Merry Christmas

When as you sing of Christmas cheer

    And welcome in the bright new year,

And feast and laugh and dance and play

   And open gifts on Christmas Day,

Pause as you hear the angel's words,

   And don't neglect the little birds.

                                 ~Anonymous

Wishing all of you my dear friends a very happy holiday season, and a wonderful New Year!

SCBWI's Tomie De Paola Award contest

The theme this year is the scene from Chicken Licken, when the gang comes upon Turkey Lurkey and tells him of their plan to talk to the king.  As per every year, we're supposed to illustrate it in a way that hasn't been thought of before.

I imagined my Chicken Licken gang coming from Paris: wearing their finest from a night out at the Moulin Rouge, perhaps.

The competition is amazing; my fellow illustrators are top-notch.  For me, setting and meeting my goal of submitting, and taking a chance on myself is something I can be proud of regardless of how my illustration is received.  Good luck everyone!!

Illustration Friday - Separated

This kitty will see to it that he and his boy are never separated.

This illustration was just a doodle I was doing while watching The Green Lantern last night.  As you can see in my original image below, my paper was slightly used (notice the ghost erasure marks above kitty's head), and I just threw down some color.  I tried to clean it up a bit for IF, and decided to turn it black and white just for fun.  Which do you like better?

Conqueror

This is an illustration I did for my daughter's 2nd grade teacher.  Her birthday is next week, and I thought I'd make a little card to go along with her gifts.

Illustration Friday - Brigade

Who didn't love sleepovers when they were little?  Sleepovers are a blast.  You get to eat cookies, dance around, play games, and feel "that much closer" to being a big kid!

This bedtime brigade knows how to boogie-woogie!

On today's drawing board

Gotta love the mistletoe ... an excuse to be braver than you normally would be!