Mid-century school kids
book promotion, illustration processHere's Ignatius Thistlewhite and his school chums from The Year Without a Santa Claus. Phyllis McGinley wrote the story in the 1950s, so I liked the idea of keeping it set in that time.
Most people, when they think of that era associate…
7-Imp 2010 roundup
UncategorizedOne of my favorite kid-lit blogs, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, has a retrospective of all their posts for this year.
You will be humbled and inspired.
Warm light in a cool environment
book promotion, illustration processTwo scenes from The Year Without a Santa Claus—both show Santa in a neutral or cool-colored environment. The bedroom is gray; the snowy night is gray and blue. Close by Santa, however, is a warm orangey-yellow light source.
This is an…
Color script for Santa
book promotion, illustration processI've written before about color scripts—an idea that animators use to tell a movie's story with color. Here again is the color script I created for The Year Without a Santa Claus. This is a longish book—40 pages instead of the usual…
Merry Christmas!
book promotion, illustration process'For yearly, newly, faithfully, truly, somehow Santa Claus ALWAYS COMES.'
Some seasonal sketches
book promotion, illustration processSome outtakes from The Year Without a Santa Claus—the group of 6 crying kids was whittled down to three; the spots showing kids' gifts to Santa were cut to make more room; the sleeping boy was replaced with the shot of two kids looking through…
School for Santas
UncategorizedThis is Santa Claus' busiest week, and since there's only one Santa, he can't be everywhere at once. So what's up with all the Santas you see in department stores and malls? Two words: Santa's helpers.
These guys help out during the Christmas…
Entering Santa’s workshop
book promotion, illustration processI took a cinematography class when I was a teenager, and one of the movies we studied was The Bicycle Thieves. A poor man gets a job putting movie posters up around Rome, but his bicycle—without which he can't put up the posters—is stolen. …
Santa’s sleigh
book promotion, illustration processReference, thumbnail sketch, tight sketch, final painting. From The Year Without a Santa Claus—
I didn't take these photos; they're from auction sites I found on the web.
Mark Wills and Sgt McClaus on stage!
book promotionSorry for the late notice—I just found out myself! The U.S. Army Band is performing their annual “Holiday Festival” four-concert series this weekend at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. This year they have country music’s…
