Studio Happenings

This week in the studio I'm working on several finished art pieces and trying to decide how to render them. I work up very small sketches on Dollar Store newsprint sketch paper (also a nice thing to have on hand for my 3 daughters who like to draw!) I then enlarge those sketches to use as a guide for my finished drawings. The question that always seems to take some time deciding: How should I render the finished art? I love the spontaneity of small sketches and the energy they have. Finding the same energy for the finished pieces means finding a medium that allows me to draw quickly.

Above drawing: Finished Pencil on Stonehenge Sketch Paper and colorized in Photoshop

Above drawing: Technique study for finished art...Pencil on Mylar with digital color. An nice medium that gives mw a fluid line, but I miss the grainy texture of the Stonehenge Sketch Paper.

Above Sketches: Done on cheap newsprint and drawn very small.

Above: New technique I'm working on. Pencil on wood.

Ok, that's what's happening in the studio today. Have a great week.

I'm having fun working on a new little character and putting him in different situations. I think the most fun I have an an illustrator is trying to draw different emotion. Sometimes I'll take photos of myself in PhotoBooth making different faces to get the right eye placement of mouth. My contact sheets are actually pretty funny and if someone happened upon them without knowing me, well, um, who knows? I feel like Jim Carey in the Truman Show making faces in the mirror.

Of course I have a wild gang of models at my beckoning call. Makes a mamma so proud.

So thanks for stopping by to take a gander.

Bologna Book Fair

My agent, Jo Volpe of Nancy Coffey Literary is gearing up for the Bologna Book Fair. These are some spots I revisited for a promo sheet she's asked for. Sounds like it's going to be a wonderful trip and I'm green, green, green with envy but so happy she's going : )
Also, here is an interview about SCBWI if any of you are interested. http://ncliterary.blogspot.com/ I look SO YOUNG in these photos...they were taken 9 years ago when my hair had much less grey in it and my children were itty bitty (and I was getting a lot less sleep.) So, feel free to pretend my hair still looks like that if you like. I am getting more sleep these days. Happy Thursday.

ilove imove #2

Ok, so I'm a little distracted here in my studio. I've mounted my phone to my head (!YES!) and I'm creating these little iMovie videos with these clips. So much fun I'm having a difficult time concentrating on anything else! Oh well, hope you enjoy my little peek into my creative chaos, er um, process. I absolutely love to see how other artists work. Hope you enjoy!

And in case you don't believe me...here is a lovely shot of myself with proof that I'll do most anything. Except hurl myself out of an airplane, or bungee jump, or eat strange insect things, or work in a deli as a meat slicer. Ok, well, almost anything.

Thursday Sketch and Studio Peek

As promised, here is a sneak peek into my studio. A sketch of a little bear and below a glimpse into how I work. I love to use an oblique quill holder with ink (below). This nib gives the lines their thick/thin quality and I like that I can control the line weight really well with just a little pressure. Have a look.

Sometimes my little soft sculpture creatures inspire my drawings.
Happy Thursday and thanks for stopping by!

Sneak Peek Poem Sunday

COWBOY


Instead of a dairy cow

I dream of being a boy

I’d swap a zillion baseball cards

and play with all my toys

I’d look for crawdads in the creek

run and jump, play hide and seek

Instead of a dairy cow

(which is such a terrible bore)

I want to be a cowboy!

And I wouldn’t be milked no more

Sketch Book Friday Peek

I WANT TO MARRY A JELLYFISH

I want to marry a jellyfish
My dad says that just won’t do
I want to marry a jellyfish
I’m in love, I am, it’s true

“She doesn’t fit in!”
barks my mom.
My Uncle George screams
“That’s just wrong!”

“You’re a spore, a fungi,
it’ll never work”
“You’ll be laughed at and scorned”
 My dad is so irked

 And her families all the same,
 everyone of ‘em’s to blame
Except for her kind uncle Jim
 He’s gonna teach me how to swim.

Inspiration Monday

I was walking with my daughter around the neighborhood and we came across this great rock sidewalk near our house. She said "Look mom, a face!" So we had a huge make believe conversation between several rocks. I had my phone so I grabbed a few photos so I could remember our *play* time! I swear my kids have more creativity and originality then I could ever dream up. Thankfully they don't mind me stealing their ideas. So...Inspiration Monday is a peek into my day with my daughter. They make me laugh! Feel free to add your rock conversation at the end of this post!! Enjoy.

Friday Sketch

I'm going to try and post a sketch each Friday as I work. It'll be a good way for me to chart my progress and hopefully be interesting to one or two of you out there! Today my sketch is showing you a sneak-peak into a book of poems I'm writing and illustrating. Who knows if it'll ever get published, but for now it's been really fun to play in this genre. We get on poetry kicks here where we read poems every night and I gotta say, Shel Silverstein is still my all-time fav! Hope you enjoy!

My day usually begins by checking to see if...

...Julie Danielson has posted anything on her blog. http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2287 For those of you who love children's book you need to check out Julie Walker Danielson's blog Seven Impossible things Before Breakfast. As Julie puts it it's " ...a sort of literary salon where authors and illustrators stop by to share their craft. After getting a cup of cyber-coffee. Yeah. That." Anyhoo...enjoy. I love her blog posts. She's also a freelance writer for Kirkus Review. This week she reviews Isabelle Arsenault's early sketches and final illustrations from Kyo Maclear's beautiful Virginia Wolf, as well as artwork from Leslie Staub's and R. G. Roth's Everybody Gets the Blues. Thanks Julie!

Back from New York

I attended the SCBWI conference in NY this past week. Great speakers, great sessions...learned so much! AND...if that wasn't enough, I won the 1st runner-up for the portfolio contest ZOINKS! I should have just bought a one-way plane ticket because I could have floated home I was so happy : ) Ok, so now I'm a blogger! I learned the importance of getting my name out there so ... goodbye shy girl...hello blogger. Check back every few days if you like. It's a spot where I'll show you drawings I'm working on, photos of my workspace (yawn...) and fun things that are happening in the children's literature and picture book world. THat's all for now....just getting my feet wet! Cheers! Lori

under construction!

Hi friends. Thanks for you patience while I build my blog. Check back in a few days for some actual information to be published!!