Updated illustration of boy riding a flyiing dragon

IF: CONFINED AND WINTER CONFERENCE

...Tired of being confined in the castle after night fall, the boy sneaked out with the dragon to go on an adventure.

I guess I am cheating a bit this week with the word 'CONFINED' since I'm posting the finished piece from last week, but I think it fit the prompt rather well. I also really liked how this illo turned out. I think I will do something with it for my next promo card.

I have some very exciting news, I am going to the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York at the end of this month. I will be taking the illustrator's intensive session as well. I was very reluctant about going for all the reasons anyone would be hesitant to go... am I ready?, can I get my portfolio/promo materials ready on time?, can I update my website before the trip?, etc... Well, Ready or not, I am going! I couldn't think of waiting another year for such an opportunity.

I will not be posting much this month since I will be preparing for the trip, among another gizillion things I have to do! But, I will try to blog or Twitter about the conference while I'm there.

If you are going let me know. I would love to meet some of you while I'm out there!

Thanks for all your comments and all your New Year wishes, they really mean a lot to me and I really appreciate them!

IF: PIONEER

Little did Timmy know that he was the first kid to ever hop on a dragon! He was a pioneer!

This is an idea that I've had for a while, and with this week's IF prompt I thought it would be appropriate. I wasn't sure if to dress up the boy with a different outfit as if he was part of dragon land or to make it obvious that this is his imagination, therefore he is in PJ's. What do you think?
I'll be coloring this soon and re-posting.

Congrats to Vanessa for winning a signed print of my work!

Happy New Year to all! and may 2010 bring you health, happiness and success! I cannot complaint about 2009 as it was very good to me and my family.