Get out of here

Finally feeling better enough to be sitting upright after a long week of flu. After staring at the ceiling in a state of delirium for a week, I'm dying to get back to normal. My first attempt at work is assembling my samples so I can get them out of here and into the loving hands of art directors. Here is an array of what I'm sending, accompanied by the beautiful x-large chartreuse envelopes.


Fronts:



Backs:


bleh.

I heart Moomin

I know I tend to go on and on about Moomin, but I can't help it. Yesterday I received my Moomin totebag that I ordered from Finland on Etsy. Not only do I love the bag, but it came with many Moomin adornments like stamps, postcards and stickers.

Almost too much to handle.





For anyone who has no idea who or what Moomins are, educate yourself.

Gyspsies in Paris part two

Just taking a little break as I'm finishing up my character series and getting ready to send them out. This is a little detail of my finished gypsy illustration. I'm about ready to move onto something else for a while.

I'm starting to churn ideas for a limited edition artist book with original etchings and letter pressed pages. I just need to come up with a theme. I've done a lot of animals already, I might like to do a series of portraits, or maybe a narrative. Any suggestions are welcome.

OK back to work.

Ginger kids

Here is my latest illustration for The Family under the Bridge. It's much looser than my usual style, but I was just trying to have some fun with it and I like the muted colors and bleedy watercolor. I don't know if I'll end up using as part of the finished series, but it's nice to do something a little different every now and then.



bam.

After the Goldrush

So Paper & Chocolate was a lot of fun and a huge success all around. I nearly sold out of all my prints! Here is a photo (courtesy of Shelley) of a few of the things I had there before the crowds came:



I was joined by the lovely company of Kelly from May Day Studio, Beck Wasilewsky, Melissa Gruntkosky of Pressbound, and of course (the host) Shelley and Jacob of Albertine Press. It was fun to just hang around and chat. Kelly told me a story about finding an old Leonard Baskin magnesium block, possibly a leftover from Gehenna Press and I had a mini-heart attack.

Okay that's enough nerdy print-talk for now.

Paper & Chocolate

So even though I haven't been working regularly at the press for about two months now, Shelley graciously asked me if I would like to come sell my prints at the pre-Valentine Paper & Chocolate. The pre-Christmas one was a lot of fun, so of course I'm happy to participate. I will have a selection of small prints for sale (including chickenheart in the corner) at an affordable price. For more info, read this write up of the event from the Bostonist.

Here are a few examples of the prints that will be there:

The Family Under the Bridge

I'm about to pass out from my masking fluid fumes, so I thought I'd take a little break and post the illustration I just finished from my character series. This is another one based on the characters in The Family Under the Bridge by Nancy Carlson.



busy, busy busy...

Illustrators are dark creatures

Today was a day of learning interesting/strange things about a few different illustrators that I love.

Number 1



I can't believe I have never heard of Chihiro Iwasaki before. Julia just clued me in on this amazing Japanese illustrator who has illustrated dozens of books and even has two museums dedicated to her in Japan.



I feel like I've been missing out on inspiration.



Number 2


I just found out that one of my favorite illustrators, Evaline Ness, was married to the legendary Eliot Ness, leader of the Untouchables and adversary of Al Capone and prohibition in Chicago in the 20's and 30's.

OK. I realize they have the same last name, but still.




Number 3


So I didn't realize that Harry Horse died last year. He's been coming out with more books than ever, so I never would have guessed. The details surrounding his death shocked and horrified me and left me with a feeling-not-well-placed. I can't even write it here, so I'll just link it.



I realize that by writing this, I'm showing how out of date I am. So be it.

North Country

I haven't gotten any work done in the past few days because I've been here:



But, now that I'm not there anymore (sigh) I have a lot of catching up to do. I'm working on a few new little things for Paper & Chocolate next weekend.

It's amazing how difficult it is to find a picture of a chicken on the internet that is not "chicken parmesan" or "chicken teragon". Something to think about.