Category Archive

I started a massive throwing out of (what is turning out to be) the junk in our office space, and I’m finding out some things about myself as I go. First of all, until the last few years I didn’t feel I had actually created an illustration until I held it in my hands, so I printed out everything I did, and …

This is Giant. I drew him on my napkin at Dino’s Restaurant in Latrobe, PA. He doesn’t like when you refer to him as “jolly.”

O.K. I may have gone a little over this time. (Hee hee.) I needed this one scary and creepy, and I think it turned out pretty close. I’m not going to tell you the story this one goes with because it happens to be the punch line, and it would totally ruin the page turn if you already knew. All I’m saying.

This is Ted. I drew him on my napkin at Dino’s Restaurant in Latrobe, PA. He says “hi.”

Here’s that jack-o-lantern sketch updated to fit the format of the book. I’m not telling what the title of the illustration is because that’s also the gag line. And we all need to do our gagging on cue.

AnnaLaura Cantone I first came across AnnaLaura Cantone’s illustrations a while back as I flipped through a Houghton Mifflin Kids catalog and found Prudence and Moxie by Deborah Noyes. The combination of the illustrator’s looseness and her confidence in her mark making made me rip the page out to explore her work a little further. Of course the page went …

(The trail photo is from September, taken while riding my bike on the Great Allegheny Passage.) I’m already tired of the snow. And the winter. And the scraping of the car every time I want to go somewhere. And the gloves that you can’t use to do anything except keep warm. And it really isn’t even winter yet for another …

I had originally drawn this sketch with the intention of turning it into a greeting card, but instead it’s spent the last few years collecting dust on my hard drive. “But,” thought I, “if things were rearranged around a bit to fit the format of the book…” I’ll post the new sketch as soon as it happens.

I think I’m finally finished with this one; I really don’t know what else I can do with her. I’m about to send her off to Tomie dePaola, and we’ll find out on January 3 what he thinks.

Here’s the latest on Heidi. The background texture is a combination of a watercolor texture I painted a while back and a photo of my concrete driveway. I tinted the watercolor a reddish tan to help with the steampunk look, and the driveway layer I left as gray.

Starting this year, SCBWI is taking over sponsorship of the Tomie dePaola Award, although Tomie will still be choosing the winner. I’m not expecting much of a look from Mr. dePaola, but it does give me a subject for my next postcard. They’re looking for an illustration based on the opening paragraphs of the classic Heidi by Johanna Spyri. Tomie …