Toby!!! Our newest addition had the whole 'studio dog' thing figured out by hour two.  Sweet.

Global Blog Tour Continues -Mary Peterson

The wonderfully talented illustrator, and fellow Iowa transplant Mary Peterson has agreed to take up the blog tour batan.  You can find her posting here: http://www.marypeterson.com/  Mary's new book, WOOBY AND PEEP (Sterling 2013) is in stores now. Check out WOOBY AND PEEP's website http://www.woobyandpeep.com/  It's got all kinds of fun info along with some pretty fantastic fan art.

Kite Tales Article

I recently wrote an article, "Me, My Editor, and Has It Really Been a Decade?" for Kite Tales, SoCal's regional scbwi publication, Illustrator's Perspective (pg 19-20) about my career (so far) in picture books.  You can see it, along with many other interesting things here: http://www.scbwi.org/Resources/Documents/KT_Spring13.pdf  -You may need to be an scbwi member to view the current issue.

Global Blog Tour

I've been tagged by the wonderful illustrator Jennifer Goldfinger to participate in a blog tour! Since I'm obviously not the best at updating my blog, this seems like a good excuse to jump back in... at least for one post. For the tour, I'm supposed to answer some questions about a recent or upcoming book and then pass it on to some author and illustrator friends. So here goes:

 

1. What is the working title of your next book?  CATERINA AND THE PERFECT PARTY, It will be published by Dial July 11, 2013
 

2. Where did the book idea come from for the book? I started with the character of Caterina who is a little bit me, a little my bit my daughter, but far more organized than either of us.

3. What genre does your book fall into? Picture Book

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Gosh, I don’t know, I’m bad at actors.  My daughter did the voice on the book trailer and she sounds about right.

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? Caterina is a bird with lots of colorful ideas – lists and lists of them!

6. Who is publishing your book? Dial. They’ve supported the project from day one and I couldn’t be happier.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft? It took only a couple days to write the first draft, but it took a couple years and too many drafts to count before I got the right story.

How long to sketch and draw and paint the illustrations? Once we were set on the basic story it took around 6 months to complete. There were changes to the spreads right up until the end.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? It’s hard to say. CATERINA AND THE PERFECT PARTY’s editor, Jen Hunt, and I were interested in character driven books. We researched our favorites, Charlie and Lola, Eloise, Curious George, Skippy Jon Jones, along with countless others. I’m hoping Caterina reflects some of those classics’ emotional honesty.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book? My daughter. She’s not nearly as type A as Caterina, but her expressions are definitely in the illustrations.

 

10. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest? I always saw Caterina as a bird of many interests who might inspire kids to try new things. In keeping with that, I’ve been building a website for her with activities, recipes, and crafts so that kids can “Plan something fun every day,” just like Caterina does. The site is: www.caterinascorner.com

Thanks again to Jennifer for tagging me on this tour.  Make sure to check out her site, she's working on some really great projects: http://www.jennifergoldfinger.blogspot.com/ 

 

Happy Valentine's Day.. Late

Eat your heart out....

I actually sent this out to family, friends, and associates on Valentine's Day.  I just forgot to post it here :)  This is Tiki.  He belongs to our cousins down in San Clemente.  He's your typical surfer,  snorting, farting, family dog.  While Tiki is a bit of a terror he is still a dog and I really really want a dog.  I'm telling you, when this deadline is done I'm getting a dog. 

Caterina meets Penguin

Caterina (a little brown bird with great big colorful thoughts) and I are both excited to be working with Dial Books for Young Readers on a new picture book.  Yay!!! 

Book Signing at Costco

I'm heading home to the Midwest this week. I'll be signing copies of TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN WISCONSIN this next Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Middleton, WI Costco from 11am-2pm. (outside Madison) Stop by if you're in the area, I'll be the one shivering in the corner. :)

Doodling Bears...

Happy November

I could never be a serious blogger. Proof, here's the Halloween promo I sent out, you know, on Halloween. This past weekend I was invited to review portfolios at the Los Angeles SCBWI Illustrator's Day. One of the speakers explained the importance of maintaining ones blog, if not to attract the masses, then to at least give some insight into ones personality. I have mixed feelings on that. Doesn't my work give a few clues about my personality? Maybe not.. ?

A Worthy Walrus -inpsiration

I'm slightly obsessed with the Albert Khan Archives.  I'd heard about it, but was pretty much in the dark until last year when PBS ran  the BBC documentary The Wonderful World of Albert Khan.  You can actually see part of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUR61F1dOms  I imediately purchased the companion book and it's been a source of inspiration ever since. 

For instance, my walrus here started with a conversation with my agent.  For some reason we were talking about walruses... serious, important publishing stuff, ya know... which got me thinking how I'd never actually drawn a walrus before and it would probably be a fun thing to do.  So I started sketching.  At first all the little guys were very realistic and how should I say.. boring.  But as I sketched the character of the animals started to come out.. and then I remembered the Khan images of the Maharajah of Kapurthala, who as it turns out, looked exactly like a walrus.  See scan below:

So I combined the two ideas and now I have a most worthy walrus, and a summer promo.

Spring Promo

MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL 2011 Hâlau Keali'i O Nâlani

My first book, HULA LULLABY (Little, Brown 2005) was inspired by my dear friend, Namaka, and her Hula Hâlau Keali'i O Nâlani.  They modeled for me and Kumu was kind enough to check my text for cultural accuracy.  Friends from the Hâlau even helped promote HULA LULLABY by performing at a few book events.  This past week Namaka returned with the Hâlau to perform at Merrie Monarch.  As always, they were amazing!  Here's the video:

NaPiBoWriWee 2011!

It's that time again: NaPiBoWriWee!!  The 2011 National Picture Book Writing Even!  I'm happy to be this year's first guest blogger.   http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=55  If you haven't signed up, it's not to late to join in. Try your hand at a picture book MS and day. It's a great chance to connect with other writers, learn about the pb format, and get some of those ideas actually down on the page.  See you there.

YA Cover Art

Zazzle store

Years ago I made a half hearted attempt to get into licensing.  Who wouldn't want to have a stuffed animal made from their drawings right?  But, a few things got in the way.  OK, really it was one little thing and a lot of sleep deprivation.  This past weekend that same little thing and I played around making zazzle stores.  Mine is here:  http://www.zazzle.com/brownotter  I don't think it will get many hits, there's like a billion zazzle stores, but it's fun to see images on actual products, especially keds, I wear keds, I love keds.   


Shop other personalized gifts from Zazzle.

Valentine's Day Project for Kids

My five year old needs to bring Valentine's cards to school Monday and since we had a little time (she was home sick this week) we decided to go ahead and make them.  Here's a simple, inexpensive project:

The craft store had all its Valentine's themed chachkies on clearance,Yay!  (we likes a bargain)
colored pencils 6 for $.50
heart stickers $1.50
blank book marks 50 for $2.99

So, for the price of the store bought versions, we had a good hour's entertainment and something a bit more original.


1) hole punch both sides of the book marks

2) tie a ribbon through one side (we used left over
xmas ribbon)





3) decorate




4) slip the pencil through both holes.

Plein Air Painting. Oh so that's how they do it...

I am not a landscape artist. I'm sort of the opposite. Swirly whirly happy trees-good. realistic true to color and light- not so much. But now that I live somewhere truly beautiful it's hard not to imagine how nice it would be to spend sun dappled days outside with easel and brush. So, I'm taking a plein air class. And... well, I kinda stink. My instructor teaches in a very California style, and while I don't see settling too far into it myself I think it's always good to learn new techniques. So... here's the first attempts:

Being Specific

Having spent eons now on a (still unfinished) illustrated middle grade novel, I can attest to the absolute necessity of proper character development.  Of course everyone knows how important unique characters are.  And everyone who begins to write and/or illustrate thinks they're creating them.  But, thinking and doing are not the same.  Looking at some of my early work, what frustrates me most is the lack of depth and differentiation.  The characters have a bit of spark, but they're not specific enough.  They should have been pushed more. Lots more. So, I've set up an exercise for myself to paint at least two animal portraits a week.  I've started with friends' and family's and may take on others as they come.  Hopefully by the end of the project the specific will be so engrained in my work that I’ll never paint another generic dog again.   

Here's some examples:

Ginger

Silvia

Settled in..Sorta

A few months ago my husband and I decided to take the plunge and buy a fixer.  Our new house is in a great location, but it's small and it is, well, a fixer.  To save money I've been working as the general, hiring subcontractors, pulling permits, designing, and supervising.  We've removed the asbestos, put in new heating/air and ductwork, upgraded the electrical, redone the walls, floors and ceilings (the ceiling will need to be redon, thanks to the heating dudes), trenched the outdoor electrical, and put on a new roof.  I've been painting and tiling and pulling out hair.  Needless to say, although I've also been trying to write and illustrate, work has been a slow.  As many freelancers know, sometimes life just gets in the way.  But, happily this past weekend I was able to get my studio, not just up and running, (it's suposedly been up and running since week one) but also functioning.  I've reorganized the area and now, at last, am ready to WORK.  Yay!

EYEWITNESS REPORTS: EYEWITNESS REPORTS: AUCTION 1 BEGINS NEXT WEEK

EYEWITNESS REPORTS: EYEWITNESS REPORTS: AUCTION 1 BEGINS NEXT WEEK: "Starting Monday August 23rd you can begin bidding online for the artwork created by a whole slew of amazing picture book artists who have cr..."

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