My entry for the Children’s Book Festival’s Poster Design contest. I know I am drawing a lot on the theme of “stuff in hair,” but after doing my postcard and finding out about this contest I thought it would be perfect as the poster design. Perhaps now my hair obsession will be satisfied and I can move onto a new fetish (Tawny Frogmouths perhaps? LOOK THEM UP.)

Watercolor and digital. I used a lot more digital in this piece than usual, to try to solve some of the problems I have in my work. Coloring the really small details in photoshop rather than trying to put them in with a brush keeps the lines crisp and the details clear. I like! And I am learning that digital backgrounds with texture look a lot nicer/packs more punch than trying to put on an even watercolor wash. Unfortunately this means my recent pieces look half finished in person… but I plan on finishing them sometime in watercolor just for personal satisfaction/to sell.

Our entries are not supposed to have text, but I added text to mine just to include more “design” in my portfolio.

And without text, which is how we are supposed to submit it… (Worried it looks too empty this way!)

I started up a MySoti account to sell t-shirts. Stay tuned for more designs!

Check out the designs here!

Since I mailed out my Three Little Kittens dummies in December, it has been so long I had lost hope of ever receiving back any of the books I sent– I figured they were all in the trash/being used to scrape dead flies off of walls, because most publishers now have an understandable policy of not returning any submissions. But this publisher returned my dummy….. AND my business card, AND my postcard, AND all my sample sheets

(I was hoping they would at least keep the samples…)

But seriously, the first rejection is a major achievment, since it means I actually sent something out to begin with. I just might frame this rejection letter as a sign that I am now an OFFICIAL aspiring-hopeful-wannabe children’s book Author/Illustrator. Woohoo!

My completed Spring promo postcard for the children’s market. I’m happy with it!

Lo and behold, my newest illustration (to be used on my upcoming postcard) happened to fit this week’s Illustration Friday perfectly! She certainly seems to be finding the walking of all her pets an impossibility… and so does her poor fish.

Paul brought over his awesome new promo postcard the other day, and it inspired me to get to work on mine. The last children’s postcards I sent had slight innuendo of adult things in them which may or may not turn off an art director, so my goal this time was to just have a fun postcard without anything being murdered, had sex with, full of breasts, etc. I am hoping the toilets and dung beetles and hairballs are acceptable. Here’s the ink.

Ok, slight venting ahead: A huge problem for me lately is trying to figure out what might appeal to art directors in the Editorial Magazine market (for adults.) I keep feeling like I have to make a postcard of some sterile boring guy in a business suit, and while I know this is not true I have no idea WHAT to produce. All my stuff seems to be a “style” that appeals to kids, even when everything in it is naked or violent. I am trying to work on being able to draw cute animals and all the weird things I like and making it appeal to the Art Directors of magazines for adults. Aya Kakeda does this fabulously! I originally made Bathtime for Medusa to put on a card, so I may still use it for this next card, but I was trying to come up with some other ideas too, that were more conceptual and actually fit a common topic in magazines– and I just totally drew a blank. Do any of you guys have trouble with certain venues of illustration that you still really want to tap into?  :end venting:

Finally, the Creatures Great and Small show is tonight at 6 the 180 Center– check it out! I know Anna has some work in there, and when I dropped off my stuff I saw some awesome paintings and plush so it should be a good time.

The opening to the Munny show was Friday, and it seemed like a huge success! I wasn’t sure what to expect with it being at the Savannah Mall, but it was packed and full of great food and awesome Munnys.

Munnys everywhere

The “Cleocatra” display

Christa’s Munny

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m going to be selling prints and goodies at the Savannah Market Bazaar this weekend. You guys in Savannah, GA should all come check it out– there are plenty of nifty vendors selling anything from CDs to arts and crafts. If you have facebook, you can view the event here or go to the web site at http://www.newmoonofsavannah.com/smb.

I’ll be selling my artist friend Tamara’s awesome prints too, so even if you think my work is fruit bat poop, come check out hers!

It’s from 9 AM to 2 PM Saturday, April 11th, in the top floor of the Robinson Parking Garage (York & Montgomery.) That’s RIGHT by the SCAD student center. You can’t miss it!

In other news, the opening for the Munny show is this Friday, April 10 at 6 pm at the Savannah Mall. My Cleocatra munny and illustration will be there with a bunch of other kickin’ Munnys. In other other news, I’ll also have work at the 180 Building’s show “All Creatures Great and Small,” which opens April 17th in the 180 Building at Drayton & 31st St.

Phew!

Got a scan of this piece so thought I’d pop it up here. I doesn’t have a title yet. Any ideas? Props if you can make out what the hieroglyphics “say,” though I am 100% positive it is wrong, because I found about 10 different alphabets online and just picked a random one. Hehehe.