I’m managing to get these pictures done. Slowly but surely. I am doing them in great detail so that when the entire book needs to be drawn I can remember what each character looks like.
This is the one I just finished today for Africa.
Archive for August, 2009
Slowly but Surely
Posted by admin - Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
If I didn’t get a book deal…this is pretty good!
Posted by admin - Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
I went to LA to show off my illustrations, my dummy book, my writing, etc. I don’t know if anyone liked my work, though. I won’t know until someone contacts me, but I did hand out a lot of business cards. I now know my rip book was not completely successful as I had one of them taken. I am going to just assume it was an editor or agent that liked my work and was going to pass the promo sheets around the office. I like that idea.
As the conference ended and I had the books I had bought each signed by their perspective author or illustrator, I was finally able to site-see. I didn’t want to go all the way to LA and only see the inside of the hotel. I found out my step-sister had just moved to LA with her boyfriend so I called her and they drove me and my roommate Cathy, a very good writer I might add, into Hollywood. They let us out on the street where the Hollywood walk of fame was and then went to find parking. As we walked, I took pictures of every star that meant something to me: Danny Kaye, The Andrews Sisters, Phil Collins, every one of them brought on special memories of the movies I used to watch and the music I listened to when visiting my dad in California.
We walked on feeling pretty good about being there until we started to see barriers. I asked someone standing at one of the barriers what was going on and he said that there was a movie premier and that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were going to be there. Well, heck, we can stick around for that. We went across the street and stood behind the red carpet, thinking we had a pretty good spot until the police showed up and began pushing everyone back. We were ushered toward the Kodak Theater like cattle and they managed to settle the barriers into place right were we stood, so we had a perfect front row spot. Then the stars started to show up. Bj Novak from The Office, Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Kruger, and then finally, as my camera was just about out of power, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. OMG she was gorgeous, and he was so handsome. Very nice too. They both went across the street to sign autographs and then made there way back to the red carpet.
They didn’t have to come in our general direction, but he was so nice he stepped over and waved to everyone. It was great. I was trying to post pics, but my account is a little buggy. Hopefully in the next few days so keep checking back.
I went to LA to show off my illustrations, my dummy book, my writing, etc. I don’t know if anyone liked my work, though. I won’t know until someone contacts me, but I did hand out a lot of business cards. I now know my rip book was not completely successful as I had one of them taken. I am going to just assume it was an editor or agent that liked my work and was going to pass the promo sheets around the office. I like that idea.
As the conference ended and I had the books I had bought each signed by their perspective author or illustrator, I was finally able to site-see. I didn’t want to go all the way to LA and only see the inside of the hotel. I found out my step-sister had just moved to LA with her boyfriend so I called her and they drove me and my roommate Cathy, a very good writer I might add, into Hollywood. They let us out on the street where the Hollywood walk of fame was and then went to find parking. As we walked, I took pictures of every star that meant something to me: Danny Kaye, The Andrews Sisters, Phil Collins, every one of them brought on special memories of the movies I used to watch and the music I listened to when visiting my dad in California.
We walked on feeling pretty good about being there until we started to see barriers. I asked someone standing at one of the barriers what was going on and he said that there was a movie premier and that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were going to be there. Well, heck, we can stick around for that. We went across the street and stood behind the red carpet, thinking we had a pretty good spot until the police showed up and began pushing everyone back. We were ushered toward the Kodak Theater like cattle and they managed to settle the barriers into place right were we stood, so we had a perfect front row spot. Then the stars started to show up. Bj Novak from The Office, Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Kruger, and then finally, as my camera was just about out of power, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. OMG she was gorgeous, and he was so handsome. Very nice too. They both went across the street to sign autographs and then made there way back to the red carpet.
They didn’t have to come in our general direction, but he was so nice he stepped over and waved to everyone. It was great. I was trying to post pics, but my account is a little buggy. Hopefully in the next few days so keep checking back.
Almost there!
Posted by admin - Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Well, I leave for LA today. I say today even though I haven’t gone to bed yet. It’s almost 4 in the morning and I really need to get to bed. I just had a bunch of last minute things to finish. Finally got my costume designed, my my rip books ready, my business cards are packed, my portfolio is looking fabulous, and I just bought a few new pants and shirts for the trip. I can’t wait, but I will probably just want to sleep the entire way on the airplane.
Wish me luck!
Well, I leave for LA today. I say today even though I haven’t gone to bed yet. It’s almost 4 in the morning and I really need to get to bed. I just had a bunch of last minute things to finish. Finally got my costume designed, my my rip books ready, my business cards are packed, my portfolio is looking fabulous, and I just bought a few new pants and shirts for the trip. I can’t wait, but I will probably just want to sleep the entire way on the airplane.
Wish me luck!
Ok, so I can’t sew.
Posted by admin - Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Why did I take all those darn science classes instead of home economics where I could have at least learned how to sew. My costume looks hideous. I can’t get the sewing machine to work right, the bobbin keeps tangling, the thread keeps breaking, and I can’t figure out how to fix it. I’m going to have to wait until my hubby wakes up. Either that or I’m off to the store to get fabric glue. I’ve been working on the same 20 some odd inches of fabric for about 2 hours now with no luck. But now I must pause to go to Kinkos.
The costume can wait.
Why did I take all those darn science classes instead of home economics where I could have at least learned how to sew. My costume looks hideous. I can’t get the sewing machine to work right, the bobbin keeps tangling, the thread keeps breaking, and I can’t figure out how to fix it. I’m going to have to wait until my hubby wakes up. Either that or I’m off to the store to get fabric glue. I’ve been working on the same 20 some odd inches of fabric for about 2 hours now with no luck. But now I must pause to go to Kinkos.
The costume can wait.
It’s 6 a.m., what in the heck am I doing up!
Posted by admin - Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Ok, so I’ve been up for 2 hours already. I went to bed at midnight but could only sleep 4 hours. I just have too much to do. I have to finish the coyote drawing, then send all my illustrations to Kinkos’s. I have to sew myself a costume for the ball. Domestic diva I am not. My husband knows more about sewing than I do. Well, you could gusset this panel right here. What the h&^% is a gusset, you’re speaking in tongues again. Maybe I should just get him to sew it, he’ll have to thread my sewing machine anyway since I haven’t a clue. But he’s busy sending out resumes. Seems that the stable job he had wasn’t so stable after all and they’ve forced him to take an unpaid 2 week vacation until they can come up with funding to pay everyone. This month will be interesting since I will be going to LA. Can’t cancel though. I’ve already paid close to 750 so far just for convention tickets and plane fair. I still have to pay the hotel. Since I will be off work for almost 2 weeks, we will both not get paid around the same time. Ah, the joys of an economically challenged society. He’s looking for work in New Zealand. They seem to be pretty stable around there. But we would have to uproot everything. He’s already gotten a reply from a company in Wellington, who say his skills are in big demand over there. I’ve always wanted to go to New Zealand, but that would require leaving what’s left of my family in the states as they say. My sister would be a bit miffed, but hey, she could visit at Christmas! She’s a big fan of the Lord of the Rings series, I think she’d get a kick out of visiting the country it was filmed in.
Can’t stress about that now. Whatever will be, will be. If there was one thing I’ve learned, you just have to take what gets tossed at you and make the best out of it.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have a drawing to finish. 
Ok, so I’ve been up for 2 hours already. I went to bed at midnight but could only sleep 4 hours. I just have too much to do. I have to finish the coyote drawing, then send all my illustrations to Kinkos’s. I have to sew myself a costume for the ball. Domestic diva I am not. My husband knows more about sewing than I do. Well, you could gusset this panel right here. What the h&^% is a gusset, you’re speaking in tongues again. Maybe I should just get him to sew it, he’ll have to thread my sewing machine anyway since I haven’t a clue. But he’s busy sending out resumes. Seems that the stable job he had wasn’t so stable after all and they’ve forced him to take an unpaid 2 week vacation until they can come up with funding to pay everyone. This month will be interesting since I will be going to LA. Can’t cancel though. I’ve already paid close to 750 so far just for convention tickets and plane fair. I still have to pay the hotel. Since I will be off work for almost 2 weeks, we will both not get paid around the same time. Ah, the joys of an economically challenged society. He’s looking for work in New Zealand. They seem to be pretty stable around there. But we would have to uproot everything. He’s already gotten a reply from a company in Wellington, who say his skills are in big demand over there. I’ve always wanted to go to New Zealand, but that would require leaving what’s left of my family in the states as they say. My sister would be a bit miffed, but hey, she could visit at Christmas! She’s a big fan of the Lord of the Rings series, I think she’d get a kick out of visiting the country it was filmed in.
Can’t stress about that now. Whatever will be, will be. If there was one thing I’ve learned, you just have to take what gets tossed at you and make the best out of it.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have a drawing to finish.
I’m so excited! And I just can’t hide it!
Posted by admin - Monday, August 3rd, 2009
LA here I come! I am pursuing my dream to become a children’s book writer and illustrator. I’ve even written and illustrated my own children’s book, and I’m on my way to LA come this Thursday to show it in the portfolio contest. I know, slim chance against all those other hopefuls, but if you can’t take a chance on life, what else can you do with it? Besides, it is basically me on display, I have to have faith in myself, otherwise I am done for. I’ve made it further than a lot of people have. For that I am proud of myself, but it isn’t over yet. I want to be one of those prolific writers that has hundreds of books out. Being completely honest with myself, am I going to be able to illustrate all of those books? Meh, probably not. I know there are certain books that I have been working out lately that just wouldn’t work with my particular style, so I could probably get someone else to illustrate. Realistically I just wouldn’t have the time to illustrate that many books. But it’d be fun to try!
I’m exhausted at the moment, I’ve been up into the wee hours of the morning for the last few weeks preparing my dummy book, my promo sheets, my portfolio, drawing more pics to fill in holes here and there. Plus I’ve been working almost nonstop in my other job. Last two weeks alone, I worked 84 hours. That’s seven 12 hour shifts. That’s one whole week! The other seven I spent drawing, trying to do laundry, cook meals for my family, entertain the in-laws who stayed for a few days with us, clean house, and for a few hours a night, sleep.
I just got through working another 12 hour shift in NICU, which is short for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. On my feet most of the night taking care of preemie babies and wondering just how I was going to score the pages in my promo rip books. What do ya think, would a pizza slicer work?
Now I am tired, but I need to be working on my drawings and converting them all into CMYK so I can have someone print them out. But even after a tall espresso chocolate truffle from Starbucks, I’m still tired and now I have the hiccups. Such is life.
LA here I come! I am pursuing my dream to become a children’s book writer and illustrator. I’ve even written and illustrated my own children’s book, and I’m on my way to LA come this Thursday to show it in the portfolio contest. I know, slim chance against all those other hopefuls, but if you can’t take a chance on life, what else can you do with it? Besides, it is basically me on display, I have to have faith in myself, otherwise I am done for. I’ve made it further than a lot of people have. For that I am proud of myself, but it isn’t over yet. I want to be one of those prolific writers that has hundreds of books out. Being completely honest with myself, am I going to be able to illustrate all of those books? Meh, probably not. I know there are certain books that I have been working out lately that just wouldn’t work with my particular style, so I could probably get someone else to illustrate. Realistically I just wouldn’t have the time to illustrate that many books. But it’d be fun to try!
I’m exhausted at the moment, I’ve been up into the wee hours of the morning for the last few weeks preparing my dummy book, my promo sheets, my portfolio, drawing more pics to fill in holes here and there. Plus I’ve been working almost nonstop in my other job. Last two weeks alone, I worked 84 hours. That’s seven 12 hour shifts. That’s one whole week! The other seven I spent drawing, trying to do laundry, cook meals for my family, entertain the in-laws who stayed for a few days with us, clean house, and for a few hours a night, sleep.
I just got through working another 12 hour shift in NICU, which is short for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. On my feet most of the night taking care of preemie babies and wondering just how I was going to score the pages in my promo rip books. What do ya think, would a pizza slicer work?
Now I am tired, but I need to be working on my drawings and converting them all into CMYK so I can have someone print them out. But even after a tall espresso chocolate truffle from Starbucks, I’m still tired and now I have the hiccups. Such is life.