Friday, October 22, 2010

Chuck the Duck

A few years ago my nieces, Cailley, Emma, and Isabelle, wrote a story called Chuck the Duck while we were eating dinner at a restaurant. I've been intending to illustrate it ever since, and I'm finally getting around to it.

"One day there wass a duck named Chuck. He needed money, so he went to find a job."

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Snow White and Rose Red

"Rose Red would run and jump about the meadows, seeking flowers and catching butterflies, while Snow White loved to sit and read."

This is a new piece for my children's book illustration portfolio. I spent a lot more time than usual on this illustration and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I'm planning on doing several more illustrations from the story of Snow White and Rose Red...

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Diary-Reading Sister's Secrets


Wow, its hard to believe that I have another blogpost so soon! This is a piece that I started a while ago, but then set aside. It's my first piece that I've done in photoshop. When I started I was doing it with a mouse, but it was slow-going, which is probably why I set it aside. Then my friend Brian loaned me his Wacom tablet. It took me a bit to find my way working with a tablet and with photoshop, but I think I'm starting to find my rhythm...

Monday, October 04, 2010

It Was Night, And The Rain Fell...

This is my entry for the SCBWI Illustrator's Day Contest in LA. The illustration is supposed to be inspired by the line "It was night, and the rain fell, and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was..." Now that I've finished the piece I don't think my idea is very original or interesting.

Every illustration I do is a learning process, and this one is a good example of that. Sometimes I plan my illustrations very carefully, but in this case I really just winged it, drawing it straight on the the illustration board instead of working and reworking the design on tracing paper. I also really didn't have a clear idea of what colors I wanted to use, and so I made it up as I went along. I'm definitely trying to find the right balance between planning carefully and being spontaneous.