The Whole Box of Crayons

Personal News

2010-06-21T11:46:00.003-04:00

I have a very cute reason for not updating for a little while. His name is RJ, short for Raymond Joseph, and he joined our family on April 20th. We are thrilled beyond words to have such as happy and healthy little boy. Here he is on the way to his Christening on June 6th.

Obviously there is not a lot of personal art going on at the moment. This past month I completed a nursery rhyme project for one of the educational publishers I regularly work with.

The portfolio website needs a major overhaul, but right now I have other priorities.

The Holiday Dove Process: Final

2009-11-21T14:16:00.005-05:00

Here he is! I was very happy with how it turned it. For those of you on my holiday card list, you'll get your very own! I'm probably going to do a bigger print run this year and sell any extras.

Flickr stream is now updated with the step-by-step photos!

The Holiday Dove Process: Color Studies

2009-11-21T14:01:00.003-05:00

Once my sketch is complete, I do some rough color studies. They don't have to be perfect -- just enough for me to get an idea of the colors that I need to work with.

I consulted a few illustrator friends for a critique, and overwhelmingly everyone liked the cool, blue palette the best. The other one didn't read "holiday" to anyone. This made more sense to me anyway, seeing how I didn't want to use the same palette from the angel last year.

The Holiday Dove Process: Sketch

2009-11-21T13:52:00.004-05:00

The artwork for my holiday card is finally done. This is the first pastel piece that I've broken down step-by-step, and I'll be posting the pictures later to my Flickr stream.

I wanted to do feathers again, since I had so much fun with the angel last year.

Tricky Treats Part II

2009-10-30T20:28:00.004-04:00

Just in time for Halloween, Tricky Treats has been updated with some fun new power-ups and some cute extra touches! Go check them out at Left Brain Games' website or on Widgetbox. Turn down the sound if you don't like squeaky doors and cackling witches.

Lots of things in the works right now -- there's some new artwork I'm making for my new baby niece, the Christmas card is getting designed, and the website is up for an overhaul.

The Lion & the Mouse

2009-07-27T21:46:00.004-04:00

Here's a "cutesyed up" sketch from one of my recent freelance projects this summer. I haven't been posting that much because I'm working on loads of readers' theaters for an educational publisher.

I would love to finish this in color! I'm booked through September so no personal projects for a while.

Baby Bloom Sketch

2009-06-19T21:14:00.003-04:00

My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first child in August. I had this in mind as a gift for my new nephew or niece. I was thinking daisies -- there would be greens and whites, with lots of atmospheric perspective! Another pastel piece, of course!

Been very busy with Reader Theaters -- hope to have a color study for this little guy soon!

Studio Tour

2009-05-25T21:07:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to do a studio tour for a long time. I took these pictures the week that the crabapple tree was blooming, which my drawing desk overlooks. I have a reading nook, next to my picture book collection and my published works. I keep my pastels in an old typesetting drawer. The entire tour is on my Flickr stream.

Z is for Zinnia - new licensing line

2009-04-18T19:07:00.004-04:00

Maybe flowers and the alphabet have been overdone, but I'VE never done them :) Nor, I think, are people ever going to get tired of looking at a beautiful flower. This is an idea for a new licensing line. I like the borders, but I'm not going to overdo it -- I'm planning to do this in pastels, so I can't get crazy with small details. I will post a color study shortly.

I'm also going to be working with Really Good Stuff again illustrating another Readers' Theater!

Happy Easter to everyone!

2009-04-11T15:11:00.003-04:00

Forty-three years ago my parents got married on Easter weekend. This year it falls near Easter weekend again, so I thought it would be cute to combine Easter and Anniversary greetings! I want to do a color version of this, when I'm not so busy with extra freelancing.

Illustration Friday: Poise

2009-03-30T21:46:00.006-04:00

When I think of the word "poise", I think of "elegant balance." My wedding doves are the best example I have of this concept, on many levels.

I created my wedding doves almost six years ago to design a more personalized wedding invitation. On many levels, "poise" is more than just a suspended position. In marriage, everything is a act of balance and teamwork, and on some days it is elegant -- on other days, not so much!

The doves were framed and signed by our guests at the wedding reception. It now hangs in our hallway.

Illustration Friday: Intricate

2009-03-10T21:41:00.005-04:00

Lots going on here! This is a page from a kindergarten activity book that unfortunately got shelved.

St. Patrick's Day is coming!

2009-03-08T19:49:00.002-04:00

The Hat Kid series continues with this little guy. There is so much green! I'm hoping to break up the humongous shape of the hat with a subtle clover pattern. I also thought it would be funny to show the little bird with the elusive piece of gold in its beak.

I will get this done by St. Patrick's Day!

Illustration Friday: Instinct

2009-02-26T10:23:00.005-05:00

I don't know about you, but as a kid leaf piles fascinated me. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that I was asthmatic and was forbidden from jumping into billowing clouds of dust.

My "Fall Kids" are soft pastel on Canson paper.

Cupid Kid is done!

2009-02-22T20:19:00.003-05:00

Not quite done in time for Valentine's Day, but oh well! It's soft pastel on Canson paper.

Mama Bear Birthday Card

2009-02-18T22:24:00.003-05:00

The "Mama Bear" card was created for my mom's birthday a couple of weeks ago. The original doodle had languished long enough in my sketchbook!

It's watercolor, colored pencil, and pastel pencil on watercolor paper.

I'm selling the original artwork in my brand new Etsy store. If there is enough interest in this piece, I'll have some prints made, and some cards probably.

Valentine's Day Cupid

2009-01-22T20:00:00.003-05:00

I'm dusting off "The Hat Kid" series to begin developing a licensing line. My Tea Party Girl and Football Player I did years ago, and I'd like love to do a calendar with these guys.

I'll start on the final artwork shortly! It will be in soft pastels, of course.

The Holidays are Here!

2008-11-27T12:34:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! The holiday card is finally done and off to the printers. This year, I wanted to get away from "cute" -- I'm really starting to feel typecast. As I've always had a fascination with winged creatures, I decided an angel would be a good project. I'm very happy with how she came out!

Tricky Treats

2008-10-30T12:07:00.002-04:00

Tricky Treatsgreat free widgetsWidgetbox

I'm happy to announce that "Tricky Treats" is now on Widgetbox! Tricky Treats is a Halloween candy-themed "Bejeweled" game. I had so much fun making the art for it!

OMG Kittens!

2008-09-08T20:20:00.003-04:00

The Field of Kittens has been on my list for quite some time. Ever since I created The Field of Puppies piece, my friend Angela has wanted a kittens version. So, guess what I created for her as a shower present? I featured her two kitties, Navy (the black one), and Toast (the orange marmie/white one). I think the kitten looking straight out at the viewer is the one that looks most like Toast. Here is my process, from sketch to finish.

The Finished Invitation

2008-08-10T21:33:00.004-04:00

Here's the finished product! I printed the invites last week and I'm getting the last of them mailed tomorrow. I added a little sparkle to the umbrella ruffle and gifts with some glitter glue.

Shower Mouse is finished!

2008-08-04T13:14:00.003-04:00

I finished the shower mouse invitation artwork this weekend and wanted to share. It's colored pencil, watercolor, and a few highlights with pastel pencils. Now all I have to do is print out the invitations!

Fruit-Filled Fun is now live!

2008-07-21T13:28:00.003-04:00

I'm thrilled to announce that the Strawberry Shortcake game I worked on this spring is now live! Go check it out at the American Greetings kids' website, AGKidzone!

Illustration Friday: Foggy

2008-07-16T12:22:00.006-04:00

Here is my contribution for this Illustration Friday's theme for "foggy."

"The Fog" was an early reader assignment for Hartcourt School Publishers. It gave me the chance to create some historical pieces, and work with a story with lots of atmosphere. The little boy in the story, Tom, becomes afraid while walking in the fog, so his mother retrieves a lamp from their house.

I would love to see how the finished product turned out. Unfortunately with larger publishers, you don't always get free samples.

Looks like a shower!

2008-07-12T18:58:00.003-04:00

My college roomie is getting married this fall, and I'm organizing a bridal shower for her. I plan to design and make the invitations. Hopefully the pun is not lost on everyone, but this is what I envisioned for "bridal shower". Isn't the bride-to-be supposed to be "showered" with presents?

I did two rough sketches, and I think I'm going with the top one. I like the mouse holding out her paw like she's checking for rain.

I'll post the final design soon!

Noah's Ark Part II

2008-06-09T19:57:00.002-04:00

This companion piece for the Noah’s Ark series will be the last children’s portfolio piece for a little while.

After much soul-searching, I’ve decided to take a break from building my children’s illustration portfolio. Ever since I was a child, I’ve always wanted to illustrate children’s books. Now that I am published, and have been working in this field for three years, I’m afraid I just don’t enjoy creating this type of artwork anymore. At least, that’s the way I feel right now.

I’m sure that’s bound to change, because picture books will always hold a special place in my heart. Right now, though, I need a change of pace. I have some ideas for art licensing which I’ll be developing this summer. There’s personal work that’s been on the backburner, and I really need to get back to writing, at least for myself.

Stay tuned for some new stuff!

New Job, New Toy

2008-04-08T21:51:00.007-04:00

Last month I joined Left Brain Games, an internet game company started by an old colleague of mine. I've been helping out with the art production, adding a dash of cuteness here and there. I'm back on a Mac, which I'm a little out of practice on, but I do get to use a Cintiq! We have one of the first models, which doesn't swivel, but is still very cool.

For those of you not familiar with Wacom tablets, it's basically a monitor that you draw directly on with a stylus pen. When you've been working with a traditional tablet for a few years, it's definitely something you've got to wrap your head around.

Most of the artwork I've been doing is vector, so I haven't really played all that much with the airbrush and other pressure sensitive stuff for Photoshop. There is the new version of Painter on my Mac though... :)

Noah's Ark sets sail!

2008-03-02T19:59:00.005-05:00

I'm finally finished with a new portfolio piece! This will be my image for this coming year's Picturebook. I've included the sketch so you can see some revisions -- mainly the dragonflies that didn't make it.

It was pretty much impossible to create the sky gradient around the doves and butterflies, so I lay them in last. I wasn't sure how the stylized water was going to work, but I like the way it turned out.

Belated Valentine's Greetings

2008-02-23T23:44:00.004-05:00

Maybe I should add a little Lincoln beard to this guy, since it is more of a President's Day bear than a Valentine's Day bear. I sketched this and painted it "quick & dirty" in Photoshop to feature on my handmade valentines.

My next post will be my Noah's Ark design that I'm working on for self-promotion.

Favorite pieces from "The Moving Carnival"

2008-01-20T14:33:00.002-05:00

Here are my three favorites pieces from "The Moving Carnival", my latest early reader from Picture Window Books. I was asked to do these in soft pastel, so I needed to work rather big. For those of you who are familiar with soft pastels, you know how challenging it is to create fine details in chunky pastels.

The first is a tiny little spot image, and the original is about 4 by 4 inches. So, you can imagine that the other two are pretty large -- roughly 24 by 15 inches.

This was a challenging project because of the subject matter. We follow along as Rosa and Luis spend the day at a traveling carnival. Lots of rides and crazy perspective!

Hope you enjoy!

New Year, New Book!

2008-01-14T16:40:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm happy to announce that my second illustrated book, "The Moving Carnival," will be released very soon from Picture Window Books. When I submitted the cover art, I was really curious where the design team was going to put the title. They did a really great job -- especially picking up the oranges and yellows.

Next post - my favorite pieces from the book!

Holiday Card: It's finished!

2007-11-25T19:50:00.001-05:00

The holiday card is now finished! The final design will have a red border and foil accents. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Holiday Card: Work in Progress

2007-11-09T15:25:00.000-05:00

Here are my little guys for the annual McKay holiday card. I sketched them out on a legal pad, in case anyone was wondering about the lines. I swapped the kids around in Photoshop, and did a very rough color study.

Now I'm undecided about the background. I could just have a nice, simple design on white.

Originally, I pictured them in pastels, but now I think I'll use my mixed media technique. Hopefully I'll have the final done soon!

Illustration Friday: Hats

2007-11-07T08:28:00.000-05:00

I know, I know -- I've dragged out this oldie but goodie from my portfolio archive. Come on -- how can I NOT use this?! It remains a favorite of mine, since it represents one of the first times that I "got" soft pastels. I'm still debating about having prints made of this one.

I'm working on the holiday card for this year, so I should have that ready to show soon!

Some stuff from this summer...

2007-11-01T10:29:00.000-04:00

So much of what's kept me busy this past summer I can't show just yet! My second illustrated book from Picture Window Books is due out next spring, so I'll be happy to share then.

Although it is in Really Good Stuff's signature style, I created the artwork to recently published "Groundhog Day Surprises". It's another one of their readers' theaters and is done in Adobe Illustrator.

One of the fun quick projects I did this past Father's Day was a new card design for my dad. It was a quick sketch that I colored in Photoshop. My hubby, not to be outdone for his dad's card, asked me to make the little girl bear into a boy, and that the bears be in a boat. So, here are my two versions of "Bearly Fishing".

Illustration Friday: Grow

2007-10-23T10:02:00.001-04:00

Hooray! My first Illustration Friday! I'm happy to contribute my concept for "grow." This was my self-promotional piece for my rep's page in Picturebook 2007.

Welcome to my shiny new blog!

2007-10-19T18:48:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! I know -- I'm a bit late jumping on the blog bandwagon. Actually, I'm pretty sure the bandwagon has been gone for quite some time. I simply wanted a way to share my works in progress and participate in Illustration Friday -- so here we are. Plus, it's much easier to update this blog than my website, which is now a big project. Enjoy the beautiful leaves! One of my fall-inspired pieces...