Her Shoes Sing

I recently illustrated a mini-book for Highlights, a poem called "My Shoes Sing," by Joy Acey. What a fun project! A dream for me: twelve images featuring this adorable little girl, as she wears her favorite shoes throughout every season. The book (which you cut out and staple yourself) is at the very end of the January issue of Highlights High Five. Art Direction excellently provided by Kelley Cunningham.

To see a few more samples, click here.

a thousand sheets of paper

This summer I was busy with three new children's book projects, one for Highlights and two for duopress. I can't share any of the art yet, but I do have something to show for myself: over a thousand sheets of printer paper, full of pencil sketches, charcoal smudges, and ink marks. Most of these sheets were scanned several times. (Thank you, trusty scanner!) In the end I compiled them into 24 beautiful full-color images, and 120 black and white ink drawings, all of which will be available for viewing in 2012.

zach and sara

My friends Zach and Sara are moving soon; made this painting for their new digs in Columbus, Ohio.

Feisty, doe-eyed Nurse Sara exudes a passion for living rivaled by the likes of John the Baptist. She taught me to CHOOSE JOY. Don't let her sweet exterior fool you though; the girl is packing heat. She is one tough cookie. A warrior. As for the amazingly talented Zach, where should I begin? A natural leader with a razor-sharp mind, Zach tempers his mischievous sense of humor with transparency, sensitive to fellow humans in need of encouragement. He is both wise and humble: a highly excellent combo. Oh, how I will miss them.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. ~ Psalm 127:4-5

God, bless Zach and Sara!

~ v

Honfest, for The Baltimore Sun

This cover image ran in today's Baltimore Sun. Honfest is a big party in honor of John Water's cult classic, Hairspray. Thanks to Jay Judge & Anthony Conroy for the job and art direction. Great guys, both.

~ v

Special Guests

At long last, Jamie Pierce of Resurrection Ink spoke to my Portfolio Class last Thursday morning. 'St. Jamie', a tattoo artist known for precision and delicacy, amazed my students with his portfolio and his stories—colorful, both! We had a great time visiting with Jamie and his adorable wife of ten years, Samantha. It's great for the students to hear success stories, and Jamie's was no exception. We all learned a lot.

Many guest speakers visit the classes I teach at SCAD, usually via Skype: my agent Anna Goodson, illustrators Kim Rosen and Natalie Dion, author/publisher Mauricio Velázquez de León of DuoPress, and Darren DiLieto (The Little Chimp Society, Hire an Illustrator!), for example. I've had a few local professionals drop in over the years as well, which is always wonderful—author, Marsha Marks; professional blogger, Tina Bonifacio; Lisa Stone, CPA—all offered tons of insight concerning everything to do with illustration as a business, from style to self promotion to keeping track of receipts. None of these amazing people get paid for taking time out of their busy schedules to share their thoughts with us. I am eternally grateful, and countless students are as well.

Many thanks to all of you, for making my classes infinitely more interesting!

scraps

I scan a lot of black line work which ends up never being seen... this is a template for colorizing an illustration I'm currently working on. Scraps like this usually go directly to the recycle bin. It's a shame though; sometimes in their own weird way, they are (I think) uniquely beautiful. Thought I'd rescue this one to share with you today.
~ v

My Foodie ABC products, via Zazzle.com

Together with DuoPress, the publisher of My Foodie ABC: A Little Gourmet's Guide, I've started designing products featuring artwork from the book. Several will post today, with more to follow soon. And yes, I take requests (the designs are quite easy to make and upload).

Enjoy!

~ v