Process
Research Travel Tips
Over on the Picture Book Builders blog, I shared some highlights about illustration research I did for three weeks in England in 2015 for the new picture book biography JOHN RONALD’S DRAGONS: STORY OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN, by Caroline McAlister. I had a great question come over Twitter recently about traveling for research, but couldn’t seem…
Read MoreTHE ‘I SUCK’ DILEMMA
It’s been two weeks since the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators annual summer conference in Los Angeles, and I am still feeling like I’m in recovery mode. This conference is a massive whirling ball of creative energy. There we experience information, inspiration, connection, excitement, boredom, nervousness, and ultimately, exhaustion! It was the first…
Read MoreIllustrator Studies
Check out my recent post over at Kidlit Artists blog on doing studies of illustrators that inspire.
Read MoreWorkspace – Sketching for The Grudge Keeper
Right now I’m knee deep in sketching for the picture book THE GRUDGE KEEPER, by author Mara Rockliff. It’s a folk-tale inspired story of the one man in town who collects everyone’s insults, umbrage, and petty complaints, filing them all away in his cottage. Mara’s manuscript is brilliant! It’s been exciting to be able to…
Read MoreSCBWI Bulletin (Sept/Oct 2012) Cover Piece
I was invited by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) to do cover artwork for their magazine’s 2012 Sept/Oct issue. This is a huge honor, as it only comes out 4 times a year and the illustrators they usually ask to contribute are total rock-stars! The theme always involves a…
Read MoreLighting Studies
When creating a new illustration where lighting is key, try building a simple 3D model to photograph as a helpful reference. As you’ll see in my examples below, it can be a very crude model made with whatever materials you have handy. I started trying to sketch the figure as a series of basic shapes.…
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