Hot & bored

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Four bored kids on a hot summer day—the opener from Peter Spit A Seed At Sue.  Thumbnail and tight sketch. This is the wraparound porch on my old house in Pittsburgh.  And that's my dog, India snoozing on the left.

Peter Spit… cover ideas

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A bunch of cover ideas for Peter Spit A Seed At Sue. These are all rough sketches, drawn about the size of a playing card.  One idea was selected, and I drew a tight sketch— Please add the watermelons! Art director Jim Hoover creates…

How books get bought

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Good article by a bookstore owner about the picturebook-buying process.

The king’s coach

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There's a little throwaway scene in  Joe Bright and the Seven Genre Dudes where Joe is invited to a royal story-telling competition.  For this image I needed to design the royal messenger and the king's coach. The story isn't set in any particular…

Stella the storyteller

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Here's Stella, from Joe Bright and the Seven Genre Dudes. Thumbnail sketch for pp 6/7. Stella the storyteller sees her rival, Joe Bright, in the back of her magic story-telling chair. Tight sketch for page 6. A close-up of my color…

Joe Bright and the Seven Genre Dudes

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I just got my catalogue from Upstart Books, and Joe Bright and the Seven Genre Dudes is available!  This is my second title I've illustrated for author Jackie Mims Hopkins.  We previously worked on Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians. Upstart…

Henry model sheet

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Here's the model sheet I came up with for Henry. This was a few years ago.  I was working along the lines of classic model sheets for say, a Disney character, with the proportion lines and head-height.  Nowadays my model sheets are a lot looser,…

Big Mama/Big Daddy

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Two more characters from Stinker and the Onion Princess. Big Mama and Big Daddy are tired of seeing their son lay around the house—they want him hitched so they can hear the pitter-patter of their grandkiddy's feet.

The Onion Princess

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Some more character designs from Stinker & The Onion Princess, the book that never got past the sketch stage. Here's the lovely Onion Princess, pictured here dressed for Big Daddy's barbecue party.  Big Daddy is hoping to get his son hitched. She's…

Stinker

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Some time ago, I got a fabulous manuscript to work on: Stinker and the Onion Princess.  Set in Texas, is was a retelling of the Grimm tale King Thrushbeard, but this time the proud and beautiful princess was replaced with a proud and handsome…