The Neighborhood’s Night – Page 15

Page 14 doesn’t have an image, so we skip on to page 15 from The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine. This is the last illustration and the end of the book.

It’s not a completely happy ending because, even though Leena’s back in her own home, Amaya’s family lost their house. This is supposed to be a “tough subjects” series, so a not entirely happy ending is appropriate. But it’s not all bad because Amaya has sent Leena a letter saying how they found a place to live and are doing okay. They even sent pictures.

I made sure it’s the same couch and wall as page 4 so it’s definitely the same house. It comes full circle.

An illustration for page 15 of The Neighborhood's Night by Juliana Catherine.  A girl curled up on her couch leans back against her mother who is sitting beside her.  The girl is reading a letter and the mother is looking at some photo prints.  They are both smiling.

The Neighborhood’s Night – Page 7

Here’s the 5th illustration for the book project I just finished for Learning A-Z. Page 7 of The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine.

This is the last one in the project that has fancy lighting. From here on out the characters will be indoors under regular lights, which is a lot easier, but not as pretty.

Anyway, Leena and Amir are in the backseat of the car as their mom drives them away from their house towards the evacuation shelter. Leena is sad and worried. Amir is too young to understand, so is sleeping. He spends most of the book asleep, actually.

In the sketch phase for this one, I originally drew it at a different angle because I didn’t realize two-year olds, the age Amir is supposed to be, still have to be in rear-facing carseats. I thought they could front-face when they turned one. Nope. It either changed since my kids were that age, or I was remembering it wrong. Anyway, at first I drew them both facing forward. I had to completely redraw it at this angle so that both the kids’ faces are visible. Glad I caught it before I sent it to the client.

An illustration for page 7 of The Neighborhood's Night by Juliana Catherine.  It's the interior of a car showing two children in the backseat.  There's a toddler sleeping in his carseat and his sister looks sad and worried beside him.  Outside the window, the trees are silhouetted against a red sky.

The Neighborhood’s Night – Page 5

Here’s the third illustration for the book project I just finished for Learning A-Z. Page 5 of The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine.

In this one, it’s a bedroom at night, but red and blue emergency lights from the window and a white light from the hall are lighting it up. The girl, Leena, is running across the room with her shoes and emergency bag while her mom and little brother wait for her at the door. They’re about to leave the house because they’ve been ordered to evacuate.

An illustration for page 5 of The Neighborhood's Night by Juliana Catherine.  A girl runs across her bedroom to the doorway where her mother and little brother wait for her.  They are about to evacuate the house.  The room is lit by emergency lights from the window and white light from the hallway.

The Neighborhood’s Night – Page 4

Here’s the second illustration for the book project I just finished for Learning A-Z. Page 4 of The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine. This scene is in a cloud to show that it’s a flashback to the previous day when they family had all packed their emergency supplies in preparation to evacuate if the fires got too near. You can see a collection of emergency supplies laid out on the floor ready to be packed into duffle bags, one per person. Mama is putting a tag on little Amir’s ankle so that he can be reunited with the family if he gets separated.

An illustration for page 4 of The Neighborhood's Night by Juliana Catherine.

Kissing Story Sample

Here’s a new sample.  This is page 1 of a comic book I’ve written that my art rep will be sending out later this summer.  Hopefully we’ll get someone interested in it.  There was some interest in this character from a previous sample featuring her, so we’re hoping it will sell.

This sample reuses the first four panels from that previous sample.  (I reformatted it for rectangular panels and changed the shading style.)  The last two panels are new.

The working title is Kissing Story, but I don’t really care for that.  Hopefully we’ll come up with a better one.  It’s an age-appropriate story about sexual harassment and consent.

I may actually need to change the panel with mom and dad kissing to have them not also hugging because my rep says that may be too much physical contact for the age range.  So, I may post a revision  with that changed.  We’ll see.

Kissing Story Sample Page 1

Moving Day – Image 1

Another commission for Learning A-Z.  This one is a family packing up their living room and kitchen, getting ready to move.

One problem with this scene was that they wanted both rooms to show, but in a portrait-oriented image.  So, I decided to make this house a front-to-back split with a short stairway between the two levels. That let me put the two rooms one in front of the other, but with the kitchen a half-story higher so as to increase the height of the image and keep the living room from blocking it.

It’s done entirely in one-point perspective.  Everything except the people and a few curves was drawn with virtual rulers.

It’s probably a small mid-eighties tract home, judging by the layout.  One that’s been updated with wood floors and new appliances.  But the kitchen is still too small and it doesn’t have a dishwasher.  I’d move too, if I were them.

Page 1 - Final v3