Here’s the fourth of thirteen images.
Standing Up to the Bullies by Ashley Kazery, commissioned by Learning A-Z, illustrated by me.
[Edit: I’ve updated the image. This is the final they’re using for the book.]
Category: Children’s Illustrations
Standing Up to the Bullies – Image 3
Here’s the third of thirteen images.
Standing Up to the Bullies by Ashley Kazery, commissioned by Learning A-Z, illustrated by me.
[Edit: I’ve updated the image. This is the final they’re using for the book.]
Standing Up to the Bullies – Image 2
Here’s the second of thirteen images.
Standing Up to the Bullies by Ashley Kazery, commissioned by Learning A-Z, illustrated by me.
[Edit: I’ve updated the image. This is the final they’re using for the book.]
Standing Up to the Bullies – Image 1
I’ve been quiet here lately because I’ve been working on a picture book. Learning A-Z commissioned me through Storybook Arts to illustrate a graded reader titled Standing Up to the Bullies, written by Ashley Kazery. I just finished the last image this afternoon. I’ll probably have a few minor edits before publication, but I’m more-or-less finished.
Here’s the first of thirteen images.
[Edit: I’ve updated the image. This is the final they’re using for the book.]
Boy in Front of Fan
So, at one point this summer, when the temperatures were in the 90’s, our air conditioning went out. I started on the sketch for this on that evening. My window fans aren’t as good as A/C, but they’re a million times better than nothing. So much better. 🙂
Tentacle Monster
Here’s a girl with a glowing (probably magic) sword fighting some sort of tentacle monster.
It maybe needs some magic sparkles or swirls, but I’m happy with it for now. I may add a few more magic effects later. I dunno. I’ll think about it.
Spotted Cerberus
So, this was originally a Inktober piece and was done in just a couple of hours. I drew him as a black lab puppy. But, that decision has bugged me because Cerberus is supposed to mean spotted. Which I knew, but didn’t think of it at the time. I really should have made him a dalmatian or other spotted breed. So, today I had reason to go back to this image and so, while I was there, I decided to fix it.
So, here’s Cerberus, the spotted three-headed hound of Hades.
Don’t HURT the MONSTER!
Final Image – Giant Robot Invasion!
And here is the final version of the piece I’ve been working on! So much excitement going on here. You’ve got the rockets blasting off behind, probably an emergency evacuation. Are the searchlights searching for her, specifically? You have the abandoned motorcycle, maybe it was hers and it ran out of gas or something? That would explain the goggles. Looks like she must have met with an accident on her right side at some point in the past because she’s got a prosthetic arm and leg. They must be good tech, though, since they don’t seem to be slowing her down any. Notice the blue light on her arm? That’s a power indicator. She still has a full charge. It’ll turn orange, then red as it runs dead. At which point she becomes a lefty. I’m not sure what the earpiece is. Maybe just communications equipment, maybe a hearing aid of some sort? It is on her injured side. What’s in her bag do you think? Tools for maintaining her prosthetics? Or the plans to the enemy’s base that she has to deliver into rebel hands? It doesn’t look like she has any offensive weapons. Just that energy shield, but I think it’s underpowered to stop that robot hand. Maybe it will buy her a crucial second to slip out of its grip, though!
Here’s an Easter egg. You can’t tell at the resolution above, but this is in the background. The search light washes it out, but you can see that she’s not the only one running.
And here’s a behind-the-scenes from way back when I first started this piece. This little mannequin helped me work out her pose.
This piece was a personal project, not one meant for any particular client. I wanted to add a detailed sci-fi piece in my portfolio, one with a lot of action. So, that’s the reason for it. I’ll get it up on the portfolio in a couple of days here. [Edit: It’s up now.]
I had not really intended it to be as involved as it ended up, but the concept demanded certain elements and complex lighting. Luckily, since I had no real deadline, I was free to take as long as I liked. It was fun and I really like how it turned out. 
Girl – WIP
Here’s another little sneak peek at what I’ve been working on. This whole thing is proving to be all about the light sources. I really like her watch-thingy.
Karen B. Jones - Illustrator 