Jackets as far as the eye can see

Since I'm taking a little creative break at the moment, I thought I'd fill this empty blog time with some oldies but goodies. Issues that I didn't really have the time to blog about whilst in the midst of painting like a madwoman. So I thought I'd show the sketches leading up to the final jacket for Bea!

Here are the first 3 sketches that I sent in:

I liked #3, and so did my publisher. But, as a book designer I know as well as anyone that these tides are ever-changing. A few months later, as I'm heading into the thick of things, I was asked for some new jacket sketches. One reason (which I suspected myself) was the problem that hand-drawn type nestled in with a bunch of art could create. If, say, my book were to be translated into 17 different languages (fingers crossed), the jacket art would be a problem. Plus, they wanted to see Bea & some sheep up close, for some more personality to show through. Here's what I came up with:

Not so good, right? What's up with that Brady Bunch version? I don't know why I was so adverse to putting the type in the sky- it was the obvious solution, and one that required the insight of my art director & editor to point out to me.

Round 3 of sketches:

This last one was the one everyone liked. With some final discussions about Bea's wardrobe & the facial expressions of the other sheep, here's what I did for the final:

...and the back cover.


And there you have it! For now, anyway!

Boy howdy!

These have been some crazy two weeks!

Last things first, this past weekend I spoke at the Nashville SCBWI conference. Look at the grandeur:

Very beautiful city, very fun conference, VERY talented attendees! I gave my standard go-to talk about the behind-the-scenes machinations of an art department, as well as a brand new talk on picture book dummies. If any attendees have recommendations for either talk- things you wish I'd covered, burning questions you didn't get to ask in the Q&A, please let me know! I'll try & include them in future talks. My one disappointment of the weekend was that I did not get to taste any chess pie. Alas. The excitement of meeting so many great illustrators made up for it. 

This weekend getaway served also as a mini-vacay-- a reward for handing in all of my artwork!! That happened on Thursday. Here's the heap o' sheep:

I meant to spread out all the pictures real nice to see them altogether. Instead, I took this "oh-man-it's-4-am-please-just-take-the-picture-and-go-to-bed" picture. I got to hand in the art in person, which was fun. Bloomsbury is in the Flatiron building, and I always feel very New York when I go in there. It's been kind of a weird feeling, not having anything to do when I get home from work! I was able to watch the premiere of Heroes last night! (review: confused). I got to scrub the bathroom like I wanted! (review: squeaky clean). Now what?!? Good thing I have another SCBWI conference this weekend to keep myself occupied!

Calling all Nashville SCBWI attendees!

And Philly attendees. And Minnesota! Are you an author and/or illustrator and/or fellow presenter who also happens to be training for a marathon?!? I'll be speaking at all of these conferences in the coming weeks, which just happens to coincide with peak marathon training. Being a bit of a chatty Cathy runner, I'd love to put in a nice leisurely... 13 mile or more run with fellow SCBWI-ers! C'mon, it will be fun! We can talk about children's books hours before the conference begins- think of the head start we'll get!

So, shoot me an email if interested- and please pass on to anyone you think might be keen! Gracias!

(Do you notice my abundance use of exclaimation points?! To convince you that running 13 miles will be fun!)

Pictures from my Staycation

Thank you, Lynne Rae Perkins, for the title.

Well, it's almost done now. Art for Bea Rocks the Flock is due next Thursday! Here are some of the memories I made over my Staycation:




Alls I have left to finish are the jacket, one interior piece, and a few more spots. I have been entertaining myself by fantasizing about all of the things I am going to do with my newfound free time after I'm done! Of course, this list consists of the most banal activities ever. The first 3 items on my list are, I kid you not:

1. Get haircut
2. Give bathroom a really good cleaning
3. Get cat shaved

Apparently, when pressed for time, it is personal & feline cleanliness that is the first to go.

But do you know, I find myself getting a little misty-eyed at the passing of this era already?! For nearly 5 years now, in one way or another I've had the story of Bea flitting through my mind, and now it's sort of sad to think my work is almost done! Even with a hip new coif and a freshly shorn cat, I will have a sheep-shaped hole in my heart.

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.