What's happening this Summer?

Publishing is seasonal with most books debuting in Spring and Fall. So what's up in the Summer? Writers and illustrators are still creating. Acquisition editors continue to discover and acquire upcoming titles. Art directors are still designing and creating beautiful picture books. But we all take a little extra time to stop and smell the roses. In my case, I also draw the roses along with the yucca, moon flower and many of the hungry pollinators who come out by day and by night. 

Front End Papers Artwork

Back End Papers Artwork

 

And below are a couple illustrations from a portrait series. These are two of my favorites.

Digital Pastel Portrait of Amanda Gorman

Digital Pastel Portrait of John Lewis

A huge "THANK YOU!" to Peter Limata for including The Tiny Giant in his Storytime Book Series. 

 

 

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One of the few good things that came out of our COVID lockdown was so many publishers started granting rights for Virtual Story times. My favorite is Story Time with Mr. Limata on Facebook and YouTube. I first discovered him on Instagram, @StorytimeWithMrLimata, but most people know him from his appearance on the Ellen Show! We all appreciate his creativity and hard work he puts into his class of second graders along with sharing picture books with the rest of the world. Lucky us!

And last, but not least... The Tiny Giant is the recipient of the 2021 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award - Children's Picture Book Silver Award Winner! Thank you to the judges and Schiffer Publishing for believing in our book!

So enjoy your summer and thanks for taking time to check out my blog. Please click on the links for more information and the images for a closer view.

Cathy

Good bye Summer, Hello Fall

My Studio With A View's South Facing View of the Mummy Range

Summertime is said to be "dead" in the publishing world. So many publishers are on vacation and the ones keeping up the pace might have their minds elsewhere, maybe on the beach or the mountains. This summer was anything but dead. However it can be hard to focus with nature calling to get out and explore. Here's a view from my desk to give you an idea of how enticing it can be working in the foothills northwest of Fort Collins.

Shortgrass Prairie

This mandala artwork, "Shortgrass Prairie" is part of a series I'm illustrating for my licensing representative.

Gardener Girl end page artwork

Seems one mandala leads to another. Here's art for front and back end pages for another book that I'm writing and illustrating. You'll be seeing more of this in the coming months. I've got a few books I'm working on and one just SOLD (after three years of writing, researching, drawing, designing, editing, submitting query after query and more revisions) so I'm stoked!

And below are some sweet peas for Seed Packets. If you're sensing a "nature theme" here you would be right.

Sweet Peas

Marianne Berkes and Over on the Farm

 Marianne Berkes is one of my favorite authors and from what I know she never rests. Here she is on her latest book tour. Over on the Farm is one of the books we did together and it's featured in Learning Magazine for the month of September. We've included lots of fun activities for kids too.

Sedona Trolley's New Logo and Badge Artwork

Sedona Arizona

And finally above is the new logo and badge artwork for Sedona Trolley. Collaborating with their marketing director was so much fun. She shared lots of beautiful scenery of the amazing Sedona mountains.

Thanks for taking a look. Please click on each image for more information or a larger view.
Cathy

By the Light of the Moon

Looking out at White Pine Mountain, the Mummy Range and Poudre Canyon

I'm an early bird. One reason is the majority of my clients are on Eastern time, two hours ahead, so I feel a need to get on with my day. The other reason is that it's such a peaceful, solitary start of the day, just me and my fifth cup of coffee around this time of the morning.

To quote darling, "Life is Gouda!"

Above is a new and very fun project that I just completed for darling in NYC. This illustration was a little different for me. The art director and her team were actually darling to work with. I did the illustration and the agency handled the design.

Watch how a cheese label gets attached to a gouda wheel.

Below are illustrations from a variety of books in the works...

Gardener Girl (working title)

I Spy Blackberry Pie

The Tiny Giant (above and below images)

 

Mission Earth's SummerFest coming to Fort Collins this summer!

SummerFest 2018 focuses on climate change and it's impact on our planet by bringing together music, the visual arts and science for a month of concerts, lectures, film, art exhibits and STEAM-based educational events. Hope to see you there!

Thanks for taking a look. Tap on the images for a larger view or to follow a link with more information. And if you're an art director/editor, please send work!
Cathy

Latest buzzzz for If You Love Honey

After turning in artwork for If You Love Honey, Nature's Connections I got a look at Patty Arnold's design and layout for the book. I'm posting a few spreads here to give you a sneak peek. This is my second book illustrated by Martha Sullivan and third book for Dawn Publishing. It comes out this fall. After doing a lot of research for the illustrations I've converted to a true honey bee fanatic, not to mention a Martha Sullivan fan!

And here's a couple of early reviews:
"If You Love Honey is vibrant and engaging with warm, lifelike, and impressively accurate art that remembers the young audience the book is written for. Parallel sections of text throughout the book effectively lead the reader through the pages. The theme text is repetitive and playful, while the more instructional sections are informative but still easily accessible and interesting to a young audience" --Randy L. Seagraves, Curriculum Coordinator, International Junior Master Gardener Program

"If You Love Honey takes its readers on a beautifully illustrated adventure through the intertwining natural world around us. It highlights the work of our bees, linking golden honey on bread to the earthworms crawling underground, and everything in-between. Children will be fascinated by this tale." --Sarah Red-Laird, Bee Girl, Executive Director, American Beekeeping Federation, Kids and Bees Program Director

And I wanted to say "Thanks!" to William Porter at the Denver Post for including me in his Mother's Day tribute. It's always great to give a shout out to our moms, especially our moms who spent so much time reading that favorite book once, twice, three times and please, just one more time before going to bed.

More Animals for Animalogy

It's way past time for a new post, so here's more illustrations for "Animalogy" by Marianne Berkes.

I'm not posting these in order, nor do I draw them in order. I skip around while illustrating, doing a harder illustration, then an easier one, maybe revising another rough before going to the next color spread, all the while trying to keep the momentum going.

All in all this is a fun project to work on. It's the only picture book I've illustrated where I'm not that concerned about continuity because it's a different animal in a different environment for each page not the same characters continuing throughout the story.

It's so nice having Marianne's sparse, simple verse to illustrate - leaves lots of room for creative interpretation.