Illustrating for children

Prepare

2012-01-13T05:44:00.000-08:00

You must prepare to find your way back.

goat

2012-01-01T06:26:00.000-08:00

I just finished a design (right before Christmas) for a company over in Guernsey. This cute little goat was done in watercolor and a little colored pencil.

new etsy shop

2011-10-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

I opened up a new etsy store. I decided to get rid of some of my vintage stuff and I think I will be throwing some original art in there too. So far, it has been really fun. Taking the pictures of the vintage items is an art in itself. Here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/people/ThisandThat4U

Illustration work shop

2011-06-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

I had a great Illustration workshop this past Saturday. Laurent Linn from Simon and Schuster came and talked to about 25 local illustrators. It was great fun for all and I think everyone learned a lot. We were given an assignment about 2 months before the class and everyone brought their work in. Laurent critiqued them and talked about what he liked and what we could do to improve the art. He was very helpful and kind. I learned a lot. I am really looking forward to the next workshop. If you ever get a chance to go to one, do. They are great.

This is the design I did for the class.

"Cinderella" is finally done

2011-03-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

I just finished my "Cinderella" design. I really like how it turned out. Thank you Syd for allowing me to use you as a beautiful model for my Fairy Godmother.

Slowly but surely

2011-03-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

I worked on Cinderella today (the dove.) White is a little difficult to do as you don't have color but you do. If you look at a white object, I mean really look, you will see different colors in it. That is why the dove has different shades of blues, pinks and grays. I am stuck on what color to paint the crown for the Fairy God mother (owl) but I will think it over and decide by tomorrow.

Worked on the owl (syd)

2011-03-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

I am starting to work on the main characters now. I still have some work to do on the owl but the feathers and color is pretty much done. I will be adding color to the feet and the beak. I might work on a little color for the eye area but not much.

I am getting the background done

2011-03-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

OK, I have the background almost done. Once I finish all the background, I will work on the main characters.

Back ground added

2011-03-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

I worked on some of the background and like how it is going. I will be adding a few more details to the sketch and then it will be ready to put on watercolor paper. My favorite part is painting. :)

Second day of sketching

2011-03-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

Today I worked on adding Cinderella and then her coach. I am unsure if I will be using the dove for Cinderella as I don't know if it works. I have been illustrating the images by themselves so I can move them around on the page. It is fun and gives me a lot of freedom to see how my illustration will look. After I work on the main characters, I will be working on the background.

New Fairy Tale Cinderella

2011-03-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

I am working on my newest fairy Tale design and decided to do Cinderella. The inspiration for the Fairy God Mother came from this wonderful owl named Syd. Here is a link to her and her chicks: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/owlceanside Be careful as it gets addictive.

This is the first sketch. I am going to make the God Mother waving her wand to give Cinderella her pretty clothes. The owls eyes are not done yet as I have to decide what animal the owl will be looking at. I am unsure what sort of animal to make Cinderella so any thoughts would be fun. I will be putting the progression of my art as I do the design. Enjoy.

Dinky the owl

2011-03-08T12:29:00.001-08:00

Here is the sweetest owlet. You can go to their Ustream cam and see how they are growing Here is the link:http://www.ustream.tv/channel/owlceanside

Hansel and Gretel

2011-03-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest Fairy Tale. I decided to make this illustration longer as i don't have many like this. It was fun and I liked how it turned out. Now it is off to think of another Fairy Tale.

Princess and the Pea

2011-02-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

Snow white and the seven shrews

2011-02-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

Little Red Riding Hood

2011-01-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest illustration. The caption reads "If you want to be my BFF, you have to look nice for Grum."

I did this design in watercolor with some colored pencil highlights.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

2010-12-19T16:27:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday season.

IF Prehistoric

2010-12-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

I did this design back when my son was little. He loved dinos back then.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and you eat way to much. :)

IF Spooky

2010-10-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

I am not sure if this is spooky enough but if I saw this flying overhead on Halloween night, I would think it pretty spooky. This was done in colored pencil and the background in photoshop.

If Acrobat

2010-09-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

I finally had the time to work on the IF.

I did this with pen and ink with a watercolor wash. It was sort of fast but I like how it turned out.

made jam today

2010-09-05T16:12:00.001-07:00

I was very productive today and made some raspberry jam from our back yard. :)

Always get a paper trail-Pretty simple right?

2010-08-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

I was taught to be honest and I have lived by that rule my whole life (ok, I took a bath towel from a fancy hotel one time). When I was younger and just starting out in this business, I found a company that wanted my art work. I was so excited and happy that I was actually going to sell a design to a publisher. Nothing better than that right? This was way before the internet so everything was done via snail mail and talking on yep, regular phones. No cell phones either. So, it was slower going but still satisfying. I worked hard on these designs but I did remember to keep asking the publisher about sending me the copyright info. They kept putting it off but I was to excited that I was going to get my work published that I finally just let it go. So, I send in my work and I find out that I would be paid in royalties. Now that sounded good too. But, still no paperwork. Nothing was signed by either party.

I had a young son then so life was busy, I sent in the work, sort of forgot about bugging this company for the copyright info and life went on. Meanwhile, the royalty checks were pathetic and finally they just stopped. This was a few years later and I was a little older and wiser so I asked why they stopped. No good answer so I finally asked to give me my originals back and since I didn't sign anything, that they were LEGALLY mine and to stop selling them. We talked it out and this guy was so nice, aren't all used care sales men nice? We worked out that he would sell the rest of his inventory in 5 years and that would be the end of it. He also said he would mail back the originals. I did get the originals back so that was wonderful news. I asked him to send me a written statement but I never received one. After 5 years, I contacted him to make sure that he was going to live by his word. He never returned my request. By then, I was finally on line and was able to contact other artists. I joined SCBWI and found out so much information. I checked out his website and I did not see my work on his site. It didn't mean he wasn't selling it but I was hoping. Go along a few years and I find out just a month ago that he is STILL selling my work. I was flabbergasted. I emailed him and asked him what in the world he was doing??? He wrote back saying "I don't remember agreeing about not selling your work and I had all this inventory and I am going to sell it." He also said "You should be so happy I am selling your work for you." What the %&^$#*(. For one thing I OWN copyright and he knows it. For another thing, I am still not getting any money for the sold cards. What does an artist do? Go after a place out of the country and spend thousands of dollars over a few designs?

I was so innocent back then and I want to beat myself up for it but I won't. I just learned a very valuable lesson and I will count it as part as my college education. I will always be honest. Don't they say honesty wins in the end? I sure hope so.

Most new artists are more educated than I was. With the internet, we can find out so much more and protect ourselves. I wish I would have done things different but I am writing this to let anyone new just starting out to make sure you get everything in writing. If you don't like the terms, don't do the sale. Yep, it is fun getting your first sale and seeing your work in print but it is not worth having them steal your work.

IF Double

2010-07-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

These beavers have "Double" Birch trees. They also have "Double" pine and hard wood trees too.

If Breakfast

2010-07-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

I have been super busy with summer stuff so have not had much time to create my IF challenges. I did find this design I did a while back and thought it would be great for this weeks topic. The little ducklings just love to have "Breakfast" with their friends the chipmunks.