Let There Be Rock!

My third blog post in a week. I am on a roll this new year! Anyway I just want to share a finished printed project I received in the mail this week. It's a slim 32 page paperback book for Zaner-Bloser called "Let There Be Rock!". I illustrated it a year and a half ago. I just now got around to tracking down printed copies. It's a cute story about a grandfather telling his grandson about his days in a high school rock band in 1957. I completed 8 small illustration for this chapter book and really enjoyed depicting the cloths, hair styles and other details from the 1950's.

Sadly for many of the smaller educational projects I have done I rarely get to see the final printed sample. For this project I made an effort to track down some copies and the publisher kindly sent me free books. It looks great and I am happy to see this project to it's natural conclusion.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Jazz Age

I'm working on a new sample image based on the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books, one I like to reread every few years. Later this year there will also be a new movie version staring Leonardo DiCaprio, so I guess in a way I am gearing up for that.

I am always looking for reasons to paint images from the 1920's as it is a favorite subject, especially NYC during that time. I keep hoping an editor will present me with a story set in those times for me to illustrate! With that in mind my portrait incorporates iconic imagery of the 20's, F. Scott's writings come to life.

I will be doing the final painting in oil which I have not worked with in over a year. The creamy thick paint seems perfect for this image, a medium that most great painters of that time worked in. Below are some character sketches, my compositional drawing and a color study. I will share the final painting when I am done!

More "Can Man" news

Despite being out for almost two years now great news for "The Can Man" keeps rolling in!

The Alabama Department of Education selected "The Can Man" as a finalist for the Alabama Camellia Award Program 2011-12 Book List.

It is also a Show Me 2012-2013 final nominee from the Missouri Association of School Librarians. One of just 10 books. Grade school kids through out the state of Missouri make the final vote. See the list of books here.

Ultimately these state reading award nominations along with the ones in New York and Pennsylvania that I mentioned last year mean more kids will be reading the book which is really wonderful.

Lastly 25,800 kids last summer had "The Can Man" read to them up and down the east coast as part of TD Banks summer reading program. Follow this link to learn more.

What a great way to start out the new year!

Happy Holidays!

This is the first Christmas after living in Seattle for 17 years that I will actually be here for the holidays. I will miss my family both in California and Connecticut but at the same time I am feeling a little giddy at the thought of being in the city this time of year. It's also nice avoiding the holiday travel hassles. Last year we were delayed an extra three days when coming back from Connecticut!

So in honor of the season I wanted to share again one of my few holiday illustrations. I completed it two years ago but it still remains one of my favorite samples. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours.

Cooking magazine project

Recently I was lucky to be asked to complete two illustrations for the highly respected food magazine "The Art of Eating". They will be appearing in the next issue, out soon. It's not often that I get a chance to stretch my legs with a different kind of project outside of the children's book market. Because of that I really tried to savor this project like a fine meal. The article is about two French recipes for cabbage. My solutions were to paint a French landscape and a still life with the ingredients for one of the recipes. I set up this still life in my studio with nice lighting and painted directly from observation. I can't say I painted the French landscape from life but I can dream. It was a real pleasure working this way again as was the whole project. Many thanks to Edward Behr. Bon appetite!

Whidbey Island school visit

Yesterday I was lucky to be able to visit Wellington Day School in my old stomping ground in Clinton on Whidbey Island. In fact my first six children's book were illustrated while living in Clinton from 2001-2004.

Here is a photo during my visit. Sadly though I forgot to take pictures of the best part- the kids. It was a whirlwind visit so easy to forget. The twenty, 1st-3rd graders were really attentive while I talked to them about two of my books, "Nature's Paintbox" and "The Can Man". I haven't done a lot of school visits this year so it was a real pleasure. Also the beautiful weather made for an enjoyable ferry ride.

Celebrating 10 Years in Publishing!

This fall I have been thinking about the fact that exactly 10 years ago I was working away on my first children's book project "Nathan Hale: Patriot Spy" for Lerner publishing. It is still a very vivid memory for me. At the time I was living alone on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, commuting by ferry across the water to my old job at Fluke as a technical illustrator. I spent my evenings and long weekends painting my first children's book. Once I finished Nathan Hale I had to immediately jump to another project, coming up with all new paintings for a solo gallery show in Seattle. Maybe it was the stress that makes that time so memorable. Sadly something had to give. Little did I know by the end of that year I would be laid off from Fluke, just six months after moving to the island to be close to my job. It was a life changing event that I was oblivious to while happily painting away on my first book 10 years ago. A lot happened that fall when I turned 30.

At the time the lay off was both very scary and exciting. I was looking for a change but probably not one so dramatic or sudden. A year earlier I had made the decision to pursue work in children's publishing and mailed out my first samples prior to Halloween of 2000. The samples were my version of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". A few months later in February 2001 I received the offer to illustrate the biography on Nathan Hale (thanks Zach!) It was as easy as that! I can still remember hearing that voice mail at work while checking my messages at home. I buzzed with excitement. Today I understand how lucky I was to have that first book offer happen so fast. Illustrators can wait years for that first publishing job. It was a modest project but a foot in the door. I spent the next year attempting to break down that door to publishing even further. I was hooked. In 2002 working full time I illustrated two more books, found some new clients and started teaching my first children's book illustration class. Eventually I did find part time work to help pay the bills. In time I achieved my dream of being a full time freelance illustrator. Now is as good a time as any to celebrate!

It was also 10 years ago that I started dating Jessica, now my wife. I was lucky to find someone willing to stand by me after losing my job so soon after we started dating. It could have been a lonely frustrating time, but together we made it through and created some wonderful memories. Thank you dear for all your help and support.