Camp Secret

I'm excited to announce that a book I worked on earlier this year has just come out!  Camp Secret, by Kathryn Dennis and Melissa Mahle (who, by the way, no big deal, is a former CIA intelligence agent), is a middle grade novel that follows four kids as they discover that their summer camp is really a training ground for junior spies. It's a really fun read, and you can read the first chapter here, or learn more about the book and the authors at their website.

Front cover:

 Back cover:

 Map of the camp:

 Portraits of the 4 main characters:

Portfolio Piece

Finished this portfolio piece! Watercolor and pencil.

Pretty dresses

I just wanted to draw some pretty dresses.

Further Adventures of Ghost Cat: In Which Ghost Cat Encounters a Fish

Ghost fish is unharmed by the encounter.

Ghost bee

I was requested to draw a ghost bee. Ghost cat makes an appearance.

Ghost cat in the city

Starting to think about Halloween-ish things; therefore I present you with a ghost cat mysteriously floating above a city.

Girl in the rain

Sometimes it's quite soothing to make something very repetitive.

Reading is out of this world

Reading! It's the hip new thing all the kids are talking about!

Mermaid tail

Been a while since I've done a mermaid.

Arctic fox and starry sky (with ptarmigan who has met an unfortunate end)

Let me just say that I started out intending to draw a perfectly nice Arctic fox with starry sky scene, and then somewhere along the way a ptarmigan bit the dust. But you know, foxes have to eat too. Even adorable Arctic foxes.

Payne's Gray

Taking a short break from my current illustration project. Watercolor doodle on a scrap of watercolor paper, using Payne's Gray, Alizarin Crimson and a little bit of Quinacridone Magenta. Payne's Gray is pretty much my favorite watercolor color, which is odd, considering that it's gray, but it's a very lovely blue-gray.

Brand guide for my logo

Branding guide for my own logo.

Work in Progress

A little bit of what I'm working on right now.

Logo and Branding for Pink Door Fabrics

Recent logo and branding project for Pink Door Fabrics.

Thumbnail template for 32 page picture book

 

Here's a thumbnail template for a standard 32 page picture book with separate, solid color endpapers.

For the 40 page template with illustrated endpapers, see here: http://artghost.blogspot.com/2013/07/40-page-self-ended-picture-book.html

And, for more information about picture book layouts, I recommend this post by Tara Lazar: http://taralazar.com/2009/02/22/picture-book-construction-know-your-layout/

40 page self ended picture book thumbnail template

The title pretty much says it all, but here's a little blank template for thumbnailing a 40 page self ended picture book.  A 40 page self ended book has page 1 and 40 glued down to the boards on the front and back of the book, and pages 2 - 3 and 38 - 39 are illustrated endpapers. Anyhow, doing thumbnail sketches can be a very handy way to plan out a picture book dummy.

Quick Sketch

This little fox's tail ran off the page.

Faux Book Cover Project 5 - The Interesting Times of Lily Lee

Here's a continuation of my faux book cover project with hand lettered type.

So, apparently the whole "May you live in interesting times" Chinese curse is actually probably not really Chinese. I can still see this as a book title though.

This started out as a hot press watercolor paper test and then I thought I might as well do something with all that empty space.  The dragon and the lettering is digital.

And here it is without the lettering:

The library

Painting on the Cintiq, trying to figure out lighting a little more. Have I mentioned how much I love my Cintiq?

I've been really into drawing books lately. I guess I figure a book always makes a scene more interesting. Because, you know, books!

And if you don't like books, well, who doesn't love a Regency-era lady?

Doodle of the day

Random doodle. Experimenting with backlighting.