Bear Gets a Letter - spot illustrations

The fall colors here are starting to appear. Was doodling on my Cintiq last night and came up with these cozy spot illustrations of a bear receving and answering a letter. I keep all my letters from pre-Internet days, do you?

Illustration Friday- "Haunt"

My illustration of Dickens' novel The Old Curiosity Shop shows Little Nell feeling haunted by wax dummies.

PAPERGIRL SF art

I'm participating in the art event PAPERGIRL SF, where artists submit roll-uppable art, usually multiple pieces, which will be handed out to passersby via bike. How cool is that? The art will be at the Incline Gallery for a week (opening is Nov. 2). The Roll and Ride is on Nov. 11. I donated 25 copies of this piece:

The rhino is a character who's starting to recur (like one of those recurring dreams, but more pleasant). Here, she's panting but making it up an SF hill. The photo of SF is from a free, no-attribution pic. Thanks to the photographer!

PAPERGIRL takes place in different cities around the world. 

Get one of my greeting cards for free from Card Gnome! Below is my (quite popular, if I do say so myself) "Halloween Piggies" card. Pick a card from my store or any card on the whole Card Gnome site. You can have the card sent to anyone, postage is included. Just follow the instructions on the site--you will need a Facebook account. Click the pic to go to my shop!

Online art classes

Mark Mitchell's How to Be a Children's Book Illustrator is a great experience, featuring videos, a group bulletin board, and live, instructor-led critiques. Through that class, I heard about Will Terry's video courses and signed up for one, which was definitely worthwhile. He teaches at Folio Academy, which offers art videos in many subjects. Watching the masters do it is a great way to develop your own craft.

Here is my work currently on display at the Yonkers Riverfront Library in New York. It's part of a Dickens Centennial show by the Children's Book Illustrators Group (cbig-nyc.com), of which I'm a member. For more on the show and our upcoming Mother Goose show, please go to cbig-nycexhibits.blogspot.com/. This post is from our group blog, cbig-nyc.blogspot.com.

I chose The Old Curiosity Shop, since I like the idea of old curiosities. The first image shows 14-year-old Little Nell in the center, with her grandfather leading the way through the shop where the two live. The man in back has just helped Nell find her way home.

Nell and her grandfather are forced to leave their home because he has lost all their money gambling. Nell goes to work for a traveling wax-works show. Image 2 shows her nervously sharing a room with the wax-works.

The last image shows the evil Quilp horrifying his wife (in back) and mother-in-law as he gobbles down breakfast in a most uncivilized manner, bending the silver and even eating shrimp and eggs with their shells on.