PiBoIdMo 2015 - Winner!

I do solemnly swear that I have faithfully

executed the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,

and will, to the best of my ability, parlay my ideas

into picture book manuscripts.

Wow! My sixth year of participating in Picture Book Idea Month (#PiBoIdMo) was a success!! (even if I was delayed by visiting family for the holidays)

It's always a wonderful challenge… and I'm looking forward to continuing my writing experiments with these ideas. That's been a slow, slow process for me, but definitely something I'll be concentrating on in 2016!

Congrats to all the other winners as well—it's a long haul, but WE MADE IT!

7th Annual Picture Book Idea Month — PiBoIdMo 2015

I have been SLACKING… how can my SECOND blog post of the year be in late October?! I guess it doesn't help that I've have a mysterious illness for almost 2 months… but thankfully that's getting better and I almost feel like a person again (although I still have no idea what it was/is).

It's harvest time for group projects and creative challenges! PiBoIdMo 2015, here I come!

Head over to Taralazar.com to find out more about PiBoIdMo. This will be my SIXTH year participating (and PiBoIdMo's 7th year). 

I'm really looking forward to the month-long guest blog posts, inspiration, and support that PiBoIdMo provides.

I finally started writing last year… and while I've made some progress, I'm still not where I'd like it to be—so, as usual, #PiBoIdMo is a reminder (and a good kick-in-the-pants) to revisit my collected ideas and start WRITING… you know, to go along with all my artwork. I'll just say it: I'm tired of waiting around for someone else's story—time to create my own stories.

I'm so excited, I've started already. (…just a minute ago…idea #1 was recorded for posterity…I think I feel another idea coming on…this is what it's all about)

My New Website is Up and Running!

I finally got my new website up… as is the case with a lot of websites, there are things I really like and things that are not-so-great, but it's clean and organized and pretty easy to work with and update. Now I just need to work on some new stuff to update it with!

PiBoIdMo 2014 - Winner!

I do solemnly swear that I have faithfully

executed the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,

and will, to the best of my ability, parlay my ideas

into picture book manuscripts.

Wow! My fifth year of participating in Picture Book Idea Month (#PiBoIdMo) was another success!! It's always a wonderful challenge… I don't know if it's because so many others are working right along with me and our combined motivation keeps us going or what, but it works… every year for me!

The best part, after 5 years of participating in generating ideas… I've finally started writing! Well, I actually started before PiBoIdMo, (and I've started several projects in the past, but I'm not counting those, because I never finished any of them!), but it was a real confidence booster overall—actually writing something, being happy with it, working through ideas and story structure, getting it critiqued (by friends and an editor!)… it's a whole new avenue for me and I'm super-excited to keep going! On to revisions!!

Congrats to all the other winners as well—it's a long haul, but WE MADE IT!

PiBoIdMo 2013 - Winner!

I do solemnly swear that I have faithfully executed 
the

PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,


and will, to the best of my ability, 
parlay my ideas

into picture book manuscripts.

My fourth year of participating in Picture Book Idea Month (#PiBoIdMo) is a success! I even tried a new approach which has landed me at the end of the month with even more than 30 ideas!

I can't believe it's been a whole month and PiBoIdMo is done once again. This whole year has positively flown by! I'm so thankful for all my experiences and opportunities this year has brought, and I'm especially thankful for the excuse PiBoIdMo has given me to daydream a little extra every day.

PiBoIdMo 2012 - Winner!

I do solemnly swear that I have faithfully executed 
the

PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,


and will, to the best of my ability, 
parlay my ideas

into picture book manuscripts.

My third year of participating in Picture Book Idea Month (#PiBoIdMo) was another success. And, once again, I find myself thinking… this is really something I should do more regularly – keep a PB idea list going all year long. I still haven't found a way to make it a regular practice, but I think it'll definitely be on my 2013 Resolutions to find a way to make this happen!

And of course, I'm interested in the follow-through of the these ideas. Even if they're only dummies, turning these ideas into completed books is the next big challenge!

I can't believe it's been a whole year since the last PiBoIdMo, and here we are at the end of another one. I've done a lot in the past year, including completing my first finished picture book (as illustrator only), signing on with an illustration agency, visiting the SCBWI-LA Conference for the first time (and as an SCBWI Volunteer), and reading over 200 picture books (as a self-study project to just read more PBs regularly - I posted about it here and here). I did start writing a few of my own picture books, but haven't gotten very far with them yet. I keep stopping myself. It's the one step I haven't figured out how to approach, but I  continue to try and in the meantime – I'm keeping the new ideas rolling in and ready for me when I do figure out the right process for myself, to write AND illustrate my own stories.

Catching-up at Summer's End…

It's been a long, distracting summer here. There's been so much going on, I obviously haven't had much time to keep up with the blog. But here are some of the biggest news items…

I have a new agency representing me! I'm very happy to have joined up with the nice folks over at Beehive Illustration, out of the UK. I'll also have a page in their annual catalog coming out next year, featuring several new pieces from another project I finished this summer…

Beehive Illustration Agency, UK

The Zoo's Annual Piggyback Race is a picture book project I worked on over the summer. It was just so much fun, and the best part is being DONE! I did all the illustration, as well the layout and design. The book is currently in production, so stay turned – I'll be spreading the word when it becomes available for purchase.

New book work complete! Look for news later this fall.

New book work: sneak peeks!

And last but not least, I finished a private fantasy commission piece as well. At 16"x 20, it's the largest completely colored pencil piece I've ever done.

Fantasy commission

I also went to the big SCBWI conference in LA. I've been to the big NYC Conference and several Regional conferences before, but visiting LA was a first for me. But I'll have more on that in my next post… 

PiBoIdMo 2011 - Winner!

I do solemnly swear that I have faithfully executed
the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,
and will, to the best of my ability,
parlay my ideas into picture book manuscripts.

My second year of participating in Picture Book Idea Month 2011 (#PiBoIdMo) was another success. Once again, I find myself thinking… this is really something I should do everyday, keep this list going all year long… or at the very least, find a way to make it a more regular practice. Of course, I've got two long lists to work through, and this year I'm more interested in the follow-through of the these ideas. The next step… turning these ideas into real books!

New: Drawing Morning Pages (Doodle Edition)

Four new pages… still going. :)

New Idea: Drawing Morning Pages (Doodle Edition)

Even as a professional illustrator, I sometimes hit a wall of not being able to draw… to just draw.

With no specific purpose, just for fun.

It's been a nearly constantly struggle for YEARS to get myself to do so - probably because it's "safer" not to. But I really want to be drawing more, because I believe just making marks on paper is a great way to general ideas and stimulate creativity in general.

Like many creative people on an artistic journey, I've read the Artist's Way (at least a good part of it), which encourages one to file three notebook pages with stream-of-consciousness writing every morning, as a way to remove the "junk" from floating around in your mind and clear your head for the day before you (at least that's what I got from it).

So I decided to try it for my drawing habits… just fill two pages of my moleskin sketchbook each morning, with line, shading, dots, whatever - just to put something on paper and force some stuff out of my head. I've only been going for five days so far, but almost immediately the lines began turning into things -I've started making purposeless drawings… just for fun, just because I can!

I'm so used to having a specific PURPOSE to draw, that just making lines and seeing where they take me is a wonderful & surprising journey. I'm really enjoying it so far.

*The only drawback (unintended pun, d'oh!) is that I'm getting into and spending too much time on them. But I'm not necessarily against spending the time. At least not right now. At some point I might challenge myself to do faster/time limited drawings, but right now I'm just happy to be drawing and I'm going to go with it.

New Work: Sticker Sunday - "Cap & Gown"

For some it's still graduation season… so here is another grad themed sticker design I worked on recently. I can't say how many graduation themed stickers I've worked on in my career, suffice to say it's been a lot. After the 10th time for so, it starts to get hard to look at it fresh and not repeat yourself, so when I was asked for a cap & gown theme again, it knew it was going to be a challenge.

Color can also be tough, because many graduations are dependent on the school colors, so product design has to stay generic enough to work for eveyone, but not be SO generic it isn't fun & interesting.

But I was really happy with how this one turned out. The gowns are maybe a bit stiff, but I love how I got to play with the cap & tassel icons, and lay them out in such a way they mimic the actual tossing of the caps that usually comes at the end of the ceremonies.

Stickers like these are usually used as accents on graduation scrapbook pages and/or party invitations and the like, to add an exciting little bit of theme-specific flare.

New Work: Aesop's Follow-Up

Just finished this little guy for the back of my new promo card, such a little cutie. I was drawing for a good part of the day and I didn't even notice the time going by - I LOVE that feeling. :) Tomorrow, I'll be figuring out where/who to send these to… while trying to not to breathe in the smoky haze drifting over us from a forest fire in Arizona!

NESCBWI: Aesop's Fables -- Award Winner!

Wow.
I mean… WOW.
What a whirlwind of a weekend at The NESCBWI Conference: Celebrating Milestones. This was my second visit to the NESCBWI Regional Conference and I have to say it was the most fun, the most informative, most everything SCBWI Conference I've ever been to - and I've been to some great ones. It really does make me feel like New England is my home and I belong there… I've just gotta move back some day because these are my people. (they like me, they really, really, like me!)

Not only was it just an awesome conference experience: the gathering of like-minds, meeting awesome people, meeting several twitter friends in person, learning-learning-learning, absorbing, retaining (hopefully)… but I also earned myself some recognition! In the past, I've always been one of the many attendees, a face in the crowd - a face on an extra-tall frame, yes (I usually have a good view of all the other faces)… but for the most part, anonymous. And for the most part, I like it that way. It was a challenge making myself speak-up and meet strangers. But this year…

I knew a few people going in - People I met last year, people I met via email volunteering to help out with the conference promo art and registration banners (my name was on EVERY FOLDER label at the conference, how cool is that?!), I knew several twitter people that I had met previously, or I just knew would be there so I could look out for them… and I made myself do NEW WORK before I got there - especially my submission for the Poster Showcase Competition.

I've done these competitions before: Everyone comes in with big hopes and dreams (which is great, it's inspiration)… but (speaking for myself, of course) very often, I go in unsure of myself. I forget that there's limited room (submissions), limited time (for viewing/judging), and overall it's all hugely subjective - it has to be. I've often been completely deflated when my art didn't win or wasn't recognized. I've ended up walking away from conferences feeling hugely inspired, by also incredibly down on myself and my art. I was constantly setting myself up for this massive let down - I was taking it personally. The simple fact is, everyone can't "win".

And then I won. I got not one, but two awards. I received 2nd place in the unpublished category from the conference judges, and the HUGE honor of 1st place People's Choice - meaning everyone from the conference that looked at all the poster art submissions and cast a vote for their favorite. I mean, WOW. I could not believe it! I still don't think it's sunk in.

But really, overall… my conference experience was not much different than it's been in the past in the best possible ways: still great people, still awesome presenters & faculty, still making new contacts, still learning… always learning/absorbing. I think the reason I had such a great and what I consider, successful conference is not because I won some awards, but I felt more confident in myself and my work going in. I worked hard (even if it was last minute) and I truly liked what I'd accomplished (which doesn't happen every time - come on we all know every piece we work on isn't always our best) I wasn't afraid to speak to people (I couldn't hide from them really, I had what felt like minor celebrity - so many people stopped me to congratulate me and tell me they'd voted for me - I still don't have words!). I can't quite describe it, but I just felt like I belonged… and I'd actually done quite a lot to get to that point: being on twitter and cultivating relationships there, volunteering, joining a crit group of AMAZING illustrator peers (all of whom at any given time I consider better, more experienced, more confident, or more successful than myself (it's great to have your mentors all around you, calling you a peer. What a major confidence boost, right?).

It wasn't any one thing, but it all made a difference, and I can still feel it all changing me and how I look at things. And I'm still reminding myself that the 1st place winner in Unpublished also, won 3rd in People's Choice, and ALSO won the "Best in Show" award from R. Michelson Galleries, as well as a spot in their upcoming illustration show - Jeanette Bradley was a TRIPLE winner with her beautiful cover submission! ;) Congrats Jeanette, and all the other winners and participants as well! A bunch of brave souls that put themselves OUT THERE!

PiBoIdMo Winner!

This year, for the first time, I decided to join in and participate in Picture Book Idea Month (#PiBoIdMo for short). It was a totally new experience, one I really enjoyed (even if my last three ideas arrived just this morning… for me it was more like 30 ideas in 32 days). I actually think this would be a great thing to do on a daily basis, idea generating is sometimes the hardest part! Developing a habit of collecting ideas for any kind of ongoing or long term projects is a good habit to incorporate into a daily routine, IMHO. Now if only I can practice what I preach. ;)

New Work: Sticker Sunday, "Gingerbread Townhouses"

What is this time of year about really, other than to make yummy treats and decorate everything to the hilt. Well, lots really… but let's focus here. ;)
This was a very fun theme to work on. I LOVE gingerbread. I also appreciate gingerbread houses, although I can't say that I've actually ever made one… that I remember (maybe I've blocked out the memories because I can draw better than I can decorate with icing?!). I knew I had to do something to mix things up so I could make this an interesting sticker sheet, so I threw some townhouses in there, lost of icing, and yummy candy accents. :) I love the little colorful gems the production team has added.

I have to add though, I never really GOT gingerbread houses. It's seems like an awful lot of time and effort and yummy goodies to put into something that no one really ends up EATING. So disappointing, but VERY cool looking. :)

New Work: Sticker Sunday, "Giving Thanks"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
This was a fun and interesting subject to tackle with stickers (and scrapbooking in general). We usually try to avoid people in scrapbooking stickers, because… well, they probably won't look like the people that are being scrapbooked about (and let's face it, it's hard to translate faces into simple cut paper shapes). With this theme, we were able to fudge the scenario a little more, since the subjects shown are not meant to be the actual people your scrapping about, but accents to highlight holiday photos, school projects, or anything else you like. You can see that they kept the bottom icon the same, while changing the top icons so the cornucopia was the largest, instead of the hat and headdress. Makes sense to me. Personally, I think the faces still came out a bit funny, but overall a fun sticker sheet for a wonderful family holiday.

Eat tons this week, ENJOY IT and be thankful for it! (Not guilty! No guilt for Thanksgiving - we can feel guilty at New Year's when we don't fit in our party clothes. ;)

New Work: Sticker Sunday, "Making Cookies"

In keeping with the baking and various cooking preparations that usually take place this month (and next) here is a sticker sheet about one of my favorite activities - Making Cookies!! Yum.
Here we get to see a little more process again, as several things were changed at the production stage. My sketch was a solid go this time around, not many revisions or changes there. In my final vector art, I used a lot of light gray - intending that it should be silver foil stamping on the actual stickers. In the final product photo, these areas appear black (silver foil stamping is reflective, almost like a fuzzy mirror surface, so it does often look black at certain angles). They also decided to change my blue accents to Red. Okay, I get it. Hey, I painted my OWN kitchen red. Must have been a last minute change since they didn't ask me to do it in revisions. :)

New Work: Sticker Monday, "Bakery"

Happy November! Thanksgiving is coming up and I thought I'd share a vector sticker sheet this week, based on FOOD. Sweet, yummy, baked food. I don't know if you all go the the Bakery in preparation for Thanksgiving, I usually don't -- but how tempting it is!

This is a pretty straight forward design, not much changed from sketch to finish. I really enjoy this kind of theme, because I'm not only illustrating yummy goodies, but I get to make up a fake little identity theme for the bakery as well.

New Work: Sticker Sunday, "Happy Halloween!"

Happy Halloween! In celebration, here's one of my favorite recent sticker sheets. I just love how they produced these stickers, I couldn't have picked better materials & colors myself.

New Work: Sticker Sunday (Tuesday Edition), "Halloween Party!"

I've never been one to get really into Halloween, but I do enjoy it. These are a couple Halloween themed projects I worked on a while back - one, a general Halloween themed Party design; the other is more focused, Halloween Cupcakes and was one of THE most fun halloween designs I've worked on.

Although I would never go to this much trouble personally, it was really fun researching various Halloween recipes and goodies that might be served at Halloween parties. Everything here is based on actual recipes I found. Of course I had nothing to do with the color selection, but I'm very happy with the resulting product. Can't say I'm wild about some of their font selections… but you can't win 'em all. ;)

This one was REALLY fun. I loved looking up all the wonderful cupcake designs out there. My favorites are the spiders and the mummy, although the translation from sketch to product isn't quite what I wished it would be… it's still fun. Gotta love sparkly glitter. :)

If anyone has questions at all about these or any other designs I post here, please feel free to ask in the comments section!