Friday, December 28, 2007

New Sketch


Here's a color sketch I did recently, of a spunky young girl. I do love books about spunky young girls!

Work In Progress

I thought I'd show a bit of how I work, from the beginning to the end of a painting. This is the jacket for "Grandpa, What's that Sound in the Middle of the Night?". I work on gessoed board or paper, and start with a wash of burnt sienna, mapping out lights and darks. I always leave the white of the paper showing through somewhere... it's impossible for me to re-capture that white of the original gesso.





I have since "finished" this painting, but won't post it yet, as I still have some last-minute changes to make.

My New Year's Resolution


...is to finally start this blog that I've been meaning to start for, oh, 4 months now! And look, I've started it 3 days before the new year. I am just that on top of things.

Well, my first post was going to be pictures of my "new" studio. This is still my studio, but it can't really be classified as new anymore. We've been in this apartment since September, and the greatest thing about it is its second bedroom! This is the first time I've been able to have a room soley devoted to a studio, not a "rec room/slash/entertaining parlour/slash/studio".

That picture at the top is the studio view. Guess who has the neat desk and guess who has the messy one? (hint: my boyfriend has the neat one). I would like to say that the hobo curtains have been replaced by now, but sadly, they haven't.
Here's a blurry view of my desk...
... and a less blurry view. That's some work in progress for my first picture book, "Grandpa, What's That Sound in the Middle of the Night?",written by Naomi Singlehurst. It will be published by Trellis Publishing in Fall 2008. I'm wrapping up the final paintings for it now, to be completed by Feb. 1.


This is the first apartment I've had in New York that actually has a "Rear Window" quality to it.
My cat, Sharon, has had to adjust her animosity from her previous enemy at our old ground-floor apartment (Squirrel), to her new enemy (Pigeon).