Happy New Year

The year has started with a bang! An image from A Warm Winter Tail by Carrie Pearson and published by Arbordale is in the Mazza Museum of International Picture Books 2020 calendar!. I could not be more excited!

Calendar Cover

November is now my month!

Also, I do have a holiday card this year, it is just really late...

Book Signing at Blue Manatee!

I will be signing A Warm Winter Tail on February 2nd, 2pm at Blue Manatee. I will be doing a drawing demo and then sign books!

It is also Groundhog Day! Sadly, no Puxatony Phil though...

Event here: http://www.facebook.com/events/193433200801706/

Hope to see you there!

Book Signing at Joseph Beth in Crestview Hills, KY

I will be signing A Warm Winter Tail and Why the Possum has a Large Grin on Wednesday, December 5th at 5 pm.

I will read the books and do an art demo.

Note that this is the Joseph-Beth in Crestview Hills, KY.

Hope to see all my Kentucky (and Ohio) friends there!

More info here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/137125883104497/

Joseph-Beth Booksellers

2785 Dixie Hwy.

Crestview Hills, KY  41017

859 912 7860

Here are the book trailers:

Books By the Banks and and the 20th Century Theater

Sketch of the amazing 10th Century theater from the outdoor eating area at Habit's after the illustrators lunch

Books by the Banks was great this year. I met a lot of people and had a great location. Book sales were very good. A Warm Winter Tail sold out almost instantly lots of Why the Possum has a Large Grin takers and we sold a fair amount of the others too! They had four of my titles there.

I was lousy at taking pictures this year which is too bad. A lot of great illustrators (and authors) were there. I was at my own table which made it harder to skip out for a few moments. I did briefly meet Mac Barnett and got a couple Brixton Brothers books for my nephew. I also got Chloe and the Lion for my personal collection. Both are illustrated by Adam Rex, an amazing and generous illustrator (and a great help when I was getting started in children's book illustration). I met him years ago in the 90s when we were both doing illustrations for role-playing games during the CCG craze. He has produced an amazing body of work since then and has a book written by the equally amazing Neil Gaiman called Chu's Day out in January.

Anyway, a couple pictures I managed to take. In the Platonic context, they are the shadows on the wall compared to the true event...

My table, just imaging me sitting at it...

The parade of beloved children's book characters. Seemed a little dog heavy; good thing the cat was there.

Books By the Banks!

Books by the Banks is Saturday and I will be there this year with A Warm Winter Tail by Carrie Pearson and Why the Possum has a Large Grin by Johnette Downing.
 

There are a lot of great books, authors and illustrators attending this year, it is great place for holiday shopping!

Hope to see you there!

I am in the process of setting up other signings too, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here is a coloring page I did for the possum book. Feel free to Share and Enjoy!

The books I will have at the show!

Adorable picture of Johnette at the possum book release party.

Blog Tour for A Warm Winter Tail

Carrie Pearson is doing a blog tour for A Warm Winter Tail:

Here is the schedule:

Monday 1st: Robin McCoy at  http://www.inspiredbysavannah.com/2012/10/book-blog-tour-warm-winter-tail-by.html

2nd: Casey McCormick and Natalie Aguirre at http://www.literaryrambles.com/

3rd:  Sue Heavenrich at http://archimedesnotebook.blogspot.com/

5th: Anastasia Suen at http://asuen.com/blog/

Monday 8th: Nancy Shaw at www.nancyshawbooks.com

11th: Wendy Lawrence at www.thefamilythatreadstogether.com

12th: Jennifer Rumberger at www.jenniferrumberger.com – winner announced!

15th: Debra Diesen at http://jumpingthecandlestick.blogspot.com/


More info...

More Glorious Samples! A Warm Winter Tail

This book looks cool in 88 degree heat.

It is a busy fall! I recently got initial samples of A Warm Winter Tail by Carrie Pearson from Sylvan Dell. I do not like to show bias, but I love how this book turned out! It is also available in Spanish

I will be signing this in October at Books by the Banks, so stop by! I will post signing events as they come up.

Here is my favorite spread:

Squirrels keeping warm.

Spike loves new books!

Another peek: A Warm Winter Tail

I am just starting on the book trailer for A Warm Winter Tail. Stay tuned! Although no explanation is probably needed, this is the squirrel spread...

Coming Soon! A Warm Winter Tail

Special Sneak Peek! Part of a spread from Warm Winter Tail  by Carrie Pearson out from Sylvan Dell in the Fall. This reminded me of the weather today! Nothing is more lovely than the snow first coming down...

More as we get closer to the book release. Also, stay tuned for the book trailer!

Studio Helper: Why Cats and Paintings Sometimes do not Mix...

I should have a lot to show you but here is a photo of Spike, new studio helper. He likes lounging on my paintings while I work, unfortunately... It is a good thing he is cute... (Also a sneak peek of art in progress for Warm Winter Tail)

Interview with Carrie Pearson, author of A Warm Winter Tail...

 As I put finishing touches on the art, an interview with the author in Children's Book Insider...

http://cbiclubhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-12.pdf

This book will be so fun. Here is a sketch teaser:

Pencil sketch

Final painting

Back in Town and New Book Cover!

Just as I got back from vacation in Greece! While I sort out the pictures and get them uploaded to Flickr (including some urban sketches I did), here is a little post on the final cover design for my book coming out in Fall 2012...

It is a wrap around cover and below is the full composition. This one has a really cool concept. For those interested, here is the sketch

And finally, a touch of Santorini from my trip.

Sneak Peek: Cover Sketch Approved!

My next book for Sylvan Dell is called A Warm Winter Tail written by Carrie Pearson.

Just got the cover sketch approved. It is a wrap around and I will have the final soon.

 There is a quiet serenity around snow scenes. I always enjoy painting them.