Promises, Promises!

Here's a quick little piece I did for the recent Thanksgiving holiday.  Inspired by a favorite number from a favorite musical.  Happy Holidays!

The Sun Will Come Out...Tomorrow!

I've been pretty busy as of late, working on some new projects, so I haven't had the chance to post more of my Inktober pieces.  Here's my take on some characters from "Little Orphan Annie".  I love the comic strips from the 20's, 30's and 40's, and "Little Orphan Annie" is one of my favorites.  You will probably recognize Annie, Sandy, and Daddy Warbucks, but you may not recognize the female character.  That would be (my version of) Mrs. Warbucks!  She was only in the strip for the first couple of years, but it was she who actually adopted Annie.  She was also Annie's main antagonist at the beginning, though she became a "good guy" before she was killed off.

Hot Off The Press!

Well, what do you know? "Busy Trucks on the Go" made it to the Children's Book Council's Hot off the Press list for this November.  What an honor!  Thank you to Eric Ode for writing another wonderful book that I got to illustrate.  Take the link below to see what they said about "Busy Trucks" and also check out the other books on the list.
 Children's Book Council Hot off the Press list.

Inktober Switcheroo!

All of my Inktober pieces up until now have been done with ink and brush.  I decided to switch it up for a bit and show some pieces done with my copic ink pens.  These two pieces are actually from a while back, quick doodles from one of my moleskine sketchbooks.  I like how loose and fun these sketches are.

More Inktober!

Two more pieces for Inktober.  These are both based on sketchbook sketches.  I'm not so sure about the bear and racoon piece.  It turned out a little rougher than I wanted.  One thing I do need to do is get some new brushes.  My current ones are getting a bit ragged and hard to use.

Inktober continues!

Two more pieces for Inktober!  I'm enjoying doing these quicker pieces.  I feel like they are helping me to loosen up.

Inktober 2014!

Inktober returns!  I was to busy to make it all the way through Inktober last year, but I'm determined to do it this year.  Here are the first four so far, day 1 through day 4.

Terrariums!

I've been really busy with some freelance work the last month or so, so I haven't been able to do much of my own artwork, but here's a piece I did for Lilla Roger's Global Talent Search.  I didn't make it past the first round, but this is my entry for the first assignment.  I ended up going off in a direction I didn't intend, but I learned an awful lot in the process.  This was done mostly in Photoshop.  The experiments continue!

Website updated!

I've updated my website!  Now featuring "Busy Trucks on the Go" on my books page as well as several new illustrations.  Check it out!  http://www.kentculotta.com/

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Here are a couple of pieces I've done recently based on moments from the book "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase".  The first one is of the maid Pattern dressing Sylvia, who's thinking about her poor old aunt who she used to live with.  The second shows the caretaker Miss Slighcarp speaking to the carriage driver while taking Sylvia and her cousin Bonnie to a boarding school.  Two of my favorite books when I was younger were "Blackhearts in Battersea" and "Nightbirds on Nantucket" by Joan Aiken.  "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" was the first in the series, which I somehow missed back then, but have recently caught up with.  Joan Aiken wrote these wonderful Dickensian stories that take place in an alternative early 19th century world, and I just love them.  I've been wanting to do some black and white pieces geared towards middle grade novels for my portfolio, and these stories were the perfect inspiration.  Enjoy!

Dan Makes a Cameo!

I was going to save this post for the holiday season, but I've decided to share it with you now after all.  It's another double page spread from the book "Busy Trucks On The Go" which I illustrated recently.  And look who's there!  Dan, the Taxi Man and his pup!  I loved that Eric Ode, the author of these books, wanted Dan to make a cameo in "Busy Trucks" and this is one of my favorite pieces from the new book.

Valentine's Day Redux!

I recently went in and did some revisions to this piece that I did a little while ago.  The changes were relatively minor, but I like these improvements a lot.  Take a look!

Bulldozer!

This is one of the interior illustrations from "Busy Trucks On The Go".  I had a fun time doing the research on all the different kinds of trucks there are and figuring out how I was going to draw them.  Some old friends might make a visit as well!

Busy Trucks On The Go!

I'm delighted to announce that my second picture book, "Busy Trucks On The Go" has arrived! It was my great pleasure to once again work with the fabulous author, Eric Ode, and the wonderful folks at Kane Miller, who published the book.

"Town to town and here to there, busy trucks are everywhere!"

Check it out!  Available from Usbourne Books & More and other fine retailers.

(Click on the post title to go to Usbourne!)

Father's Day

Here's a piece I did for my Dad on Father's Day.  It's based on an old photograph of us that I really like, taken when we were on vacation with my Mom's parents.

Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd.

I'm back again with a new piece.  I like the idea of every once in a while doing unusual subject matter in children's book style.  This is based on one of my favorite musicals, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.  I've again done this one in photoshop with a mouse.  It was a bit of a struggle.  I'm going to have to get me a wacom tablet one of these days!

This is the first piece of done since my Mom passed away last month.  I miss her very much.  It's been a struggle for me to get the motivation to get back to doing artwork since then, but I know she would want me to carry on.  This is for her.

Making Valentines!

Hello Everyone!  I know, it's been a loooooooonnnggg time since I've posted anything on my blog.  Well, I've been busy working on an exciting project these past few months.  I'm done now and I'll tell you about it soon, but here's a little something I did this past week.  I've been feeling a need to break out and try some new techniques.  This was done, (except for the initial sketch), completely in Photoshop. (And only with a mouse!  I don't have a wacom tablet at home.)  I have used Photoshop (and Illustrator) before, but this is my first real attempt to do a piece on the computer with the same "look" as my work in traditional media.  I'm pretty happy with it.