Tomie dePaola Award Time!

The Legend, Tomie dePaola

Legendary children's illustrator Tomie dePaola is having his 2nd annual contest, where he will pick the winner's for the Tomie dePaola Award... which I believe is a trip to NYC to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Conference.

Tomie dePaola Award

The rules are that it should be in Black and White, and illustrate a segment of text from either Little Women, The Yearling, or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Here are some of the entries so far...

I am very excited, and am debating whether I do it in half-tone watercolor, Sumi, or in pencil.

Here is a sample of last year's entries.

and last years WINNERS.

I am thinking of doing Tom Sawyer, which... thinking I could watch an old black and white movie, maybe get in the mood for doing a black and white piece...only to find the 1938 movie is in COLOR?! Whaaat? Thanks to YouTube, you can actually watch the movie in parts. Here is a fun game: count how many times the actor playing Tom Sawyer (Tommy Kelly) looks confused, dumbfounded, bewildered, or like he just ate a lemon.

Speaking of of this film being colorized, here is a fun fact from IMDB: 

Many disputes arose between photographer James Wong Howe and his associate, Technicolor photographer Wilfred M. Cline about which colors to use in wardrobe and sets. Cline wanted bright primary colors, while Howe insisted on subdued earth tones. Since Howe got his way, after one week they were not on speaking terms and The Technicolor Company banned Howe from shooting further pictures in color; Howe did not make another color film for 10 years. 

Stay Tuned... I will be turning this in by December 14th.

Back to the drawing board (Literally).

Today I listened to a concert by the band fun. (and am thinking of going to see them in concert... sound really good!)... anyhoo, drew something that will make it into the portfolio hopefully. I took these pix with my new phone, and used a program called "Pic Stitch".

Steps 1 and 2

Still not finished, but a decent start.

These are characters that I made, and showed them earlier on the blog... but that one was in watercolor. Because this was black and white, and also because I couldn't paint the textures, I made the dog a lot furrier... there were a few other changes from this one:

original colored characters

...And this is the link to NPR's fun. in concert that I was listening to. Love it...sometimes seems like you are listening to a soundtrack to a musical, then a sad song from a movie, and then others seem like you are at the carnival, and then some just plain rock.

That's all she wrote!

16 of the 17 pieces done for my October Art-a-Thon.

Hey everyone, thank you for watching my blog this past month. I am almost at 4k views, so I know many stopped by to check it out. Here is the finished art (sans Rich's Scary Fairy piece...which is already in his hands):

I am now going on to prepping for a few conferences in the spring. Attending both SCBWI conferences in Austin (February) and Houston (April).

Halloween #17: Nephew and Nieces

One of my old high school friends, Elexis asked that I show her nieces and nephew in Halloween costume. So here they are!

Elexis and the kids

Pen/Ink in Bristol

Halloween #16: Thing 1 & Thing 2!

I know what you are thinking: "Wait. October is over!" ... but NO! Not by a long shot! I still have a few more! (and thanks for being patient. My computer has been getting me lately. Hey Computer! I promise I will let you rest. Just a little more!)

My elementary school friend Michelle (St. Joseph's Catholic School REPRESENT!), wanted me to draw her sons in their Halloween costumes as Thing #1 and Thing #2.

I decided to use Sumi ink again, just because I think it's pretty cool.

Sumi ink/Brush on Bristol