry Potter fans!

Just a quick note about the Gallery Nucleus Harry Potter show... There's only 11 days left! There were a couple pieces I wanted to buy but wasn't quick enough on the draw and they went to other loving homes. Oh well.

Also, I'm pleased to announce that 1 of my 2 pieces is still available. Harry seeking the snitch has sold but Voldemort (Voldy to his friends) is waiting to adorably terrorize someone's wall. If you just so happen to like cute evil villains and would like to become his master, here's the link to the Gallery Nucleus website store:

http://www.gallerynucleus.com/gallery/pieces/244?page=11

Studio 5!

2011-07-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to announce that I've been inducted as the newest member of Studio Five! We are now a group of 7 children's book writers and illustrators in Orange and San Diego Counties who work together to make the best possible books for children. I'm looking forward to spending more time with my group member friends, learning and growing as artists.

Thanks for the warm welcome Bob Singer, Marilyn Scott-Waters, J.H. Everett, J.R. Johnson, Andrew Mitchell, Kim Dwinell and Alice Provensen! (Who I had the pleasure of taking a photo with last week. Such a beautiful woman! and had you heard... she's a Caldecott Medal recipient!)

Harry Potter - in progress

2011-06-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

Hey Gang! Just thought I'd share an 'in-progress' photo of the paintings I'm working on this week. I'm having so much fun with my ink and watercolor. It feels like I haven't held a brush in forever and I'm more than a little addicted!

I finished Voldemort last night (I need a title, any suggestions?) and will be painting Dumbledore/Harry today. That one's called "Alas! Ear wax!" Haha.

Here is a link to Gallery Nucleus if you'd like to check out the exhibition info. The show's July 9th at 7pm. Mark your calendars!

The Youngest Seeker in a Century

2011-06-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

Gallery Nucleus has a tribute blog and upcoming exhibition on July 9th dedicated to one of my favorite things ever... Harry Potter!

I did this small painting (ink and watercolor) that will be included on the blog and in the show. I chose to depict Harry playing Quidditch because when I first read Sorcerer's Stone, that was one of my, "Woooow, cool!" moments with all the action and suspense and humor that comes along with the sport. And JKR did such an amazing job creating her own sport, too don't you think?! You know, I think if I were to ever play Quidditch, I think I'd like to be the seeker... or a beater :)

I plan on doing a few more of these little 5x5 paintings because they're just too much fun. My next one will have Dumbledore in it, I think. I love all the characters, but he may be my absolute favorite... or maybe the twins... or Mrs. Weasley... or... Haha, I can't decide!

Who's your favorite Harry Potter character?

Love you, Mama

2011-05-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

Justin's Buddy

2011-05-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hey gang, Here's a couple illustrations for the latest issue of Pockets Magazine. And they seem to fit this week's Illustration Friday theme "Lesson" so I can feed 2 birds with one scone!

In this Pocket's magazine story, Justin learns the lessons of patience and selfless giving while being a 'buddy' to a little girl with autism.

Yuck Stop

2011-04-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

Some illustrations for an issue of Pockets Magazine.

What an honor!

2011-03-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

I woke this morning and found a very exciting email waiting for me... childrensillustrators.com made me their Illustrator of the Month for March! I am so honored! Here's a screen shot of the home page today, (you can't see my name, but that's my little blue bird :-) and how cool is it that the current featured artist is my good friend Ken Min!

Robots and dragons and cake, oh my.

2011-02-28T14:54:00.000-08:00

Just discovered these games are now available on the Lakeshore Learning website. yay!

Candy Rush now available in the App store!

2011-02-09T14:36:00.001-08:00

Woah, 2 posts in 2 days. Unprecedented! But I just had to tell you THIS...

Appy Entertainment just released a new App for the iPhone and iPad called Candy Rush and guess who created the art for it?! ME!

Candy Rush is a fun and fast-paced puzzle game where you run a Candy store and package candy box orders using assorted candy treats like truffles, chocolate covered strawberries, and candy canes in different combinations and special orders.

The guys at Appy are fantastic (and handsome) blokes who did an amazing job putting this game together. They were a delight to work with and get this, they even named the main character after me. LOL!

So if you'd like to meet Katie the Candy Shop owner and help her deliver candy boxes to her sugar crazy patrons, It would be beyond awesome if y'all would check it out! You can learn more about it, see more screen grabs and buy it here!

SDG&E Kid's Corner

2011-02-08T15:45:00.000-08:00

Hey all! So a little over a year ago, San Diego Gas & Elec called and asked if I'd create artwork for an 'ultimate tree fort' interactive website dedicated to teaching kids how to conserve resources. And today I just discovered it's live and working!

http://www.sdge.com/kids/kidsInteractive.shtml

Basically, you scroll over elements in the fort and click the ones that move. Then information pops up with a characterization of the object you clicked on and you can also print out a coloring page of that character.

It's so great to see it up and animated. The genius web guys over at SDG&E did a great job!

I'm really proud and thankful to have been a part of this project. Not only is it so important to teach kids (and adults) the importance of conservation, but this project also took me back to my childhood summers when the neighborhood kids and I would go down to the canyon and build massive tree houses out of scrap wood, cloth and tarp. Our forts weren't nearly as cool as the one I got to design here, but they were pretty darn close (in our imaginations). Those were really great times but this time it was really fun to build a fort again without the splinters and bugs, haha.

Family Night

2011-01-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

Pizza, board games and loved ones equals a night went spent! I think I'll plan a game night for next week. You should too!

(This piece was created for the Feb issue of the Friend Magazine)

Warm Fuzzies

2011-01-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

I wish you all the warmest of fuzzies for the new year! A toast to having dreams and goals and the hard works it takes to accomplish them! We can do it!

(This piece was for the January 2011 issue of the Friend Magazine)

'A Day to Decide'

2010-11-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

These 2 illos were created for a story in the November issue of The Friend Magazine.

Joni and the Whale

2010-10-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Let's just say when I got the call from Pockets Magazine to illustrate a story about a girl dressed in a whale mascot costume, there was glee in my heart and a skip to my step!

Bring on September!

2010-08-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

August is flying by! I leave for my first trip to Europe in September and it's gonna be an amazing 3 weeks. My best friend and I are heading to England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Ireland. EPIC! I am beyond excited but have SO much to do before we leave next week. Projects to finish, dentist appointments, birthday parties, shopping/packing and everything in between. OMGosh, I've got to get back to work.

BUT! I'm hoping I can do some posts while I'm over there just to say hi and let you know how the trip's going. A little "Where's Katie today?" sorta thing :) Well that's the plan anyway. As long as I can figure out how to post from my new iPhone and I have adequate wi-fi in the hotels we're staying in.

Here's hoping you have a delightful and full week. I leave you with these 2 pieces I created for the September issue of Friend Magazine. They were really fun to work on.

aminals

2010-08-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today, I thought I'd show y'all a bit of my process...

When working out a sketch I always start out small and sloppy as I figure out shapes and gesture. They often look like scribbles that only I can decipher... these shown here are not as messy as they can be :)

After I get a rough that I like, I bust out my trusty tracing paper and clean it up. These animals were created for Lakeshore Learning and they wanted to see sketches first (of course), so I sent the blue lines and then once approved I finished them in Adobe illustrator.

In this case I knew I had to do a black/white and color version of each illustration so I tried to keep that in mind as I inked the black lines. I tried to save time by creating b/w shapes that could later be filled with a color without much additional modification.

In illustrator, I use custom strokes and half strokes A LOT. I like variation in line thickness. If you don't like making your own brushes, the droplet brush is standard with Ai (I think) and it's pretty good. You should try it out.

When illustrating scenes or more complex compositions than just small spots and character designs my process is pretty much the same. I don't post my rough sketches on the 'ol blog very often because I figure you guys would just look at them and be like "what the heck IS that?" But maybe I should? Maybe you'd like to see the rough and tumble skeletons under my work? Hmm, we'll see.

So yeah, there you have a bit of my process... leaving out the procrastinatory trips to the fridge, organizing my desk and mini self pep talks!

btw, If ever you have an Adobe illustrator question feel free to ask!