Jump for Joy!

Late last week I finished my final few paintings for Who Has These Feet? by Laura Hulbert. I think its a Spring 2011 book, and I know that its published by Henry Holt. Stay tuned for another sneak peak or two as the seasons slide.

Thank You!

There are several upsides to living 4 hours from Seattle. Perhaps the most tangible downside however (from the children's book makers perspective), is that I am so far from events and concentrated numbers of people. It cuts both ways. Thankfully, I don't mind driving. There is a certain bliss to cruising down the highway, taking in the mountain scenery and following the winding river valleys to and fro. I have plenty of time to "chill out" and process as I go.

In this case, reflection  is easy. I was pretty jazzed the whole way home :) Thanks VERY much to everyone who attended the SCBWI Western Washington monthly meeting last night. It was great fun for me to share my "10 years in the biz" and I was more than pleased that many of you stayed and that most seemed to enjoy the talk. Three cheers for another 10 years!

As tribute to said visit, here is Boo giving her introduction -- enjoy!

p.s. This is my first ever video post. Please forgive the learning curve if the size or quality seem somehow "off". Ciao.

Illustration Friday: Muddy

In line with my 10 year book author/illustrator anniversary, here is a freelance illustration from the archives.

10 Years in the Biz!

Tomorrow night I'm giving a short talk at SCWBI Western Washington's monthly meeting. 10 years I've been doing this -- and then some! Stop by for a few thoughts about the decade, plus a mini-session on Cultural Authenticity in Fiction with Margaret Nevinski.

6:45 registration, and the programs start at 7pm.

Its Official: The Polar Opposites Book Jacket!

Creating a book jacket is a combination of sketches, editorial input, marketing mojo, and designer execution. I'll start with thumbnail sketches like this:
Progress to this:
And it'll all come through the other side looking something like this:
Yahoo! Welcome to the world Alex and Zina!

Macmillan vs. Amazon: Round 1

Round 1 to Macmillan! A good synopsis (and leveling of opinions) at Fast Company.

Amazon.com Plays Hard Ball

Wow! In a severe (my opinion) reaction to Macmillan's negotiation for better e-book/digital rights and pricing controls, Amazon.com has pulled ALL of Macmillan's books from its vitual shelves. Not just the e-books - everything! Henry Holt, publisher of 5+ books that I have illustrated, is a Macmillan imprint. At present, you can't buy them from Amazon.com. They are there - available "from these sellers" - but not actually from Amazon. A bit alarming when the biggest player in the game stomps its foot down, but I stand firmly in support of Macmillan's attempts. Go Indibound and get local.

By the way, Macmillan has a new kids blog to trumpet as well.

Cheers!

On the Drawing Board: Almost there!

On the Drawing Board: Late January 2010

Feet. LOTS of feet!

Wonder Schools! Part 3

Welcome to Anchorage, Alaska, site of my most recent elementary school tour, AND home to almost all of my very own elementary school education! From January 11-15 I visited 6 different schools in the greater Anchorage School District, including O'Malley Elementary where I attended 1st-5th grade.

This was only the 3rd stuffed polar bear that I saw in my first hour off the plane. It was in my hotel lobby, along with a musk ox, a wolverine, and a dall sheep. Any wonder that I am still fascinated by arctic animals after all these years?

And here it is, my old stomping grounds. SO COOL TO VISIT YOUR OWN SCHOOL!

...and to be welcomed back in style.

Extra sweet: O'Malley was the site of my first ever "published" drawing. As I recall, I was at least partly responsible for the design of their former mascott, the O'Malley Yellowjacket. They dug this out of the archives and it was a definite kick to see it :)

One of the MANY great groups of "Alaska Grown" kids that I had the pleasure to visit...

...and one of my two extremely generous hosts for the week, Totem Tale author, Deb Vanasse. It was a rare treat to meet the author of one of my favorite illustration projects. Deb and her partner Guy were nice enough to let out their quest room, and to shepherd me towards some of Alaska's finest pizza and beer at the Moose's Tooth.

A drawing from Spring Hill Elementary...

...and my foggy expression of sincere joy with respect to the lighted xc ski trails that cover incredibly many kilometers of municiple parkland. Amazing to have these groomed and lighted trails. Why the lights? Keep in mind that the official sunrise during my visit was 10:03am!

Alright, so here I am in second grade... Did you find me? Use the photo below for reference:

While your at it, marvel at the fact that I also reconnected with my second grade teacher on this trip :) Indeed, Mrs. Apodoca is now a Title 1 reading specialist at Taku Elementary. She has almost retired several times, but loves what she does and still finds joy and inspiration amongst her "kids". Given that she is one of the few teachers that I can remember from way back when, she 's surely doing somethin' right!

A parting shot from my final visit at Apenglow Elementary in Eagle River...

...and a nostalgic pic of Anchorage's Fireweed theater (site of my Empire Stikes Back viewing circa 1980 something)...

...and finally, my welcome home from the red-eye flight to Seattle (and the five-hour drive after that). Much fun in the sun at the Methow Valley's first ever Super Tour. Thank you, THANK YOU to all of the PTA members, staff, and students that made this all possible. A fine week indeed!

Happy New Year!

Music. A New Year's resolution? Not that I'm learning to play an instrument or anything, but I DO listen to lots of different things when I paint. Time to share :) Santa delivered two new CDs to our house this Christmas, and I can think of no better way to usher in the new decade!

Especially appropriate for the traditional New Year's saluations is Billy Kelly's "Thank You for Joining the Happy Club." This is some rockin' good kid's music! Curiously odd at times, but in all of the very best ways. Part They Might be Giants, part Brady Rymer. A great voice, and with rythmns and lyrics that are choice for kids and parents alike. I'm especially fond of "Don't Worry about the Government."

Also pretty cool is the fact that Billy was the assistant art director on my first book! He moved from Winslow Press to Little Brown, and eventually started his own design company. He's an aspiring book illustrator as well and does all of his album art in addition to a bunch of other stuff. A Renaissance Man and to be sure!

On the "world music" scene, as I attempt to categorize this next selection, is Luc and the Lovington's "Feel the Warmth." Lush and layered, with playful guitar and choral harmonies, is also an impressive debut. Even better, Luc is originally from Twisp, WA. His younger brother is a talented sax player in his own right, and known by many 'round these part as "Super Babysitter, David."

Both of these excellent debut cds will get your new year started with a smile. Enjoy!

Hannah Mueller

For Christmas, my wife and daughter totally surprised me with a Wacom tablet. I'm not (and probably never will be) ready to completely abandon traditional ink and paper, but I AM really impressed with the newfound ability to create line variation in a digital drawing. Many more experiments, and a hopefully a more uplifting New Years posting soon!

PS I do wish we'd get some real snow out here soon though...

McCabe Memorial Fundraiser

The xc ski community is pooling its resources in order to purchase two paintings by my late friend, Sean McCabe. Even better than the obvious financial contribution is the fact that the paintings will be given to Sean's two young daughters - in memory of their dad. The fundraiser continues through January 15th at www.fasterskier.com.

Happy Halligator!

Happy Holidays!

My daughter and I teamed up for our second annual Christmas card print. She drew/designed/printed it. I cut the block and provided assitance/heavy hands-on consultation with the printing. So much fun, and she loves it too :)

Wonder Schools! Part 2

Busy of late, but thanks and recognition to several school/festival visits in October and November is LONG over due! To start, in mid-October I attended my second Humbolt County Authors Festival. In a nutshell...

....I tagged along with a gallery tour at the Morris Graves Museum of Art and did a short illustrator talk about my work from Dog Diaries...

...I visited Washington Elementary and Arcata Christain Academy...

...made guest appearance on the cable access t.v. program "Homework Helpers"...

...and pretty much basked in the joyful glory of the "school visit" part of my job! Check out these great projects by the students at Arcata Christian. Above: construction paper sloths and cheetahs ala Slow Days, Fast Friends.

On the fast/slow theme as well, the teachers crafted this great creative writing excercise. "I want to slow down when... I like to go fast when..." PLUS, they brought in an art component as the kids each painted sunsets!

Kids also wrote and illustrated their very own Dog Diaries...

...and built their own mosters ala Octavius Bloom and the House of Doom.

As usual, I did some drawing to compliment my talking. Here is the Alligator, Bear, Crocodile for the ABC Pre-schoolers. Yup, alligators and crocodiles are pretty similar, but that's what they wanted :)

As a special treat at lunch, we had Slow Days, Fast Friends cake. So cool!

Look at that CAKE!

The final morning is a big booksale at the beautiful Humbolt County Library.

I shared a table with the amazingly talented writer, illustrator, singer Bruce Hale...

...and the entire 3 days with the rest of these incredible folks. Larry Dane Brimner, Shirley Climo, and Mathew Gollub are pictured in the foreground here.

Finally, on Nov. 4-5 I visited 3 different schools and libraries in the Sno-Isle Library System as a part of their annual Children's Book Week. Great, inquisitve kids in all three places...

...plus there was more CAKE! Otis the otter, featured here, is one of the many drawings that I did last spring for the Sno-Isle Kids Library Homepage. Cheers!

Thankful

So much to be thankful for - especially amidst the recent rending of tears and expostulations into the ether...

Family and friends. A community of others. Those to be held, who in return will hold. Bright eyes, rosy cheeks, and mischevious grins... definitely the top of my list!

Not to be Missed

If you haven't seen it already, Sophie Blackall's Missed Connections blog is too good to miss. I was already a fan of her work - especially her color pallet and sense of style in Ruby's Wish, Meet Wild Boars, and Ivy and Bean - now I'm like that gawky teenager in awe of a girl who pretty much walks on water. Simple. Striking. Delicate and bold. Great stuff!

The Fix!

A quick peak at most of POLAR OPPOSITES -- both on my studio wall and on the front porch getting a final coat of "workable" fixative. Highly recomended that you wear some sort of mask for this part of the job. After several weeks of minimal sleep I pretty much resemble an alien anyway...