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With the last bits of snow gradually melting away on the odd warm-ish day of these crazy Canadian (fluctuating) temps, our backyard rink has been appropriately renamed "the pool". In the garden the first daffodil sprouts have started popping up. Spring is here- yay!
I thought a Spring-y desktop calendar was just right for this month. This spot illo comes from a spread in Skink on the Brink where Stewie travels through the changing seasons from his home pond to a far away pond. Along the way he also changes in colour from a juvenile black skink (with an amazing blue tail) to a grey adult skink.
To download this desktop calendar, please click on the screen resolutions above then right-click on " save to desktop" to download.
Enjoy!
Here is my January 2015 desktop calendar!
Let me introduce you to Little Gerbil. Her book, Gerbil, Uncurled, written by Alison Hughes (published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside) will be hitting the shelves later this Spring. We are so excited! and I can't wait to share some sneak peeks of interior art with you.
To download this calendar simply select the resolution from the list above, right click, and "save to desktop".
Wow, the last few months have been a whirlwind of activity.
In October I headed to Ottawa for the SCBWI CanEast conference. Lisa Dalrymple and myself were presented with the 2014 SCBWI(Canada) Crystal Kite Award for our book Skink on the Brink. We are still over the moon about having Skink on the Brink, along with I Dare you not to Yawn, by Helene Boudreau, chosen by our SCBWI peers.
In November I jetted off to the tropics to take part in the second annual Rainforest of Reading Award Literacy Festival. We traveled to Grenada and St. Lucia along with 8 other wonderful authors and illustrators, the OneWorld Schoolhouse Foundation, volunteers from the SJK IB programme and the MacLeod family. We saw approx. 6000 children over the course of 3 festival days. I can honestly say that this trip was a life-changing experience. The amazing memories and new friendships I made will be forever cherished.
Joyce Grant blogged about the trip, summing up our experiences so perfectly and eloquently.
Here are some pics from the trip:
(Lisa and myself with classmates from a school whom hand-made the best skink
costume ever! LOOOVE!)
(Another school in fabulous Gabby hair, holding up their passports.)
(Some smiley-girl who loved the co-pilot seat in the 7-seater plane "hop"
from Grenada to St. Lucia. Yes, my cheeks hurt the rest of the day...LOL)
(The entire 2014 Rainforest Of Reading crew!)
With 2015 comes fresh ideas, new possibilities and awesome opportunities.
Wishing everyone a wonderful, happy, and healthy HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Good bye summer, hellllooooo fall!
Wow, September flew by, didn't it? Yes, fall is in the air, the first colds of the season are making the rounds through our house, and the leaves are starting to change colour. There has been a flurry of activity here with the start of another hockey season for the kids, cadets for my eldest, and early morning cross-country practices. As for me, I am working away on the final art for another picture book as well as gearing up for the SCBWI CANEAST conference in Ottawa on Oct. 17-19. It also won't be long until I head off to St Lucia and Greneda for the Rainforest of Reading Festival in November.
To download the desktop calendar please select the screen resolution from the list above then right click and "save to desktop". Enjoy!
I meant to post my September 2014 desktop calendar yesterday but it was my 3rd son's 9th birthday, so as you can imagine we were busy celebrating. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Little Man! Today is also the first day of school for my 4 kiddos- a day filled with a mix of hope, nervousness and excitement all rolled into one, for the kids and myself.
I am gearing up for a wonderful whirlwind of activity coming up in the next few months. I am working away on the final art for the latest picture book I am currently illustrating(see more on that below); on Sept. 21 I will be attending
Toronto's Word On The Street Festival, signing copies of
Skink on the Brink with Lisa Dalrymple at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth; I am prepping to attend the
SCBWI CANEAST conference in October in Ottawa(such a great line-up of speakers!) where Lisa and myself will be receiving our Crystal Kite Award for
Skink on the Brink; and in November, Lisa and myself, and a great group of Canadian authors and illustrators, will be travelling to Grenada and St. Lucia with the One World Schoolhouse Foundation to take part in their 2nd annual
Rainforest of Reading Festival, for which
Skink on the Brink is also nominated. So many exciting things on the horizon!
This month's desktop calendar features some sample art I mocked up for my editor( thank-you for giving me the thumbs-up to share this, Cheryl!). These little gerbil critters and I have really gotten to know each other over the past few months as I sketched them- I am quite smitten. I am pleased to introduce you to Little Gerbil and Grandpa Gerbil, two of the myriad of adorable gerbils from the newest picture book I am currently illustrating with Fitzhenry &Whiteside entitled, Gerbil, Uncurled, written by Alison Hughes, due to the shelves this coming Spring.
To download this desktop calendar please select the screen resolution from the list above, then right click and "Save to desktop".
Enjoy!
Firstly, I must send a HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY shout-out to my awesome (and second oldest) son. YAY!
With August arriving tomorrow, I'm sneaking onto the computer to quickly post my August 2014 desktop calendar, and then it will be time to " Assemble the Trifle!!" My son's favorite dessert. ( *note- this must be hollered in an "assemble the minnions!" Frau Farbissina
sort of voice, LOL).
I have been experimenting with adding mixed media to my Plasticine illustrations, and this month's desktop calendar features an illo that has a fun Steampunk-y flavour. I used a mix of antique-y map papers, watch gears, burlap, metallic paints and polymer clay. Ever since I created the Steampunk-y Infinity Coil medallions for the covers of
Marty Chan's YA novel,
The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles, Demon Gate, my head has been swirling with Steampunk inspired ideas. I have been working away on a picture book manuscript, featuring this little guy and his mechanical wings. It's not quite there yet, but it will be one day...
I've also been working away on the pencil sketches for Gerbil, Uncurled(Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Spring 2015), written by Alison Hughes. I love this stage. Well, I guess I love every stage of illustration :) The studio is a flurry of papers. I like to hang up the sketches all around me, for easy reference- I am getting very excited to translate these into plasticine. Here's a pic of one wall of my studio at the moment:
(Yes, I've blurred out the images,
we aren't quite ready to give any sneak peeks just yet. SOON!)
My day was made even more awesome when I saw that the first picture book I illustrated,
Skink on the Brink( Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Spring 2013, written by
Lisa Dalrymple) received a lovely
review in The Deakin Review of Children's Literature.
I hope you are all having a wonderful summer so far. To download the desktop calendar simply select a screen resolution and right click " Save to desktop". Enjoy!
Hello Spring!
I don't know about you, but here in Ontario we are most definitely ready for Spring. We've collectively "had it" with polar vortices, never ending snow shovelling, and the ritual morning kiddo snow-pant battle. But, even after just a few days of above zero temps the snow is quickly melting away. I think I even heard some chirping birds this morning. Yay!
So, to welcome Spring, I decided to create this month's desktop calendar from one of my all-time favorite illustrations from Skink on the Brink(Fitzhenry & Whiteside 2013). Yes, there it is up in my header- I do LOVE this illo. To download a copy please select the required screen resolution above, then right click and "save to desktop". Enjoy!
I also wanted to share some BIG news. I now am represented by
Patricia Ocampo at Transatlantic Agency. I am honoured and SUPER excited to be working with Patricia. We are already working on some of my manuscript WIPs ( yes, I am writing now too!). We got together last week for coffee to get to know each other better. Gosh, my cheeks were sore from smiling so much, it was a fabulous first meeting! I love the collaborative process and I truly believe that the best ideas often come from a great brainstorming session- it's where the magic happens. :) I think we will make a great team.
Wow, July has flown past at lightning speed. Maybe it felt that way because Lisa and I have been on the road almost every weekend for various launches and events to celebrate Skink on the Brink. I guess you could say it's been a super-SKINKTASTIC month!
Before I share some of the photos of some of our events, here is my August desktop calendar.
As always, to download one for your computer simply select the screen resolution you'd like, right click and "Save to Desktop". Lisa had mentioned how much she'd love one more Stewie themed desktop calendar...so Lisa, I made this one specifically with YOU in mind ;)
The official book launch of Skink on the Brink took place at Story Planet on July 6th. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to share in our celebration. As you can see, a good time was had by all and the plasticine activity table was a bit hit with the kiddos!
On July 20th Lisa an I had the honour of taking part in The Pinery Park's Savannah Festival. Lisa gave a stellar presentation and reading in the amphitheatre.
Then after lunch, Lisa and I spent the afternoon in the gazebo doing plasticine activities. We were very lucky to have Tanya Berkers(the field biologist that was Lisa's primary contact for her skink research) on hand to answer the children's lizard related questions. But I must say Lisa did a fabulous job of quizzing the kids to get their Savannah Festival passport stamp, she's quite the skink expert herself now.
Last weekend we were in Lisa's hometown, Fergus Ontario, at Roxanne's Reflections for the Fergus launch. We were both tickled pink...no make that "Stewie-blue", to have such a warm reception and fantastic turn out. And I want to send a special thank-you to the many sweet author and illustrator friends who made the trek to Fergus to join us. We felt very blessed. :)
And tomorrow I am hoping on a plane and heading to the SCBWI conference in LA. I'm feeling nervous, anxious, and super-excited all rolled up into one. I can't wait to share that experience(and lots of pics) with you too! :)
It's summer time, the kids are out of school and it's a lovely long weekend here. And with the start of summer comes the start of July. Boy, didn't June just zip by? It's been an exciting month, with the release of my debut picture book, Skink on the Brink, written by
Lisa Dalrymple, published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
I must say, it was such a thrill to walk into my local Chapters and see our book on the shelf, for the first time "WEHOOO!". And my friends and family have been so so sweet to send me images and info of our book on the shelves of stores across Canada.
Lisa and I have been busy prepping for the official book launch next Saturday, July 6th from 1-3pm at the
Intergalactic Travel Authority( Story Planet). If you are in the area, please join us! We have another launch and some exciting signings coming up as well in July/August and some great interviews that I will share in series of upcoming posts, so stay tuned. I have some of the
upcoming events posted in the News section of my website.
This months calendar features another interior spread for our book. It's one of my favorites...OK, they are all my favorites, they are my babies, after all. This foot-tapping, bug-dancing, jubilant illustration is just right to celebrate our book's release and upcoming launch activities.
To download, simply click on the required screen resolution above,then right click and save to desktop.
Please check back for more info on our upcoming events, printable activities and even a few interviews...there's lots to share :)
Happy Canada Day!!
I am so excited to share that Skink on the Brink(Fitzhenry & Whiteside), written by
Lisa Dalrymple, and illustrated by me, has arrived at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside warehouse! Lalalalaaa!!
There it is smartly sitting on the desk of my editor and publisher, Christe Harkin.
" Hi Stewie!"*waving*
Lisa and I will be visiting F&W this Monday. :). I can't wait to hold it in my hands!!!
It should be in stores in just a few short weeks.
This all happened yesterday, so I am unfortunately a day late with my June 2013 desktop calendar....geesh, I was kinda distracted, but you understand-right? Sorry guys!
In honour of Skink of the Brink's release, my June 2013 desktop calendar features the one and only... Stewie the skink. As you can see he is very excited to meet you guys too.
To download, simple click on your desired screen resolution listed above, then right click and select "save to desktop".
The launch for Skink on the Brink will be organized in the coming week, so please check back for the details, we'd love to see you there! :-)
Hi guys, the Next Big Thing is a global blog tour, started in Australia, to showcase authors and illustrators and their current work. I was tagged for The Next Big Thing Blog Tag by the very talented author/illustrator, Peggy Collins.
I thought, as an interesting twist, I would share my tag with Lisa Dalrymple, the author of Skink on the Brink, illustrated by ME, since it is due out at the end of this month-YAY!! We are super excited!
1) What is the working title of your next book? Skink on the Brink
2) Where did the idea come from for the book? How did you come up with the final character illustrations for the book?
I love words and language and try to play around in everything I write. I wanted to write a story and cast in it an animal we don’t see so often in picture books. As soon as I heard the name Skink, I knew that was it. I mean just listen to it: skink. It made me laugh just to say it, so I knew I had found my little guy.
After reading Lisa's manuscript I left it to float around inside my head for a bit. This foot tapping, singing skink had such a great personality that the ideas practically flew out of my head down through my pencil. I really enjoyed capturing all the emotions Stewie went through on his journey of self discovery. I sometimes made faces in a hand mirror to get just the right expression, when sculpting my plasticine Stewie.
3) In what genre does your book fall?
It’s a children’s picture book, subtly educational.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Kermit the Frog should definitely play Stewie. He may be more amphibian than reptilian but he more than makes up for that when he starts singing, “It’s not easy being blue-I mean grey-no wait red.”
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
This is Stewie the Skink’s story about self-esteem and change, as Stewie grows up, his shockingly bright blue tail fades to gray and he has to discover just who he is when he can no longer call himself “Stewie the Blue.”
6) Who is publishing your book? Fitzhenry & Whiteside publishers in Toronto.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? How long did the illustrations take to complete?
I researched for a couple of months before writing. The first draft probably took me about a week, but that was soon followed up with about 18 months of subsequent drafts and revisions before I considered submitting it.The roughs, rom initial thumbnails to tight rough sketches took a few months, and then the really fun final artwork created in plasticine, took approximately 4.5 months to complete. Each illustrations took anywhere from 20-40 hours, depending on complexity.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Well, seeing as it is the fourth in the Tell Me More Series of picture books by Fitzhenry and Whiteside, there are certain similarities between it and Kazaak, Tooter’s Stinky Wishand Bye-Bye Butterflies. Each story has its own unique qualities but includes an educational component and two pages of backmatter that extend the informational elements of the story.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? What inspired our illustrations for this book?
The Carolinian population of the Common Five-lined Skink is Endangered in Canada – an Endangered Species of lizard in my own backyard (or at least where I camp out) that I had never heard of! I knew I wanted to know more. The more I researched, the more I heard a little voice singing in my ear, “I’m a skink on the brink of extinction, I think.” There was no turning back.
Due to the cross curricular component of this book, as it is part of the Tell-Me-More Storybook series, I wanted to ensure that the habitat of the five-lined skink, including vegetation, predators and other animals found in their habitat, was accurate, so I really did my homework. Ontario has such a great variety of animals friends and foes to choose from that it was often hard to choose who to include in my illustrations- just look at my big stack of reference photos!
10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
Stewie’s story is a familiar one to all Common Five-lined Skinks. The juveniles of this species do have incredibly bright blue tails, the colour of which fades as they reach sexual maturity. Mature males also develop bright orange or red jaws and chin, particularly during breeding season. It’s no wonder Stewie is having an identity crisis!
Also, like other lizards, skinks can shed, or autotomize, their tails when they’re attacked. I had no idea that the tail actually keeps moving in order to confuse the predator so the lizard can escape. (It grows back at a rate of about 6mm a week.)
Hopefully, after kids read this book, they will be inspired to go outside, go on a nature walk or go camping. Who knows ,they might even recognize a few of Stewie's habitat friends or, if they are very lucky, they might even see Stewie himself. :)
In the nick of time, here's my May 2013 desktop calendar, featuring another illo from Skink on the Brink(due out so very soon!!). We have had a nasty stomach bug here, with one kiddo home from school today,so this post will be short and sweet. I hope you enjoy the desktop! :-)
I just love to see artists colour palettes, mixing trays, and colourful test papers. It gives a tiny glimpse into the thought process inside their creative brain. It's fun to see how a colour scheme is fleshed out, knowing lots of experimenting and play went into each piece of artwork or illustration.
The colour palette above is the one I created while making the final art for Skink on the Brink. It ended up flowing onto a second page too...I like to mix colours myself, and with this book I wanted the colours to be quite earthy, and natural. I even kept real leaves collected from my cottage to compare against my hand mixed plasticine colours.
You can see my colour palette on the wire thingy above my art table. I like having it within arms reach, if I need to add another colour mixture, or if I need to remake a specific colour.
And of course, I had lots of pizza to keep me well fed...LOL...kidding, those pile-o-boxes on the right under and on top of the table are holding my finished illustrations- keeping them safe from the curious little fingers of my 4 munchkins. From the amount there I'd say I was only about half way through the final art. The boxes were double in height once all of the artwork was complete.
It's April 1st, and you know that means...time for a spiffy new desktop calendar, and that's no foolin'! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter long weekend.
This month's calendar features the always adorable (and always ready for his close-up) Stewie the skink. This is a snippet from one of the interior spreads from Skink on the Brink. Can you believe the release date is next month?! We are SUPER excited!!! Stewie is too. Believe me, he worked hard to get this April feature. He kept my shoulder(s) toasty while I worked, serenaded the kids to sleep, dusted the studio (who knew a sliding skink on a Swiffer pad was sooo effective?), and he even rapped for me, it was one cool ditty to a very funky beat -that skink can throw down some mean rhyme, and bust some moves!
With the book release scheduled for May (YAY! :-D) everything is getting "Stewie-fied" around here. We plan to whip up some fun Stewie bookplates, and some other goodies, that Lisa and I would love to sign to personalize your book. If you have any special requests, Lisa and I would love to hear them, just send me an email or leave a comment.
To download your own desktop calendar simply click on the required screen resolution above, right click, and select Save To Desktop. Oh, and FYI... if you hear a little voice and foot tapping coming from your computer screen, don't be alarmed, it's just Stewie...;-)
It's that time of month again- free desktop calendar time! I had such a great time creating the previous process post that I thought it would only be fitting to create this month's desktop calendar using the same illustration. It might be a bit early for such a Spring-y illo, but I couldn't resist. Besides, with all of this crazy weather lately, it's hard to know what season we are in. I think my bulbs were trying to poke through the dirt, only to be flash frozen the following day...geesh. If you'd like to read more about how I created this illustration( for my first picture book, Skink on the Brink(Fitzhenry& Whiteside), written by
Lisa Dalrymple, due out this May!) please check out the
process post.
To download simply click on the screen resolution size you require above, then right click and save to desktop.
Enjoy!
I'm so beyond thrilled to share some big news!! On the cover of
Fitzhenry and Whiteside's Spring 2013 catalogue is....drum roll please..... artwork from Skink on the Brink!
Lisa Dalrymple and I are so honoured and super excited.
Here is the image that they used for the cover:
It is actually interior art form the book, a double page spread, so it gives a wrap around effect- cool eh! To see the full jacket just click on the jacket link under the cover image at the link above.
To see the entire catalogue (psst... check out page 4), which is jam packed full of highly anticipated books, that I personally can't wait to get my hands on, please click on the Children's portion link under the cover image at the link above.
Here is the cover illustration. As you can see the left side will wrap around to the back, so room has been left on the lily pads and in the water for text. The right side of the illustration is the front. And yes, I also did the lettering in plasticine.
Mark your calendar, it will be out this May!!! Lisa and I can't wait to share this book with you guys!!
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A good and informative post. I enjoyed both your comments, and your art work. Very unique and interesting children's book. I assume you work from home studio (children). I will return for a more in depth read of your blog.