I'm on Staycation!

...minus the "-cation" bit. I've taken a week off from work to do some major painting for Bea Rocks the Flock.  I am trying to inject an air of fun to this week (even though, in all honesty, this is kinda my dream vacation anyway). So come! Take a look at what I've packed  in my rucksack for my staycation:

BOOKS:

I've treated myself to 2 audiobooks for this week. Normally I limit

 myself to the usual NPR podcast suspects, but hey! I'm on staycation!

The new David Sedaris book:

And an impulse iTunes buy:

(I've got marathons on the brain, what can I say! 15 miles yesterday, baby!)

SNACKS:

And I'm all set. Hey, I can indulge, I'm on staycation!

NEW WARDROBE:

Not. I wear the same thing every day when I paint: paint-splattered tee (I rotate these), old jean skirt that doesn't button (nice), and the ugliest reindeer slippers you'll ever want to see. I didn't take a picture of them because I don't want to embarrass myself too much.

And that's all I need for a fun week at home! Maybe I'll hang some posters of Tahiti & Hawaii in the studio to trick myself.

So, see you in a week, everybody!

I Heart Fictional NY

So, my fiance and I are heading out yesterday to grab some lunch, and we find this outside our door:


Thinly veiled threat? Ransom note? Cryptic anagram? Who knows? I felt better when I realized these were directions for a Nerf gun, and not a semi-automatic rifle, but still. Coupled with this sign from our lobby (which I posted a few months ago):



... and you get a pretty good idea of what living in New York has meant to me, personally. And I haven't even shown you pictures of the 9-year old with the platinum mullet next door, the super's kids crouching under the stairs near the mailboxes, or the Little Mermaid-themed faux sitting room someone set up near the trash cans a few weeks back.

Ahh, if only I could live in Fictional New York, where the sheep roam free, and people eat ice cream and hang out by the library all the live-long day!

I DO have a day job, you know!

And it's a pretty great one, at that. Especially at times like this, when I learn that Greenwillow has had five books accepted into the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators!

For two of these titles, I had the great pleasure of working as the designer. The Umbrella Queen was illustrated by the talented and oh-so-nice Taeeun Yoo. She also won the Founder's Award at the show last year! Talent.


I also worked on The Pet Dragon, by the also supremely talented and oh-so-nice Christoph Niemann.


If you missed his wonderful New York Times... art piece? Opinion blog? Really, it defies definition- please see it here. It's fantastic.

(it makes me want to enjoy riding the subway. Alas, I have the jaded heart of a 30-year-old, not the fresh young eyes of the under-5 set!)

Other winning titles from Greenwillow include:

Kevin Henkes

Carin Berger

Joung Un Kim

Congratulations to everybody!

You're the meaning in my life, you're the inspiration

...Richard Scarry. Ok, maybe not "the meaning in my life". But certainly an inspiration that oddly enough, I hadn't realized until I stumbled upon one of his titles while searching for something on Amazon the other day.


I used to LOVE these books as a kid, poring over all of the details in the town. In the same way, I loved Where's Waldo, too. Not so much the actual searching for Waldo, but just reading the stories in the illustrations.


As I was scanning some of the pieces for Bea Rocks the Flock, I said to myself, "Hmm. Many of these pieces are very highly populated. That's odd." Not so odd anymore.

Progress Report

6 weeks to go until final art for Bea Rocks the Flock is due! I'm feeling pretty good about this deadline. I am, however, making deep sacrifices to keep myself on schedule, such as missing a rollerskating party last weekend, and HOW am I going to balance my painting schedule with my Olympics-watching schedule?!

On another type of progress report, I thought I'd document the different stages of the last spread that I painted. It is, of course, Bea's joyful return to the flock after her outrageous adventures.

DAY 1:

I start by transferring my sketch to my ready-and-waiting paper. I color in (old school) the back of the sketch with an orangey Prismacolor pencil, then flip it over and re-trace the drawing to transfer it. I like the orangey color- it gives a warmth to the final piece.

DAY 2:

Do my first light color washes. I use all types of things in my paintings- acrylic paint for the large stretches, and marker, pens, and Prismacolors for les details.

DAY 3:

Doesn't look too different from Day 2, does it?!? It's rather frustrating- after laying in the basic colors, I always think to myself, "Ooh, almost done!". I'm always surprised by how long the actual layering & defining takes. There's a bit more contrast & definition in this one, though.

Oh, and when I say "Day"- I'm not usually working from 9-5 on these. My painting "days" usually last between, oh, 7 or 8 pm to midnight or 1 (depending on my schedule/sleepiness factors)

DAY 4:

Almost there! I'm getting heavier & more saturated colors on the grass, & a bit more definition on those otherwise pudgy sheep.

TA-DA!

All done! It's not really a fair comparison, color-wise, because I scanned the final piece on our nice scanner at work, compared to the crappy photos taken by my equally crappy camera. But still, you get the idea!

Bea Rocks the Flock, Sponsored by Brooks Brothers

Imagine my surprise in passing a Brooks Brothers store this weekend and realizing that this is their logo:

My friend Carina is aptly acting out my disbelief at its striking similarity to this:

!!! If any of you have read Roger Sutton's blog post about branding and are worried about my artistic integrity, fear not: No money has passed between Brooks Brothers and myself. Bea is NOT FOR SALE, do you hear me?

But seriously, Brooks Brothers-- if you're interested, let's talk.

Down and Derby

I've mentioned before my love of Roller Derby, my desire to one day be a Rollergirl, and my interest in finding myself a kickin' roller derby name in the meantime. And not just ANY kickin' roller derby name—one that has to do with children's literature, and yet is still tough as nails. Well, my fascination was renewed at a Gotham Girls Roller Derby bout on Saturday night, where not one, but TWO members of the Bronx Gridlock had kidlit-inspired names. I can't believe I never thought of these:

Beatrix Slaughter

and

Lemony Kickit


And referee, Professor Rumbledore.


Pretty awesome. There was also Dainty Inferno, for plain ol' literature appeal.

So to sum up, here are the names I've come up with so far:

#1: J.K. Brawling (the most popular choice, according to my research, but I'm still not 100% sold)

#2: Mo Pain Willems

#3: Margaret Wiseacre Brown

#4: Sally St. Payne

#5: Violet Rockingham (these last 2 were actually suggested by illustrator Christina Rodriguez, and I'm still not exactly sure who they reference! I gots to do some kidlit research).

If you have any suggestions, please let me know!!

Spot the differences!

Below are two versions of the same spread in Bea Rocks the Flock. The first one I did- oh! Maybe 3 years ago, when I was just putting together the first dummy. Check out those googly eyes! Too bad I'm late arriving to this competition. Until I compared them side-by-side, I had no idea my style had changed so much!



Added bonus to "spot the difference" game: Where's Waldo? (ok, my niece and brother). I have 4 (almost) wordless & very highly populated spreads, & it's been fun to pop in people I know. Maybe I can add a Where's Waldo component to the book, with the added challenge of readers having to guess what my friends and family members look like in order to find them.

My Two Marathons

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am currently involved in the marathon called "finishing all of the artwork for my picture book by September". But did you know that I am also currently involved in the other kind of marathon, the 26.2 mile kind?! The NYC marathon is happening on November 2, and barring any injuries, I'll be in it. (and hopefully improving upon my 2003 Sydney marathonn performance- above. You can't really see in the picture, but I am finishing just ahead of a walking guy, and behind him is a really really old lady). At first, I thought it might be a little crazy to attempt to do both at once, but you know what? There will always be "something" preventing me from taking on new challenges, if I let them. And I only have to look to all of the authors and illustrators out there with full time jobs AND with families to take care of for inspiration. I'm sure they could teach me a thing or two about "fatigue" and "heavy workload".

So, last night was my first training group run, and I am happy that I wasn't totally left in the dust during the 5 mile run! Even though I am just home from a week's vacation in Montreal, where I did nothing but eat poutine and sugar pie (not noted in my Runner's World magazine for their health benefits).


If you've never had poutine before, I recommend booking your ticket to Montreal right now. Or, there's actually a restaurant in Brooklyn that serves a passable poutine. Bonus: Restaurant shares the name of my favorite animal!

A Surprisingly Literary Weekend

Who'd a thunk that by trying to escape NYC with a weekend jaunt to Quakertown, Pennsylvania, I would stumble upon a piece of literary history? Well, evidently our hosts Nicole and Keith had thunk it, because they had told me (and I forgot) that the farm we were going to visit was once the home of Eric Knight, author of Lassie Come Home. Not only was it his home, it was actually the location where he wrote this book! AND, the real-life inspiration for Lassie (Toots) is buried here.


Otto was appropriately respectful at this shrine of doghood.


The farm was beautiful (Keith used to work here, so don't worry- we're not trespassing on private property without permission), and unbelievably quiet and peaceful.


Well, mostly peaceful...



... and it got me wishing most heartlily to be a matronly old children's book author, writing picture stories in my attic studio, tending my chickens and eating farm-fresh eggs all the live-long day.



Maybe someday...