BOO!

Just thought I'd "treat" you all to some old, spooktacular, coloring book illustrations this evening.

Happy Halloween guys and ghouls!

A turtle and his type 1 diabetes: an app

Last spring was mostly consumed by work for this project: Toby's T1D Tale, an app for a company called Insulet which makes tubeless insulin pumps called "Omnipods."

The app is an interactive story for children learning to manage their type 1 diabetes. Here's an article about the app's launch.

Here you can see the "pod" on a child's arm.

Toby, the main character, lives in a charming valley beside a winding river.

He's a typical turtle, which is to say he likes soccer, I guess.

He and his brother enjoy eating breakfast together, though Toby prefers NOT to eat worms for breakfast (imagine that).

When Toby discovers he has diabetes, Dr. Hoot and Nurse Meow teach him how food will affect his condition.

 They explain what happens when you eat . . .

. . . and what that pesky pancreas does (or in this case, doesn't do).

Mrs. Turtle makes a notebook to help keep track of Toby's health . . .

. . . and teaches the Hare family how to use Toby's insulin pod so he can still sleepover away from home.

It's a cute little app, and while it's geared toward Omnipod users, it's free and still has good information for any child you might know with diabetes--or for anyone who just wants a look-see.

Chef-A-Rella available on Amazon!

I'm happy to announce the launch of the new picture book, Chef-A-Rella, which I recently illustrated for author, Marie Agerton. It's available for sale on Amazon in paperback, hardcover, and kindle versions. You can find it HERE. All proceeds go to the author.

I have yet to receive my final copies, but here's a shot of my paperback proof.

 The story involves a princess who would rather cook than dance . . .

. . . an indignant queen (here she is with her mouth full of food)  . . .

. . . an indulgent king . . .

 . . . a sleepy chef . . .

  . . . and (of course) a happy ending.

This has been a very long process, and I must admit, I'm glad to be finished. Phew!

Typical of any artist, I'm critical of my own work, but I'm plugging my ears to my inner critic and announcing that I'm proud of the finished product. Hope you enjoy!

Playing Around

Lately I've realized I don't love working in the style that has become my typical process. It has turned into a chore, and that's no way to make art.

Years ago, I came up with a style that became known as my "grotesque phase" due to a number of portfolio reviews that elicited that specific (and unwelcome) adjective. It was quick and silly and came to me naturally, but, it wasn't going over well with the people who hand out jobs. So, I dropped it in favor of a more marketable look.

Now I'm trying to bridge the gap. 

The Gardener

 I want to embrace the imperfect again . . .

The Grumpy Lawyer

. . . and the whimsical.

The Apple Picker

 I want my work to stand out to art editors . . .

The Librarian

 . . . and I need to work faster.

The Nurse

 But, mostly I want to want to draw again.

Smoking Grandma

Smoking Grandma (colorized)

What do you guys think?

Mug Winner!

Back in July, I was featured on Kathy Temean's blog, Writing and Illustrating. If you missed it, check it out here. I decided to give away a mug from my society6 shop as part of the post.

 I am happy to announce Cathy Hall (writer and fellow SCBWI member) is the lucky winner! After much deliberation, she chose the Pop! Owls design for her mug. Now this happy little mug is bound for Georgia where I'm sure it will spend many a splendid morning in its new owner's clutch--maybe even assisting (in the form of caffeine conveyance) in the writing of a best seller. Good luck little mug, do your best!

A little Portraiture

The hubby recently recently downloaded this portrait course from Scott Waddell's website. We sat and watched it in silent awe for most of the 149 minutes of its duration. Isn't it mesmerizing to watch a master at their craft? 

The Portrait Course

We concluded that there should definitely be a TV channel dedicated to "people who are really good at stuff, doing said stuff"--but quietly and without showmanship. Just doing it. Imagine whittlers, chefs, potters, bonsai tree pruners, those guys that put ships in bottles. You know what I mean . . . Am I right?

Anyway, it inspired us both to do a little portraiture. Since I'm too squirrely (read impatient) to deal with oils, and since I've been thinking I should do some studies of children anyway, I whipped this up:

I spent about an hour on it in Photoshop. Yes, she's from a photo, and no, she in no way compares to Mr. Waddell's amazing work. But, practice makes perfect, right?

New Jersey SCBWI Annual Summer Conference 2015

OK, yep, so the 2015 NJ SCBWI conference has been over for almost a week and I'm just getting around to posting about it. Give me some slack here, folks. A week is good for me.

There seems to be a general consensus that New Jersey's SCBWI conferences are extremely awesome. I think it has a lot to do with the relatively high staff to participant ratio, and the proximity to NYC's excellent collection of agents and publishers. It also has to do with New Jersey-ites being super cool people.

As a member of the Leigh Street Illustration Critique Group, I was shocked and proud to learn that fellow member, Cathy Thole Daniels will be the new NJ SCBWI  R.A. What an honor for her--and what a responsibility! Congrats, Cathy!

As always, Leigh Street member Karen Romagna did a great job as Illustration Coordinator. Another fellow member, Lisa Falkenstern won Honorable Mention in the Professional Category for her illustration. I must say, we are one fantastic group of ladies!

Lisa Falkenstern's award winning piece

The conference was wonderful and completely exhausting. I did a terrible job of taking photos. Luckily, the always reliable Kathy Teamen has some great photos on her blog here.

Maybe I'll post about some of my more thrilling experiences at the conference soon, but for now, I'll just brag a little about all my plunder.

 I returned home with two new tote bags and a bum-load of books. I have to thank the adorable Meredith Mundy, editor at Sterling, who gave me the tote on the left, and then handed me her raffle tickets. She never knew, but I won the very last raffle with one of her tickets! It was my lucky day meeting Meredith. I can't be sure, but she might be a little bit magical. The raffle tote is signed by The fabulous Floyd Cooper (last year's key-note speaker) and filled with books on which staff members at this year's conference have recently worked. Just check out this haul:

 The other tote, I proceeded to fill with books from attending authors. Did I need more? That's debatable. Could I resist? I think the photos are answer enough:

I don't collect many things, but I cannot resist a signed book. It makes me go "squeeeeee!"

 Even Mona's excited about it. Just look at that face. (And, no, she's not pooping in case you were wondering).

 Now I guess I'll have to sit down and read all of these books. What a terrible task . . .