Wolf Series

Den

I wonder, do tree houses count as Dens?

This is from a picture book "The House of the World", the first thing I did after returning to the UK, for Japanese publisher Benesse Corporation.

John

Willa and Bear

When I was a girl, I always loved those cozy tea by the bright fire scenes in picture books. Here's my version.

Maggie's den

from Margaret Knight, Girl Inventor

The Coyote and the Rabbit

I did this illustration for a reading book that came out this year. As you can probably guess, the "wascally wabbits" out-foxed the arrogant coyote.

My snowflake

Golden ball in the den

Now there were two golden balls; one in her hand and one in the den.

my snowflake

lopsided art

I am not sure why this happens, but I draw lopsided. When I flip my tracing paper over, one eye is often higher than the other, and what I thought were circles, become distorted ellipses. I am attaching the before and after of a piece that I just finished to illustrate my point. I like little imperfections, but lopsided faces, not so much!

Frank and Stein

I was thinking of doing a series of cartoons with these two, as they seem pretty adventurous.

Giant

This is the cover of a projected picture book I wrote called Where are the Giants? that so far remains unpublished.

The big draw

Sharon Lane Holm's spring 2009 class proudly display their masterpieces at their publisher party. The children write and illustrate their own picture books, by following the same process a children's book illustrator/author would, from concept, thumbnails to illustrated "books". I am always so inspired by their work and effort. So many good story ideas! Fall class of 2009 has just started!

The Big Draw ~ Draw me a pig!

In recognition of the official Big Draw Day on the 10th of October, I sketched whilst at my local library with fellow illustrator Frances Cony. We chose the theme of drawing a 'pig' as a pig is the adopted mascot of our regional illustrators group in the UK. (SWillustrators, is abbreviated to 'SWill', and swill is pig feed!)

I put our sketches on my blog, and then thought it might be nice to open The Big Draw ~ Draw me a pig! challenge up to others throughout the month of October!

Feel free to send me a scan of your own pig sketch if you want to join in on my Blog Big Draw 2009! I will post your pig drawing, and credit it with your name and a link to your blog or website.

So here is the rough pencil sketch that eventually resulted from my Big Draw moment at the library...

"Big Draw" painting

Okay...so 10/10 was "The Big Draw" day. I took part in a plein-aire art auction to benefit the local art center. Top Hudson Valley artists paint in and around Rhinebeck, NY from 9-3 and finished/framed works are then auctioned. This was my contribution.

The Giant

The giant in the tree. It´s an illustration from "The brave little Tailor".

Draw Me In ~ The Big Draw

We had 36 children in the gallery/studio for a program callled "Draw me In." They are 2nd -5th graders from the region of North West, Ohio. They were shown how a professional Illustrator gets the manuscript in and the various steps to the finished illustration. The children had one month to write and Illustrate their books (just like us). A full fledged reception was held at our local public library, complete with punch and cookies. Several parents mentioned after the reception how inspired their child was to "make a book." This was a "Big Draw" for these little kids!

PBAArs at Highlight's Party

Here is photo of the PBAA group at the Highlight's Party, except for Sharon Holm...sorry, Sharon. Hopefully we will get her "photoshopped" in soon. From left to right: Barry Gott, Anni Mastick, Phyllis Harris, Joe Kulka, Emilie Boone, Laura Jacobsen, Jennifer Emery, Layne Johnson, Cheryl Kirk Noll, Judith Moffatt, Sharon Vargo, Sheila Bailey(kneeling), Rebecca Thornburgh, Sherry Neidigh

Giant!

Baby Paul Bunyan...

Giant!

Paul Bunyan Leaves Home

This one can count for the Giant theme as well as old work, it was my first attempt at digital illustration. I freely admit that I got a bit carried away with the ability to scan and paste in textures. Over the course of doing this project I used everything from hand made paper and fabric to grass, dog hair and pancakes.

Giant?

illustration from

"The Author on My Street"

Giant!

Illustration from
Paco and the Giant Chile Plant ~ Paco y la planta de chile gigante
Elizabeth O. Dulemba
http://dulemba.com

Embarrasing earlier work

This illustration was commissioned by SRA McGraw Hill to illustrate the cover of an early reader about the radio reading of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS by Orson Wells that scared the hell out of America in 1938. I illustrated the interior in black and white. The story was of a Hispanic family that listened to that radio show, so it was a period piece of sorts.
Not surprisingly, the AD decided to go with a B&W photo for the cover. To their credit SRA did pay for this illustration.

Newbie Illustrator

Okay, even though this is off topic, I thought I'd jump in and show one of my earliest illustration assignments. This was a spot illustration for Sales and Marketing Magazine...yup, just as exciting as it sounds but whoever turns down work when they're starting out? The article was about redecorating the Reader's Digest offices in hopes it would inspire the employees.

SJP