Sketching and Painting the Figure

Homes in North Avondale

I just started breaking in a new sketchbook. Vanessa and I were walking in her neighborhood Tuesday to keep our minds off things and away from the TV. There are some gorgeous homes. I sketched a couple, but would love to sketch more of them. Another place I would like to sketch is Oak Park, IL.

Also, I have been taking a Painting the Figure class with my retired DAAP ID professor Gil Born at the Art Academy.

Painting or drawing from a model is one of the best ways to improve your skills as an illustrator. I really need to start going to life drawing sessions at Manifest.

My November 8th painting at the Painting the Figure class.

Buckeye Book Fair

Angela Johnson and Me sharing a table. Photo by her cousin Roz.

I have had a really good time both visit to the Buckeye Book Fair in Wooster, Ohio. This year we sold out of a Warm Winter Tail and almost out of Why the Possum has a Large Grin.

Angela Johnson was fun to talk to and made the day pass quickly (which is good when you are at a table all day). She was a big advocate of the Possum Book (and got a copy for her niece).

I bought a couple copies of her picture book Lottie Paris Lives Here illustrated by the amazing Scott Fischer for Christmas presents. It is so cute!

She is best known for her YA books (which I would like to read) but has also authored some amazing picture books in addition to Lottie illustrated by Loren Long (one is a Golden Kite winner).

Here is a sketch I did that day:

I added color to this while I beat Troy and Cline at Scrabble...

Halloween Doodle

"Catbat leads the Halloween parade..."

A little doodle I did while waiting for my car. I love this craft paper pad I got at Smartfish in Over-the Rhine. It is a little iffy with a lot of watercolor though.

Happy Halloween!

Bat Fest Demo

Demo I did at Bat Fest on some awesome craft paper I got at Smartfish Studio on Main Street in OTR

Last Saturday I was at Bat Fest at the Cincinnati Museum Center. It was a wonderful time. I read Little Red Bat and did art demos.

A lot of people stopped by with questions and the Museum has an actual red bat! (Her name is Ginger.)

Brown bats in a cave

Anyway, I will be in Wooster, OH this Saturday for the Buckeye Book Fair. Hope to see you there!

Also, a photo a friend took of me signing the Possum book at Books by the Banks!

Signing at BBTB! Photo by Kathy Myers

Fall Color in Spring Grove

This was an odd sign. I hope they is not a zombie problem here... There were mounds of dirt... :O

Vanessa and I took a walk to sketch fall color at Spring Grove Cemetery Monday. It was a beautiful day and the light was that partly cloudy mysterious feel.

Above is a wooded path the looks like it goes to a strange land of fantasy. One could even imagine a sprite or two there...

The path to...?

Interview with Johnette Downing about Why the Possum has a Large Grin

Page Title - No value

Johnette talks about the book and her new CD where she reads the book. So if you get the book here, you can order the CD here.

Cartoon I did of Johnette

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.

Sylvan Dell Has an App!

One of the things I LOVE about Sylvan Dell, is how they embrace technology.

They now have an app available with the books I illustrated for them! So cool!

          We are very excited to announce the launch of our

                               “Fun eReader” iPad App.

                   Enjoy with this 30-day free trial offer!

Picture carrying 76 ebooks to inspire reading and teach children about science and math. Now all the great things you have loved about Sylvan Dell books are available in one spot on the iPad or any flash capable device. Covering tough science and math subjects through picture books children will digest amazing facts about strange animals, faraway places, earth systems, and even math concepts.
			Free Trial: Login only as a School Site License User by entering 2WZ637 into the Red box at the bottom of the iPad App Registration page. Trial Expires Nov 15th.
Features include: ·         76 eBooks each with Read-to-Me / Read-toMyself, Auto Play, and English / Spanish selection on the fly. ·         Cloud and Download eBook play. High speed internet needed for cloud viewing ·         Download, Uninstall, Buy Now options via MyAccount page. ·         Drag, Tap, and Flick page turning ·         Easy Registration for: (1) New Users, (2) existing Personal eLibrary customers, and (3) School and Library eBook Site License users. ·         Viewable on iPads, computers, and flash compatible devices.
Share! If you love Fun eReader shout about it in iTunes and rate us in customer reviews. If you have any questions please email or call us at (877) 243-3457

Gateway Quarter in Over-the-Rhine Sketch

I ended up early downtown for my Painting the Figure class with Gil Born at the Art Academy Thursday and had a bit of time to sketch. (I had to pick up my husband Troy from the very sad Reds playoff game and the traffic was crazy so there was not time to take him home before class started so I was dropped off.)

I love the restoration they have done with that whole area and am obsessed with how lovely the architecture is.  It was the perfect time of day too when the sky is golden.

I got some odd looks as I sat on the sidewalk across the street and sketched. I need some sort of little chair or sit-upon for these occasions.

Findlay Market and Doodles

Quick sketch at Findlay Market Saturday Morning

Gelato=Yum...

It was such a nice day on Saturday that I stopped by Findlay Market to sketch. I also did a little shopping for apples and stuffed pork chops from Kroger Bros. But of course I always stop for a little gelato. Dojo Gelato has some great flavors. I got a mix of Maple Cream Cheese and Pumpkin.

It was very weird to open the Cincinnati Enquirer Sunday and see their photo of the market from almost the same vantage point. I suppose it is the best angle and there is seating there. It was very serendipitous. Although, I doubt this is a situation like the TV show Heroes where a character was drawing the future. If  I start sketching natural disasters however, watch out! It could be a total Cassandra situation.

Anyway, here is a doodle I did while waiting for my computer to restart. Thank goodness I am upgrading!

Spring Grove, A Lake in Kentucky and A New Blog

Yesterday I went with Vanessa Sorensen for a little walk at Spring Grove and some sketching. It is so beautiful there.

It is interesting because I did not know that Spring Grove was constructed in the 1830s after a Cholera epidemic and the overcrowding of little church cemeteries was unsightly.

This is the Robinson Mausoleum. I found out after that it was built in 1874 for $35,000. The Robinson family owned Robinson’s Circus from 1824 to 1916 when they sold it to the American Circus which later merged with Ringling Brothers. The place is cram-packed with these historical goodies.

I forgot to post a couple weeks ago this sketch of the dock at my in-laws at Lake Barkley in Kentucky. It was a great place to view birds. I saw herons, a turkey vulture,and many others.

My little setup next to my sketch...

 Finally, I just started a new blog. It is meant to be a place where I develop children's stories. First off is Francis Tales. I did a dummy a few years ago. This is a new iteration of that to start, but it will be a home for stories, experiments and little nugget ideas. Stop by and say hi: http://christinawaldtales.blogspot.com/

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...

Fountain Square and the Columbus Comic Covention Formerly Known as Mid-Ohiocon

Wednesday we tried out a new place for the downtown Illustrators Lunch, Rock Bottom Brewery. We seem to be cursed in our choice of lunch location so I hope this one will be around a while. 

After lunch, I did a little sketch of the fountain. I have always loved it and it was the brief time of that day with lovely weather.

This weekend, I dipped my toes back in the con pool. Since I am doing my web comic, Pop Smoothie, I hope to make it to more of these. SPACE in April and maybe CAKE in Chicago next year.

It was a wonderful time despite my lack of stuff for sale.

Anyway, here are some sketches I did during the event. I wish I had gotten some of the more elaborate costumes, but they were Saturday for the contest.

Steampunk Lady

Painting away at our table. Photo by Christopher Moshier.

Quickie doodle. Who doesn't like fairies and foxes?

Park(ing) Day With Queen City Bike

My sketch from Park(ing) Day

Photo courtesy Queen City Bike

Friday was Park(ing) day where different groups in Over-the Rhine converted parking spaces into little parks. My friend Cheryl Crowe asked me to sketch in the Queen City Bike space for the afternoon. It was great fun. I had dressed expecting cold and rain, but we lucked out!

More about the event and more pictures of other artists and spaces:

http://5chw4r7z.blogspot.com/2012/09/cincinnati-parking-day.html

http://www.urbancincy.com/2012/09/cincinnatians-transform-dozens-of-parking-spaces-into-temporary-parks/

http://www.blogotr.com/otr/cincinnati-parking-day-2012-in-otr/

 Me Sketching; Nern Ostendorf models the yarn bombed chair by Katie Wearne. Photo courtesy Queen City Bike

Full park view... Photo courtesy Queen City Bike

A beautiful evening...

A CSO violinist was entertaining diners...

 After an afternoon sketching, A friend and I went over to the Joshua Bell Concert with the CSO at Music Hall. The concert was AMAZING. If you have not seen him perform, I highly recommend it.

Indiana Bat Festival and Aquarium Sketches

In the mood to sketch chrome after Lunken. Still snuck in a dragon... Guess what my Christmas card will be this year...

 It is a bit of a hodge podge of sketches lately. Over the weekend, I went to the Indiana Bat Festival at Indiana State University. Laura Hohman and her husband Jim were nice enough to let me stay at their place so I did not have to get a hotel room. It is a great show! I also love all the taxidermy, weird plastic molded cross sections of plants, cells and animals, and skulls/skeletons that decorate the halls. Definitely different decor than what we had at DAAP!

Today, after our weekly illustrators lunch, Linda Bittner and I went to a really cool  exotic aquarium store called Aquatics and Exotics in Mt. Healthy (in walking distance from her house).

Done at the Indiana Bat Festival over the weekend...

At the aquarium store...

These are so super cool!

Encyclopaedia Britannica Lion Plush Set

The art on this one was my favorite. I also did the interior art for the chimp and elephant sets.

I am not sure where you can order this. The others are still available on the Encyclopaedia Britannica web site, but the lion is not. The toy site is here: http://www.teknektoys.com/OurToys/EncyclopediaBritannica/Lion.aspx

I got mine from the Amazon Marketplace but the shop I got it from no longer has it.

Lunken Airport and Gateway Quarter

MG and cool chrome plane at Lunken... This is my new itty bitty sketchbook that fits in my new purse.

Squeezed in a couple sketches between deadlines and posting some old ones. I have been biking more lately at the newly expanded trail at Lunken because I love it! This weekend was Aviation Days so it was a double bonus. The weather was a little iffy yesterday though or I would have taken a Cessna ride over downtown Cincinnati.

The MG outside the show was gorgeous. It almost had cliched sparkle. Too bad a bunch of bikes were leaned against it.

I did this several weeks ago. I have biking at the cool new trail at Lunken lately...

Sketch of our view from the 1215 at a little outdoor table waiting for our call to get int Bakersfield OTR Friday.

Cover: Wordsworth and the Dragon

© 2012 Scotti Cohn and art by Christina Wald

After working bit by bit through a minefield of deadlines, the cover for Wordsworth and the Dragon. Stay tuned as we put together the final layout and illustrations for Scotti's wonderful book!

A Day at the Renaissance Fair

This woman had a gorgeous fairy costume. The Henna Hut was a cute little building.

The Ohio Renaissance Fair opened yesterday in Waynesville and I went with some family members and fellow artist Amy Bogard. The first weekend is a 2 for 1 deal which convinced me to go.

Amy and I spent most of the time sketching. The festival has expanded a lot since I last visited; there are tons of really cute buildings and cosplay has really exploded in recent years. Lots of elves, fairies, and pirates were represented in addition to the medieval garb.

I actually felt sorry for the people in costume because the air was a humid soup. It was not pleasant.

The Swordsman Theatre and a cute little fairy girl with matching orange crocs.

Lady in the Lake with curious bullfrog.

Loved this tree decor.