Book Expo America

I spent the weekend in NYC at Book Expo America wandering around the massive Javits Convention Center, alternately alone, or with my one of my wonderful friends Marsha (a writer in from Savannah, GA) or Mauricio (owner of duopress). That's Mauricio standing to my right. Marsha took the photo.

They let me sit for fifteen minutes to sign advance copies of the soon-to-be-released Doodle Storybook™ Isabella's Shoe Studio, which by the way looks spectacular. It's a 2-color book which we separated manually, a process about which I will write at length when the books are available and I can get some good photos of the interior. The color leaps, I tell you—it is so vibrant and beautiful. Can't wait for you to see.

If you read the post I wrote before I left, the one right before this one—all about my shoe wardrobe for the trip—and are curious about how everything panned out, rest assured, I wore every shoe that I packed and have no post-shopping regrets. My facebook stream is full of footwear updates, if you care to see them.

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!