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So this is my most recent submission for illustration Friday. Usually I do more collage work but I miss watercolor so much that about 80% is painted. Oh and yes ferrets love soda!

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Still working with my lovable cat, Louie. Pictures should be ready for sending out soon.

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Lookey what the man in the big brown truck and funny brown shorts delivered to ol' Ingvard's house today (before one of the goats chased him down the street as it attempted to eat the aforementioned brown shorts):

We all know, if there's one thing all artistic people hate, it's dealing with the business end of doing what we do. That, and they also hate wearing a dress or neck tie, social conservatives, and sunlight. But mostly, it's all the business-y stuff.

One of the pesky little aspects of, well, doing any kind of business, not just illustration, is protecting your hide (just ask my delivery friend). Now—in the good ol' days, if a disagreement should arise, it was usually never something that couldn't be settled with a couple of broad swords and a wide open field. You knock each other around for a bit, break a few bones, bleed a little, and if everyone survives, you end up throwing back a couple of horns of mead and singing bawdy sea shanties around the fire by nightfall. Ah, those were simpler times...

Nowadays, all disputes, complex as well as petty, are dragged into long, drawn-out, boring, and ultimately very expensive law suits. Ug. Trust me, you'd rather be water-boarded at Guantanamo.

So go out right now and buy Business and Legal Forms for Illustrators by Tad Crawford. This handy-dandy little volume is just what you needed. And the best part? All the forms are on a CD which comes with it! (Cause I'm pretty all artists hate re-typing stuff. Scratch that—I'm fairly certain everyone hates re-typing stuff. It blows.)

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Lookey what the man in the big brown truck and funny brown shorts delivered to ol' Ingvard's house today (before one of the goats chased him down the street as it attempted to eat the aforementioned brown shorts):

We all know, if there's one thing all artistic people hate, it's dealing with the business end of doing what we do. That, and they also hate wearing a dress or neck tie, social conservatives, and sunlight. But mostly, it's all the business-y stuff.

One of the pesky little aspects of, well, doing any kind of business, not just illustration, is protecting your hide (just ask my delivery friend). Now—in the good ol' days, if a disagreement should arise, it was usually never something that couldn't be settled with a couple of broad swords and a wide open field. You knock each other around for a bit, break a few bones, bleed a little, and if everyone survives, you end up throwing back a couple of horns of mead and singing bawdy sea shanties around the fire by nightfall. Ah, those were simpler times...

Nowadays, all disputes, complex as well as petty, are dragged into long, drawn-out, boring, and ultimately very expensive law suits. Ug. Trust me, you'd rather be water-boarded at Guantanamo.

So go out right now and buy Business and Legal Forms for Illustrators by Tad Crawford. This handy-dandy little volume is just what you needed. And the best part? All the forms are on a CD which comes with it! (Cause I'm pretty all artists hate re-typing stuff. Scratch that—I'm fairly certain everyone hates re-typing stuff. It blows.)

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Lookey what the man in the big brown truck and funny brown shorts delivered to ol' Ingvard's house today (before one of the goats chased him down the street as it attempted to eat the aforementioned brown shorts):

We all know, if there's one thing all artistic people hate, it's dealing with the business end of doing what we do. That, and they also hate wearing a dress or neck tie, social conservatives, and sunlight. But mostly, it's all the business-y stuff.

One of the pesky little aspects of, well, doing any kind of business, not just illustration, is protecting your hide (just ask my delivery friend). Now—in the good ol' days, if a disagreement should arise, it was usually never something that couldn't be settled with a couple of broad swords and a wide open field. You knock each other around for a bit, break a few bones, bleed a little, and if everyone survives, you end up throwing back a couple of horns of mead and singing bawdy sea shanties around the fire by nightfall. Ah, those were simpler times...

Nowadays, all disputes, complex as well as petty, are dragged into long, drawn-out, boring, and ultimately very expensive law suits. Ug. Trust me, you'd rather be water-boarded at Guantanamo.

So go out right now and buy Business and Legal Forms for Illustrators by Tad Crawford. This handy-dandy little volume is just what you needed. And the best part? All the forms are on a CD which comes with it! (Cause I'm pretty all artists hate re-typing stuff. Scratch that—I'm fairly certain everyone hates re-typing stuff. It blows.)

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I added MOP buttons to the blouse after finding some truly tiny ones

While I'm also working on larger things - right now it's a wool jacket adapted from a coat pattern - I also keep getting drawn back to the small. In this case, a lovely doll pattern that I've had for years. It was tucked away and I just never seemed to find the right moment to start it.

You know who she is, right?

This pattern fascinates me because there are so many details. There is the doll, of course, with an elaborate hairdo and embroidered face. There are darts in the back of her head that make her head nice and full when stuffed. Then there are the clothes, which include a lace trimmed pettiblouse, lined skirt with tucks and piping detail, stockings, boots, a bowtie, coat, hat, mittens, scarf and last but not least, a carpet bag (that last one surely gives her identity away).

pettiblouse still needs more snaps at the back and lace at the bottom

I managed to complicate things by deciding to make the coat from fabric (with seams and a lining) rather than plain felt (with no seam allowance). And the yarn hair turned out a bit longer than the instructions required so I added the braids to her bun. Also, I wanted a smaller doll so I reduced the pattern to 70%.

But even without that this pattern is a lot of work. I love to think of some parent slaving away at this in the evenings in order to create what I would consider the best present EVER.

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I added MOP buttons to the blouse after finding some truly tiny ones

While I'm also working on larger things - right now it's a wool jacket adapted from a coat pattern - I also keep getting drawn back to the small. In this case, a lovely doll pattern that I've had for years. It was tucked away and I just never seemed to find the right moment to start it.

You know who she is, right?

This pattern fascinates me because there are so many details. There is the doll, of course, with an elaborate hairdo and embroidered face. There are darts in the back of her head that make her head nice and full when stuffed. Then there are the clothes, which include a lace trimmed pettiblouse, lined skirt with tucks and piping detail, stockings, boots, a bowtie, coat, hat, mittens, scarf and last but not least, a carpet bag (that last one surely gives her identity away).

pettiblouse still needs more snaps at the back and lace at the bottom

I managed to complicate things by deciding to make the coat from fabric (with seams and a lining) rather than plain felt (with no seam allowance). And the yarn hair turned out a bit longer than the instructions required so I added the braids to her bun. Also, I wanted a smaller doll so I reduced the pattern to 70%.

But even without that this pattern is a lot of work. I love to think of some parent slaving away at this in the evenings in order to create what I would consider the best present EVER.

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Painters sometimes use color mixtures that seem far removed from the local color of actual skin.


Here’s a quick test you can do in an art museum to see what’s going on. Hold up your hand up in the air a few feet in front of the painting. (That’s my hand on the left and Jeanette’s on the right.)

This skylit gallery in the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts gave an even, white light. By looking at our hands under the same light, we now have a reference point to evaluate the color mixtures.

This painting is by the British portraitist Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). It must have been fashionable in his day to have what seems to us a sickly pallor. In this case he painted the portrait well to the gray-green side of our skin tones.
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Addendum: According to the website "Pigments through the Ages,"  Reynolds used the pigments "lead white, yellow ochre, ultramarine, orpiment, carmine lake, Naples yellow, and vermilion."

"Today many Reynolds’s portraits show pale faces. It’s known that even in his lifetime his paintings began to fade. Using transparent glazes over a monochrome under painting, he tried to reproduce the effects of Italian old masters, but the pigment he used for his flesh tones was not permanent and faded.

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I absolutely adore THE BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER by Jennifer LaRue Huget and LeUyen Pham.

I bought this book for two reasons:
       1) I adore LeUyen Pham's illustrations. Always. She's amazing, amazing, amazing.
       2) I had a panic attack because my book also has pink balloons on the cover ... and my book is about a birthday party ... yikes. (I'm happy to report that the story is completely different from mine--but dang! I wish I'd thought of this one!!)

The book begins with a girl counting down the days until her birthday party and as she plans her party, it gets bigger and bigger and bigger in her imagination--complete with elephants, ferris wheels and a birthday card from the President. When her real birthday rolls around, her mom and dad prepare a very normal birthday party for her--which is just fine because she has her friends, her cake, and a real live bunny as a gift.

Don't you remember doing this when you were little (or, heck, some of us still do it--daydreaming about that Oprah appearance anyone?)? It's so much fun to plan those bigger-than-life events, and I love how this little girl's birthday party is just fine. Even after all the daydreams of elephants.

Check out what the other Bookanistas are reading today:




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Part of my Photoshop class is spent on coloring in the "comic book style." Basically it is painting the light on, which is fast and effective but a tad confusing. After coloring the student's superhero character they also make a mock up comic book cover such as the one I did here.


The story behind Uncle America. Back when my niece, Corinne, (who was 4 years old at the time) was living with my Mother and I she stumbled upon my full length superman costume in my closet. Startled, she asked my Mom if I was Superman and she of course said that I was. For several weeks Corinne was convinced I was Superman fortified by the fact that on some days I would hide the costume and play it up. Around the same time, for a reason I can't remember, I had Corinne and her younger sister Rebecca jokingly call me Uncle America. Basically I just put all of this together hoping to make a comic about it one day but I never got around to it like so many other things. 


Uncle America is the disciplinarian of the rude and inconsiderate. He was gifted with concrete vision and he uses hard ginger snap cookies to hurl at his enemies. Uncle America wears glasses to protect his secret identity as the mild mannered, Carl Duhlman, shoe salesman.

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(via Hitchcock Film Series : Daniel Zender)

I have a bit of a hate-on for the torrent of minimalist movie posters that seems to have become a tired trend over the last year or two, especially when done poorly, but these smartly designed and illustrated Hitchcock tributes are another story.

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Students in my Oral English class had to come up with their own products and write and perform an infomercial to sell them. This one is not the best product or the best written, but had some of the best energy and cutest delivery. I also love that they spelled it robort. I love my students!

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In celebration of Pigeon's recent 8th birthday, here's an awesome selection of Fan Mail Favorites featuring the ornery fellow:   Pigeon is nervous about that Puppy! Sound advice! Did you know that your teacher might secretly be a Pigeon in disguise? Intellectual Pigeon Free Spirit Pigeon Notice all the details- even the Caldecott honor that this book will ultimately

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With eReaders becoming more prevalent, there's been a lot of talk about the future of book covers. This is an especially good story on the subject by CBS Sunday Morning:

Want to read more about an illustrator's view of the future of book covers? Read Judging an ebook by its cover at e is for book.

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I'm on a learning curve at the moment, which involves learning to get up & sit in my studio all day & draw without anyone checking I'm not doing other things. You know, willpower, practice, working from home etc. Pluses include endless supplies of tea, minuses include TOTAL. SOLITUDE. ALLTHETIME. Resulting in the arguable plus/minus of COMPLETE MADNESS.

I'm slogging through my Macmillan entry, & don't even MENTION my entry to the Illustrated Quotes book, cos I ain't done any of it, which makes me very very BUSY, but I keep starting new pieces because I want to & possibly momentum? I'm scared if I stop drawing I'll fall asleep. So Illustration Friday was done this week, although it must've eaten mmmaybe three-ish hours of Work Time I DON'T CARE. I love being busy, but the prospect of not finishing in time stresses what's left of my hair out.

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LUNCH LADY AND THE FIELD TRIP FIASCO will be on bookshelves 9/13/11!

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An exploration of the simple beauty of colored thread on wood spools | This image was started for the BYU-Idaho Faculty Art show in the Fall of 2010.

A work in progress

I did exhibit a version of this, but it isn’t quite where I want it. I want to explore the morié patterns created where the thread overlapps, the impossible stacking of the spools and the environment that it is in. I really think there is something more worth exploring. I do like what is there, I just want it to be better.

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Watch the American trailer for Jacques-Rémy Girerd’s Mia and the Migoo. The film’s distributor, GKids, make no mention on the official website that the film is set to expand nationally on April 22. Then again, what’s the hurry when there’s still eight whole days and nights left to post the release date onto the site.

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Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: France, Jacques-Rémy Girerd, Mia and the Migoo

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I just finished making my newest book and I'm so excited to finally share it! Even more excited for it to get to the real Liam...
But here's a peek at one of my favorite pages....the rest of the story and illustrations are up on my blog. Hope you guys enjoy what I've been working on...

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© Scott Purdy

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I have become very suddenly obsessed with the work of Jon Klassen. I had a look at his new book, "I want my hat back", at the fair, grabbed a copy, looked him up, realised he made a whole bunch of stuff I've noticed and loved before without knowing who made it, and then I watched this, and now I am happy.
You can be happy too.




Here's the book. It's as good as it looks. Just better. Smells great, too.

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I'm back from the London Book Fair, and glad to be shutting up. There was much enjoyable discussion amongst colleagues, to the brink of physical voice-loss.
Officially, I had two minutes talk time to indicate: What I do, How I do it and what I'll do Next, to close a panel talk on the Booktrust Best New Illustrator's award with Anthony Browne, Polly Dunbar and Lauren Child.
So I did. As I walked to the stage I fell over my handbag, which wiped my memory briefly, but I managed to fit in the words "Interactivity", "Encouragement", "Achievable" and "Materials" with my first slide and used the velocity to go "Hooray for digital picture books" and "Art education is great" with the second.
Then I sat back down and listened to a brief discussion of digital media versus print media and wished I could say the last bit of what I had been meaning to: that digital, interactive and multi media options are not out to kill the beautiful picture books. They are there to replace some of the ones that need not be printed on treeslice in the first place, yes. But already some of the most beautiful picture books are made now by people who are versed in digital art, who chose to make a physical book rather than taking the format for granted. We are rediscovering the book as an object, with all the potential it has, and we produce them with a new sense of preciousness and care, aware of the form as well as the content. I think this very exciting.
There is a generation of new artists coming up now who grew up playing great computer games, taking in art from around the world, learning to communicate using words and pictures with crowds of strangers. Isn't that a what illustration is all about?
Some of them will chose to use those digital skills to tell stories in whatever new media are emerging. Some will use the network to exchange traditional skills, and produce tactile objects, and distribute them over the net, and at events that are organised with the help of it. Many will do all of the above.
And who knows what skills those little ones will have who are getting "dumbed down poking at touch screens" today. They are learning how to use a new medium, and they will produce art that will blow our minds, as every new generation does.
It's such an exciting world, I can't wait to see what we do next.

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