Why I haven't blogged (but with GOOD NEWS!)

Hey everyone! ...It's been quite a while since I wrote anything newsworthy.... so let's start at the beginning:

Last April, I attended a SCBWI conference, sponsored by the Houston Chapter. It had some really notable attendants, including editor Lucy Cummins (Simon and Schuster) and Caldecott Honor winner Peter Brown (Creepy Carrots)... it was a normally hectic day, as I had a critique with Lucy, and got to take part in the birdhouse auction and silent auction, in which I donated this piece for auction:

"Wonce Ug Ton a Tim"

The work on display

Amongst other work up for auction.

I had a great time there as usual. There is a great energy whenever I am at the children's book events. Just being around that many people dedicated to the craft is invigorating! I need to take more pictures next time I attend these events. I am notoriously bad at taking photos. Have been my whole life, actually.

my portfolio display

There was an assignment for the illustrators, and a special breakout session, where Lucy looked at a piece we did. There was the choice of a picture book spread, or a MG cover. I liked the haunting subject matter of the latter, so I chose that one. Here are some preliminary sketches:

and the finished work:

Honestly, I wasn't happy with it, but I figured I could just eat some humble pie and take whatever feedback was given. I like my idea, but I didn't like the execution.

Lucy giving her thoughts on the piece

. I considered my work a very rough piece but almost everyone there had very refined work, and I was a little disappointed in my submission. If I do this again, I would do a million things different... including not showing the piece if I am not happy with it. I don't consider myself a proud person, but if my work is not up to my standards, I probably won't show it.

Anyhoo, Great news....  I watched the bidding all day (I did bid, myself... only because I really liked the piece), and saw the bid go above $100.00! Which is awesome, because our SCBWI chapter got the proceeds from the auction items. The winning bid was submitted by the amazing (and obviously, very smart) Shannon Morgan! Shannon just also happens to be the Regional Advisor for the Southwest Texas chapter of SCBWI....

Thanks for helping support the SCBWI Houston chapter, Shannon!

Shannon and her prize

The sold piece

Shannon was kind enough to post some pix on her Twitter (@nomadshan), and showed where the work ended up. I am honored to have my work on the same wall as C.S. Jenning's art (For more of his work: Click here)

Well, You may ask, "What does this have to do with myself not blogging in MONTHS?!" 

Well, as a result of myself having monsters on my postcard (cuz seriously, I love monsters!)... I was contacted by Stephanie Hedlund, an Editor at Abdo Publishing ...who was also a speaker at the conference. I completely missed her talk as I was in a critique with Lucy at that time.

The bottom line.... I spent the rest of the summer (almost 4 months) illustrating 4 picture books!

I will post more later on the process and what not... but let's just say I would have been happy with just one interested person, let alone an offer for many books. Here is a sneak peek from them:

The Littlest Vampire's Story

The Littlest Werewolf's  Story

The Littlest Zombie's Story

The Littlest Witch's Story

I learned that doing one book in 4-5 months is one thing, doing 4 in 4 months is a completely different matter. It meant working for days on end, having good communication, and making sure every decision was swiftly acted on. It meant being efficient and was quite the exercise in teamwork. Stephanie was great... and when she left for another opportunity, Renee LaViolette stepped in without skipping a beat. I can't thank those 2 enough for being so great in this whole process.

So keep your eyes open for these for books in January 2014 from Abdo Publishing (Magic Wagon).... (click here for their site).

Okay, now that I am back, I have a lot of new art to work on, a lot of new books to review, and a renewed energy to kick out some new artwork!

Special thanks to:

Abdo Publishing

P. Abdo

Stephanie Hedlund

Renee Laviolette

SCBWI Houston Illustrators, especially:

Diandra Mae

Kirk Reedstrom

Felicia Lilley

and all the others, who gave me incredible support!

Work to be auctioned off at SCBWI Houston conference:

Hey everyone!

I have a drawing that will be auctioned off at the SCBWI-Houston Conference on April 13th... It is great doing something to support an organization as awesome as this one!

Details:

"Wonce Ug Tun a Time"
Pencil / Watercolor Pencil
7" x 17"

I tried to do a piece that involved reading --something that an author/illustrator would want on the wall of the their working studio, yet also be appropriate if somebody wanted the artwork for the room of a child: Like a child who reads to their siblings or stuffed animals would understand that the caveman had an audience. Besides,  I love dinosaurs, and I know kids dig them too.













Here are a few more pix of the WIP:

SCBWI Austin Conference: Back in the saddle again!!

Sorry for the long break. In mid February, I attended my first SCBWI conference in about 10 years or so: SCBWI-Austin's Kick It Up a Notch 2013.

First off, I forgot how much I love going to these events. Being in the company of aspiring and very talented creative people is something that I never tire of.  I absolutely love is seeing everyone's different style and approach to how they do their work. One thing that has really changed in 10 years is that I see a much larger influence of computer and graphic design on people's portfolios.

It is always daunting to go someplace where everyone knows everyone, and you don't know anyone. It's kinda like being the new kid at school: No one knows who you are, you don't know where to start.... so it's always a little scary/strange. This feeling never goes away.

Luckily, I did know another illustrator (Felicia Lilley - Her blog is here), and ran into some familiar SCBWI - Houston faces (including my old roommate from the Los Angeles conference in 2001: Charles Trevino!) ...so it was like a homecoming of sorts. I think it was really good of me to take away back, and now that I am back... I have a little better perspective on, well, pretty much everything:

Ok: so I go to put out my portfolio, which is kind of like bringing your prized rutabagas to the county fair: nobody knows how hard you worked at them, and you really hope the dedication shows through... actually it's probably more like bringing your rabbits to the fair... I dunno... Guess I am just rambling. Anyhoo:

Portfolio Display: Austin 2013

This is the portfolio display room. Every conference is different: some have them right next to all the action, and some have them away in a different place. This was the case in Austin: I actually like having them hidden away, because it's quiet and gives a almost museum-like air to the viewing experience:

My spread

I placed my portfolio (after looking at some of the others' layout), and business cards, postcards and feedback form. First of all, my portfolio blows my one from 10 years ago away... probably because I didn't do the research that I should have. This is also the first time I have postcards out:

Postcard for 2013

I made this art specifically for the postcard: the mummy kid has a sleepover with other movie monsters' kids at the museum... and they stumble into the dinosaur exhibit. I was a little skeptical about making a piece specifically for the postcard, but its a story I had been working on... more on this piece later...

There is always a feedback form out, so we can get comments. I absolutely love this part: anonymously  sent comments. I actually enjoy negative ones more because you grow from them. That is one idea I  try to push through to my students: positive comments make you feel good, but constructive criticism points you where you may need to go and explore.

Austin 2013 Auction items

There was also a silent auction, with everything from gift baskets to signed copies to original art. I had tried to get something into the auction, but with time constraints, wasn't able to. I also wanted to bid on some of the awesome art and books, but I was a very good boy, and restrained myself. My house is pretty much out of display room :/

There were some very nice pieces of art for auction, and they have inspired me to do a piece for the Houston conference:

original watercolor

 There was a beautiful watercolor of a mermaid there, which eventually sold for over $100.

Original drawing

There was also a drawing by CS Jennings, who has a great style!

I am notoriously bad at taking pictures, so the rest of the day, I have barely any... attendants got to hear illustrator E.B. Lewis speak.. the man is very inspirational, and the illustrators even got to hear him privately speak about his work. I also had a 10 minute (which goes by wayyyy too fast) critique of my portfolio with agent Rubin Pfeffer, who told me which pieces were successful, and which ones needed work (or just plain needed to get out!)...

Another great (because I always have a hard time seeing enough artist-related stuff) talk was when writer Shutta Crum and Patrice Barton spoke about their road to making the picture book MINE!.. which has no text, and written as such. Very very interesting! It's like going to the art museum and having the artist there talking about how they made it, and showing sketches.

The final event of the conference was the First Impressions panel, where 5 or 6 of the guest agents, editors, artists looked at art/read 1st page of the story, and gave their thoughts in front of over a hundred people. For some reason, I never got an email about this and sent in my art late... I sent in the artwork from my postcard... which I told my students was a risk, because if they say it wasn't good, then EVERYONE knows it is on my postcards, and I have hundreds of postcards with sub-par art on them... sigh, I think I am a glutton for punishment.

 ...so anyway, it didn't seem like my work was going to be talked about...Even Felicia got her piece critiqued:

Felicia Lilley's critique

 I just assumed too many people would have submitted their work: it does take some guts to have your story/art dissected in front of everyone.... but what better place to see it?

 and then...

BOOM!

holy crap.

Okay, two things:

1. I wish I had sat closer

2. I wish I had recorded what was said.

- I sat there and just waited for the punch to the gut: 

"wow, really?"

"this is awful"

"This artist should go back to stick-figure school"

"I can't believe this person thought people would enjoy this"

"I'm gonna be sick... who in their right mind would draw such a thing??"

But nothing like that was said. 

Instead things were said, like:

"I love when children's characters are scared... makes me laugh:

"It makes me want to know more: like what are these characters doing together?"

...and E.B. White said something about  "the arrows pointing to the dinosaur not being needed" 

...but overall, a great way to end the conference! I felt so relieved! It was like being on a roller coaster for the first time: It is a success if you just don't pee your pants.

I rode the high the comments gave me until I went to bed that night. And as if the gods were smiling upon yours truly, I found a place in Austin that had FRIED CHEESE CURDS!!!!!   (and nearby was a candy shoppe that had at least 30 kinds of salt water taffy!)

Val was merely a spectator: I ate most of them.

I can't help it: being from Wisconsin, there is a good chance my mom was 1/2 gouda, and my dad was most likely 1/3 aged cheddar.

Can't wait for the Houston conference in April!!! 

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).

October is here!!!

Holy Cow!! It's October already!?!?

Okay guys,

Can't say this has been easy, but I am nearing the end of the commission/requests... Since I only got 15 requests, I decided to release them every 2 days, starting on October 2nd. Here is the order of dates:

October:

2nd
4th
6th
8th
10th
12th
14th
16th
18th
20th
22nd
24th
26th
28th
30th
31st

And if that wasn't enough, I decided to not just do drawings...

but to PAINT them!..

Some would say I was crazy for doing that, some would say I was crazy to just ask for a $20 dollar donation to my school's art program (I do accept higher donations--hint hint!)... the ones finished so far have came out to work of anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours... to give you an idea of time spent.

The style differs from piece to piece, as well as the medium used. Hope you guys enjoy it, and make sure you stop by on the dates mentioned to see what is new. I will be contacting everyone who made requests individually, to arrange delivery.

...and PLEASE! Feel free to comment, or to just follow my blog.

Cheers! Joel

Artwork: Scarecrow

Inked art (L) and finished color art (R)

I thought I would try doing a piece for the Covered Blog, and redid a cover from Marvel Comics' Wonderful Wizard of Oz...  If you have a chance and can read any of them (I think they are on the 5th series), give them a shot. Great for all ages.

The Art:

I tried to keep the rough sketchy style of art that Skottie Young does in the books. I used solely a brush and ink on the drawing (above left)... using a mix of dry brush, some linework and spattering the ink. I used my fingerprints in the ink to help make the shadows... if you look close you can see my prints. I have seen other artists do this, particularly a great piece by Chuck Close... and thought I would give it a shot. It worked with moderate success, although I think next time I will use an ink pad.

The finished work is a mix of watercolor, gouache, colored pencil and ink.

You can really get some beautiful lines with the ink. I did this one pretty big, and I think in retrospect I would have liked to do it at half the size.

Artwork: Untitled

Currently working on a character design for a book I was thinking about writing. My main experience is in picture books, but this story would be a little bigger, like a beginner/chapter book...

Ok, I finished the blue character first, before I went on to the other one. I usually don't work this way, but I usually don't work this early (9 am). I usually am up til the am's finished a piece.... So I did half in the morning, and the other half at night:

I listened to an album I used to have in college: C'mon Feel the Lemonheads by The Lemonheads... Forgot how great of an album that was... almost 20 years ago. Wow. I am old.

Artwork: The Stinky Cheese Man

Once in awhile, I like to take a shot at doing some of my favorite characters. One of my all-time favorite children's illustrators is Lane Smith. One of his books is called The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. Wikipedia describes the book as such:

The Stinky Cheese Man and Fairly Stupid Tales is a postmodern children's book by Jon Scieszka. Published in 1992 by Viking, it is a collection of twisted, humorous parodies of famous children's stories and fairy tales, such as "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Gingerbread Man". Illustrated in a unique style by Lane Smith, the book won the New York Times Best Illustrated Book award, was a Caldecott Honor book, and has won numerous other awards in various countries.

The book has proved to be popular with children and adults, as its lighthearted approach creates interest while educating young readers about some of the features of books (such as title and contents) by poking fun at those conventions.

-He designs the book along with his wife, Molly Leach, who does the layout/typography. She is amazing... Here is a YouTube video of them discussing some of their books:

...And here is his site: Lane Smith Books

I really wanted to do a painting of the main character, who tries to entice everyone to chase him. Nobody does, however, because he stinks so bad.

I tried giving it an energetic background, and tried using some salt to add texture to the watercolor. I probably need to use bigger rock salt, because I did get a texture, but I wanted a little more.... 

Beginning Washes

I also tried to make the lines in the back give the feeling like odor was just coming off him in droves. I wasn't sure what kind of color to give him. I always thought a "Blue Cheese Man" would be interesting... but I went with orange-ish hues.

A man made of cheese, who stinks really bad. I love this kind of stuff!
All said and done, maybe 4 hours or so.

Artwork: Flying Monkey Flashback!

I am not obsessed with monkeys, honest... I was at the bookstore and got inspired by a Wizard the Oz book, and wanted to do a piece of one of the characters. I have always been drawn to the Tin Woodsman, because when I was a little kid, I thought he looked the most futuristic, like a spaceman... So I chose to do him, as if he was having a flashback to the Flying Monkey attack. That scene to me was scary: strange creatures attacking, complete chaos, the scarecrow being ripped apart, and kidnapping! I can't think of many other movies I saw when I was younger that gave me the feeling that scene did.

Left: Sketchbook, Right: Drawing on watercolor paper 

Thinking of doing the original in watercolor, and coloring the scan digitally, just for a change of pace.

Penciled Woodman: levels adjusted

..and after, I dunno...maybe about 5-7 hours (Thank you Spotify, for keeping me sane!), the watercolor is done. 2 things: I forgot how much fun watercolor can be, and I didn't use a marker. I have been trying to get away from using them, if only because I don't like to rely on them all the time. I researched to see what rust looked like on tin, because I always thought it was strange that, in the movie, the Woodsman would just freeze, but you would never see any rust on him: 

Finished WC... The new scanner did a pretty good job!

For a little while, I was worried. When I started adding the rust, he looked like he has thrown up on himself, or had the Ebola virus. I tried to add rust in the grooves and joints of his metal, or anywhere there would be excess moisture (eyes, mouth). He is coughing up a screw, because instead of phlegm, I would imagine a metal man would cough up rivets or washers or something of that nature.

I also have his funnel rising off his head, as I always assumed it was a hat that he would take off... like when he entered a church or stood for the National Anthem.

As always, Comments/Criticism welcome :)

Artwork: Pirate Monkey

I just got the blog up and running. So let's do this. Building the portfolio back up, and working on new art pieces. My wife's friend suggested I do a Pirate Monkey, so after doing a few sketches, I decided on a layout. I was going to do it in gouache, because since getting them, I have been aching to use them. I was also going to use watercolor and ink:

The initial sketch:

Doing lines in ink, wasn't sure about outlining, but there you go:

I did a watercolor wash, to tone the white down and add some value for reference:

and the final product. Note I forgot the tail... added it later: One thing nice about using gouache: it always can mix... and you can "reactivate" it after the paint has dried (vs watercolor, which is absorbed more by the paper)... That being said, I thought it was a fair job, considering first time in the medium. I think I would have maybe skipped the wash next time, and softened the background (which can be obtained digitally, but I am working on that as we speak).

All of the above pix were taken with my iPad, and the one below was pieced together in Photoshop (photostitch is amazing!), because it was so big. The scan stinks, as you can tell the difference in color. I want to retake the scan so I have true colors before I give it away:

From start to finish, about 6-7 hours.

Anyhoo: there you go. First picture up! Comments/Crits always welcome.

Up next: A tortoise and hare picture.