Animaaaaaaal!

I'm not a morning person. Never have been. But I married a teacher (almost a whole year ago!) and now I wake up at 6:30am. 

ANTE MERIDIEM PEOPLE! 

I mean, I used to stay UP until about that time. Ok, not really, but 4am was most commonly my bedtime.

Anyways, I get up to make him a lunch every morning and send him off with a kiss and a "Have a good day at schoooool!" Most days I pack his lunch in a little cooler, but about once a week I make a special brown bag. This one was inspired by his marching band (He teaches high school band and choir) 

A good ol' birthday party

Published in Highlights High Five's September 2012 issue.

Snakes and Ladders

Came across this little board game I created for Oxford University Press in the Fall of 2010. I'm assuming it's been published and I can blog about it by now. I hope so anyway!

Dig it?

Here's another game board for Lakeshore Learning Materials I designed last year. I loved figuring out this layout.

ch-ch-ch-Changes

It's been a long time, Blog. We've got a lot of catching up to do... No there is too much. Let me sum up.

I met a wonderful man. He asked me to marry him. We bought a house. Went to Hawaii for 3 weeks on our honeymoon and I am now a step mom to 2 awesome kids. My life has changed dramatically (in great ways) and I am only now, 4 months later, feeling somewhat adjusted. Things are so good.

Enough of that personal life stuff. Let's talk art! I'll be posting every week various projects that I've worked on over the last 8 months. I'd like to post more often, but let's be realistic. 

So, let's start with this... Highlights High Five's March 2012 issue. This was my second 'That's Silly!' spread for the magazine. I have done 4 in total so far since last year. They are so fun.

I tried a different approach to this one by cleaning up my final sketch and taking it straight into Photoshop to color over. I usually block everything in Illustrator first and then finish up in PS.

Have a great week everybody. There will be more to come soon... promise :-)

Mashing Things Up

I love Dr. Who and I love Star Trek. 

One day I got to thinking... What IF the Daleks and Borg encountered each other in space?  How would that galactic battle go down? Who would win? I'm thinking the Daleks would but I can't know for sure until the episode is written. Steven Moffat, won't you please find the time to write it? Pretty please?

Anyways, based off a little sketch I did a while back, I made this design and screen printed a few shirts last week. I think I might make more of them but maybe in a 1 or 2-color design instead of this 4-color one. Hmm, we shall see.                                                              Allons-y!

City Zoo Quest

 I had the great pleasure to design and illustrate some game boards for Lakeshore Learning Materials last year and now that they're available I can start sharing them with you!

This City Zoo Quest game is targeted for grades 1-2 and you can see from the sketch that there were quite a few changes along the way to get to the final product. I've also included an in-progress snapshot of the style I started this board in. I really liked how it was coming out, but realized the rendering was too young and in order to be consistent in style with the older game boards I knew I'd be creating, (I'll post those soon) I changed course and chose a coloring style that would work across the board. 

Happy New Year

First post of 2012! I have a lot of new year's resolutions and goals but I fear if I share them with you I won't actually accomplish them...

Oh well!

Ok, so this year there's the inevitable go to the gym and eat right. I haven't once been to the gym due to a lingering cold and I may or may not've eaten a lb. of chocolate last night. So far so good :)

Then there's the time management goal. Making sure I stick to a schedule. 9 days and I'm doing ok with that one. I've just made sure that my to-do list each day has plenty of 'procrastinate' and 'get distracted' time factored in.

A few more from my long list are: • draw more • sit up straighter • promote more • get a rep? • read more and watch tv less •  be fearless • cook more • stick to a budget 

What about you? What are your 2012 goals and/or resolutions? 

PS: These illos were done for the Jan issue of Friend Magazine. I'm also adding the sketches. I'd like to try to blog more this year and also attach sketches along with final art because that's always a little more interesting, don't you think?

Wishing you all a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year! 

Now go wreak some havoc and may your dreams come true!

"Alas, ear wax!"

A while back I posted this piece in progress (inked). So I thought I'd show the final product. I've been having a blast painting fan-based art lately.

R2 meets DD2

       A little birthday painting for my friend Karen :)

Introducing Robo Math!

Having trouble remembering your 7 times tables? Can't seem to divide 84 by 4? Or maybe, just maybe, you've got a child who needs a fun and simple way to practice their math facts so they can ace those pesky pop quizes.

If any of these fit your situation, have no fear! Robo Math is here!

Helo Games invited me to created the art for this awesome App and it's been on the 'What's Hot' top 20 page in Educational Apps on the iTunes store for weeks. Pretty mathtastic, huh?!

click here to visit the Robo Math iTunes App page

Pockets Mag - Just Like Me

Do you ever find yourself craving the food your drawing? Maybe it's just me, but it happens all the time. Last month's Pockets Magazine's illos had me drinking juice boxes and munching on crackers.

You can only imagine how bad it was when I was designing these toy food labels last year... "Must have peanut butter." [15 minutes later] "Must have apple sauce."

Gimmee a High Five!

Here's the "That's Silly!" spread illustration I created for the October issue of Highlights High Five magazine. So much fun. How many silly things can you find?

And if anyone would be interested... I'm thinking I could put together a step-by-step for this illo.

Hulked out

A 5x7 painting for my friend Jay's birthday last week. Doesn't he make a cute Bruce Banner and an incredible Hulk? Smash!

Avada Kedavra!

Wotcha Harry Potter fans!

Just a quick note about the Gallery Nucleus Harry Potter show... There's only 11 days left! There were a couple pieces I wanted to buy but wasn't quick enough on the draw and they went to other loving homes. Oh well.

Also, I'm pleased to announce that 1 of my 2 pieces is still available. Harry seeking the snitch has sold but Voldemort (Voldy to his friends) is waiting to adorably terrorize someone's wall. If you just so happen to like cute evil villains and would like to become his master, here's the link to the Gallery Nucleus website store:

http://www.gallerynucleus.com/gallery/pieces/244?page=11

Studio 5!

I'm excited to announce that I've been inducted as the newest member of Studio Five! We are now a group of 7 children's book writers and illustrators in Orange and San Diego Counties who work together to make the best possible books for children. I'm looking forward to spending more time with my group member friends, learning and growing as artists.

Thanks for the warm welcome Bob Singer, Marilyn Scott-Waters, J.H. Everett, J.R. Johnson, Andrew Mitchell, Kim Dwinell and Alice Provensen! (Who I had the pleasure of taking a photo with last week. Such a beautiful woman! and had you heard... she's a Caldecott Medal recipient!)

Harry Potter - in progress

Hey Gang! Just thought I'd share an 'in-progress' photo of the paintings I'm working on this week. I'm having so much fun with my ink and watercolor. It feels like I haven't held a brush in forever and I'm more than a little addicted!

I finished Voldemort last night (I need a title, any suggestions?) and will be painting Dumbledore/Harry today. That one's called "Alas! Ear wax!" Haha.

Here is a link to Gallery Nucleus if you'd like to check out the exhibition info. The show's July 9th at 7pm. Mark your calendars!

The Youngest Seeker in a Century

Gallery Nucleus has a tribute blog and upcoming exhibition on July 9th dedicated to one of my favorite things ever... Harry Potter!

I did this small painting (ink and watercolor) that will be included on the blog and in the show. I chose to depict Harry playing Quidditch because when I first read Sorcerer's Stone, that was one of my, "Woooow, cool!" moments with all the action and suspense and humor that comes along with the sport. And JKR did such an amazing job creating her own sport, too don't you think?! You know, I think if I were to ever play Quidditch, I think I'd like to be the seeker... or a beater :)

I plan on doing a few more of these little 5x5 paintings because they're just too much fun. My next one will have Dumbledore in it, I think. I love all the characters, but he may be my absolute favorite... or maybe the twins... or Mrs. Weasley... or... Haha, I can't decide!

Who's your favorite Harry Potter character?

Love you, Mama