Just Try It

When I was sketching, I was thinking this is a fed-up nerd boy with his 2 monstrous body guards. But now I see it could also be interpreted as the toughest gang at school and this kid is the leader of the pack. Kinda funny to think that a sock and flip-flop wearing scrawny nerd is the bully. But it works either way, I guess.

This piece was fun to do. Not only designing the characters, (I love drawing monster thugs, apparently) but using the liquify tool in Photoshop. I'd never used it before and it sure is handy. It really helped when making the reflection in the floor.

SCBWILA 09

What an amazing weekend I had at the SCBWI Los Angeles conference! SO GREAT! I only recently became a member of the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators and when I heard there was a summer conference in LA I just had to go! It was 4 full days of inspiring speakers and panels, schmoozing with fellow illustrators, agents and editors and staying in a beautiful hotel room. It was so delightful that I am tempted to save my pennies and go to the winter conference in NYC. It's a great opportunity for networking and getting your work seen and your name out there. If you've never heard of SCBWI or haven't gotten involved with it yet... I highly recommend!

I created this yearbook page image as the title page to the portfolio I hefted around all weekend. I admit a few of the characters are based off of friends from high school, so if any of you Lancers notice a resemblance... uh, HA HA!