Benny and Squirrel

This is Benny and his friend Squirrel.  These two pals make an appearance on the new postcards that I just ordered for the SCBWI Winter conference in New York.  Are you going to the conference, too?

In other news, here are some links you might like...

Picture books that will never win awards, from the New York Public Library

A video of Author/Illustrator, Peter Brown, sharing his process

Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen have a new book coming out with Candlewick

A great process post from Greg Pizzoli about his award winning book, The Watermelon Seed

Also, I just finished reading Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys and I can't stop thinking about it.  If you haven't read it yet, please do.

Ok, that's all for now.  Back to drawing.  Happy Tuesday!

Monday...

What I'm working on today...

Tuesday morning...

I started off the day sketching and reading at one of my favorite coffee shops.  Sometimes it's nice to get out of the studio for a little while.  Now I'm back home and deadlines are quickly approaching so I'm off to work on book projects.  But, before I go, here are a few links you might like...

An article about Kadir Nelson and his new book, Baby Bear.

My author/illustrator friend, Julie Rowan-Zoch, recently introduced me to the very excellent work of Vladimir Stankovic.

A conversation between Caldecott winners, Jon Klassen and Chris Raschka. 

An interesting video of illustrator, Victo Ngai. 

My brother's really cool instagram photos. 

Enjoy your Tuesday! :)

Monday...

It's 2014!

Hello to a new year!  Did you make any new year's resolutions?  I never really used to make resolutions, but in the last few years as I've watched my grandparents age and have seen my grandmothers struggle with dementia I've been thinking a lot about how I want to live my life.  I like the idea of setting an intention (or several) for each new year.

Here are some of my intentions for 2014...

1. Be thankful.  Be thankful for what I have and for the people in my life.  Be thankful that I get to do what I love.  Be thankful for the food on my table and for the art supplies on my desk. 

2.  Be brave.  I've been drawing my whole life and have had lots of practice.  Writing, on the other hand, makes me nervous.  I've been worried that maybe I'm not very good at writing or maybe my story ideas aren't interesting and no one will like them.  This year, instead of keeping my stories hidden away in my sketchbooks and the secret folder on my computer, I will share them with my critique group.  I will write everyday even though it won't always be very good and sometimes it might be very bad.  But, that's okay.  Hopefully by being brave about writing, I will become a better writer.

3.  Be present.  My husband and I spend a lot of time talking about what we want for our future.  We talk about where we want to live and the kind of house we'd like to build someday.  We talk about where we'd like to travel (so many places!) and what it will be like when we have kids.  And I like talking about all of those things.  But, maybe by spending so much time thinking about the future, we forget to enjoy where we are now.  So, this year I'm going to try to be present with what is happening, when it's happening. 

4.  Read more, watch less.  There are so many good books out there that I haven't gotten to yet.  I always read when I go to bed, but often I'm too tired to get through very many pages.  This year I'm going to turn off the T.V. and pick up a book.  Are you in?

So here's wishing you a year full of thankfulness, bravery, presence of mind, and good books!  What are your intentions for the year?  Whatever they are, I hope your 2014 is full of good things. :)      

    

Warm-up sketch...