Welcome!!!

Welcome!!!
And thanks for visiting! This blog has given me the opportunity to share my work with the WORLD! Isn't that amazing to think about?! It seems, almost overnight, the world has shrunk in size. Please continue to visit. I hope you like what you see.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

I'm just finishing up the details on a couple of children's books I've written over the last few months and I'm excited to get working on the illustrations. I'm not sure on a style though. I'm taking a class right now at Utah Valley University that has given me the opportunity to experiment a little regarding my dilemma. I'm typically not a digital person. I would rather throw a watercolor wash down with pen and ink or paint in acrylic but this class has given me new options to look at.... digital options. I wish the class would have given me a whole semester to experiment just with different children's book styles, but the class covers not only children's books but fashion illustration, and caricatures, so my time was limited on my experimentation.

Below are two different children's books styles I worked with during the class. The first was created in Adobe Illustrator. I threw a texture over the top of it to give it some interest. I actually really like the texture.  The second I drew with pen and ink then scanned it in and colored it in Adobe Photoshop. I think I like this style the best. I feel I have more control over the shapes of the children, scenery, props, etc. when I draw freehand. I don't have a Wacam tablet and I have never been trained on how to use one so the block shapes for shadows, highlights, etc. would probably be my chosen way of rendering digitally (at least for now).

As I mentioned previously, I'm typically not a digital person. Maybe I should just stick with the the ol' watercolor, pen and ink. What do you think?



Monday, April 2, 2012

MY FIRST PUBLICATION!

Well, I don't know if I can actually say I was published, but I guess I will until someone tells me differently. You see, I was awarded a runner up award by Creative Quarterly for one of my paintings (issue 27)! Yippee and Yahoo!!! But since it's only a runner up award it won't be published in their quarterly magazine. It will only be shown on their website. That's okay by me, though. I still think it's a great honor. So be sure to look for it in June at www.cqjournal.com.

The funny thing is, and I don't know how it all happened, but my painting was mistakenly placed under the photography category! Funny, hu?! When Creative Quarterly sent me the CQ 27: Credit Information sheet, they asked me to fill in any missing information which was highlighted in red. I looked it over and noticed the category they had me listed under was photography! I crossed out photography and typed in illustration along with all the other information they were requesting. I sent them a separate email as well explaining the mistake. Haven't heard back from them yet. Maybe they'll revoke my award once they find out it's not a photograph! Haha! But anyway, whatever they decide, it's been fun!

Here's the sheet they sent me!