Illustrating for the Girl Scouts

Just wanted to share a small side project I recently had the opportunity to work on with the Girl Scout councils in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia.  I created a badge design for the the Ship to Shore Science project for girl scout councils in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. This project is grant funded by the National Science Foundation and directed by the Deep Earth Academy. The badges turned out really great and I'm excited to see them put to use!

Enter the First Annual Fall Giveaway at AFI!

Hi Everyone! I'm excited to announce the first ever fall giveaway of one of my 24"X12" stretched canvas pieces (wall art for kids), Out to Sea. This piece is one in a series of 5 silhouetted children's illustrations I created with Oopsy Daisy, fine art for kids. Visit their site to find this and more stretched canvas illustrations I've created along with my newest piece, a set of peel and place fabric wall art.

Entering is simple! All you have to do is post a comment on this blog post and you will be automatically entered to win.  Comments can be posted until November 5, 2012 at which time a winner will be drawn at random.  Please included your full name and check back after the 5th, I will announce the winner on the blog. 

Please share this post with friends and family...the more entries there are the better the chance I'll host a second giveaway very soon!!!

Just For Fun

Working on style and colors schemes for a new book and this is one of the scenes that emerged. Thought I would share, just for fun. 

Process Work - Personal Piece

I recently finished this personal piece and thought I would share some samples 

from my collage process:

            I start with a simple hand drawn sketch that I scan it into Photoshop.

          On top of the sketch I build each character with layers of flat color and begin to

            lay in my larger background shadows.

                                                                

         After I've created all of the large shapes, I place papers/textures within the    

         shapes by using clipping masks. All facial details are added and to complete

         the illustration I lay in shadows to give the figures a raised effect.  

            

Childcraft Annual - World Book Encyclopedia

World Book Encyclopedia recently published my first illustrated chapter book, Letters to Words. To accompany this story about the formation of the English language I illustrated the cover and 6 chapter headers. Each illustration is created digitally in paper collage.

Home again, home again

Whew...It's been a busy couple of weeks on the road! I've covered approx. 12,166 miles, got 3 new stamps in my passport, sailed on a research ship, got a little sea sick, received letters from kids I visited at NC schools during my book release, attended my first ICON7 illustration conference, met a ton of awesome illustrators, caught up with old friends, came home to sample copies of my first chapter book, and got a new project through dribble (thanks by the way to whoever posted my work....woohoo for free advertising)!


I'm exhausted, excited, inspired, and really happy to be back in the studio working on some new stuff.  Here are some photos from my recent travels and some fun letters from kiddos back on the east coast.  

The Joides Resolution - my home for 10 days.

Curacao - best snorkeling ever...what, it was for research for the new book. 

docking in Bermuda...can you find me (hint: I'm in a light green shirt)

SEE! We did work...

Found these in the mail when I came home:

So I thought this letter was pretty great...

and I think these guys are my favorite.

I'm going to hire this kid to draw any dog faces in my books from now on.

Life on the JR

Ahoy! We made it to Curacao and have spent some busy days learning about life on the ship, the geology of the island, and getting to know our Ship to Shore group. Since our only i-net access on the ship comes via satellite, posting photos is a little difficult but the JR has a blog where you can learn more in detail about the trip and see photos:  http://joidesresolution.org/blog

New e-book project in the works at AFI!

It's been a busy winter and spring, that's probably clear from my lack of posts, so I thought it was about time to share a little update on recent and current projects. My first picture book, The Summer of the Rabbits was released in March 2012! I was on the road visiting schools and doing illustration demos back in North Carolina during the release.     

Late summer 2012 watch out for my first chapter book, Letters to Words, published by World Book Encyclopedia...I'll share some photos when it's released.


Recently, I was asked by Kevin Kurtz, a children's book author and educator, to illustrate an interactive e-book.  The book will be grant funded by the National Science Foundation and in preparation for this project we will spend 10 days working on the JOIDES Resolution, http://joidesresolution.org/, a scientific research vessel(photo below)!  The ship will travel from Curacao to Bermuda at the end of May. This will be a two year project and I am so excited to be a part of this program! I hope to share my experience from the ship as we travel so check back in over the next few weeks as I begin this journey.

The Summer of the Rabbits, Coming Spring 2012

I am beyond excited to announce that my first picture book (written by Linda Martin) will be coming out in the Spring of 2012! More details coming soon, but for now here is a sneak peek at my cover design of Linda's first book, The Summer of the Rabbits. (Published by Gauthier Publications)

Chapel Hill Prints For Sale!

This post is for all of you UNC fans and fellow Tar Heels. Over the summer I created a map of Chapel Hill, NC for the amazing illustrated map competition @ www.theydrawandtravel.com hosted by Nate Padavick and Salli Swindell. While I didn't win the competition we have teamed up with Great Big Canvas to sell prints and stretched canvas prints of my map. Purchase a print or canvas as a gift or for yourself at www.greatbigcanvas.com/chapelhill.

Check back in to AFI soon to see some fun new projects coming out in the next few weeks!

New kids promo hits the streets!

Over the past few months I have decided to take a stab at digital collage. This new promo designed for the children's market is one of my first attempts and I was pretty happy with the results. I would love to know what YOU think!

Cousin Jack's Food Cart

After quite a bit of work (and time) Cousin Jack's new food cart is finally up and running. When we first discussed the project Kim and Dave (amazing people and owners of Cousin Jack's) were interested in redesigning the packaging for their yummy pasties but the gig quickly spiraled into this fun, but challenging food cart wrap (see photos below). The originals are about a quarter of the size of the actual cart and made completely of cut paper. The food cart will travel around Oregon to different events over the summer and eventually set up shop next to the U of O campus.

Tuesday School

I was recently asked to make a donation for an auction held by a non-profit preschool located in my hometown. Since I attended Tuesday School way, WAY back in the day I was excited to donate a print for the auction. I don't know what the print will bring in for the school but it was more than worth it to make the donation just to find a photo like the one below in my inbox this past weekend!

Cut Paper Collage Demo at the University of Oregon

Hi Friends!

Anyone following me in Eugene should come by the University of Oregon's students stores on Saturday, April 30th, from 2-4pm for a demo of my cut paper collage technique. For more details check out the link below.

Cut Paper Demo

Going to the Chapel

About a month ago I was commissioned to create a customized save the date by a bride-to-be who was looking for something unique. The illo. was a blast to develop because I recreated the location of their wedding and then placed the bride and groom in the scene. We went through a few sketches and changes before finally settling on the cut paper image below. I've included a few process pieces to give you a better idea of how I develop a cut paper illustration.

First Sketch...this was a little too informal so we began

to work more with photos of the wedding location.

Wedding Location

Second Sketch

Third Sketch

Final sketch. After working through a few options we combined elements from each sketch to come up with this image.

Once the final sketch is approved I create patterns of my

basic shapes and develop a color palette to work from.

After all of the details and the papers are glued down I use cardboard to raise figures and objects in the foreground. The type in the image is hand lettered and the type at the top and bottom was applied digitally after scanning the finished illo.

Accepted into SILA!!!

2011 started out at full speed and I've neglected the blog for a few weeks but I'm returning with some exciting news. My illustration, Oil Island was accepted into the 49th annual Society of Illustrators West (SILA) competition! The original is currently on display at Gallery Nucleus (http://www.gallerynucleus.com/gallery/exhibition/293) in LA and can also be found on the SILA website, http://www.si-la.org/49/unpublished.html.

In addition to the SILA show I am happy to announce that some of my illustrations are now being sold through Oopsy Daisy as stretched canvas wall art for kids! To view the first set of illustrations that will be available online and in stores nationwide please visit http://www.oopsydaisy.com/search.aspx?manufacturer=211.

A look back

Everywhere you look this week in the papers, on news shows, and the radio there are recaps of 2010. At the risk of being cliche I thought I would give you a quick look back at a few of my favorite projects over the past year. Here we go...

This year I create a series of covers for the Eugene Weekly's quarterly food guide. Todd Cooper, the art director at EW was great to work and I had a lot of freedom to develop some fun ideas.

The Southern Foodways Alliance commissioned me to create this unique illo. for stickers used at their 13th annual symposium in Oxford, Mississippi.

At the beginning of the year I created a set of illos. for the Science Factory Children's Museum. These sea creatures from the Pacific were reproduced as large cut out wall graphics and the rectangular piece is a 4'X10' mural.

In February of 2010 I won Strathmore's illustration competition, 'How Do You See Green'. These drawing pads displaying my winning illo. are out in stores nationwide.

Happy Holidays

After a chaotic week of work and a (temporarily) lost bag in the process of flying coast to coast I am happy to be back in North Carolina for a few weeks with my family and friends. Before I left OR I finally finished up and sent out this holiday promo. Who knew peacocks had so much holiday spirit.

Quack Quack Quack

A few weeks ago I participated in the two day 'Tools of the Trade' Show at the University of Oregon student stores. The Creative Duck at the UofO is heaven for a paper junkie, such as myself! They keep an amazing stock of hundreds of handmade and beautifully crafted papers, so I was beyond excited to have the chance to be a part of this annual event. At the show I had the opportunity to hang out with the Strathmore reps while demoing my cut paper technique, showing off my Strathmore drawing pad, and meeting a ton of local artists and students! It was a great event that I am so glad I had the opportunity to be a part of this year.

I have to throw in a little GO DUCKS! after Saturday's game. Don't worry Tar Heels...I still bleed Carolina blue!

Louise and Claire Run With the Bulls

Good morning friends. I told you I would be back soon! I wanted to take a few steps back today and share a project that represents another first for me. Over the past year I have been working in my spare time on a dummy for a picture book (unpublished) that I wrote and illustrated. The story involves two young explorers, a moped, and the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. All things that logically go together, right?

Some of these books spreads are completed in cut paper, some are still black and white line drawings, and the storyboard will give you an idea of the overall story. Hopefully one day you can read the whole book in print!