Dennis

A caricature of my old pal Dennis Dittrich—

Jacket art

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Here's the sketch, final painting and lettering for the front jacket of Jack and the Giant Barbecue. [slideshow]

Jack climbs Mount Pecos

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Here's the final painting from my last post—Jack climbs Mount Pecos in Jack and the Giant Barbecue.

Masking fluid

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Masking fluid (or liquid frisket) is a pretty handy item to have around. Many of the scenes in Jack and the Giant Barbecue have characters in front of the big, wild & woolly American West. I like to spread out and paint that kind of backdrop…

With trumpets a-tooting

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Another night-time party scene from Let's Have A Tree Party! A thumbnail sketch, tight sketch, the painting in progress and the final illustration. My former student Julia Kapp assisted with blocking in the big areas of color for this book.…

Moon

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Here's a night-time scene from Let's Have A Tree Party! The sun's gone down and the animals say 'hi' to the moon. Thumbnail sketch, tight sketch, some shots of the painting in progress and the final illustration.

To the tree!

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Here's the copyright/dedication spread for Let's Have A Tree Party! from Candlewick Press. It's the first big image you see, so this is the establishing shot. It tells you where the story takes place.