New samples today from #Highlights! These hidden pictures assignments really satisfy my sneaky side. See the flashlight? 😏 #yellowpencilstudio #illosforkiddos #childrensillustration #hiddenpictures

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Celebrating the 😎solar eclipse today with a piece I illustrated about how the sun reflects off the moon to make the different phases we see on earth. In this month's issue of Click Magazine! #illosforkiddos #yellowpencilstudio #cricketmagazine #childrensillustration

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Goodies just came! I love getting samples and seeing how the things I draw in turn out in real life. ;) #illosforkiddos #highlights #yellowpencilstudio

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New Website!

After many months of work between assignments, I've updated my website portfolio with tons of new samples, as well as a new "For Kids Only!" section. I've made a bunch of fun printables for kiddos, including puzzles, games and more. Check it out here! :)

Swimming in Noodles!

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

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

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!

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.}