SCBWI Tomie dePaola Art Contest

So at the last minute after all of my final school projects were done, and only one freelance assignment to do, I threw together a submission to the Tomie dePaola Art contest a few days ago and turned it in yesterday. I hope it's not too obvious how much I rushed it.  Now that I'm done, I see all kinds of stuff I'd like to change. That's what I get for being a "Last Minute Sally".

Here is the scene we were to illustrate:

So they went along and went along until they met Turkey Lurkey

“Good morning, Goosey Loosey, Ducky Daddles, Cocky Locky, Henny Penny,
and Chicken Licken,” said Turkey Lurkey, “where are you going?”
“Oh, Turkey Lurkey, the sky is falling and we are going to tell the King!”
“How do you know the sky is falling?” asked Turkey Lurkey.
“Ducky Daddles told me,” said Goosey Loosey.
“Cocky Locky told me,” said Ducky Daddles.
“Henny Penny told me,” said Cocky Locky.
“Chicken Licken told me,” said Henny Penny
“I saw it with my own eyes, I heard it with my own ears,
and a piece of it fell on my tail!” said Chicken Licken.
“Then I will go with you,” said Turkey Lurkey, “and we will tell the King!”

Is my turkey "Lurky" enough? My Goose "Loosey" enough? Ducky Daddles makes me laugh, though in his big goofy glasses. Watchout for "Squirrely Whirly...he's a punk.

Now that I've seen a few other entries, I'm wishing I had spent more time on it. At least I have a new portfolio piece out of it! 

Hey! I hope you bunnies and squirrels have a warm and wonderful Holiday season! I'm working on getting back to the swing of this illustration gig after this school semester is over.

Light at the end of the tunnel!

I can see it! It's getting brighter!...the end of the school semester is almost here. After so much web design and coding, I can't wait to dive back into drawing again...oh and then there is Christmas!. Phew!

I'll be back soon!

Flashback style

Yesterday I was dropping of lil' Ro at his daycare and saw one of my old books from my old gig as a staff illustrator laying slightly tattered on the floor. It made me flash back to a time when I was happily drawing in my little cubicle, with my knick knacks in place, and money funneling weekly into my 401k and the stability of it all made me feel panicky. I miss having a full-time job sometimes. Just showing up and ticking down a list of fun projects was nice, clock out at 4:30...done. I didn't have to market myself, or pound the pavement for new work, it just showed up on my desk. This freelance stuff is fun, and exciting, but the unknown sometimes creeps in and scares the heck out of me. I also miss having co-workers to chat with or ask questions or advice.

I also noticed how differently I draw now. I still love the soft look of the watercolors in Painter. Maybe I'll do some experimenting again when my deadlines slow down some.

On a side note, I mentioned to Ro's teacher that I illustrated that book (I didn't mention the 5 others on the bookshelf..) This morning, Ro's teacher gave me a sharpie to sign her book. I felt like a total dork, a very flattered dork though. :)

Dino Candy-vore

10312011008, a photo by starleneg on Flickr.

This dinosaur was digging the Trick or Treating this year. I lamed out on my costume and just had some felt claws and a dino hat...oh well. Next year, right? We had fun and like everyone else, there are so many fun-sized chocolate temptations in my house/office! I've only had 2 so far. :)

Lookie!

I got copies of the magazine pieces I did a few months back. Please excuse the poor photography. My camera is broken and I used my iPad to take these. It's such a cute magazine and I recognized the cover illustration by Julissa-Mora right away. She has a portfolio on That's My Folio too! Cute stuff! Check her out!

Illustration Friday-Scary!

Here is an Illustration Friday post for Scary. This guy doesn't really seem so scary though, I think it's the pink hair. He's recycled from an older illustration, but I wanted to participate this week. I'm  a busy girl.