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This was a rough year for many of us, crazy election, many beloved famous people gone, and I think it is fair to say we are all ready to wave 2016 good-bye. For me, personally, this has been a pivotal year  in terms of my illustration work. I am currently illustrating my third children's book in a row and have discovered that I love the entire process of both writing and illustrating children's books. The story telling aspect is so challenging and rich and exciting whether through words or art or both. Here is another sneaky peeky into my illustration process for Hidden City which I believe is going to be released Spring '17. I thought it would be appropriate to post this tiny wintry scene which is cropped from a much larger illustration. Here was my sketch idea and my color version.

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I mentioned recently that I had been wrapping up illustrations for a children's book which I have been working on most of this past year. This project has been a labor of love and one of my favorite projects to date. It is published by Eerdman's Books for Young Readers and the title is Hidden City. A release date is yet to be determined as the book is being finalized.

This is the first of a series of sneak peeks and posts about the process I used in illustrating this book leading up to it's release. Eerdman's is a dream publishing house to work with. At every turn they are so supportive to the illustrator's process and have come back with thoughtful and intelligent feedback. It has been a true creative collaboration. The book is a collection of image rich poems written by Sarah Tuttle about nature hidden in urban environments. To tell you this has been fun to illustrate would be an understatement!

Here are a couple of sketches and the progress to full color. I am just showing cropped illustrations, not the full page illustrations yet.

This first illustration is a poem about bats hunting moths at night under a streetlamp. Here are my pencil sketches that I scanned into my computer.

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Philadelphia long ago discovered the gem who is Nathaniel Popkin. He shows up at Emmy Award celebrations, on the jackets of wonderful novels and nonfiction collections, in the pages of Philadelphia magazine, as book review editor at Cleaver. He is, as well, a force behind Hidden City, and what I say here is the truth: few people know more about this city, or think about it more deeply, than Nathaniel Popkin.

So it was a distinct pleasure to be interviewed by him for Hidden City. Our conversation about walking, seeing, thinking, and believing (and Philadelphia) can be found here. I always learn from the questions he asks.

Thank you, Nathaniel.

We're launching Love: A Philadelphia Affair at the Free Library tomorrow night on a stage that will sparkle with the warm wit and intelligence of broadcast pioneer Marciarose Shestack. We hope you'll join us.

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This is the summer, it seems, of friendship. Of deeply meaningful lunches with friends whose stories have evolved, so magnificently, through the years. Of an afternoon spent in the glorious Brooklyn home of a very dearest friend. Of long conversations with neighbors—conversations that began a long time ago and that pick up right where they ended, as if many seasons and much weather had not intervened. How have you been? How do your seeds grow? How is your daughter, your husband, your mom? Of reunions with high school friends. Of saving grace phone calls and long walks. Of conversations with poets. Of former students who write or who appear in bookstores; they are growing up, they are growing up so beautifully. Of new friends, too, who kiss me on the cheek as if I have known them forever, or present me with a beaded lei and an ALOHA. Of emails that make me laugh out loud or astonish me or leave me with that happy something that erupts, naturally, when another's dream has been fulfilled.

They have waited, it has happened, it is good—and I am soaring with them. I am glad to be their friend.

The summer of friendship.

I've been thinking about that. Grateful for that. And, today (and for a long time, for our friendship is a long one, too) I am also grateful to a certain Nathaniel Popkin, who writes more beautifully about this city and about books than anyone I know. The man knows things, and he is a poet. Last evening, driving home from a perfect New York City day, I found these Hidden City words that had been Tweeted out to the world, and to me. I don't know what to do about words like these but to say, again, thank you. Thank you, Nathaniel, for your generosity.

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Crime novelist Marcus Sakey will write and host a new Travel Channel television series called Hidden City. On his website, Sakey gave this description of the show: “It’s sort of Anthony Bourdain‘s No Reservations meets Castle.”

Throughout the twelve-episode series, Sakey (pictured, via) will journey to Anchorage, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, the Florida Keys, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.   The show debuts on December 5.

Here’s more from the release: “Sakey travels the country, city to city, to dig up the less-than-pristine history and reveal the untold story behind each locale, serving as a personal guide to each city’s unique past. The premiere episode explores Sakey’s hometown of Chicago, the city famous for reinventing itself through its checkered history. Viewers will meet America’s first—and maybe worst—serial killer, H.H. Holmes; walk in the footsteps of legendary gangster, John Dillinger; and dig into the 1968 DNC riots, when protestors clashed with police in a battle royale broadcast live to the world.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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