I painted this a couple of days ago  to celebrate May the Fourth.  It's painted in acrylic and mixed media on watercolor paper.

I made it.  One ink drawing every day for the entire month of October.  All illustrations were done with a Pentel brush pen.
      

Another week of Inktober is in the bag.

My new Fall postcards are going out in the mail today!

Another week of Inktober done, once again all the illustrations were done with a Pentel brush pen.

Week one for #inktober has come and gone.  Here are my ink drawings for the week.  All of them were done with a pentel brush pen. 
     

Here are some recent drawings from my sketchbook.

The Tiger Troubles is out today!
In The Tiger Troubles, Kate and Mike are in Detroit to see Tony, the famous Detroit Tigers player. But when they found out that someone’s taken something special of Tony’s, they set out to find the troublemaker.

I have an illustration in this months issue of Ladybug magazine.  It accompanies a the poem 'Moonstruck, by Aileen Fisher.  It's always fun to draw dancing rabbits!

The Rookie Blue Jay is out today!
In The Rookie Blue Jay, Mike and Kate can’t wait to watch their rookie hero Dusty Martin in action. But something is throwing the Blue Jays’ star off his game. Then, when no one else is looking, Mike sees mysterious ghost lights flying across the field. Is the ballpark haunted? And could Dusty have seen the lights, too?

Still trying to get caught up on posting about these books.  As always you can get more info on the books here and here.

The All-Star Joker
The stars are out in Kansas City . . . the baseball stars, that is! Mike and Kate are at the All-Star game, and even get to go on the field during the Home Run Derby to catch pop-ups! That’s where they meet Andy, whose dad, Josh Robinson, is an All-Star catcher. But before the Home Derby ends, Josh finds himself in hot water. Someone is playing practical jokes on the other players, and the coach is sure it’s him. Andy swears his dad is innocent. Who would want to frame Josh? And why?







 

The Wrigley Riddle
Named by Amazon.com as “One of the Best Books of the Year 2013”
Ivy-covered walls—they’re the most famous part of the Chicago Cubs’ historic ballpark, Wrigley Field. Mike and Kate can’t wait to get down on the field to see the ivy for themselves. But when they do, they’re horrified to discover patches of the ivy have been ripped away! Who would want to sabotage the stadium? Is it someone trying to curse the Cubs? Or is the rumor of a treasure hidden under the ivy tempting greedy fans? The Wrigley Riddle includes a fun fact page about Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

That's right tomorrow is the official 'talk like a pirate day'! So if you're looking to add more pirate to you day check out Victrica's site for lots of fun activities.  You can also view a good portion of the book here. Aaaarg!

The perfect gift for the little lady in your life! For the month of July while supplies last you can get 'Victricia Malicia', 'Silly Frilly Grandma Tilly', and 'The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister' all for $25.  You can find the deal here.
   

A few months back I did a painting for an SCWBI event that I ended up not being able to attend.  They had an illustration challenge to do an image from Aesop's fable, 'The Tortoise and the hare'.  I had done an illustration early on in college on the same story and I thought it would be fun to do another and see how they compare.  I hadn't looked at the painting I did in school at least five years.  My concept was to use the same basic idea and to incorporate some of the details I could remember without actually looking at the painting.
So today I dug out the old painting and scanned it in.   The class I did this in was illustration 2 and was probably the first children book type of illustration that I had done.  At the time I was really proud of this one but it is pretty rough.  Looks like I did it in watercolor, colored pencil, and ink.  About this time I thought I would always work in watercolor, but I was really struggling with the medium.  My problem with watercolor is that when I paint I'm not very direct and I like to feel out the color.  I like to work up to it and to be able to make mistakes.  So eventually I went to acrylic because acrylic allows you to rework until you get what you want without it turning into mud. (click image to enlarge)

From that original painting I remembered the main ideas.  I knew it was landscape crop, the tortoise had a rocket on his back, the rabbit was burnt in the background, and I could remember a few other minor details.  With those things in mind I was off to make the new illustration.  This time I switched to a portrait layout and changed quite a few things.  I painted it in acrylic on watercolor paper with a digital underpainting and a small amount of other mixed media.  The values are a little weak but it was a super rushed painting.  It's interesting to see them side by side. The way I work has totally changed.  Normally I wouldn't want to do the same idea twice but it was fun to see the outcome. (click image to enlarge)

Earlier this month I received a package that I wasn't expecting.  Inside was a letter from Highlights magazine and an award for illustrator of the month for the April issue!   There is so much great artwork in each issue that I was both honored and surprised to have gotten the award.  The artwork was for the poem, "For Rent: One Moon Snail Shell".  So pick up the April issue and check it out!
Here's my scan of the artwork.

 The original, printed form, and Pewter Plate.

A few months back I was asked to paint a violin to help raise money for Gateway Preparatory Academy.  It was fun to do something a little different, and painting on an object adds a fun twist.  You can go here to look at all the instruments and to bid.  The artwork is very impressive and I'm flattered to have mine alongside some other great artist!

I was looking back over my old posts and I realized it's time for some updates on the Ballpark Mysteries series by Random House.  David Kelly has done a great job on these books and they just keep getting better and better.  For more information on the series check out the blog here.
'The Astro Outlaw' - Houston, we have a problem! Before a game at the Astros' ballpark, Mike and Kate get to meet astronaut commander Nick Rice at the nearby Houston Space Center. He's planning to display a very rare moonrock at an autographing event later. But just before the event, a nefarious outlaw knocks out the commander and steals the moonrock! Can Mike and Kate figure out who did it . . . when their only clue is a broken green feather?





'The L.A. Dodger' - It's spring break and Kate and Mike are off to Los Angeles to visit Kate's dad, a scout for the Dodgers. But all is not sunny in L.A.—strange things have been happening to Kate's dad. Pages have gone missing from his clipboard. He's gotten threatening phone calls. And he thinks he's being followed! Is someone after Mr. Hopkins's top secret scouting reports?

I had the opportunity to illustrate the book 'Stories To Make You Dream' by John Roozen.  The book has seven different stories all of which John told as bedtime stories.  There's a lot of fun, adventure, and excitement to be had in this book.  You can get a printed or digital version here.

Here is the painting I did for the cover, it has a combination of different elements from the stories.


A couple of the interiors:
Dawn, the Flying Girl

An Adventurous Bug

Here's something a little different that I have been slowly working on for the last year or so.  The body is a 1927 Model t, 1929 model a frame and front axle, 302 ford motor mounted to c4 transmission, 9" rear end out of an early bronco, and various other parts from a handful of other cars.  The hardest part is trying to find the time to work on it.  It's getting close though and with time permitting I hope to have it drivable by next summer.

I had the great opportunity to answer a few question and have my artwork featured on Kathy Temean's website.  You can read the interview here.   While you are there her site has a lot to offer for both writers and illustrators.  It is just overflowing with information and  is definitely worth taking the time to look around. 

Here is my latest promo going out now!

Here are few more that are no longer on my website.

 

Since I updated my website I figured I would post some of the stuff that is no longer on my website.  The majority of it was stuff done either in school or as promotional pieces.  I'll post a few more in a couple days.

This one came out back in the May issue of Highlights magazine.

This isn't a very good picture but this is how it appeared in the magazine.

I did this cover for a ebook a little while ago.  The book is 'The Empty Trunk' by Lily Hathaway.  It was a fun illustration to work on, and here is a short description of the book:

When Horace and Gregory set out for their annual trip to the circus they have no idea of the trouble that will come from winning a door prize! When a mysterious trunk arrives at their cottage, adventure soon follows as the two friends try to outfox the evil Count who has tricked them into becoming his allies during an uprising in his kingdom.

You can find the book on Smashwords or Amazon.