Great Commencment Speech by Laurie Anderson at SVA

I just saw this posted on Boing Boing's site and and to repost it. It is a wonderful speech and Laurie Anderson is an amazing speaker. In a way, she says a lot of the things that are said in the Neil Gaiman speech that went viral a couple weeks ago. (I posted it on the Cincinnati Illustrators Blog)

One thing they do not mention in either speech however (and perhaps that would not be the appropriate venue for such commentary) is the crippling amount of student loans that art students have these days (and students in general). It is almost impossible to start a decent art career $40,000 to $100,000 in student loan debt.

Usually as one gets older and further along in their art career, the younger generation is nipping at their heels (as it should be). Now these kids are completely hobbled by this incapacitating debt and it is a shame...

I feel really lucky to have gone to school when I did and it was still affordable. It seems like a number of forces have made that no longer the case and that needs to change.

I am not sure of the solution, but my heart goes out to those just starting out.

Spike meets the Catnip Plant

I bought a catnip plant for the catio and hilarity ensued... I need to re-pot it if it lasts long enough...

 Of course while Spike is goofing off, Miffy is the epitome of helpfulness... She is obsessed with my light table.

Today's Warm Up Sketch

Lots to get done today; but first, a bit of fun...

"Why the Possum has a Large Grin" Book Trailer at Last!!

I am so delighted to finally work with an author/musician. It made the trailer so fun! Yes, it is clear I watched way to many Warner Brothers cartoons as a kid...

I love this book; I hope people who read it enjoy it as much as I enjoyed illustrating it! (Out in Fall, 2012)

Finally Updated Pop Smoothie

You can finally read the exciting conclusion here to Dance Mom Wars!

Hopefully, I will be updating regularly now...

On the non-comic front, I have a ton of new art to show, introducing it slowly to avoid overload...

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...

A Little Doodle

A little doodle I did while my computer was restarting... (Yeah, I am getting a new one as soon as I finish this book, got to get ready for CS6...)

Wild Life of Elk Finalist for 2012 Benjamin Franklin Award

Good news everyone!
 

The Wild Life of Elk, has been named as one of three finalists in the 2012 Benjamin Franklin Awards competition, in the category: Young Reader: Nonfiction (8-12 Years)!

Wish us luck! 

http://www.ibpa-online.org/pubresources/benfrank2012_finalist.aspx 

 

Why the Possum has a Large Grin

Here is a sneak peek of the book I illustrated and written by Johnette Downing. It is about a naive deer and not so nice possum and hilarity ensues.

Out in the fall!

Here is an interior sketch peek:

The Silliness Continues...One last Year of the Dragon Sketch

Could not resist this as my warm up sketch... Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Happy Easter!

Another Easter Doodle

Easter in the Year of the Dragon the sequel. Perhaps he came out of the egg Game of Thrones style show from the earlier the bunny pic...

Catio

 We have lived in our house since 1992 and never have used the little porch off of the living room. Finally, we had windows and a door installed and it is like having a new addition to the house! It is odd that we waited so long.

We are calling it the catio (as you can see, Spike is already loving it), but I think we will be out there a lot as well... It will be a nice sketching spot.

Easter in The Year of the Dragon

Easter in the Year of the Dragon...  Not sure why I added the wings... I think for more dragon feel but they had to be furry.

It's premiere day!

The first new comic for Pop Smoothie is up! Check it out!

New Web Comic Comic: April Fool's Day Debut

As many of you know, I am starting a web comic called Pop Smoothie. The debut is April Fool's Day, rather appropriately.

Hope you all stop by! The first comic is called Dance Mom Wars...

Sketches in Spring Grove

 It's no secret that Spring Grove cemetery is beautiful this time of year. Today some friends and I went biking and sketching to soak in the atmosphere. The spring flowers are gorgeous but unfortunately we missed the peak color by a couple days. All the flowers are early bloomers this year, and we also noticed their time with us was brief.

Here are some sketches and photos from our morning outing. It was a spectacular morning.

Next week we plan to do some longer plein air setups and paint for a couple hours (if the weather gods are kind).

Grave Statuary

I don't know what these wooden cage things were next to some graves, I could only assume it was a zombie containment unit.

Sketches in Ault Park

Today is the first day of spring and it feels like summer. We have had friends in town for the weekend and decided to go to Ault Park yesterday to see the weeping cherry trees and other spring flowers. I also did some sketches. Ioana always tells me the plant species. (We always joke that she could make up names of some of them and I would never know)

It was absolutely gorgeous!

Afraid of how hot summer will be... On the flip side, I hope there are no freezes so my new blackberry plants I planted last year are not frozen out.

Below are some photos close to sunset.

Studio Pictures

Childrensillustrators.com recently added a "studio" feature. I was not very comfortable with it because my studio is often such a disaster. I usually am working on several things and the battle with entropy never ends...

But I recently tidied everything and took pictures. My painting studio needs to be painted and there is always room for improvement, but this is where I stand now...

Making Pysanky

Teresa's amazing collection!

Theresa is the master! The electric wax pen 

really makes the process easier.

I spent the evening over at my friend Teresa's making pysanky, otherwise known as Ukrainian Easter eggs. Or, in my case 'egg'... They take a long time and I am still a beginner.

My feeble attempt... I hope to be good at it one day.

Dragon Birthday Card

I have been mega-swamped but have a ton of new art I will be able to post soon.

In the meantime, a quick birthday card for my nephew I did this evening between sketches... The next dragon I illustrate will be Dash from Wordsworth and the Dragon!

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!

New Web Comic Comic Coming the End of March

Pop Smoothie, Strange Tales from the Blender will debut the end of next month. It will be the zany stuff I like to do for Slam Bang's anthologies.

The Ultimate Extreme MEGA Meal-Bot

Iron Giant Chef

The Hungry Housewives 

The first stories will be Dance Mom Wars and The Fairy Godfather. Stay tuned! Also, I will have a URL soon...

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)

Cover Design-a-palooza: Time to Vote!

This is concept 6!

Here is the whole set:

Vote and comment here:


http://wordsworthdragon.blogspot.com/p/cover-art.html

It is Year of the Dragon!

I have been really swamped and am tardy in posting. So, I doodled this today while waiting for my giant files to save. Happy Chinese New Year!

In case you are wondering, I was born in the year of the monkey.

More Wordsworth and the Dragon: Cover Design-a-palooza Week 5

Featuring the redesigned cavabok! The whole lot: http://wordsworthdragon.blogspot.com/p/cover-art.html

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

Happy Holidays from Christina Wald Design and Illustration!!!

As I finish up Warm Winter Tail, animals in snow are on the brain! I love drawing Arctic foxes so I just started doodling and this is the result!

Since I am really swamped this holiday season, just a quickie card this year. Next year I will have something elaborate!

More Wordsworth and the Dragon: Cover Design-a-palooza Week 4

After this week, two more concepts to go and then voting begins! See the others here: http://wordsworthdragon.blogspot.com/p/cover-art.html

This one is Dash-centric with a whiff of "C"