The opening shot

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Here's the first spread from my upcoming book The Really Awful Musicians.  It's about what happens to a band of musicians—who play pretty badly—as they escape from a country where the king has banned all music. I drew the thumbnail sketch…

Squid for lunch

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Here's a spread from Pirates Go To School.  The verse describes a pirate's lunch as slimy squid and crackers for their parrots—in the thumbnail sketch I drew squid on a cracker.  The art director asked me to show a pirate eating the squid…

Dear T Rex

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Here's a scene from Dear Tyrannosaurus Rex where the kids slide down T Rex' tail.  Thumbnail sketch, tight sketch, final painting.

Pirates cover

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Here are 2 rough sketch ideas for the cover, the tight sketch, the color sketch and the painting in progress. Pirates Go To School is available tomorrow! 

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…

Illustrating in different languages

Steve from Mrs. Gallagher's class asks: How do you illustrate books in different languages? The simple answer to that question is: I don't. The manuscript that I receive from the publisher is always in English (remember, the manuscript is…

As You Like It painting

This is me trying to sew 2 scans together with Photoshop.

As you like it

Paul Schifino hired me to create an image for the Shakespeare comedy As You Like It—to be part of the Pittsburgh Public Theater's season brochure. Much of the play takes place in the woods; the main character, Rosalind, disguises herself…