From Illustration For Kids!

This was a fun piece--Fresh OFF the drawing board! I thought this befitting for late August. : )

I enjoyed working on this cartoon for Group! The spread and take-outs, below...

Something on the drawing board...

Playing with owls and patterns...

Here's something I posted on my blog, as well as here....

This is from a while back, a personal project. I wanted to do an alphabet. And the never-ending question for me is in regards to style: Cartoony? Stylized? Loosy-goosy-esque? (Whatever THAT means!). But in time, place and history, I made it look like this. So without further ado, I give you the letter "A", featuring an alligator eating and apple, of course!

Here's something new that came in last week. I did a spread for Chirp magazine's June 2014 issue, entitled, "Soccer In New Zealand". It depicts a youth soccer tournament held in New Zealand called "Jambo". I had a lot of fun putting this together, from depicting flags and soccer players from various countries. It has various puzzles to play, including finding things in the picture, as well as spotting balls that are NOT used in soccer. Off to the far bottom right are a few little informational facts about New Zealand. After drawing this, I hope to someday visit the country myself!

I’m working on and finishing up a few projects, and all have a dog or dogs. Also, in different styles. Below are clips from the final or working toward final illustrations.

This is one of many hidden picture puzzles I did this past year for Highlights. What a challenge, to hide 30 objects in a spread! Some are hard to find, others… obvious (Can you find some…?). But this is a fun story to tell in one picture–a children’s choir/production underway with parents, siblings and teachers helping and enjoying the show! There are little stories within the story so I hope that makes it much more enjoyable for kids to linger over as they try to find the hidden objects!

Samples came the other day, of the fun Mother’s Day illustration I worked on for a back-page puzzle for Clubhouse Jr. magazine I had a lot of fun with this. I worked in a bit of a tighter style using a very thin line. I’m really pleased with how the final printed piece turned out. And the raccoons still make me smile! Below are some photos of the final art.

I had some big illustration projects lately, and below is a little snip of one of the finished illustrations. Can you guess where the scene takes place? I think I made it too easy. : )

Just playing around with doing some speed painting videos.

Just a little bunny fun for Easter!

Here is project I worked on a few months back--the cover for Highlights' HighFive's March '14 cover! It's presently out and about (I saw it in a local magazine shop a few days ago). Below is a photo I took of the final, printed cover, then the actual illustration, sans copy, etc., as well as a close-up of the kids. Below that are some of the rough cover concepts I submitted. My thanks to Highlights for letting me be a part of making their magazine a fun read for kids!

Here's a puzzle for a magazine back cover I did showing penguins playing in a park of sorts. This was in a January '14 issue, I believe. See if you can find these objects "hidden" in the scene: an ice cream scoop; an ice cream cone; a mug; a pine cone; a red cardinal; a snow shoe hare; a mitten; a wool sock; ski goggles; a snow boot. I also have some close ups, if that helps.

This fun illustration was created for the back page puzzle of Focus on the Family's Club House Jr. magazine's December '13 issue. It sure fits the season and climate, though by late January, winter has gotten long in the tooth for those in the more colder climates. Brrrr!  So this is a hidden picture puzzle, with all the letters that spell "Joy to the world" scattered throughout. I'm not sure you can find them all at the smaller scale, but do have fun trying!

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(c) Focus on the Family

This is a sample of editorial work I created for the magazine Children's Ministry. I enjoyed pushing my style and playing with the digital watercolors in Painter 11.