Library of Tomorrow CHARACTER DESIGNS

Here's some ROUGH character designs for the main characters of my newest book dummy i am starting to work on.



They are based on the roughs I posted from an earlier sketch.

finished spread

finished spread from my new picture book dummy, "Yuck, Put That Back Where You Found It". The story is about a little boy who's not allowed to have any pets. He's befuddled and upset when his parents get to take home and keep a pet of their own: A baby sister.

GADGETS GALORE! updated 10/9/08

To the right is the latest installment. Discarded iconic library icons, which have become obsolete compared to their high tech replacements



These sketches are for a picture book project I've been working on/writing for a few months now. I've put it on the back burner temporarily. In the meantime, I'll keep posting some of these rough drawings...


Below are random background characters with their gadgets.


Below, are the main character, Preston, his Grammy, old weathered librarian and new cyborg librarian... and oh yah, a monkey (cuz libraries have monkey bars now!)

new cover art for Buzz Beaker #6

still a working title but i laid in the type just to get an overall sense of the thing...

Just One More Book Logo (final)--DAY 7 of 21

Here's my illustration for JustOneMoreBook.com's call for entries.

Theo's Thumb EXERCISE -- DAY 5, 6, 8-10 of 21

Above are the revisions of the images below...


Been trying to perfect the style... still not quite there... but improving... these are way too muddy.

Boots -- DAY 4 of 21

These are part of what were supposed to be a quadriptych that I'd then make prints of for the Old Port Fest in Portland, Maine this Sunday... but a combination of time and not being thrilled with the direction they were heading made me ditch them, at least for now. I did start to paint one of them but hated it. I may attempt to do them again, but they'll be much simplified.



Why is it other artists start simple and gradually add details whereas I have to strip away layers of detail and line over time?

Simon -- DAY 3 of 21

Still got some bugs to work out but not too shabby for the allotted time... I plan on doing more caricatures for editorial work so hopefully this is the start of something cool.

Flower Pedals -- DAY 2 of 21

I like this idea. Maybe I will do a finished version and spend a bit more time than 15 mins...

Just One More Book Logo (rough)--DAY 1 of 21

21 DAYS: I'm going to do 21 straight days of 15 minute illustrations and post them each day. "They" say 21 days is the amount of consecutive days needed to make something a habit. I've already tried it with the gym, but that didn't go so good! I'm also doing the same with my writing (but i won't be bothering to post any of it).


here's my super rough drawing for justonemorebook.com's website redesign.

Character roughs for graphic novel

New sketches for the 6th Buzz Beaker book, tentatively titled 'Buzz Beaker Meets Dracula', slated for January '09. This manuscript is the best Buzz story yet!

Case In Point (UPDATED May 16th)

I recently had a book turned down at a trade publisher, after serious consideration and a revision. Part of the reasoning was that they found the dummy sketches to be very charming but not so much with my finished art. I'm dabbling with a new illustration and I'm starting to see what they mean. The rough illustration below shows the rough pencil line AND the cleaned up version. I clean up my line work to the point where it is a bit lifeless and has lost a bit of its 'edginess'. Which do you prefer??

I am going to try and trust myself a bit more and not worry so much about making mistakes. Here are some more choices...

#1 is taking the first rough sketch, adding a rough acrylic wash and colored pencil accents on pastel paper.
#2 is the same but taking it a step further with brushed black line work. I think this one pops a bit more but has lost some of the warmth of the original sketch and maybe my lines are too thick in places with not enough variety of line weight... thoughts??
HERE IS THE 3rd ATTEMPT...
this is taking the painting and placing it behind the original sketch in photoshop... might be too muddy though because of original 6B graphite pencil shading... getting closer but still more work to do...

LOTS OF MONKEYS

ABOVE IS THE FINAL


color combos for a T-Shirt for a coffee shop... there's a set of duplicates in there by mistake... can you find em?

I LOVE YOU BABY, YOU'VE GOT TO GO (TO SLEEP)

Here is a a video I have been working on since December for a Jingle Punks' music video for a kids DVD.
you may have to copy and paste this link (super low-res, but you'll get the gist...):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoLRW2LjWmM

I did all the illustrations by hand (colored pencils) then scanned them into Photoshop and cut them up and put them in Flash, where i did all the animation. Really put Flash to the limits. Higher resolution screen grabs below...

Baby delivery in Maine

part of a series of illustrations for the Maine Medical Center's new children's/women's wing.

April Issue of Your Big Backyard

Spring Game in the April 08 issue of Your Big Backyard. Not thrilled with how this turned out, but is part of the evolution of finding my style. It's headed in the right direction... baby steps...

SNEAKY PEEKY

Here's a cropped section from an illustration I just finished for High Five magazine...

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Conference Sketches 2004 - 2008

Here's a convoluted compilation of scribbly doodles from the margins of my notes from SCBWI Conferences past and present.

Anyone you recognize, SCBWI peeps?

Attack of the Mutant Lunch Lady!

(Buzz Beaker #4)

AVAILABLE NOW!
Brainy Buzz Beaker thought nothing could be grosser than cafeteria food. That’s before the school’s lunch lady turned into a mutant blob of mystery meat. Now, Buzz and his best friend Larry must discover a way to stop the Cafeteria Creature.
Reminds me of the days when Mrs. B used to take sandwiches out of the garbage for "her dog"...

You can order it from amazon at this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Attack-Mutant-Lunch-Lady-Brainstorm/dp/1434205010/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199888178&sr=8-1

Gone with the Windmill -- INKS - sneak peek

Just finished all the inked pages for Buzz Beaker #5: "Gone with the Windmill". Here's a sneak peek from the interior...