contraption

I was watching Mythbusters this week and they tried to recreate the pendulum contraption based on Newton's laws.  I figured a nerdy squirrel would have to resort to more natural materials if he wanted to build a similar contraption.

Spooky Apple Lanterns aside, I know you want to read some awesome spooky tales created by awesomely talented people:

Click on the picture if you're awesome ;)

hibernate

 

Did you know that Mushroom Bunnies gather Bendigo Jellynuts to prepare for hibernation?  I'm totally making this stuff up as I go. . but I'm thinking of fleshing out this mushroom bunny with a few more illustrations.  Any suggestions on activities/settings for him are welcome!

I had a blast at APE last weekend, finally meeting my fellow Illopond collaborators for the first time :)  Michelle Kondrich, Denver Wagner, Sam Kirkman, and I were there to promote our anthologies, including our most recent one called "Boo! Spooky Tales for Kids"

Would you like a copy? Signed by me?  With a personal sketch?  Why, look at that. . .I still have a few copies left at my Etsy shop :)  First person to order it and mention my blog in the Etsy comments section also gets a free sketch card!

ferocious

Captain Cluck is one ferocious space chicken, and his fleet of Eggsilon pigships is heading towards Earth with a very top secret mission.  Who knows what they want or what they're after!

This is a new story I'm working on for Illopond's upcoming anthology: "8 in Spaaace!"  I'm pretty excited about where it's heading and will be trying out this painterly style for the illustrations.

Speaking of Illopond, we'll be debuting our anthology "Boo!" at the Alternative Press Expo this weekend:

Please stop by table 515 to say hi!  I'll be there promoting our new anthology and selling some Pudgy Puppy goodies, as well as commissions.  Mention this blog and I'll even give you a special treat :)

mesmerizing

 

The moment I saw the Illustration Friday word "mesmerizing", I thought of two gigantic eyes. . which then led to owls. . which then led to the traditional practice of hypnotizing patients.  That's just the way my mind works ;).

I apologize for my long absence from this blog.  I came back from Boston/Ireland and then jumped directly into catching up with my picture book illustrations.  Thus, this week's IF is a little rough but in return, I give you a sketch I made during my travels:

It's of a traditional thatched roof cottage that was built in the 1800's by a poet in Adare, Ireland.   How charming would it be to live there?  The trip was fabulous by the way. . great time to catch up with old friends and get inspiration for a new show I want to do with Tea's the Season next year.

For now, I'm just glad to be back into the swing of things and I'm looking forward to spending more time on next week's post!

mysterious

Ok, I lied.  I managed to fit in one more entry before heading off to Boston/Ireland.  The word mysterious instantly reminded me of this sketch I did for my dummy book Morose Molly Rose.  Can you take a guess at who she's about to run into?

Long time readers of this blog will know who Molly Rose is.  It all began with a poem, which you can read at my etsy shop.

That's about it.  Short and sweet.  See you on the other side :)

disguise

I don't know why, but a Mushroom Bunny came to mind when I saw the word "disguise" for IF this week.  I guess if you're tiny, you've got to work with any camouflage you can get ;)

Oh my friends, Disney week passed with lots of laughs, creativity, and catching up time with friends and family.  Now, I'm getting ready for a work/play trip to Boston and Ireland.  Once again, this blog will be entry-less for a while, but I promise to bring back some sketches from my travels.

Until then, here's a model sheet of Ben, one of the characters from the picture book I've been hired to illustrate:

 

I ended up using completely different poses for Ben in the story, but this was a good process of finalizing his look and personality.  You can get a sense of the art style: strong inked lines, solid paint style for the characters, and looser paint style for the background (ex. rocking chair).  I hope to share more of the process soon!

swell

I guess this bear felt that a taste of honey was worth a face full of swelling stings.  I don't know if I feel the same.  Needless to say, I was inspired by Winnie the Pooh, but I wanted to take a more realistic approach of what would happen if you started poking into bee hives.

I've been busy preparing for a week of conferences and conventions, so I had to do this week's illustration pretty quickly.  That's why the style is a little more rough.  It's going to be crazy busy for the next couple of weeks -- but definitely a good kind of crazy.  Don't know when my next post will be, but I promise it shall be soon!