Hidden Picture – River Bank

April 17, 2024April 4, 2024Leave a comment

I recently completed a project for Utah-based Fish for Garbage, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes communities through waterway cleanups and watershed education. They commissioned me to create a series of illustrations for a children’s activity book.

This image is the second of two hidden picture puzzles. I saved this one until last because it’s my favorite. That’s the same duck from several pages ago. Having him visible both above and below the waterline really sold the idea that he was floating on the water and what was underneath was the underwater view. And just look at those duck feet! So cute!

I’m really not an expert at drawing fish, but I work from references and do my best. The client said the one brown trout I drew had a longer snout than the other, which is actually called a kype and is sought after by fishermen. I don’t really know enough about them to do that intentionally, but I’m so glad it turned out to be a feature and not a bug. Serendipity.

Can you find all 8 items? There’s a cigarette butt, a tin can, a plastic spoon, a plastic drinking straw, a deflated balloon, a deflated inner tube, a plastic bag, and a flip-flop sandal. The client said they find a surprising number of uninflated inner tubes at their cleanup events.

I will say that, between this one and the previous illustration, I spent SO much time drawing little circles for all that gravel. But it was worth it!

A hidden picture puzzle scene showing both underwater and above water views of a river bank.

Hidden Picture – Hiking Trail

April 15, 2024April 4, 2024Leave a comment

This image is the first of two a hidden picture puzzles. Can you find all 8 items? There’s a soda bottle, a drink cup, a flip-flop sandal, a chip bag, a soda can, a plastic fork, a deflated balloon, and a set of 6-pack rings. The hidden items were chosen because they’re items often found during the organization’s cleanup events.

This image is a version of the illustration that was used as the cover image. The cover image was in color and without the hidden items. But it still has the same expansive view and variety of wild animals.

Fish for Garbage Project – Cover

April 3, 2024April 4, 2024Leave a comment

This image, the only full-color illustration, was for the cover.

Sweet Tooth

September 5, 2021September 4, 20211 Comment

Here’s an illustration of the title character for the Netflix series Sweet Tooth.

A fanart illustration of the character Sweet Tooth.

Bass Reeves

May 25, 2021September 13, 20214 Comments

Here’s an illustration of Deputy US Marshal Bass Reeves riding out of Fort Smith, Arkansas with a warrant in hand. Bass Reeves was the first black Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi. He is thought to be the real-life inspiration for The Lone Ranger. He did not have an Indian sidekick named Tonto (which is offensive on a couple of levels) but he did have friends among the indigenous tribes living in the Oklahoma and Indian Territories. The story is that he fled to Oklahoma Territory after he learned about his emancipation from slavery after the Civil War. There he learned several native languages and how to shoot and track. Those skills and contacts, along with his own ingenuity, later helped him track down the outlaws he was charged with capturing as a Deputy US Marshal. Upon his retirement, he had over 3,000 arrests of felons on his record and had killed 14 outlaws, an impressive tally which inspired many stories.

I used some artistic license to give him a white horse, like The Lone Ranger, and the traditional white hat of the western hero. The Fort Smith courthouse is drawn how it looked sometime in the 1870s. I used several reference photos for both the courthouse and Bass Reeves himself.

The font I used on the bottom is named Nashville and designed by Disturbed Type. I like the eroded look to it. I hand drew the letters for his name using the font Tagwood by Intellecta Design as a guide.

An illustration of Deputy US Marshal Bass Reeves riding out of Fort Smith, Arkansas with a warrant in hand. Bass Reeves was the first black Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi.

The Neighborhood’s Night – Page 6

March 29, 2021March 25, 20212 Comments

Here’s the 4th illustration for the book project I just finished for Learning A-Z. Page 6 of The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine.

So, this is actually the full-wrap version of cover image, including a half inch bleed all around it. But it’s also going to be used on page 6 as a spot illustration. For that they’ll crop off about a quarter of the image from the left side and some from the top, bottom and right as necessary to fit the spot.

An illustration for page 6 of The Neighborhood's Night by Juliana Catherine. This is an image of a neighborhood evacuating due to encroaching wildfires.

Project Complete! The Neighborhood’s Night

March 25, 2021March 25, 20214 Comments

I just finished illustrating a graded reader from Learning A-Z. The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine. It’s about a family who has to evacuate their home due to forest fires near their neighborhood. Here’s a mock-up of the cover. It was work-for-hire, so it’s copyright Learning A-Z.

A mock-up of the cover of the book The Neighborhood's Night by Juliana Catherine Illustrated by Karen B. Jones. The image includes text over an illustration of people and vehicles on a street during an evacuation due to a nighttime forest fire.

I sure got practice drawing vehicles on this one and the changing perspective along the curve was challenging, but the most important part of this illustration was the lighting. I wanted it bright enough to show what was going on and all the people and such, but still look like it’s actually nighttime. An argument could be made that maybe it should have been more smoky, but the haze would have obscured more of the background details, so I went light on the smoke. This image took longer than all the rest of the images in the book.

The full cover image actually wraps around the back. I’ll share that later.

I’m going to dole out the interior illustrations over the next few days here, so keep an eye out if that interests you.

Recycling Book – Page 9

January 26, 2020January 26, 2020Leave a comment

Here’s an image that appears on page 9 of a coloring book about recycling commissioned by Positive Promotions for Earth Day. Since this whole project was a rush job, I don’t think I got the characters quite as consistent as I usually do. I think the boy on the left side’s head needs to be larger in comparison to his body. Oh, well. I’ll try to do better in the future. 🙂

Boys tossing soda cans in a recycling bin.

Recycling Book – Page 1, Image 1

January 20, 2020January 2, 2020Leave a comment

Here’s the first of two illustrations for the first page of a coloring book about recycling commissioned by Positive Promotions for Earth Day. Words will be added to the speech bubbles in production.

Children bring recyclables to a recycling bin

My Treehouse – Page 10

January 16, 2020January 2, 2020Leave a comment

Here’s page 10 from My Treehouse, a short graded reader I recently illustrated for Learning A-Z. This is the last page for this book. My Treehouse - Page 10