Update

Hello everyone! Looking forward to my book release party which is happening in exactly one week! So far I have a lot of people who said they're coming. In addition to hopefully selling a lot though, I'm just really excited to see all these people I love at once, and it's so cool they will be there to support me. I just hope I ordered enough copies (well...it would be nice to run out!)

Success!

Well the lectures went swimmingly. It helped that, although it makes me nervous at first, I very much enjoy public speaking. It also helped enormously that the students were extremely nice and attentive. I was asked some very good questions, and overall they seemed to enjoy it. Even though most of them are in more humanities type majors, I hope they got something out of it--I think it's always interesting to hear things from another perspective. I hope I can do this sort of thing again sometime!

Ordering yet another round of proofs of the book. I keep finding mistakes; it is very frustrating. I hope I get everything fixed and ordered in time for my book release party (TBA).

Lecture at Temple University

Exciting news! Tomorrow (this morning really) I am giving my first-ever lecture on children's books. I will be speaking about a brief history of children's illustration, picture book creation, and my own work, to 2 children's literature classes at Temple University in Philadelphia. Of course I am extremely excited as this really makes me feel validated as an illustrator, however I do grapple (as I'm sure many artists do, no matter how experienced) with feelings of horrible under-qualification. I keep thinking if only I had just one more book published, just one more award, even one more sketch to show of an upcoming book, that I will feel more like I deserve this. I can only hope I have enough to talk about given my extremely brief time in the field thus far!

But the truth is, I don't think I would be invited if I didn't deserve it in some way! I have to look at my achievements: I am a well-appreciated freelancer with loyal clients, and although the assignments are sporadic I get steady praise. And to top it off, I have a picture book on the verge of being available on Amazon, and I do happen to be extremely proud of it. As I was told in a conversation at a gallery opening the other night, lots of people can have the ideas or even make a few drawings, but it's really tough to make it as far as I just have, all the way to the press (and the internets!) So I keep reminding myself.

Enough tooting my own horn though. I still have to prove I can sell this thing to really make it happen. That will definitely be the biggest hurdle yet. But til then.....

I'm giving a lecture at a university! Yay!

Book Printed! Stay tuned for purchasing info.

I am pleased to announce the printing of the first edition of my book! It will arrive to my doorstep within a few days, hopefully. After going thru 2 proofs I think it's finally up to standards. I have to say, Createspace does do a good job. It looks pretty professional, not too shabby at all, I must say. I have a whole marketing plan for it now which includes doing signings, readings, getting it into local bookstores, and hopefully getting it reviewed.

In other news, I've been working on a logo for an online lit/arts blog. Design above.

98 percent there!

So I finally got Lizzie Fox-Top finished and it's printing as I write this, so hopefully I'll see a proof sometime the end of this week/early next week and then.....it'll be available for mass consumption!! So excited this is finally happening. I am just nervous it'll turn out bad. I heard that the company I went with, Createspace (a subsidiary of Amazon that offers POD service with no upfront cost, which I find extremely appealing) doesn't use glossy paper for its color pages. We'll see.

Above is the logo I have designed for the publishing company I am starting to call my titles under. Ogopogo is a Canadian sea monster (who also happens to have a really fun name for your favorite whimsical yet slightly edgy children's book author/illustrator)! The colors are off on this jpeg though--the turquoise is actually a golden yellow, the orange is blue, the blue is red, the pink is purple, and the green is a more muted yellow-green. Oh well.

Allan/Allen/Alan

Workin' workin' workin' as you may or may not have assumed. Here is a logo I am developing for an Easter Seals camp in Maryland.

The Red Balloon

Another graphic for the programs for that DC children's theater I posted about earlier. This is the one where I took the most artistic license from what was sent to me. I basically did something completely different. I felt that because The Red Balloon was originally a live action film, it was more open to artistic interpretation than something already beloved and famously illustrated, like Go, Dog. Go!