March 5th, 2010
Hi! I wanted to let you all know that Tales of Woe by John Reed will finally see the light of day/stores/shelves, woo!
http://powerhousearena.com/site/products-page/horizontal/tales-of-woe/
The book will be distributed by powerHouse but is published under MTV Press. I’ve seen conflicting dates for publication – this link says late Fall 2010. Amazon says July 2010. Either way, it’s coming!
A description from powerHouse:
Sin, suffering, redemption. That’s the movie, that’s the front page news, that’s the story of popular culture—of American culture. A ray of hope. A comeuppance. An all-for-the-best. Makes it easier to deal with the world’s misery—to know that there’s a reason behind it, that it’ll always work out in the end, that people get what they deserve. The fact: sometimes people suffer for no reason. No sin, no redemption—just suffering, suffering, suffering. Tales of Woe compiles today’s most awful narratives of human wretchedness. This is not Hollywood catharsis (someone overcomes something and the viewer is uplifted), this is the katharsis of Ancient Greece: you watch people suffer horribly, and then feel better about your own life. Tales of Woe tells stories of murder, accident, depravity, cruelty, and senseless unhappiness: and all true.
Yup, heavy stuff! A nice (or should I say… brutal?) change from the children’s work though. I completed 5 images for the book, 3 of which are featured on that link, but you can see them all in my portfolio. I made them during the summer of ‘08. My friend and comics creator Delia Gable also has illustrations in the book.
And speaking of departures from children’s work – I’ve been hired by TOCCA Beauty to make package illustrations for a new line of products. I’m really loving working with them so far, and when I can say more about it, I will! (:
And as mentioned before – Fancy, written by Kristin Earhart, will be published by Scholastic next fall. 2010 is definitely looking to be an exciting year!!
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January 19th, 2010
This past weekend we took advantage of the MLK holiday to drive up to Montréal on a pilgrimage to see the John William Waterhouse show which is open until February 7th. Go soon, if you haven’t had a chance and you’re able!!! It was fantastic.
Here we are in front of the museum: fellow illustrators Scott Murphy and Becca Solow, and union-organizer-but-art-appreciative boyfriend of Becca, Alex. We were also joined in Montreal by a host of other artists that we knew who happened to choose that weekend to visit as well. We had a merry ole time! Unfortunately we were only there one full day, so we didn’t get to do much daytime sightseeing. We were lucky with the weather – in the mid to high 20s and no snow.
Friday upon arrival and after check-in at the hotel (Hostelling International Montreal – HI has become one of my favorite places to stay, I highly recommend them!), we took the train, very nice metro system might I add, to Schwartz’s, a famous Montreal Jewish deli. There we feasted on Smoked Meat (pastrami). Dudes, delicious. That evening, after recovering from food coma, we checked out the Port and Old Town, peeped at the bizarre outdoor ice/rave dance party Igloofest, and ate crepes and quiche at Chez Suzette. Yum! In the evening we met up with a bunch of other illustrators at a pub called Gery’s.
Saturday we indulged in a delicious HI breakfast (they have a little cafe + bar inside the hostel!), and ate Montreal Bagels, which are very good! We then went to the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal for Waterhouse goodness, and the permanent collection too, of course! Wow. Seriously awesome show. I’d never seen a Waterhouse in person before. The only downside was the awful AWFUL catalogue. Worst reproductions ever! We then had a quick lunch at a place nearby called Gourmet Burger (mmm) and sampled lots of flavored mayonnaise. We never got to try poutine though ): next time! In the evening we met the other artists again for an Indian dinner, stopped by an arcade for a bit, and then hung out at Grumpy’s Bar, near Gery’s. We played darts and it was trivia night. So I pretty much only saw Montreal at night… I definitely need to return in warmer weather! We drove back all day on Monday (traffic = hideous).
And in other news, Fancy is done! I turned it into Cartwheel Books last week. Also, I was wrong about my 3×3 award. It wasn’t just the cover that won, but the Nico’s Journey ’series’ I had sent in! So I have a full page in 3×3 Illustration Annual 6 showcasing the book. Awesome! (: I was pleased with that surprise. What next? Not sure, but hopefully in the next couple months some new project will pop up!
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December 17th, 2009
- yummy churros con chocolate
Things have been crazy lately! Thanksgiving, tons of guests, work, Christmas shopping… I met Scott in Barcelona from Dec 4-9. It was really awesome… also fun to see the Park Güell, which I had drawn in Nico’s Journey. I’d been wanting to go to Barcelona for years, so when Scott suggested I meet him somewhere in Europe on his return from Egypt, Barcelona came to mind! The image to the left is, of course, delicious churros con chocolate. Mmmm…. It was a fabulous time. I’m kind of weird with art museums when I travel. I usually like to see everything else first, and since we were only there for a few days, we didn’t go to any! They just take up so much time and you don’t get to see any of the city… 
We did go to the cool Museu d’Història de Barcelona and saw awesome Roman ruins. Went in a few churches, including La Sagrada Familia. Took the cable car over Port Vell. Went to Montserrat (beautiful). Saw a bunch of other Gaudi buildings… it was fabulous! And now I am back and things are hectic!!!
I’m leaving for Pittsburgh to join my family for Christmas and likely attend my grandmother’s funeral. She became really ill and is now unresponsive in a hospice, and this time we think is it. In the past few years she’s been pretty ill before and always miraculously recovered. She is one tough lady! But she’s also been suffering and getting more and more sick, so this is probably for the best. We’ll miss Noonie.
So… that has put another hold on life, since I’ll be gone for a week and a half. The Scholastic book, which was mostly due the first week of January, will be extended for a bit yet again, probably just another week or so. They gave permission, of course. I want to do my best on these paintings and so far they are looking great! So I’m excited to get back to work on them when I return. I’ve been using normal tube watercolors this time, instead of the watercolor inks I’ve been using for the past few years. Take a bit of getting used to again! But I think I like them better all around. By the way, this Breyer book will be published in Fall 2010.
Oh yes, I also attended a great signing over at Books of Wonder on Nov. 28th - in attendance were Art Spiegelman, Francoise Mouly, Jerry Pinkney, Brett Helquist, Holly Hobbie, John Rocco, Laura Cornell, Charles Santore, and Leo and Diane Dillon. Spiegelman drew a sweet picture in the book of his I bought! Funnnn.
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October 31st, 2009
Hi all! So I’ve finally updated my website. It always takes me a while to get to it. Since I wasn’t given any of the final scanned versions of the images, and I don’t have a big scanner, and too many digital edits were done anyway, I decided to instead meticulously pull apart one of the books so that I could scan a selection of images flat myself! I photoshopped out the text and the seams. Tedious, but worked just fine! Here are three of the images, and the rest can be viewed from my site.
Still at work on the next book in the series. The images were given a bit late to Breyer, but hopefully I will get corrections next week. I want to start painting! My favorite part! And I think the art for this book will be fantastic, better than Diamond!
I also added three pages of a comic I illustrated for author John Reed. They’re samples for an untitled project of his that’s in the works. I was really excited to work in this form, as I’d never done it before.
I registered to attend the Illustration Master Class 2010 in June. I’m totally pumped. I just can’t believe the amazing James Gurney will be giving us lectures and critiquing our work (among other fantastic illustrators!). He has been a huge favorite of mine since childhood. Woo! One of the best things about grad school was working for hours and hours inside a studio with great people, so to have that again for a week will be lovely. It’ll also give me a chance to make a great fantasy piece for my portfolio, which is what I really want to illustrate someday!
The year is winding down. I can’t imagine what 2010 will hold. I was discussing with a friend the other day that being an illustrator can be rough, but instead of spending 20+ years in one job, we get multiple new exciting jobs every year! Keeps us on our toes and there’s always something to look forward to 
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September 29th, 2009
You may be asking yourselves why on earth I am writing a blog post about a James Patterson book. My boyfriend, Scott Murphy, illustrated it!!! So I had to buy one. Am I gonna read it? I’m not sure . You can purchase on amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Murder-King-Tut-Nonfiction-Thriller/dp/0316034045
Please do take a moment to check out his website at http://www.murphyillustration.com/. He’s awesome :B
The illustrations in the book are ink paintings that include small images of Egyptian artifacts, scenes, and maps. The images aren’t on his website yet, the reason being he is currently in Egypt, of all places, until December. Bah! I have included one below, though. This is Hatsheput’s temple.
And in my own illustration news, I am hard at work on the second Breyer book for Scholastic. I’m currently working on the interior sketches, due in a couple weeks. I’ll probably get them done earlier though. The book cover is painted and done though (: It’s making the rounds right now, we’ll see if it needs any corrections…
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September 16th, 2009
My boyfriend Scott and I drove down to the Brandywine Valley last weekend to check out a few art museums and hang out in a place that inspired so many amazing illustrators. We went to the Delaware Art Museum, the Brandywine River Museum, the W.C. Wyeth house and studio, and spent a day in Philadelphia where we saw the Mütter Museum, a place I’d been meaning to check out for years (and has really nothing to do with my art, but I like seeing disgusting body parts in jars).
We seemed to be the only visitors in the Delaware Art Museum, granted the weather was pretty foul outside. Soooo many sweet Howard Pyle’s (image on the left), and a nice Pre-Raphaelite section. I’d never seen a Rossetti in person before (image on the right). The Pre-Raphaelites were my soul inspiration back in high school when my AP art portfolio was all pretty ladies doing pretty things. That night we did some internet research and decided to eat dinner at an italian place called Mrs. Robinos in 
Wilmington, Delaware. I just thought I would give a shout-out to this amazing place. May not be the best or fanciest place to eat, but I absolutely fell in love. It reminded me of being back where I grew up in Pennsylvania. It seriously smelled like my grandma’s house when she used to cook. Just like eating at our family favorite Johnny’s over in Wilmerding. Super cheap, heaping portions, old Italian-American family photos on the walls… Anyway, it rocked.
On Saturday we went to the Brandywine River Museum and the Wyeth house and studio in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photographs inside. These photos of the house and studio are courtesy of the Brandywine River Museum website. Did you know Wyeth was killed when his car stalled on the train tracks in Chadds Ford in 1945? I had no idea! Imagine how much more art he would have whipped up if he’d lived longer and died naturally. Damn. Anyway, the studio was especially amazing. Everything had been left as Wyeth had left it before his death. I loved seeing the paint splotches left on the floor, and the palette with the colors he had been using on his last unfinished painting, and his huge props room. Someday I’ll have a studio like that… Someday!
Sunday was spent in Philadelphia, where I’d never been. As mentioned before, went to the Mütter Museum, and spent the rest of the day walking around. Lovely place! We ate cheesesteak too, of course! I’ll have to return to Philly to give a proper visit.
Also, we briefly spent time in a Barnes & Noble and I took this photo of my book in the childrens section. Look, there it is! Right behind Obama! So cool!
A fun-filled weekend that has made me want to work less on horses and more on magical fantasy paintings… but I’m not complaining!
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August 30th, 2009
My first illustrated book has been published!!!! Diamond, written by Suzanne Weyn, is part of the Breyer Stablemates early reader series of books published by Cartwheel Books, an imprint of Scholastic.
The book can be found in most bookstores as well.
Description via amazon: “Diamond is an Arabian horse that no one wants to ride because they think she is too old. Ava decides to take care of Diamond, spending extra time on training rides to get her in shape. The other riders don’t understand why Ava would waste her time with such an old horse, but Ava and Diamond show them that they have a lot to learn.”
I got a start date on one of the projects previously mentioned and it is actually another book for the Breyer Stablemates series, so look for that one in 2010! The due date is mid-December so I will be working hard for the next 3 and a half months.
Here’s a link on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0545120969/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp
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August 25th, 2009
Summer for someone done with school forever isn’t what it used to be, but I still managed to make a pretty good show of it! San Francisco, Germany, France, camping, weekend trips, WHEW! I’ll be glad to stay in NYC for a while. I am back from my trip to Germany and France obviously, getting settled and back to normal life.
I stayed with my parents in Nuremberg for a few days, with day trips to Bamberg and Erlangen. We then drove to France, with a fun stop in Maulbronn to see the monastery. We stayed in Strasbourg a couple days (and we loved it), took a drive down the Route des Vins and spent some time in Colmar, then a day in Nancy, and my last day was spent back in Germany in Heidelberg. Very awesome trip!!! These two photos are from Strasbourg, one is a view looking toward Petite France (composite of two photos), and the other is a view from the top of the cathedral. Someday I hope to use the tons of photos I took as reference for some awesome kids book that takes place in medieval times… sigh.
Heading to the Brandywine Valley in a couple weeks with my fellow to check out some of the art museums down there, lots of illustration! Excited about that But in other news, I have a couple projects coming up, and I’m waiting on start dates for both of them. They should be pretty awesome though. More on them as they come, since I can’t really say much else at the moment. And in even more awesome news, the book I illustrated for Scholastic comes out in a week!!!! I’ll link you all when it’s up for sale on Amazon. Yay!!!
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July 29th, 2009
Hello all! Well I got back from amazing San Francisco a week ago but in a few days I am off again, this time to visit my parents in Germany. We will also be taking a short trip to France.
San Francisco was awesome and so was Azkatraz 2009!! Met up with so many friends and fellow artists and we had a marvelous time. Since the convention is now over I am allowed to post the images I made for the programming book.
The panel went well! I think we were pretty informative. We only had 50 minutes and that’s not much time for 4 people to speak. After we finished, a woman approached us about illustration rights and it turned out she works with Brad Holland over at the Illustrators’ Partnership. While at SVA, my class got to go to Holland’s studio, which was pretty cool. Anyway, I thought it was amusing that she was at a Harry Potter convention (we are everywhere!) and even went to an art panel! (: Unfortunately she gave her information to someone else in the panel so I have no idea who she is…
Here I am in the foreground at my friend’s “Draw Your Own Snape” panel. Awesome idea!
I arrived in SF a few days early so that I could sightsee before all the convention goodness started. I saw quite a lot: Musee Mecanique (awesome antique still-working arcade machines), the SS Pampanito (I like military history), sea lions, Coit Tower, the SFMoMA, Alcatraz night tour, Muir Woods, various quintessential SF neighborhoods, and I even went horseback riding on Ocean Beach. The weather was gorgeous, but then it would get windy and foggy and so so cold. Overall I enjoyed the trip, but I was glad to be back in NYC. I am definitely an East Coast girl!
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July 13th, 2009
I am leaving tomorrow morning for my first trip to San Francisco! I am PUMPED. I’ll be there for a week. The main reason for my going is that I am attending Azkatraz 2009, the Harry Potter Convention. Yes, I am a nerd. But I really wanted to visit San Francisco anyway AND I was also asked to give a presentation. Myself and a few other artists who were/are fanartists turned professional artists are having a panel called From Fanart to Full-Time. If you happen to be attending the convention, please check us out! We will be presenting at 4pm on Saturday July 18th.
Yes, I was a fanartist. Back in college I used to relax by going home and drawing my favorite characters (and not just from Harry Potter). It was pretty good practice though. Constant drawing along with eventually getting commissions and small jobs from it helped me start learning about the business. We want to give advice to other hopefuls and talk about our creative paths. I’m talking about childrens books and illustration (of course), another panelist is discussing the comic book industry, another computer games, and another graphic and website design, so it will be fairly well rounded. Anyway, here’s one of the old fanarts from 2006. This was actually a commission – Remus and Sirius hangin out in Hogsmeade.
Aside from the convention, I am also planning on checking out Alcatraz, Muir Woods, the Exploratorium, horseback riding on the beach, and many other awesome things. WOOHOO San Francisco!!!!
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