Illustration Friday - Liquid

Here's my Illustration Friday submission this week for liquid…

So I know it's a bit of a stretch, but pirate ships sail on liquid right? It's part of my alphabet series that you can see here.

Happy Monday everyone!

Woo hoo, I won!

Recently I entered a contest by Illustrator Cally Johnson-Isaacs for a signed copy of her 1st book "Elephantantrum" to celebrate the launch of the paperback edition. And guess what, I won! 

Here's what Amazon has to say about "Elephantantrum":

There's tears and tantrums in this humorous picture book about manners when Ellie is tired of playing with her toys. Ellie has everything, but she wants more. She wants an elephant. And she won't eat or sleep or brush her hair until she gets one! But when she finally gets her wish, the elephant decides to teach Ellie a thing or two about manners!

It sounds so fun! I can't wait to read it to my 5 yr old daughter; she loves books. Actually she'll probably read it to me as she's pretty much got the whole reading thing down.

I love Cally's illustrations. They're bright, vibrant, and make me smile. She has a unique mix of traditional and digital mediums. Originally an in-house illustrator for 6 years at Hallmark cards, Cally moved on to pursue her dream of becoming a children's book illustrator. That dream came true last year with her first illustrated book "Elephantantrum" by Gillian Shields. This year "Elephantantrum" is being re-released as a paperback. Her second illustrated book (also by Gillian Shields), was released in February called "That Dog!" She also currently does work for Penny Black, Inc.; they make everything from cards to scrapbook do-dads.

If you want to learn more about Cally I found a couple interviews by RWD Illustration, and Cupcakes for Clara. You can also see what she's up to at her Blog, Facebook, and Twitter. AND if you're so inclined she's part of a fabulous group of children's illustrators called We Love to Illustrate. Phew! She's a busy girl.

Illustration Friday - "Train"

"Train"

Here's a little sketch for Illustration Friday. I'm working on developing my children so I thought this wasn't half bad. I'm going to work on coloring this one and hopefully get it into my portfolio soon.

"Dragons Are Real"

Over the weekend I fortunately had enough spare time to swing by a local bookstore to catch a book signing "Dragons are Real" by local author Melinda Rabin and Illustrator Franklin O'Neal. I took the kids with me, but I think I enjoyed it more then them. My 5yr old was probably more excited about the cookies and punch. They were great to talk with and you can find out more about them here.

Dragons Are Real
"This first book in the Mad Maggie's Adventures series introduces Mad Maggie and her dragon Richard. They live a carefree life until one day a messenger comes to their little village and declares that dragons aren’t real. They decide to pack their bags and leave their home to go and see the king with the hope he will help them prove the messenger wrong.  Along the way they meet with bad weather and bad manners, but new friends come along and give them courage to continue. This story is about believing in yourself and never giving up even when met with adversity."

Illustration Friday Submission "Wild"

It's been awhile since I submitted anything for Illustration Friday, but here it is. Just a fun little piece of animals gone wild. I don't know why I picked a tiger and a dog...I just felt like drawing them I guess. Anyways it's fun to just draw whatever comes to mind with the IF project and gets my creativity going. I wonder where these two are going...?