Pirates hit the bookshelves

Ahoy, cullies—Pirates Go To School is finally in all the quality bookstores!  If any of you happen to be putting villages to th' torch and sword over in Massachusetts, why not drop anchor during author Corinne Demas' book signing events?…

Pirate kids

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Here are the character designs for Pirates Go To School.  I originally envisioned the pirates as grownups, attending a school that looked like a pirate ship.  After seeing the initial sketches, Ken, the art director, asked me to draw them…

Pirates at storytime

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Pirates Go To School drops anchor in bookstores next Friday! It's been a while since I've posted about the illustration process, so let's review.  I draw rough thumbnail sketches, design the characters, gather visual reference, draw beautiful…

Some character sketches

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It's been a busy place around here.  I'm painting 2 books and my bookshelf/storage cabinet project is finally finished. April & May were full of many fun visits to elementary schools and a couple of literacy conferences. Luckily I have…

PAWcasso

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I'm looking forward to PAWcasso on Saturday!  It's an art auction to benefit the Venango County Humane Society.  If you live within driving distance, come on by & snap up a piece of art—it's a worthy cause. I've donated an illustration…

Mid-century school kids

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Here'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…

Warm light in a cool environment

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Two 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

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I'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!

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'For yearly, newly, faithfully, truly, somehow Santa Claus ALWAYS COMES.'

Some seasonal sketches

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Some 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…