Profile on Voyage Chicago

Chicago is one of my favorite cities to visit and sketch in so I was thrilled when Voyage Chicago contacted me to do a profile. They mostly write about metro artists, but occasionally cover regional ones. 

I should also mention that my awesome author Songju Ma Daemicke (Cao Chong Weighs and Elephant) lives in Chicago.

http://voyagechicago.com/interview/meet-christina-wald/

Thanks to my friend Jeb Brack for the referral!

Travel to France and Switzerland

Dijon, France

Dijon, France

Lyon, France

Marseille, France

Sketching in Marseille

Marseille, France

Marseille, France

Paris, France

Avignon, France

Albi, France

Thun, Switzerland

Me and my mom in Thun

Eriz, Switzerland

Sketching in Eriz

Here are some of the sketches from my trip to France and Switzerland in May. It has been a dream of my mother's and mine to travel for a month. This year the stars aligned and I had two cousins in France on sabbatical for a year in France.

My cousin Maria and her husband Tom were in Lyon and my cousin Gina's husband had a Fulbright Scholarship in Marseille. I even did a school visit in Marseille at their sons' school!

 I did around 35 sketches but these are some of my favorites.

Many more are on my Instagram page.

May the Fourth Festivities

This has become a Cincinnati illustrator premiere event! Art from CF Payne, David Michael Beck, Jim Effler, Carl Samson, Richard Luchek, Kevin Necessary, Christina Wald, Amy Bogard, Sarah Rocheleau, Anthony "Tank" Mansfield, Sara Leah Miller, Jaimie Filer, Tim Fuller, Michael Colbert, Chris Reiff and many more!

Hope to see you there!

https://www.facebook.com/events/210023729591325/

K + R Shipping So Hard by Christina Wald

"I'm One With The Force. The Force Is With Me." Chirrut Îmwe by Christina Wald

 We are also doing more community outreach this year and are having our first kids art show!

Allison from the Walnut Hills Library holding up one of my sketches

We kicked that off with teaching how to draw aliens and droids at the Walnut Hills Public Library. Somehow, we ended up drawing spaceships too.

How to draw an angry wookie in 6 steps...

Allison, Kevin, Tim, Christina

Drawing sheets from our event

More Ohioana

The poster art I did for the 2018 Ohioana Book Festival is also the cover for the spring issue of their quarterly magazine with a little write up. Hope to see you in Columbus next Saturday!

Ohioana Book Festival Poster

I am so excited I got to work on the Ohioana Book Festival this year!

From the website: "The Ohioana Library Association was founded in 1929 by Ohio First Lady Martha Kinney Cooper to collect, preserve, and promote the works of Ohio authors, artists, and musicians. By the early 1930s the Library had outgrown its space in the Governor’s Mansion and moved into the new State Office Building at 65 S. Front Street, where it remained until 2001. Ohioana and the State Library of Ohio then moved to the renovated Jeffrey Mining Corporate Center near downtown Columbus. Today the Library’s holdings include more than 45,000 books by or about Ohioans; 10,000 pieces of sheet music; biographical files on notable Ohioans; personal papers of Ohio authors and artists; and numerous scrapbooks created by Ohio civic and cultural organizations. The collection does not circulate, but is available for in-library use."

I saw their previous year's posters and loved how open the design requirements were.

I did five concepts:

 I flirted with two different directions. Ohio has always been very active in the space program and I thought that could be a possibility. I also came up with a couple weird animal ideas I did not think they would ever go for. I was super excited when they chose this idea.

Final concept sketch

Process gif

Final art:

Final poster art

Holiday Card 2017

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday! Let's make the world a better place in 2018...

The card features the triskelion, Celtic symbol for progress, personal growth and improvement.

I did not think I would get a card done this year but I got an urge to draw a unicorn!

Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant on NSTA Trade Book List and Best STEM Book of 2018 List

I am so excited that the book I illustrated for Arbordale Publishing, Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant written by Songju Ma Daemicke is an NSTA Outstanding Trade Book, a list coordinated with the Children's Book Council and National Science Teachers Association.

The book was really a delight to illustrate. It is an engaging story and I loved researching costume and architecture for it's ancient Chinese setting.



UPDATE: It also just confirmed as a 2018 Mathical Honor Book and 2018 Notable Social Studies Trade Book

UPDATE: Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant was also selected as a Best STEM BOOK for 2018 by the NSTA and CBC in addition to best trade book! A double honor! http://static.nsta.org/pdfs/2018BestSTEMBooks.pdf

UPDATE 2:

We made School Library Journal's

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day Ten – 2017 Math Picture Books

http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/12/10/31-days-31-lists-day-ten-2017-math-picture-books/

Drawing Database: Marc Leone NKU

Marc Leone interviewed me for the NKU Drawing Database. It was a lot of fun!

SCBWI and Books By the Banks

I am doing an SCBWI talk 7-8:30pm at Upper Arlington Main Library in Columbus tomorrow (October 24th). If you are in the area, stop by and say hi! It is open to the public!

I will also be at Books By the Banks Saturday. It is a wonderful book festival great for Christmas shopping! 

 

My 2011 poster

Tara Calahan King's 2017 poster

News, Talks, etc.

I am excited to have been interviewed for the new C. F. Payne Documentary available for download Friday the 13th.

I will also be doing a studio talk at NKU for their in:sight show as part of Branemonium.

Hope to see you there!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1968255803459433/

I will also be doing a talk at SCBWI in Columbus October 24th and will be at Books By the Banks on October 28th.

Drawing at Blue Manatee September 30th Thanks Jesika Roy for the photo

Reading at Blue Manatee September 30th Thanks Jesika Roy for the photo

Science at Blue Manatee September 30th Thanks Jesika Roy for the photo