more photos

A couple more shots of Nikki's fabulous photography. I love these two for their "artyness" (is that a really a word?) She digitally enhanced them on her mac with iphoto - pretty cool, huh? My fav is the truck - I love the perspective on that one and just a hint of color. Not bad for a 14 yr old, I say. I sure wasn't doing anything this cool when I was 14, at least I don't think I was...it was soooo long ago I can't really remember. I bet I was real dork, though.

scout

It's going to be a busy week for me - no time for Illustration Friday, I'm afraid, so I thought I'd showcase some of my daughter's photography this week. She's always loved photography and is currently taking a class in school and is doing great! She has really developed a good eye for it. (I'm impressed, anyway, but of course, I'm her mom!)

This is our beloved cat, Scout. I'll post more of her yummy photos throughout the week.

IF - impossibility

My daughter without her phone and ipod? - IMPOSSIBILITY!

I think this goes for almost every teenager worldwide, as well. 'nuf said. over and out.

IF - fleeting

For Illustration Friday this week....with the word to illustrate -fleeting. Bubbles are fleeting moments of pleasure. Here one second, then "poof", they're gone.

happy easter

Happy Easter, ya'all!

more bookcovers

More yummy book covers from my "research".

I was talking to the other ladies on the "team" of the book I'm illustrating the other day and we decided that doing a book is a lot like birthing a child. There's a long planning process that's filled with emotions, ranging from exhilaration to pure terror. There are bumps along the way as you prepare, hurdles to overcome and you hope everything is going to be OK. There are also moments of clarity and extreme delight. You just know it's going to be perfect! It's challenging and rewarding, just like having a kid. At least when the book is "born", it won't keep me up at night or spit up on my shoulder!

bookstore research

Several of my lovely readers have asked me "how's the book coming along?" and I'm happy to report that it's coming along very well indeed. I'm learning a lot, stretching myself to be the best I can be and having a blast doing it. I've finished all the sketching, but still need approval to go ahead with the color, so I'm sure there will be some editing and refining still to come.

Today, I spent an hour at Barnes and Noble doing "research" for the cover. Such a great job, huh? Looking at all the yummy illustrations, luscious colors and fun use of typography. It was very inspiring, so I decided to share a few of my favs. They are all favs for different reasons - some for the bold use of characters, some for the color palette, some for the clever use of type and a few have all of the above.

I'll have more to share later this week, this is just a handful of the fruits of my labor. Tough work, but someone's gotta do it! Now, I just have to create a cover that will be able to be included in my favs...I know I've set the bar pretty high.