Squirrel Book 8 of 10

March 16, 2023March 6, 2023Leave a comment

Chapter 7 has two illustrations. This one is when an owl scoops up one of the family dogs. Rocky runs out to make a loud commotion, which startles the owl into dropping the dog. The author says it’s a true story.

She paid for a half page illustration for this one. When designing the layout, I realized that the image would benefit from as much height as possible. I thought, well, it’s supposed to be a half page, but we didn’t specify which half. Usually half pages are landscape (horizontal) format top or bottom half pages. But a left or right half page would meet the requirements also. I was proud of how it turned out.

A cartoon illustration of an owl in mid-flight. It's just dropped a white lapdog who is depicted in mid-fall and terrified. Below them both on the ground is a squirrel chittering and waving its arms. The scene includes a gravel driveway, bordered by grass going off into the distance. There are trees and hills way off behind. There are dandelions in the foreground grass.

Squirrel Book 5 of 10

March 10, 2023March 6, 2023Leave a comment

On to Chapter 4. Rocky and his girlfriend, Sylvia, have been trapped together in a live animal trap. A strawberry was used as bait.

A cartoon illustration of two squirrels, hugging each other in fear, as they huddle inside a live animal trap. There is a strawberry with a bite out of it near them on the floor of the cage. The cage is isolated on white.

The Neighborhood’s Night – Page 3

March 26, 2021March 25, 2021Leave a comment

Here’s the first illustration for the book project I just finished for Learning A-Z. Page 3 of The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine. Like with all the interior illustrations in this project, this one’s a spot illustration that will be the width of one page without any bleed. The image has a half inch on either side that will likely be cut off, but allows the publisher some room to shift the image left or right or to adjust the size a bit if they like. Like the cover image, the lighting was quite important on this one too. I rather like the swirling smoke.

An illustration for page 3 of The Neighborhood's Night by Juliana Catherine. The image shows an interior shot of a girl's bedroom. A worried girl in bed has the covers pulled up to her chin and is looking out the window. Outside, it is nighttime, but the sky is red and there is smoke swirling around a streetlight;

Color Version of Inktober #26

November 1, 2020October 21, 2020Leave a comment

So, I finished the Inktober series, but I wanted to go back and finish off some of them in color. Here’s the first one I colored. Inktober #26 – Hide.

A cartoon of a boy hiding behind a door while a big purple tentacle searches for him.

Flying a Kite

December 2, 2016December 1, 2016Leave a comment

My second kite-themed entry for the SCBWI Postcard Illustration Contest.

A delighted boy is carried aloft by his kite while his mother chases behind in a panic.

Girl on Stairs

August 30, 2016August 30, 2016Leave a comment

Something lurks at the bottom of the basement stairs, and she just found it.

Girl on Stairs

Nervous Girls

November 27, 2014November 27, 20142 Comments

I sketched this today. I was playing with expressions. I wonder what they’re so nervous about.

nervous girls 500

Guy’s Face with Various Expressions — And a Zombie

September 6, 2014September 5, 20141 Comment

This was an exercise to practice drawing different expressions on the same character using Adobe Illustrator. I didn’t bother with shading it, since it was just practice.

I initially drew these in a completely different order, but arranging them this way seemed to fit them into a narrative. The second from the last was originally supposed to be a yawn. I’m not really sure why I turned him into a zombie. It just sort of happened.

Perception – Final Version

May 5, 2012May 14, 2012Leave a comment

Okay, so does this work or not? I was thinking perhaps it could use some more vague figures looming behind the four in the thought bubble, but I’m not sure. I’m sending this one out for publication (I hope) and I want it as strong as possible. Do you see anything that needs work? Is the idea clear?