Here is a peek at a new series from Highlights,  Let's Grow! Perfect for little ones and delivered every month right to your door.

I loved working on I Have a Book from this series, you'll spot it on the video. Plus more books to come!

Aww.. I love my job. :o)

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Oh my.. where to begin?
An apology should be a good start I guess..

I'm sorry you guys for neglecting my blog for almost a year... It's been a tough year for me personally that's the truth but I want to thank so many lovely people who I know, and some who I don't even know, for emailing me, sending tweets and showing love and support for me. It's an amazing feeling to know that people care and even more amazing how you can open your laptop, or click your smartphone and in an instant be connected with wonderful people from all over the world. So a big thank you and a bigger hug to you all! :o)

Work is busy, life is too.. but I will try to post from time to time.
I miss all of you and love hearing from you. xo

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I wanted wolf to have clothes and look like a "normal" fellow. The point of this story is to show that even normal looking strangers could be dangerous. So Wolf is wearing a top hat, jacket and a bow tie. Bit sofisticated fellow huh? ;o)





These two are my favorite illustrations in the book. :o)

It was a challenge to follow the story and not illustrate too dark or scary. I always like to think of my audience, in this case is very little kids.



And grandma was so much fun to illustrate, hehe!

I have to thank my editor Teresa for always believing in me and giving me complete free range. This is what all illustrators dream of having.. and I can't thank her enough for trusting me with all books we work on.

If you'd like to purchase Caperucita Roja  it will be available March 5th. :o)

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Despite the fact that most of the major streets are blocked and there are protests occurring in different parts of the country, by some amazaing miracle my complimentary copies of Caperucita Roja -Little Red Riding Hood- have arrived today!

The book turned out so lovely, I am really so pleased. It is published by Ediciones SM Spain and will be available March 5th. This book belongs to a series of books called -Cuentos De Ahora-

What a wonderful surprise to get these books at a moment like this.. Really made my day!
I'll post more about the making of this picture book and will show a little more of the inside illustrations soon. :o)

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A class? A one on one? A chance to get some feedback from me with suggestions on how to start, portfolio review or answers to your own particular questions? I don't really know how to name this,  hehe.. but I am offering two special beginner courses. Many people have asked me to do this in the past and I have been thinking this for a long time now. This is my first time doing this so depending of how it all goes, I might open more courses in the near future. :o)

I'm thinking on taking a small group of people. It has to be small because I want to be able to really give them my time, thoughts and feedback to each one. So 3 people a day (max) would be workable for me. These courses are for illustrators that are starting out and have questions on how to begin. Maybe this is a dream of yours and you have some portfolio pieces but no idea how and when to start? Perhaps you have the theory down of how to start but don't know what a portfolio should include? Or maybe all you want to do is experiment on sending an amazing postcard and would like some guidance?

I want to make this affordable too. I know there are so many illustrators that want to break into the business of illustrating children's books that have so many questions.. I was one of them. But I do have to charge something for my time since these courses will have to go on the side of my regular work illustrating books.

I am by no means famous nor I have all the answers or magical tricks on how to break into this business. But, I can offer you my my personal experience, a friendly ear, my point of view that comes from what I've learned by working with different publishers from around the world, and share what has worked for me. I know there are so many questions, and doubts and misconceptions really..
My goal is to help guide you in the process of starting out and I hope you get valuable information from these courses that at the end you feel more decisive to go for your dream. :o)

So for now I am offering two courses.
Course A starts next month and Course B the month after that.


Course A- 50$
Duration: 3 weeks
Starts Sunday, March 2th ends March 23th.
Maximum students per course: 15

Course A- taking a look at your portfolio-

Communication by personal emails once a week- I will study your portfolio and see which are your strong points and weak ones. Which pieces are worth staying and which others perhaps should go.
Additionally, I will ask you questions and see which subjects you love working on and which you'd like to stay away from. Not many artists realize this, but it is important too. I will help define who your target audience is, depending on your style, after realizing this you will later be able to work with a clearer focus towards your ideal portfolio.

Each student will have an assigned day of the week (for example, Mondays) for communicating with me via email. Every week you get the chance to ask me questions, in your email, with any doubts you might have and I will answer them the following week.

For this course you need to have your portfolio online so I can review it. 

We will also lightly discuss the importance of online presence, blogs, Twitter, websites, promote on online portfolio sites, etc.



Course B- 75$
Duration: 5 weeks
Starts April 6 until May 11th
Maximum students per course: 10

Course B- the making of a great promotional postcard-

I will guide you trough the process of creating an eye catching postcard. I will explain what I think is a postcard image that will stand out from the rest of the pile and I will point out the common mistakes in some of the postcards I've seen. I will help guide you in the whole creation process from idea, characters, sketches and final art.

We will communicate by email once a week. Each student will have an assigned day of the week (for example, always Tuesdays) where I will revise the work they have done for that week and answer questions from the previous week. I will also send them new insight and homework for the following week. So we will cover all from thinking of an original idea, creating a setting, creating the characters, sketching ideas and creating the final art for the postcard.

You need to have access to a scanner, or be able to scan your work, so I can review postcard sketches, ideas and final art.

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If these courses sound like something you'd like to try, just leave a comment on this post specifying which course you'd like to take A, B or both and please leave a link to your work. Why this? Well I need to make sure the students taking the courses have a good solid base in drawing and illustrating. I am not an art teacher. I'm an stablished illustrator that will help guide you into this business but you need to have a strong foundation in drawing and painting. **Edited- I received a couple of emails from people interested in signing. So if you prefer the email route instead of leaving a comment on this post that works too. Send an email saying which course(s) you'd like and a link to your work. My email is alipadron at gmail dot com**

I'll leave this post for this month and will choose 15 people for Course A and 10 for Course B. I will then contact you by email with the payment details so you can enroll and then we'll be all set to begin starting with the first course on March 2th, yay, I can't wait!!

PS, if the classes don't fill up but you left a comment on this post and you qualify, I will still do the course even if it's with less people. No worries, I don't want to let you down. :o)

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For the longest time I've had this idea of maybe doing a video showing bits of the books I have illustrated but I never seem to have the time to sit down and do it.

Well, I realized today that I'm in between books at the moment so this morning I thought it was the perfect time to try and I did. I came up with this video, it's a tad long, I hope you guys don't get bored hehe! I tried to show just a little of each book (because I'm sure I can't show the whole book) but I think you can have an idea of how books are.

I feel so blessed to be illustrating kids' books for a living, for real.. and I still have a hard time grasping the idea that what I dreamt for so many years finally came to be. And the beautify of all this is (yes there is more.. hehe) there are no age limits to illustrating children's books. I look forward to having my wrinkly hands hold the paintbrush and dip it in watercolor to paint. :o)

Hope you enjoy the video!

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Hey there, I'm buried in work and have neglected this blog, sorry guys!

I like to browse youtube from time to time and see what I find. Today I found this great video that I thought I would share with you. If you love peeking into artists' studios and love illustration and graphic design then you'll enjoy this video I'm sure.

BTW, I really like Leah's illustration style, don't you? Think it's very unique.

Enjoy! :o)

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I received my complimentary copies of Le Petit Renard Se Perd! A french picture book that I illustrated, published by Les 400 Coups and written by the lovely Nicole Snitselaar.

I am SO excited! This book is beautiful.. Really! It is the most amazing and gorgeous quality I have seen. It's hard to tell, but if you look closely at it in person, you can see the ink sparkles a bit. The paper is smooth, heavy and a lovely mat finish. The design is sooo beautiful.. The cover is padded and did I say how excited I am about it?! Hehe! I am :o)

I filmed this very short video (with my iphone, sorry about the quality) for you to see. As you can understand, I can't show the whole book but I wanted to share something with you all.

If you'd like to purchase it, it's available now on Amazon Canada and will be available in other countries on January 2014.

I'll do a more detailed post about the making of this book and how this book came to be very soon!

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I always thought it would be fun to have another rendering style besides my signature style. I think some books or stories might call for it and also gives an illustrator a broader world to work on, don't you think?  :o)

Anyway, I've been experimenting and came up with this one that I really like! My plan is to create more illustrations in this technique and build a portfolio and slowly add it on my website. But this will have to wait until I finish with the books I'm working on right at the moment. Deadlines are looming, hehe!

How about you? Ever thought of adding a new style/technique to your work?

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Oh my goodness.. it's been ages since I posted something on my blog! I was on vacation, and it's hard to keep up with the old blog and internet over the summer. I really like to disconnect and enjoy every second with my hubby and the kids. I'm now back on my routine but need to start getting into the habit of posting again. I hope you all had a wonderful summer vacation!


                
                                                                              © copyright Alicia Padrón 2013

 While I was away, I had the pleasure of illustrating a lovely poem by Eileen Spinelli, Lullabies All Around, for the super cute Hello magazine! Sorry for the blurry pictures, my scanner is sick right now...

                                                                                © copyright Alicia Padrón 2013

 Babies will see mommy animals with their babies on the first page and then will have fun trying to spot them on the following spread since they are now picture frames in the room.

                                                                             © copyright Alicia Padrón 2013

 This magazine is specially made for babies (0-2 years old). Its small, easy to hold. No corners, soy ink, and no staples. Its filled with short, simple and beautiful stories, poems and art.

It was such a pleasure working on this!

I also illustrated a french Picture Book, I'll post about that soon.
Hugs to all! :o)

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What a treat to watch Chris Riddell work.
My goodness, I wish I had that amount of control over a brush! Amazing. :o)

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The lovely Erika Barriga has her debut book out,  Queen Quail is Quiet: and Other ABC Tongue Twisters and is doing a guest post on my blog today. Make sure to check her book out! 

And look at that sweet baby!! Aww my heart just melts. :o)

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What were you waiting for?

I keep wanting to reach back in time and shake my twenty-something self around. Talk to her in a stern and serious voice, calm and collected, about how she needs to just find what she loves and pursue it. I'm not sure what took me so long, maybe it was the thought that I had "all the time in the world" to do things.

Whatever the case, for me, having my baby girl jump-started my system. After having her, I felt/feel like I can do anything. So I have grabbed that feeling by it's wings and I don't want to let go.

My first book, Queen Quail is Quiet, was just published mid-May and it is a labor of love. I wanted to grow in storytelling so I decided to tackle the alphabet letter by letter. This book illustrates every letter using every sound of each letter. A fun way to learn how to read and the sentences result in silly tongue twisters for older kids.

I created the art digitally and I have wanted to make a video showing how I illustrate for a long time. I felt that fear again when it came time to actually change the viewing option to "public" on YouTube. But I thought about being fearless and it pushed me to just push the button. Stop not sharing. Don't be afraid to do what you want, just keep pushing toward your goal. It's uncomfortable but worth it.

So I have a video for you (with my voice! eek) I hope you enjoy it and read my book. It's great for all ages. ;)

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I'm so happy! My lovely agent just sent me this, it's the cover I did for June's issue of Highlights Hello magazine! I can't wait to get my copies. :o)

This magazine is the cutest thing I have to say. It's perfect for babies and toddlers. It has round corners and no staples, all the pages are sewn together and it's very sturdy. Perfect for those babies that love to, you know, eat books.. hehe. ;o)

It's filled with poems and stories with colorful and beautiful artwork. If you subscribe you get one issue every month. I'm sure the toddler of the house would be thrilled to receive his/her own mail.

I kind of wish my kids were little again so I could order these for them. :o)

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