Busybusybusy

Work-In-Progress

I'm working on final art for the Sled book. This may be my favorite spread. (I reserve the right to change my mind!)

More Books With Maps!

This is a map I worked on over the summer for a book called Something to Hold, by Katherine Schlick Noe. It's the story of a young girl who goes to live on an Indian Reservation with her family in the 1960's. The book will be released by Clarion Books this coming December!

In this instance I wasn't able to read the manuscript beforehand, but was given enough key points to be able to tie in the map with the feel of the story. Really looking forward to reading this one!

"Reset"

Transferring a sketch for a map assignment on my old-fashioned light box during the week without power.

I'm thinking of calling last week "The Lost Week," or "The Powerless Week," and I'd like to hit the reset button for the month of September, please! Like thousands of other folks across the Northeast, our power went "poof!" last Sunday morning due to Hurricane Irene, and we didn't get it back until seven days later. (Seven long, cold-showering days!)

We were fortunate to have use of a generator, without which there's no water from the well; and we have a gas stove, so we were able to cook. The husband even managed to hook up a TV and the wifi box halfway through the week, though the fishtank mysteriously kept blowing the fuse. It could have been so much worse– I can only imagine how devastating it must be for those who lose their homes to flooding and fires– so we can't complain too much. But still, the week left us feeling generally discombobulated. Glad to be moving forward now!

Below is a sneak peek of part of a sketch from this project (which I'm casually calling the "Sled" book.) I'm starting final art now. Yay!

Maybe I Should Do a Counting Book. With Tomatoes.

You do the math.

Favorite Tools

Pencil, tracing paper, and kneaded eraser: priceless for revising and tweaking.  Photoshop, too. But sometimes the old-fashioned way is easiest.

I should be able to show some of the sketches from this project, soon!

Fall 2011 Children's Announcements!

From Publisher's Weekly

MACMILLAN/HENRY HOLT
Maggie and Oliver or a Bone of One’s Own by Valerie Hobbs, illus. by Jennifer Thermes (Oct; $15.99; ISBN 978-0-8050-9294-3) relays the adventures of an orphan girl and an orphaned dog in turn-of-the-century Boston. Ages 8 to 12.

Vintagy (Is that a word?) Map

Here's a new map for an upcoming issue of Adirondack Life magazine. This one was a lot of fun to do, because the Art Director wanted a sort of 1940's-vintage-linen postcard feel to the map. (Try looking those up on ebay... way to want to start collecting 'em!) This will run on a tilt across a spread, so I had to design it to keep the lettering out of the gutter– thus the blankish area toward the right. (That sneaky little gutter... always good for a challenge!)