IF: IMPATIENCE

His impatience to fit in and make friends is scaring the animals away!

This is late for me to post, but if you read my previous post, you’d understand that I’ve been playing catch up for the last few days.

I have been working diligently in preparation for my very first promotional piece. I’ve been talking about this package that I am going to send to publishers, editors, etc… before the end of the summer. Meanwhile, wondering if my work is solid enough, asking myself, am I ready? Sure enough, I look at my entire portfolio and feel like trashing most of it! Not a good way to make progress, but I really think that my work has evolved in the past few months and my work from 6 months ago does not represent me anymore. At the same time, I don’t want to keep reworking and reworking endlessly without sending anything out. So, in an effort to freshen up my portfolio, I have created the piece above. I have another in the works, But that’s it! After that, I’m sending my stuff out! I also updated my web site and took out a bunch of old work. I may take a few more pieces out in the next weeks.

I invite you to take a look at the contest I have going on right now to win a kid’s necklace. The last day to enter is this Friday the 14^th.

A few days ago the very talented and humorous illustrator Roberta Baird honored me with two very special awards. I am especially grateful because I really admire and respect Roberta’s work.

This award was created by Ces in honor of another very loved and wonderful blogger Bella Sinclair.

The second award is The Superior Scribbler Award.

Here are the rules for the award

Each Superior Scribbler must, in turn, pass the Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy buds.

Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains The Award.

Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List (!?) at the Scholastic-Scribe’s blog. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives this prestigious honor!

Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

I am please to pass this to award on to some wonderful blog buddies who have inspired me with their kindness, friendship, dedication and unbelievable talent!

1. Nicole

2. Deborah

3. Froggie

4. Jannie

5. Diana

NO COMPUTER FOR A WEEK! (No, it wasn't a punishment)

I was without a computer all week! Last Sunday night the hard drive on my iMac just gave out. My computer is just over a year old, so I was really surprised to see the hard drive error out. I also have a Time Machine back up set up, but it had been giving me many ‘unsuccessful back up’ errors for over a month so I was really nervous about how much work I had potentially lost. My husband, who is gifted with anything related to computers and telecommunications, was able to get the machine up and running for the purpose of verifying the back up.

We had also bought an Apple protection plan when we purchased the machine, so once we verified that the back up had indeed been working, we took the machine to Apple on Tuesday. They had it ready by Friday with a new drive and OS installed. It took my husband over a day to get the back up restored and everything running, but I have to say the back up system was flawless! I have everything just as before and other than the initial ‘freak out’ and loosing a week’s worth of time, it was really painless!!!

My recommendation other than having a back up is … definitely invest on a protection plan or added warranty, you just never know!

Also, BIG thanks to my hubby for taking care of all the technical stuff!!

IF: MODIFY

I was so excited about this week's word because it applied to my current project. You could say it also applied to my last posted illustration with the robot too, since that one was an old sketch I modified. This week, I am doing another one of those 'before' and 'after' pictures. The before is actually a rework of a previous IF prompt 'rambunctious'. I liked the idea, but was never quite happy with the end result. It was time to MODIFY the old one and play around with composition, line, color and well...see for yourself. I'm quite happy with the outcome.

Hope you have a great week and don't forget to check out my contest.

BEFORE: (Acrylics on watercolor paper)

AFTER: (Pencil colored with Photoshop)

WIN A KID'S NECKLACE CONTEST

It’s been a while since I had a contest on my blog, and I thought it was time to have some fun!

What will you win?

The necklace on the picture! It is from a new line of custom beaded necklaces that I have on my Etsy shop. It is made with polymer, stones, and Swarovski crystal beads. I realize the prize is very specific to little girls, but even if you don’t have kids, consider entering… your niece, or cousin or friend’s daughter may appreciate receiving a gift from you. No one has to know you won it!

What do I have to do?

This is a simple contest; All you have to do is leave a comment on this post (make sure I have a way to contact you in case you win). If you want more chances to win, you may 'follow my blog' or ‘heart’ my store on Etsy. The contest will end at midnight on Friday August 14^th. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on this post on Monday August 17^th. Good Luck!

Dynamic Lines

I made a sketch for the Illustration Friday word 'Craving' (see before) and liked it a lot, but thought it needed to be more dynamic. I played with it a bit and added a slightly different point if view and curved most of the lines to make it more interesting. A curved line always carries more energy than a straight line (see after).

I also used a color palette that I normally don't work with, to give myself a challenge. I really think it's a great improvement don't you?

BEFORE

AFTER

A Peak at Creating a Children's Book

I think I may share some more of these videos with my readers.

IF:IDLE

Here's the finished image. I added more textures and contrast and got rid of the wind.

I feel like that lion right now!

Work in Progress....

It's so difficult to get going when you've been idled for a while.

I hope I'm a bit more productive next week!

I'll post the finished product when I'm done.

Enjoy your weekend.

I'M BACK!

I had the most wonderful time in Northern Greece! It was such an energizing and invigorating trip! I am still adjusting from the time change.

Greece is one of those places that seems magical in terms of history and its effect on our culture today. I was very eager to visit as many archaeological sites as possible and as many museums, but our time was limited. We did go to the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki where they had items on display from the Neolithic Era to the Roman times about 400 A.D.

I wanted to share some of the pictures we took (without flash) while walking through the museum. I created a quicktime file with over 70 images so it is quite large (6.78MB) and it may take a while to download.

I'll add some pictures of the landscape and and other natural beauties later on this week.

I am glad to be back, and as soon as I get a chance I will start to catch up with everyone!

Just hit play!

Have a great week!

Going Away

This will be my last post for a while. I am taking a much-needed vacation to a far, far away place. All I can say is that I'll be surrounded by history and mythology. I hope to share some pictures when I come back in about three weeks or so. I will miss all of you. I will miss reading my favorite blogs and participating in Illustration Friday.

However, I am looking forward to all the history and ruins and museums and even caves. I am taking my new Moleskines and plan on sketching all of the time. I hope to share some of my drawings when I get back.

So for now, I’m signing out and closing shop!

What are you doing for fun this summer?

Illustration Friday: Worn as in Worn Out!

The first images that came to mind after reading the prompt were a worn shoe or shirt. However, after thinking a little more, I decided to go with the idea of someone worn out and in need of a vacation. I know I am! This charming old lady is certainly enjoying a much needed break by the beach.

I would still like to do the 'before' and show her in a more stressful 'worn-out' scenario and perhaps add some color, but for now, this will have to do.

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by.

Cover Design

I just received in the mail my copy of a book by Jim Metzger, a self published author. I designed the wrap around cover a while back and although it is not a children's book, I thought I'd share it here. This was a fun project!

This is the entire wrap around cover:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

A Red Velvet Cake dedicated

To all the Dads out there...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Now some pictures of the process:

IF: DRIFTING

Here's a couple of images I've worked on this week:

She's making a list and she's checking it twice to make sure her potion tastes right.

I know, my mind is already drifting to Halloween time and we are just beginning our summer!

This boy is trying to keep his kite from drifting away

I guess it was a very productive week. Everything I've been working on, has been so involved, that it was fun to just work on quick spot illustrations.

Enjoy your weekend!

Do you know how to build a mailing list? and Award

I am going to send out my first mailer in the next month or so, but before I do that I need to create a mailing list.

Back in January during the regional SCBWI conference, speakers emphasized the need to do your homework and be accurate when sending post cards or a package. Include the name of the AD or editor receiving the mailer and personalize the letters.

I wanted to pose a question to my readers that actively market themselves. How do you find current information for publishers? Is there a magic quick way of doing this? Or is this as painful and tedious as I think it might be… finding publishers and going on their web sites to find a number to call. Then calling and asking who’s the AD and the editor. Is this how everyone does it?  How do you do it? How do you compile the info and do you use a specific software to store all the data?

I would love to know!!!! 

I also want to let you know how much I appreciate every bit of info you can provide. Thanks for sharing! 

On a separate note, I wanted to thank Monica and Andrea for this award. I am so honored. They are so talented! Their work was most recently published on the cover of 'Night of the Crabs'. Please check it out when you can.

Here are few rules if you accept the award

Feel free to deliver this award to eight other people

(or as many bloggers you would like) and include the

following text with the award on your site.

" These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends.

They are not interested in self aggrandizement.

Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut,

even more friendship are propagated.

Please give more attention to these writers."

My list is:

Nicole

Candace 

Aja

Heather

Addrianne

Vanessa

Phyllis

Kathleen

Carli

I would like to keep going as there are so many artists that I admire and find inspire me, but I feel I must stop for the sake of time.