Yellow Pencil Studio, Inc.

Swimming in Noodles!

2010-10-01T14:59:00.007-05:00

The printed copies of Jim Cosgrove's new album have arrived! Illustration and design by yours truly again. It was a lot of fun (and more time-consuming than you'd think) to draw all those noodles! I'm very pleased with the final result.

The music is, of course, terrific, and Jim's already won an award for it.

He's having a release party at the Plaza Library tonight in Kansas City (4801 Main Street) if any of you northeast Kansas/western Missouri folks can make it. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. The album will be available beginning October 5th, here.

Drawing For a Cause

2010-06-08T13:29:00.011-05:00

Recently, I was invited by my friend and fellow KU alum, Brad Sneed, to join Project OpenBook. Together with Phil Haussler, they make MarbleSpark. They are spearheading this collaborative effort which, in the end, will become a children's book of poems and drawings from which the proceeds will benefit Room to Read. Artists and poets of all ages and from all walks of life are invited to participate. If you would like to learn how you, too, can participate, just head on over to the Project OpenBook blog.

The ultimate goal is to raise $2,500 to free a young girl in Nepal from indentured service and pay for her education through secondary school. With a $2,500 contribution, Room to Read will intervene in a case where a young girl has been sold into indentured labor. The money will return the girl to her family and fund her education through secondary school. More information is available here.

A wiki network has been set up where the illustrators and poets can work back and forth on each piece, and constructive criticism is encouraged amongst the participants. Poems are posted by the authors and are up for grabs by illustrators, and as soon as I read Phil's delightful poem below, I called dibs on it:

I Built My Bug a Rocket Ship
by Phil Haussler

I built my bug a rocket ship
To fly him to the moon.
My little insect astronaut
Will be launching very soon.

The rocket is a loaf of bread
With a waffle cone on top.
Four fins made out of melba toast…
Held tight with syrup glops.

Ten, nine, eight, seven…
Get ready for your trip!
…six, five, four, three…
Oh no! My dog just ate the ship!

If you click on the illustration, you can see a larger version, including the bug's spacesuit nametag, which reads, "LIEUTEN-ANT." Get it? :)

You're invited to vote here on which poems and drawings make it into the final book. I hope you'll consider joining the project as well! I will leave you with a link to a video about "The Girl Effect" which describes exactly what Project OpenBook hopes to achieve.

715

2010-02-16T14:08:00.006-06:00

A friend of ours recently started a new restaurant here in Lawrence, called 715, named after the address of the historic building in which it resides. The place is booming, but I'm not surprised. Matt and Michael are master restaurateurs, and their creation is wonderful.

Matt just happens to live down the block from me, and our children are schoolmates. He asked if I would create an image for 715 to be used on merch like t-shirts and aprons that focused on a pig, since pork is one of the main ingredients in the delicious Italian-style food at 715. Matt's idea of a pig escaping from Chef Michael on a Vespa was a delight to draw. He wanted the feel of an old poster, but the fun of a children's style illustration. It also had to be made using only flat spot colors, since the products are all silkscreened. The above was the result.

If you're in northeast Kansas, you should make a point to check out the restaurant, which is in historic downtown Lawrence, on Massachusetts Street. Here's a link to their website to get your tastebuds in a frenzy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T21:48:00.003-06:00

Valentine's Day is absolutely my favorite holiday of the year, when red foil hearts, pinks of every shade, and frilly white doilies are everywhere. I hope your day has been lovely, and that you got to spend it with your true love.

{This was a Valentine puzzle illustration for Clubhouse Jr.'s February issue.}

Never Fear!

2009-08-23T23:26:00.007-05:00

I haven't forgotten about you, my poor blog! It's just been a crazy summer, and I haven't had a chance to post until now. What with a number of educational illo assignments, many happenings over at my Petite Press site, and a now second-grader (gulp!) to care for, it was just a little too much for me to handle. But I'm back into my regular routine (almost) and hope to post more regularly this fall. I do have a little bit of exciting news to share this week. The nice folks over at Children's Illustrators.com have kindly tagged me as their "Illustrator of the Week" with a link to my portfolio on their homepage. I'm tickled pink!

{The piece above was from a song book I worked on for Scholastic last year. This was for the tune, "Looby Loo."}

Fresh Air

2009-03-15T23:03:00.004-05:00

Spring is almost here – yay! Time to start our veggie garden for the year, open the windows all day, and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. The big winter projects are past, and it's time for new ones. I've got my fingers in a few pies at the moment, including some new items up over here and on Poppytalk Handmade, and some sketches for a new book project. Here's to spring, and to fresh starts!

{This illustration was for an educational assignment from a while back.}

Peep

2009-02-13T11:52:00.002-06:00

I'm still here. Just unbelievably swamped. I only have time to draw, sleep, hug my family, and eat something now and then. I'll be back to normal in a couple of weeks. Back to work...

Night Owl

2009-01-04T21:51:00.004-06:00

I can't help it — I've always been a night owl. About 8 or 9 o'clock at night, my brain suddenly kicks into gear, and I'm at my most creative and productive after dark. I make up for the sleep in the mornings (when I can), and that's how I survive. It flummoxed my parents (both VERY early risers) while I was growing up, and my daughter also seems to be of the bright-and-early persuasion. My husband is also a nocturnal person, though, so somewhere in those genes, I guess two earlies make a late, and vice versa. He and I stay up until the wee hours like shoemaker elves, working away, and have to remind ourselves go to sleep in order to be halfway cognisant when our child wakes up.

Anyway, tonight my husband pointed out this article to me in this month's Wired Magazine, which validates my habits, and those of many of my creative friends. It was nice to learn that my sleep tendencies might just be beneficial.

{And another thing about genetics — apparently, two quiet people also make a much louder one. :) }

Snowed Under

2008-12-14T22:16:00.005-06:00

Yix! It's been quite awhile since I've posted here, but I've been snowed under with work, and I'm still digging myself out. I'm fortunate to be working on lots of illustration work for textbooks and the like at the moment. I'm looking forward to a little break over the holidays to allow my brain to recharge.

{this piece was from last winter, for a Spanish vocabulary textbook — it seemed fitting for not only the season, but my whole life right now!}

Pssst...

2008-11-18T14:50:00.004-06:00

New stuff over here...

After another heavy workload for the last couple of months, I'm back to whipping up some holiday cheer before the season hits full force. My break is short, but I hope to add a number of new things to the Petite Press shop before I'm back to illustration work. We'll see how much I can get done... :)

It's a bird... it's a plane... it's Vita-Kid!

2008-10-16T11:00:00.007-05:00

I've been asked by fellow Lawrence illustrator and friend Barry Fitzgerald to submit a piece of "food-themed" art for a show at Blue Plate Dinners (yum). So I whipped up a little piece which I'm calling Vita-Kid. (Super food for super kids.) The fun element about this show (besides all the fantastic artists who are participating) is that we've all been asked to create art that will fit inside a gallon-size zipper-top plastic bag. I can't wait to see how they will all be displayed in the store.

This piece also has a little bit to do with the efforts some fellow moms and I put forth during the last school year, campaigning for better school meals for kids in our district. I truly believe that our children will be healthier, fare better in school, and in turn, life, if they are fed better food.

P.S. Posts will continue to be slim for a while, as work is crazy here right now. I'll try to check in now and then, though.

P.P.S. The birthday party mentioned in my last post? Tons of fun. And the rainbow unicorn now has a just-as-colorful reclining fairy for a shelf-mate. :)

Time to Make the Cupcakes

2008-09-23T20:39:00.005-05:00

A little person I know will be having another birthday soon. She has chosen to paint-her-own who-knows-what at Sunfire Ceramics for the celebration. I wonder if we'll be bringing home another ceramic unicorn figurine to be friends with the one she made last time?

Do Not Leave Unattended

2008-09-21T22:24:00.007-05:00

This weekend, I had the privilege of participating in the Do Not Leave Unattended collaborative journal project. A series of journals are making their way around the world, being filled with writings, artwork and photographs from all sorts of people. It was so fun to peruse what the other people had done in the pages before me (Yasmine and Aimee). Here was my entry (click to enlarge):

It's off to Heather next, and then Amanda. I can't wait to see what they do!

I ♥ Being Busy

2008-09-16T10:40:00.008-05:00

I'm a list person. It's how I keep track of every aspect of my life. (I should really start a list to keep track of all my lists.) A few of the things on my "to do" list this week:

• Final illustrations for a children's publishing client in the UK
• Finish printing letterpress stationery for a friend in Kansas City
• Help E learn her spelling words for Friday's test
• Sketches for a children's publishing client in California
• Entry for the "Do Not Leave Unattended" journal project

What do I like most about lists? Making check marks. :)

Logo Project

2008-09-11T08:02:00.002-05:00

One of the projects I worked on lately is a new logo for my rep, Maggie. I sketched out six ideas, and from those, she chose the one that she felt would represent her diverse group of children's illustrators the best. This is the final version.

Talented Neighbors

2008-09-07T11:13:00.008-05:00

I am fortunate to live in a neighborhood full of very talented people. There are painters, designers, illustrators, musicians, writers, craftsmen — this place just oozes creativity. One of them is Deb Stavin, a wonderful designer and photographer, who just received news that eight of her recent photographs have been awarded honorable mentions in this year’s International Photo Awards competition. She has traveled to Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Vietnam, Ghana, Guatemala, and India, getting to know the intriguing people of those places and capturing them and their environment in compelling photographs. Here is one of the award-winners (a tea shop in Varanasi, India):

So, congratulations, Deb! I can't wait to see where you go next.

Your Cover's Blown

2008-09-05T17:03:00.011-05:00

My friend, Aimee, artiste and blogger extraordinaire, tagged me last week with a blog award. I'm still kinda new at this blogging thing, but now it's my turn to share a few of the blogs by creative folks that I've been enjoying:

• The Noticing Project, by the wonderful Heather Smith Jones and Alicia Alferman
• Holli Conger, fellow children's illustrator and member of Maggie's group
• Holli's Big and Little Art blog for grownups and their artistic offspring
• Mike Snell, travel photographer and fellow Callahan Creek alum
• Barry Fitzgerald, also a fellow illustrator, and a professor at my alma mater, KU

So, tag – you're it! If you'd like to participate, please nominate your favorite blogs in return.

Studio Show-n-Tell

2008-08-21T22:29:00.008-05:00

I can't always show what I'm working on in the moment because of client confidentiality, but I thought I'd share some snapshots of my studio from last week, with some snippets about what I've been working on lately:

1) Beaded bookmarks that I'm in the middle of stringing to go with new bookplates.

2) Just some of the Petite Press projects I have in progress, each in its own shoebox.

3) Sketches for a children's educational illustration assignment. I finished the final art this week (digital this time).

4) Personalized letterpress bookplates to be printed for a customer in Louisiana.

5) The big window that looks out on the south flower garden in our yard.

6) Logo project for Maggie, my rep.

7) The painting for another album cover for Jim Cosgrove.

8) That mermaid painting I haven't had a chance to work on since the last post!

9) Sketches for an updated mascot for my daughter's school.

10) My big messy bulletin board with sketches and paintings from recent projects. You should see my cousin Mady's "color board" ... it's amazing.

11) Illustration for the cover of the next issue of FPM.

12) iTunes spinning my favorite album of the moment, "Smoke Rings," by Dri (who happens to be from Lawrence).

13) Paint, paint, and more paint.

14) Paper, paper, and more paper.

15) Photo of my grandfather at his Linotype machine in the 1980s.

16) Presentation boards for a new logo project at the AAFP.

17) My bulletin board part 2, complete with part of a paper replica of Jeremy's Muffler.

18) My two favorite paintings from Picky Mrs. Pickle.

19) The typewriter my dad wrote his college papers on, which my daughter and I have been using lately to type secret notes to each other.

20) Some lovely promo postcards sent from other illustrators over the years.

21) Men's "Thank You" cards in the process of being assembled.

22) The discarded desk and chair which I found curbside a couple of streets over one afternoon and couldn't pass up. A big thank you to Estelle who helped me heave them into my car. I have plans to refinish the desk... someday.

My letterpress is downstairs, in the studio "annex" -- I'll post some photos of it on the Petite Press blog someday soon.

Phone Message

2008-08-18T19:49:00.003-05:00

Since my studio is at home, my daughter has learned that when I'm on the telephone with a client, she needs to be politely quiet until the conversation is finished. Now that she's learning to read and write, she jots down notes and hands them to me while I'm talking. This one cracked me up more than usual:

Translation: "It is not going good. Yikes! Love, E"

She was frustrated with a drawing she was working on, but we worked through it. That was an easy problem to fix. Some of the other dilemmas that happen while I'm on the phone? All I can say is, "Yix!"

Vernacular

2008-08-07T19:52:00.003-05:00

Last autumn, while I was locking up my bike at the Lawrence Arts Center, I happened to glance at a nearby shrub and I saw this note on the ground beneath it:

It was such an interesting message that I had to pick it up and take it home. Was the recipient named Noodles? Were they making lunch plans? Opening a restaurant? I just couldn't figure it out. Anyway, since then, it's become a saying around our house, and has spread to our friends as well. We use it in several ways, like "you've got to be kidding," or "you are so strange but I love you anyway." And if we're having noodles for dinner, it's a given that someone has to say it. The possibilities are endless.

Field Trip

2008-08-03T14:09:00.005-05:00

Friday afternoon, my friend, Estelle, and I took my daughter to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City for a break. We had a delicious lunch in the café, then strolled through the museum, noticing the new pieces, and reacquainting ourselves with the old ones.

I gave my daughter the camera and let her roam until she filled up the memory card. Because the flash was off, many of her photos are blurred, making for some very interesting and beautiful shots. This is the ceiling after entering the main entrance in the old building:

And this is a view from inside the peaceful, dark Hindu temple:

I also took my little journal and sketched for a few minutes inside the temple (although it was a little challenging with a child tugging on my arm at the same time :) ...

All in all, a fun day.

Facelift

2008-07-06T19:16:00.004-05:00

After about a month's worth of work (and fiddling), my new website is mostly done and up:

http://www.yellowpencilstudio.com

Please let me know if you find any broken links or missing images. The "For Kids Only" section is still in process -- and will have to wait a while longer as I begin a new illustration assignment this week. Off to finish up the sketches now...

Mermaids - Part 3

2008-06-28T14:13:00.004-05:00

Not as much time this past week to work on personal work, but I did get the purple mermaid tail finished:

Next I'll work on the other mermaid's tail. Hers will be green, I think.

Mermaids - Part 2

2008-06-20T22:13:00.005-05:00

Tonight, I blocked in the seafoam green color for the water in the background with gouache. I've started working in various shades of blues and greens into the base color:

Here is a closeup:

I typically work from background to foreground, so I'll have the water pretty much finished before I start on the girls. I like to keep colors that I use often mixed up in film canisters and I paint from the lids. I can keep a color consistent throughout a book that way. Not quite as important when doing a one-off painting like this one (then I would normally paint from a palette), but this seafoam green is a favorite color of mine.

I keep a tabouret (a rolling cart of drawers) full of my little canisters of paint. Here is one of the five drawers where you can see a variety of colors and my little notes to myself:

Mermaids - Part 1

2008-06-19T16:52:00.006-05:00

The other day, E asked me to draw her a mermaid. I realized then that I've ever done a mermaid for a client before. So I'm going to do one for me. Actually, for E -- I promised she can hang it up in her room when it's done. At any rate, I figured this would be a good project to show how my paintings look at various stages of completion. Step 1, of course, is the rough sketch:

After letting it sit for a while, I came back and decided that it might be more interesting if one of the girls was upside down:

I liked that better, so now I've transferred my sketch with graphite to my watercolor paper. Time to paint!

An Expert Cat Draw-er

2008-06-15T10:50:00.003-05:00

I had forgotten until recently how fun it is to learn to draw one particular thing. E learned how to draw a cat last week, and now there are little cat faces hanging all over the house and studio. There's even one above the real kitty's food dish. She has a certain method (whiskers are the last step) and is so proud when she finishes each one.

When they get to elementary school, it seems kids decide that learning to draw is all about mastering one subject at a time. When I visit schools, the students will quiz me and ask, "Can you draw a dinosaur? A robot? A queen?" and so on. They try to find something I can't draw. I'm not sure when I reached the point that drawing became a form of interpretation for me, rather than a skill to show off a list of subjects. Somewhere along the way, I guess. Anyway, I love watching E's repertoire grow.

Terrific New Tunes

2008-06-13T18:28:00.003-05:00

My friend and colleague, Jim Cosgrove, has just released his newest album for children, called "Upside Down." It's Mr. Stinky Feet at his very best. I was honored to do the illustration and design for the CD sleeve... my very first one. The songs are all terrific, but E's favorite is "Let's Stick Together." It brings a tear to my eye, knowing the story behind the song (you definitely must read the liner notes). My favorite is "The Buggy Hop." I can imagine all sorts of little bugs to draw to illustrate the song. Jim's website is http://www.jimcosgrove.com, and the CD is available there. If you have little ones at home, you should definitely check it out.

The Lipicoldus

2008-06-13T09:33:00.004-05:00

This morning I told E (my daughter, age 6) that I started a blog last night. Of course, she has something ready to post up here before I do! She immediately wanted to share her painting from yesterday. She says it's called "The Lipicoldus," which means "cool, interesting and neat." I agree.

The Beginning

2008-06-13T00:02:00.000-05:00

Tonight was one of those nights... I spent the evening with three amazing creative friends and I feel rejuvenated. Aimee's wonderful blog has inspired me to get in gear and start my own. Voilà!