Illustration Friday: Opposites

Greek to Me

You never can tell what the research for a book project will uncover -- definitely one of the great things about illustrating!

Dogs in history being the current obsession, I have gathered many images to place certain stories and their canine protagonists etc. in the apporiate historical setting. While the artwork in the book will ultimately emerge in a style very much my own, it's pretty fun to try on era or two as well. The image here depicts how Max and I might have appeared on some Greek pottery 1500 years ago!

Art Exchange No. 12

I can't seem to get these posted on my own site right now, so here is the latest Art Exchange image. There are certain things that please me about the various pen and ink experiments of late. Still miles to go before I actually figure out what I am doing however...

Poodle-icousness

Wererabbit?

And a smudge of charcoal in my sketchbook becomes... this thing? I suppose that random drawings are a healthy form of procrastination from more purposeful drawing. Perhaps, perhaps, perrr-HAPS.

Illustration Friday: Skyline

Bank Street College of Education Awards

Some nice news late today courtesy of Editorial Assitant Laila Sana Ehtisham at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers:


Monkey Business: Stories From Around the World (written by Shirley Climo and illustrated by moi) has been selected by the Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education as one of the best children's books of 2005 in the Nine to Twelve "Folk and Fairy Tales" category. There is a review of it in "The Best Children's Books of the Year" 2006 edition pamphlet.

A Totem Tale Bookmark

I created this bookmark for use on the Totem Tales page of my website. It struck me recently that I might as well post such things in here as well and use up someone else's server space :)

I really hope to do some similar (and perhaps even more interesting) things for the next few books that arrive on the scene. Stay tuned for new bookmarks, the occassional coloring book page, and perhaps even a maze or two. Simply click on the image to get a full-sized version, and drag/download to your home sweet home.

Now get busy printing bookmarks and spread the good word about Erik's books - written and otherwise!

Dog Discoveries...

Art Exchange No. 11: Engarde Cat Lovers!

Just catching up on my Art Exchanges. Thought I'd share before posting to my site...

Aloha!

Aloha and mahalo. My family and I just returned from our first two week vacation - ever! We spent the first week on the island of Kauai with Sarah's mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law and the second in Cotati/Olema, CA for a friend's wedding and some very nice exploring in the Point Reyes/north bay area.

Snorkeling, beach sitting, wading and body surfing in Kauai were serious highlights. The fish that we saw were simply amazing and our daughter had a lot more fun than it would appear in this photo :)

I was consantly humbled by the power of the ocean as it would thrash me around while attempting to body surf. With a few valuable pointers from my brother-in-law I avoided serious injury. Despite the abundance of 10 year olds attempting similar activities I still felt like I was rolling the dice with every larger wave... Serious fun however!

In any case, back to work here in Winthrop. I sent a new picturebook manuscript out the door upon return and I have some chapter book illustrations to finish by September.

High hopes that you'll enjoy you're own summer trips and explorations. Cheers!

Illustration Friday: Sticky