I've just started working on the third Miss Mingo book, currently titled, Miss Mingo Weathers the Storm. Usually I find it hard to get started on a new project, but it's much easier now that I have Mabel. Besides keeping me company, she offers lots of feedback. We work well together.I've almost got … [Read more...]

My web designer and good friend, Barbara DiLorenzo, runs a gallery in Ipswich, MA.This month she had a children's book illustration show featuring the work of Mary Jane Begin, Pat Lowery Collins, Ed Emberley, Jarrett Krosoczka, Kristina Lindborg, Tom Palance, Julia Purinton, Andy J. Smith, and my … [Read more...]

So this is what the book designer at Viking did with the cover art I sent for the first EllRay book by Sally Warner. She said she might try some different colors for the "blast" - but I like this one a lot. Now I just have to wait a long, long time before I see a printed proof of the cover. … [Read more...]

It's hard to believe my part with the cover is done. I'm so happy and relieved. I can't wait to see what Nancy (book designer at Viking) will do with it next. … [Read more...]

I use a quill pen a lot in my ink and watercolor illustrations. For years, or as long as I've been illustrating, I used the very popular Speedball Crow quill holders and Hunt nibs. I used the "finest" nib (no. 104) because, surprisingly, it offered the most range in line width. I found that I could … [Read more...]

I'm still working away on the cover for EllRay Fights Back (2011), the first book in the new series written by Sally Warner and published by Viking. As I said in an earlier post (2/16), making the first jacket in a series can be a challenge and this one had been no exception. I'm down to the inking … [Read more...]