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My artwork is featured on the cover of Britain's Total TV Guide this holiday season!  It was so fun to paint a traditional holiday scene at this time of year.  The project really put me in the Christmas spirit!

I am excited to announce that my artwork, along with several other illustrators from MB Artists, will be featured in Bill O'Reilly and James Patterson's new book "Give Please a Chance."  My illustration is the one shown here at the bottom, with the girl and the trampoline.  This title will be released on November 21st.

Check out my artwork in the newest issue of "Ladybug" magazine!  I had so much fun imagining the details for these illustrations.

My toddler loves "Babybug" magazine.  She's a wiggler, and this is one of the few books/publications that she will actually sit through.  So I am extra excited to have my art in the new May/June issue!

Thanks go out to the Children's Museum and WTHR for having me on the news this morning to talk a little bit about creating the artwork for the Museum's "Pirates and Princesses" exhibit!  If you weren't up bright and early to catch the segment live, you can view the video here on WTHR's website.  My family visited the exhibit over the weekend, and had so much fun!  I hope everyone in the Indianapolis area is able to come and experience this storybook world, which features iconic movie props, a castle and a pirate ship to explore, an interactive dragon-fighting video game and dress-up pretend stations for the kids!

What an exciting day!  The Children's Museum of Indianapolis invited me to be part of a news segment to promote the new Pirates and Princesses exhibit opening this weekend.  It was amazing to see the exhibit.  Here is a clip from the newscast, as well as some photos from the exhibit. 

I am excited about the #1lib1ref project on Wikipedia. The goal is to get every librarian in the world (or a reasonable subsection) to add a citation to a Wikipedia article, just one. This helps make Wikipedia better in the process. I added my cite today to the Free Your Mind… and Your Ass Will Follow article. I’m not even trying to be sassy, that is just the page that was handed to me by this great tool that lets you know which articles need citations. I did some Googling, found a Google Book that had some supporting detail for the fact in question, used a book citation tool to turn it into Wikistyle and there you go. I might do two, just in case someone doesn’t have time to add a citation to Wikipedia this week. We have a facebook page and a lot of people using the #1lib1ref hashtag on Twitter. Join us!

Fun mail today!  My copies of "Big Red and the Little Bitty Wolf" arrived today!  It is so exciting to see the book in print!  This title will be released in February, and are available for pre-order.  Hope you all enjoy this re-imagined "Little Red Riding Hood", in which the new girl at school is causing big problems for a little bitty wolf.

I just got a product sample of the latest infant development toy from SmartNoggin, the NogginRings.  I worked on the parent guide that comes with the toy to detail different activities and techniques that parents can use to help their babies meet developmental milestones.  It was great to finally see the product in person, and my baby enjoyed testing it out as well!

Hi, All!  It's been a busy month!  I just finished the artwork for "Big Red and the Little Bitty Wolf", to be released by Magination Press in spring 2016!  I hope to be able to share some images from this book soon.  However, in the meanwhile, here is my new promotional piece.  I wanted to create something to appeal to upper elementary readers, and I have always loved magic, mystery and steampunk.  I had a lot of fun with lighting in this piece.  Hope you enjoy!

Exciting news!  "All My Stripes" has been released by Magination Press!  You can purchase the book through my store on my website, or through any bookseller.

If you’re anything like the thousands of creatives out there, you’ll no doubt have something called “GotToHaveEveryArtSupply-itis”and its incurable. We get so excited and enthusiastic when the glorious sound of the art supply shop opens like an unknown force pulling us in against our will (not really), to when there’s a sale online we just have to get them all.Although with this vast growing collection of art supplies, in which we think deep down will bestow upon us great creative talent, comes being practical and responsible to.

 Each art material has its advantages and disadvantages, however its actually how you use them that will help you to produce great work.So here’s a few tips to really help  you choose your creative weapons of choice wisely and wield them like a true creative warrior!

1.  Combine materials that compliment each other – Just because you have an artbox filled with yummy supplies, doesn’t mean you have to throw everything into the mix to make the perfect receipe. Experimenting is key to know what works for you and your style to build your creative process. Look closely at the textures, contrasts and effects each material gives you and which would compliment each other nicely to create the perfect creative dish.  For example watercolours and coloured pencil work great together to create colour washes with beautiful tone work.

2. He’s got it so I need to have it to - No doubt you’ve done this to where your inspirational creative idol uses a specific art supply and  you feel the urge to possess it to achieve greatness. Although this isn’t to say its not the quality of product that gives them great results, bear in mind they’ve been honing their skills and processes with it for countless hours through “practice“. Not every art supply works the same with every creatives style and process, but experiment with different materials to see if introducing it to your creative making steps will benefit the pieces you create.

3. Invest within your budget- Last but not least investing and budgeting, understandably art supplies often aren’t cheap as they come in so many different brands, qualities and quantities at different prices. There’s also artist and student grade materials, however the key is be wise and stick to your budget. Test materials out and if you feel they have a permanent place in how you make your art then this gives you the option to invest in them further.

Good luck creatives and have fun wielding those art supplies!

Featured image by Amy Van Luijk  you can find out more about her work here.

Fun mail. A copy of "Highlights High Five" came in with one of my hidden pictures inside. Many of these horses pictured are similar to ones I played with as a child. Olivia and I had fun doing the puzzles in this magazine together today!

Just another day at the art desk I hear you say, starting your sunday with a chipper smile and creative heart filled with enthusiasm, you believe everything will be absolutely fine. That is however until you sit down to start working on that creative portfolio you aspire to make.Suddenly you’re faced with an extremely sweaty brow and a blank canvas that’s been sitting there for the best part of an hour.

You may start to hear a small voice quoting in the back of your head how you can do this! However this then propels into a downward swirl beating yourself up over your lack of progress, whilst creating a rather larger  pile of screwed up sketchbook pages behind you. In all you just don’t know where to start and have an idea of a project’s “end” with no “beginning”.

Generating ideas for portfolio pieces can be tough if you don’t plan and prepare in advance what you aim to create.  Every creative person I believe though has the potential to create some amazing self-initiated projects to really blow the socks off those creative directors.  If that’s what you wanna do then here’s a few ways to help reel back your line to the beginning , generate ideas and get started creating portfolio pieces that will help promote what you can do!

1.  Understand what kind of work you want to be doing : Think about the kind of work you want to produce whether children’s book illustration , portrait photography , commercial design and more. By knowing where you want to go creatively this will help you understand the type of work you need to create.

2. Generate project ideas around your chosen work: Now that you’ve chosen your type of work the next step is to generate your own project idea. For example this could be illustrating a page from your favourite children’s book if your aim is a children’s illustration. Create a pattern design collection if your aim is to work within commercial product, licensing and more.

3. Hone your skills and think outside the box : No doubt you’ll have your collection of favoured art materials that you turn to when you create a piece. However be sure to hone your skills will other materials , softwares and processes to as this will help show how versatile you can create pieces and how diverse they can be. Last but not least though think outside the box, take inspiration from other creative is one thing but then take a little inspiration from it and create something unique to you.

Image by Matt Adrian you can find out more about his work here.

My newest picture book "All My Stripes" will be released on March 9, 2015, and is now available for pre-order!

It was a fun mail day for me.  I just got my illustrator copies of "All My Stripes", my newest picture book to be released by Magination Press in spring 2014.  "All My Stripes" is a story about a zebra named Zane who feels out of place due to his autistic stripe.  Zane's mother gives him space to express his feelings of being different, and helps Zane to see and appreciate his many other "stripes".  While "All My Stripes" is foremost a book that reaches out to children on the autism spectrum, it is also a great story for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider....which is something that I think everyone can relate to.  Since one of Zane's interests is math, I have hidden visual "Easter eggs" throughout the book that pertain to math and math history.  It was such a challenging, enriching and ultimately fun project to be a part of!  I can't wait for the release in the spring!

It’s easy to presume that your doodles, illustrations, paintings and creative thoughts should make their way straight to paper or canvas although just for a minute why not think outside the box.  Break the rules and do something creatively different that sets your doodles apart , not to abandon your sketchbook for to long but challenge yourself to something different. To help get you started heres just a few creative ways you can do that and truly think outside the box to show others just how creative you can be.

• Remember that rather dull phone or tablet case you bought thats lacking a certain creative omph, well grab yourself some paint or a paint based marker and create your own custom case design.  Add your own style and choose your own theme to make a stylish creative case you’d want to show off and not hide.
• Mugs are great because they often get filled with heart warming teas or beverages although a plain little old mug is some what sad and gloomy. However with some ceramic paint or markers you  could give it an unique handdrawn design of its own that is sure to make your tea breaks even better.
• For fellow lovers of fabric the dream is no doubt to create your own and you can even without a huge fabric printer. With some acrylic paints and fabric medium you can paint your own designs onto calico, making reams of your own one of a kind design to embellish any type of project from home furnishings to wallart and more.
• That little pair of converse you happen to have sitting in the hallway could use a splash of ink wouldn’t you say? Grab yourself some pens and markers ( ones that work well on canvas fabric and will not run) and create yourself a fashion piece that will set you apart from everyone else.

Image by artist  Jaco Haasbroek  you can find out more about their work here.

Last week we were spending a creative sunday discovering ways you can have fun filling the pages of your sketchbook.  No doubt by now those exact same pages are filled with the seeds of a great creative project , now all you have to do is take those initial sketchbook ideas and turn them into something creatively amazing and here’s ways following last week’s post you can do that.

1.  From a continuous fine liner doodle look at what you’ve created. Is there are character or motif on your page that you can trace on layout paper turning it into a developed illustration piece. Could you grow that initial idea; add extra aspects to it that weren’t there before and develop it into something new that might be a great addition to your portfolio.

2.  What was once a spontaneous splash on your page might now be an amazing initial illustration idea all dried up and ready for developing. You might have a series of quirky inky characters, imaginative creatures and more that you can now scan and turn into anything from a surface pattern to a series of illustrative prints.

3. Were you brave enough to rip a hole in your sketchbook page? If you were and grew a little illustration into a bigger one, growing a concept for a story or filling it with typography script, you could now scan and digitally colour your pieces turning them into a book or series of prints for an online shop.

4. If you dabbled in paper collage and created a sketched paper piece, you could take elements from your experimentation that worked and move them further in your project. So for example if a black fine line doodle contrasted better on graph paper collage, then use those elements that work along with your drawing theme of choice to develop further turning initial sketchbook ideas into a series of framed pieces maybe?

5. The last sketchbook filling idea was to find one thing where you were and sketch it in different ways, materials and perspectives on your pages to create a number of motifs. Once you’ve done this you could retrace your sketches onto tracing paper to tidy up the best designs you want to use. Then begin incorporating colour and combine shapes to make new pattern prints that could be for many different things from phone cases to notebook covers, fabric and more.

Image by artist Sarah Ahearn you can find out more about her work here.

If you’re ready to start a new project or just feel like taking a lazy sunday to doodle but aren’t quite sure how to best start filling those blank sketchbook pages with amazing things, here’s 5 ways to fill your sketchbook and have fun doing it.

1. Take a fine liner and draw in one continuous line filling all spaces on your page without actually taking the pen off the surface until you’re finished.
2. Using ink make a spontaneous splash, drip, or dribble on your page then leave it to dry and afterwards using a material of choice (pen or pencil etc.) create something from that drip whether an animal, flower , imaginative creature and more.
3. Rip a hole in a middle section of your page and begin drawing an illustration or doodle in the middle of the hole. The idea is to grow the little illustration into something bigger out of that hole, could be anything in any shape or form you wish from typography, pattern to an imaginative story like concept .
4. Take a piece of paper collage ( this could be a newspaper clipping, diary piece, parcel paper, map or magazine clipping) and stick it to the sketchbook page, then create an illustration on its surface. If you’re a lover of fashion illustration you could for example cut out models and create your own imaginative designs the potentials endless because so is your imagination.
5. Find one thing where you are now (whether you’re outside, at home ,bedroom or office) and sketch that one thing in different ways, materials and perspectives on that one page creating a pattern of that one thing you chose.

Once you’re done you can then develop these initial sketchbook ideas into something bigger like a series of book illustrations, patterns, fashion pieces, paintings and more. So grab those materials, open up those sketchbooks and get started  having fun working on those big ideas.

Image by artist Aurelie you can find out more about her work here.

Check out this special Highlights hidden pictures image that I did for The Day of the Dead, sponsored by 20th Century Fox for their new movie "The Book Of Life".  This was a great piece to work on, because in addition to working with some fun imagery, I got to learn about another culture's holiday, which I was previously unfamiliar with.  I love how each of my projects opens the door for me to learn something new!  Happy Fall, everyone!