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It better be quite a few because as from late February this year Google is getting tough on duplicate content. I will explain. Recently I submitted my profile to an art website listing (as you do often enough when promoting your work). I pulled one of my paragraphs from my website profile. The site owner contacted me requesting that I re-write my profile so they do not get penalised by Google

A monster cake for the front window of Lolliplops sweet shop and ice cream parlour:



Right now I'm making two kinds of images for Monsterville at the Discover centre: the cakes, above, will be printed onto vinyl and stuck onto wood or foamboard, but the sets, below, will be painted by a team of theatre design people, so I'm just giving them a general idea of where everything goes and the colour scheme. I still need to do print versions of a few details, such as the Lolliplops poster and some of the little critters.





I'll do a print-quality version for vinyl of the Wigs & 'Taches advert, it's still in the rough stages. It's a happy little nod to the yetis in Alex Milway's Mythical 9th Division. The 'Lolliplops' name suggestion came courtesy of Graham Marks. Oh man, I love building these monsters' world. Working on a bunch of interior stuff today. And some over-the-top fancy WIGS!
(Click here for previous Monsterville blog posts.)

I’ve been a big fan of animator and illustrator Ric Carrasquillo’s work for some time now.

Abrams will launch its third imprint Appleseed Books, a new imprint geared towards babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, in Spring 2012.

Helmed by publishing director Cecily Kaiser, the imprint will publish eight to twelve titles per season, aimed at children up to age five. “The Appleseed list will be commercially appealing with the added plus of the trademark Abrams aesthetic,” said Kaiser in a statement announcing the new imprint. “Even the youngest children deserve beautiful books. And when beauty is presented in a relevant and engaging way, parents, teachers, caregivers and librarians get on board too.”

The Appleseed list will be a mix of board, novelty, and picture books; it joins the existing Abrams Books for Young Readers and Amulet Books imprints. Kaiser was hired by Abrams in June 2010; she was previously editorial director for Cartwheel Books and Little Scholastic. Abrams has not yet announced any titles or authors for the imprint’s debut list.

Digital children’s picture book publisher WingedChariot will make apps for HP’s TouchPad and webOS. In addition, the company announced a joint digital partnership with Walker Books at the Bologna Book Fair earlier this week. 

Simon & Schuster launched a new online, interactive book club for tweens in partnership with social media network Everloop beginning with Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life, by Rachel Renee Russell and SPHDZ Book by Jon Scieszka.

Chronicle Books has appointed Ginee Seo as director of children’s publishing, effective May 12. Previously she was VP and editorial director of Atheneum, where she had her own imprint.

Crown has also promoted Sean Desmond to executive editor. 

At HarperCollins, Roger Freet has been promoted to Executive Editor for the HarperOne imprint.

Derry Wilkins has joined Sourcebooks as publicity manager, children’s & YA. Previously she managed children’s publicity for Sterling.

Former White House Press Secretary Named Crown Forum Editorial Director; Other Press Bumps Up Author E-Royalties; and More

Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino has been named editorial director of Crown Forum, where she will acquire and edit six to eight titles annually for the conservative imprint.

Perino, who currently works as a communications strategist and Fox News contributor and helped devise the promotional strategy for George W. Bush’s Decision Points, will work out of Washington, DC.

Starting Friday, April 1, Other Press will increase its ebook royalty rates to 50 percent of net proceeds once an author’s advance has earned out, and to 30 percent before an advance has earned out.

Effective immediately, Hachette Book Group will handle Canadian sales and distribution for the Disney Book Group. HBG will also provide sales and distribution into the trade book market for Marvel.

Hope something listed provides an additional opportuntity to place your work.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Hello WAWE members. Posting two pieces this week.
The first piece is a cover for Simon and Schusters,
Ziggy Book series (from the bottom up).
The other is a sample piece for a future book.
I will post it for Illustration Friday's
"Toy." They are gouache and
watercolor and photoshop.
Have a great week.

Today is Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday. Now why in the world does that matter, since he’s long dead? Well, he’s one of my favorite artist’s, right up there with Charles Schulz and Micheangelo, among others. Some say he was crazy, but I say he was crazy like a genius! His Starry Night is my all... Read the rest of this post

Two brothers go down town to buy a present for their little sister’s upcoming birthday when the unthinkable happens… From the madcap minds of Norwegian sibling animation/design duo Tommy Vad Flaaten and Markus Vad Flaaten: Spend It Wisely.

(Thanks, R.A. MacNeil)

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Tommy and Markus Vad Flaaten

A cobra from the Bronx zoo has escaped. Probably out buying up souvenirs all over town.

For a long time now I've been lamenting about how long my colored pencil work takes to do, and how its not always practical for my commercial illustration work, especially children's books. I love love love how it looks, and love doing it, but it just takes too darned long. Also, as the demand for digital work keeps increasing, I've been feeling kind of stuck and depressed, thinking that the 'look' and technique I had developed was fast becoming obsolete. What's a colored pencil artist to do? I wondered.

Then I found Will Terry's Digital Painting in Photoshop course, and I had a Eureka! moment. I highly highly recommend getting this if you think you might want to learn how to paint digitally. He shows his process for painting digitally with texture, which I adapted to make a 'colored pencil look'.

Here's my first practice painting, an attempt at replicating the illustration below it, which is all colored pencil.

above -digital

below - real colored pencils

Its not too bad a start, for a first try. I didn't take it 'all the way', since I don't want to keep repainting an old piece forever, but did enough to feel comfortable knowing this is actually possible, and to have something to show you.

The first thing I did after I figured out how to make the texture I wanted was a sort of gray scale, to practice controlling values ~



Painting digitally like this is so much like doing it by hand - you work in layers, building up the color, just like you would with actual pencils. Its still not fast, but its also not as slow as 'real' pencils. Also, you can try a new color, change your mind, erase, etc. without a lot of fuss. This is key when doing illustration work - often changes need to be made, like "can you make the boys shirt blue instead of green" or "please add one more child on the left side" or "change that hairstyle" or whatever. Working digitally, those changes are soooooooooooo much easier.