Another rough sketch from a work-in-progress.

I've been a drawing fool lately. My walls are covered with sketches for the middle grade novel project I've been working on... SO much fun it is! There's nothing more enjoyable than hunkering down in my little studio or in front of the fire with drawing board, pencil and paper, and getting to know new characters. Kind of makes me forget it's February. (Not that there's anything wrong with February. If only it wasn't so cold. If only I was motivated to wear something other than sweatpants when it's so cold!)

Meanwhile, I could really use more wall space.

And yet another rough sketch from another new idea.

Time to make a list of my project lists to see where everything's at. Maybe each little list within one big list to hang on the wall. Or a list of what's in each project pile. Oh... piles! Don't get me started...

Irony is working on garden map illustrations in this bitter cold weather. Good news: it's supposed to warm up to the 40's this weekend.

I must have a word with my assistant. She's shedding on the watercolors.

(Well, not really hibernating, although the scale seems to think I've turned into Mama Bear. I'm just busy.)

A belated Happy 2010, everyone!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season, whatever you may celebrate.

2010, here we come!

Hello there, blog, it's been a while! Remember that Cool New Map Project I started working on back in June? As I was catching up on blog reading this weekend, I happened across Macmillan's Spring 2010 Librarian Preview over at Fuse #8, where I scrolled down to see this stunning cover:



















Yay! It's the new Kimberly Willis Holt novel, due out in May of 2010.

And here's the map I did for the endpapers:


















(Click to see a larger version.)

I can't wait to see the actual book.

Darcy Pattison has posted two great pieces about story arc for short picture books, here and here. (Her Fiction Notes blog is one of my writing favorites.)

Hmmm... haven't been posting much art lately. There's just not enough time in each day to do everything, and I've been working on making progress with a new picture book idea. Slow going, this one, with lots of bits and pieces to puzzle out, but it's coming along.

Also still forging ahead with NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo. They've become part of my beloved early-morning-with-coffee routine. I'm up to 11,571 words for NaNo-- way behind the count needed to hit 50,000 words by the end of the month-- but still possibly more than I've ever written on one project in my life, so I'm feeling pretty good about it. More on that another time.

And in the Department of Good News: Can't say too much yet, but I've been commissioned to illustrate the cover and B/W interior of a new middle grade novel! Happy dance time!

Here's a new piece for the November/December issue of ForbesLife Magazine.

(Sheesh, how did it get to be November already?)

Who is this new character and what kind of big adventure is she going to have? I'm figuring her out...

Via HipWriterMama. (Thanks for posting!)

November is:







National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

and





Picture Book Idea Month! (PiBoIdMo. Read more about it here.)

I'm doing both. (Or trying to, at least.)

Why not? I like deadlines. I need deadlines. I especially need deadlines when it comes to writing. We'll see if I can keep it up for the whole month. But even if not, writing something is better than writing nothing. And though I never write nothing, I can always write more. Right?

(Of course, once I committed to giving these two worthwhile activities a shot, a Department of Freelance truism kicked in... lots of good things are sprouting around here. Busy, busy, busy. Just the way I like it!)

While stuck in traffic driving home from Rabbit Hill last week, I glanced up through the torrential rain and saw this bridge. Can you see the spider-and-web design? Oooo... spooky! Perfect timing for Halloween.

(The filter effect was inspired by my son, who has just discovered Photoshop and is trying to scare the bejeesus out of me with creepy effects. As if driving on the Merritt Race... uh, Parkway isn't scary enough...)

Here's a closeup of the ironwork, and more photos of this historic bridge:



















Elizabeth is hosting a collection of Halloween posts today over at her place. Check it out for more spooky fun...

I'm on another semi-futile kick to clean out my files and came across a whole stack of old tearsheets, so I thought I'd post some oldie-but-goodie work.

This was from, whoa, 12 or so years ago, I think. Again, such fun to work on the detailed borders.

With the release of the Where the Wild Things Are movie, this video has been all over the internet. It reminded me of last year's Rabbit Hill Festival of Literature because one of my favorite illustrators, Barbara McClintock, told a wonderful story about being a young artist living in North Dakota and just beginning her career. She picked up the phone and called Maurice Sendak all the way in New York City. She wanted to ask his advice about becoming a children's book illustrator. Apparently he was very nice and gave her some good tips. Wow!

By the way, the 2009 Rabbit Hill Festival takes place all this weekend if you're in the area.

Here's a map I did recently for AAA Traveler magazine. It's fun to research these kids of pieces, but I have to be careful not to waste all day reading about fascinating places.

On a sad note, Athena, our ancient outdoor cat, passed away peacefully last night. We'd had her for over 21 years, since before my husband and I were married. She was a sweet old lady. She lived in our barn and spent her days catching mice and assorted other critters, though the past few years she mostly enjoyed lolling around the house on a sunny patch of ground.

I think she had some sort of an agreement with the wildlife around here, because despite the raccoons and coyotes (and speeding cars!) she never got into trouble. We fed her a few times a day, and one night, a raccoon mother and her babies scuffled outside the front door gobbling up her dinner. Athena just watched patiently from a few yards away, letting them take their fill. She knew there would be more for her.

The inside cats loved having staring contests with her through the screen.
RIP, Athena.

This past Saturday I woke up earlier than I thought was physically possible, drank too much coffee, and drove to New Jersey for the Rutgers One-on-One Plus Conference, sponsored by the Rutgers University Council on Children's Literature. This was my first time going. I was excited, nervous, and curious at the same time.

Each attendee at the conference was paired with someone in the children's book field-- an editor, art director, agent, author or illustrator-- for a 45 minute one-on-one mentoring session. Later, groups of five mentors and mentees met to discuss questions anyone might have. There was lunch and a panel of speakers. Throughout the day mentees were encouraged to seek out people who might be interested in their work and introduce themselves. It was intense. (Especially for an introvert!) But it wasn't as intimidating as I'd thought it might be. Everyone was friendly and approachable.

The morning of the conference we found out who our mentors were. I almost fell off my chair when I learned that I'd been paired with Alvina Ling, Senior Editor at Little, Brown. I knew who she was from the Blue Rose Girls blog and from some of the fabulous books she's worked on. I was thrilled!

Alvina offered helpful insight and suggestions about some of the stories I've been working on. You know that "a-ha!" feeling when somebody says just the right words and suddenly a door to a new solution opens? That's how I felt. We also talked about my portfolio. The conversation was very, very encouraging!

The panel speakers were full of good tips, such as-- figure out how old you are inside when creating a story and find the best way to leverage that. Go for the "psychological verisimilitude," the truth, at the core of your story and strengthen it. And no matter how much technology changes the way we read books in the future, it will always be story that matters.

Judy Freeman did a wonderful book talk (with music) including a hilarious segment on-- groan-- celebrity children's books. (I thought she was kidding about this. Sadly, not.)

All in all it was an inspiring day. Isn't that usually how it is when people who love children's books get together?

This video has been making the rounds-- hilarious. (I'm not sure I could even handle this, though I'm itching for one.)

Check out James Gurney's blog, Gurney Journey. The man is brilliant.

I was fortunate to have parents who allowed me to read anything and everything when I was growing up. My kids are allowed the same freedom. If there's something objectionable in a book (or a movie, or a TV show, for that matter), we talk about it. And look at it critically. And learn from it. I'd never dream of taking that opportunity away from other parents and their children. I guess I just don't understand why some folks think that's okay.

I'm finishing this sketch as a nice big spanking-new portfolio piece for the upcoming Rutger's conference in October.









I've been working at my standing desk, since the ol' spine is being a whiny-baby again. Got the desk rigged up with a tilting board on top so my neck doesn't join the pity party. I actually like standing and working, as sitting gets tiring after a while. Plus I stay warm!



















Here's the sketch transferred onto watercolor paper, with the first round of pencil applied. (Photo quality is "meh," I know.)















Everyone's a critic.

Come on, 'fess up, who else remembers this one?

The Autumn Edition of the Picture Book Artists Association website is up! Lots of great artwork there. Check it out.

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
– Ursula K. Le Guin

This is a map I worked on last year for a book that's finally coming out in December! The book is called Hands of the Rain Forest: The Emberá People of Panama, by Rachel Crandell. It was great fun to research colors and patterns for the border on this one.

I'm a big fan of books with maps. As a reader I find it helpful to have a picture in my head of the story's location, whether it's for a non-fiction book like this one, or a novel with an invented setting. (Just my two pence!)