Back to Work

Ahh, it's been over two months since I've posted anything!
I've been busy working on multiple projects and was able to leave town for a relaxing vacation. I finished illustrations for one of my upcoming books right before my 30th birthday, photographed and emailed them to the publisher for review, then escaped to New England for a while to breathe some different air...

One thing I haven't done on recent vacations is sit down and draw or paint. I recently bought a block of watercolor paper and dug out my watercolor set. I've been experimenting with freeing myself from creating images that are overly thought-out before even touching the paper with paint or ink.

I think too much!

On a beach in Rhode Island, I decided to sit down and just play...

It's so freeing to just sit on a beach and listen to crashing waves and whirling wind. After flying a kite and doing some reading (well really laying in the sun and listening to Kevin read out loud), I created four little watercolor paintings inspired by my surroundings.

You can't tell from the picture, but I swear there are tiny little bugs sunbathing on the painting.. weird.
I guess bugs love art too!
I sprinkled some sand onto the wet paint to add a frosty texture.

... This one looks more like a beachy landscape ...

... Grassy sand dunes ...

... Kevin's feet on the beach, in pen, marker and watercolor ...

I think I'm going to use this combination of watercolor, pen and marker in my next book (which I'm working out sketches for these days).

I've got to take a break from working with oil paints... too much getting lightheaded and having to stop painting before I think I'm done for the day. I know that oil paints are somewhat toxic, but a recent trip to my local art supply store to get a new tube of Flake White paint was a sort of scary reminder: the saleswoman said that the company had discontinued that particular color because of the high amounts of lead in it (oh geez, and I've been leaning over my paintings, literally breathing in the stuff for years. Is that why I'm so stuffy in the mornings and my sniffles sound like an old rusty lawnmower? I'm going to try very hard to not self-diagnose here...).

So as soon as I'm done with the very last changes for the illustrations in Poems in the Attic (due out May 2015), I'm swearing off oil paints for a while! It will be hard, since that's my favorite medium and I've gotten so used to it, but an artist's gotta do what an artist's gotta do to stay healthy, right?

Plus, I've officially entered my third decade of life and it's time to experiment! I spent a little too much money on fancy decorative papers in Boston and Providence, and I'm looking forward to painting, cutting them up, and using them in my next book :)

Book Cover Reveal!

Today's the day!
I've been itching to share the cover for my newest book: One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia, and here it is!

The book is written by Miranda Paul and published by Millbrook Press. It's about a real-life recycling powerhouse (that I really hope to meet someday) named Isatou Ceesay, who lives in the Gambia, West Africa. The author, Miranda loves to write, teach, travel, and drink mango smoothies (my favorite!!!). She lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
You can learn more about her at www.mirandapaul.com and mirandapaulbooks.blogspot.com

I'm so proud of our book! Look for Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia in stores this Spring 2015!

Blog Tour!

A very big thank you to my illustrator friend Meg Sodano for inviting me on this author/illustrator blog tour! I am posting later than expected, but here we go: 

*What am I currently working on?*

I'm finishing up final illustrations for my eighth children's book, called Poems in the Attic. It is written by Nikki Grimes, and will be published in Spring 2015 by Lee & Low Books. 

It's been a busy spring and summer! I recently wrapped up illustrations for another book which I'm very excited about, called One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul, also due out in Spring 2015, published by Millbrook Press. 

Here is a little sneak preview of an illustration for Poems in the Attic, a story about a little girl discovering her mother's poems.

It was my first time painting a horse! Very nerve-wracking, but I'm happy with the result. I'm used to painting human faces and figures, and let me tell you, going from a human painter to a horse painter is scary- very worried the horse would end up looking like a donkey... also, it's hard to make a goat not look like a lamb- but that's another story- in another book.

The illustrations I'm working on now are a mix of oil paint and collage, so I'm currently waiting for the last few illustrations to dry so that I can add collage elements to them. It's labor-intensive, but the final result is so fulfilling! 

*How is my work different from others in my genre?*

I very much use my personal experiences and mementos in my illustrations; it's like putting a piece of me, a memory that I have, into every illustration. I lived in the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) where my dad is from, until I was twelve, so things like bright patterned African print fabrics and lush green foliage often make their way into my work. Just about every scrap of decorative paper or fabric I use in my illustrations has a memory attached to it.

*Why do I illustrate what I do?*

Because it's the best way for me to express myself and tell stories.... and I love color and texture and pattern and contrast, and all those things art school nerds stay up at night thinking about :)

*How does my illustration/writing process work?*

As an illustrator (I'm working on the writing thing, keep your fingers crossed... ), it all starts with reading the manuscript and doing some doodles of the first images that the words conjure up in my head. 

Next, I create a storyboard for the book. Most picture books are 32 to 40 pages, so I get a large piece of paper and draw a box for each page of the book (32 pages will translate to 16 rectangles cut in two on the paper). I do thumbnail drawings of what I think would make the most sense on each page. 

The next step is research. Since most of my books are non-fiction, I've got to research the people and the places that the book are about . Maybe one day I'll have the budget to travel to far away places for research:) For now, it's Google and other books. 

Next, I take photographs of myself in various poses of the characters in the book so I can use these photos as reference when I'm painting... super corny if you don't know the context... 

Then I draw to-scale drawings for each page of the book, in pencil. 

The two following images are from The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, written by Willam Kamwamba and Bryan Mealer, Dial Books, 2012.

I transfer these drawings onto my gessoed watercolor paper, paint and collage...

(the words are added on later digitally by the Art Director)

And pray that they all dry in a reasonable amount of time... this is the most stressful part- making the deadline (or asking for an extension in time) and hoping that the art directors are happy...

Finally, I wrap all the illustrations up in a box with probably too much duct tape, take the long-anticipated drive to FedEx (by 7pm so that I can send the illustrations overnight to their final destination), send them off, and b-r-e-a-t-h-e!!! 

Then I reward myself with a great meal and wait till morning to vacuum up all the tiny little pieces of paper left in the rug from the epic collaging. And Voila!

Next up, I'd like to invite you to see what two of my illustrator friends are up to.

Nicolette Callaway is a self-taught visual artist. Her collage paintings are made with paper cut from gossip and fashion magazines. She repurposes these magazines in an effort to direct the viewer away from the consumeristic culture they promote; however, rather than reappropriating the images themselves, she uses their color and texture as though they were paint.
Her work focuses on totem animals surrounded by the four natural elements: earth, air, fire and water, speaking to how we as humans can actively connect with the natural and spiritual worlds.
Visit Nicolette's blog at: http://www.niccallaway.blogspot.com/

Violet Lemay has been an illustrator for twenty years, focusing on children's books for the last five or six. She has 20+ titles to her credit, including New York Baby, and Isabella's Shoe Studio—the latter of which, besides illustrating, she also wrote. Violet, who lives in upstate New York with her husband and twelve-year-old son, is the art director of her favorite publisher, duopress.

Visit Violet's blog at: http://violetlemay.blogspot.com/

Previous stops on this blog tour include:
msodanoillustration.com/updates
adamwinsor.com/sketchblog
nancydrewit.wordpress.com
anneliesejuergensen.com
marcelaillustration.blogspot.com
www.ginaperry.com/blog
www.sophiamallonee.com

Happy reading! 

FIFA Art

Soccer is the only sport I can stand to actually watch on TV.. and actually get loud and yell at the screen. It must be from watching all those soccer games in in the living room with my dad while growing up in the Ivory Coast, where people are crazy for soccer!


It's been four years since I wore my bright orange Ivory Coast soccer jersey to watch the national team called the Elephants, battle it out at the World Cup. I was lucky enough to be asked to be the artist to represent the Ivory Coast in creative agency Uniform.net's World Cup Challenge; an online match-up of 32 artists and graphic designers from each of the countries playing in the World Cup.

After each World Cup match, the designer is expected to create a piece of work within a 90 minute time frame and supply it within 24 hours of the game, with both competing pieces of artwork presented side by side on 326490.com. Over 64 matches the collected images will provide a unique creative expression of the World Cup muse. 

What a great idea! All of the artwork created will be sold in limited edition prints and collected into a book to sell for charity. 

Here are the pieces I created for the 326490 challenge:

Game 1:
Triumph! The Elephants are back! They won their first game 2-1, playing against Japan.
YES YES YESSSS!!! WE'RE IN IT!! GLORIOUS!!

Game 2:
The Elephants lost 2-1 against Colombia. Kicked up a lot of dirt and energy, though.
Sadly, the younger brother of two of the team's players passed away hours after the game. Very sad day.

Game 3:
So close to moving onto the second round of games! The score was 1-1 against Greece until literally the very last minute, when a foul was called on one of the Ivorian players and Greece was allowed a penalty kick which won them the game.
SO NOT FAIR!!!! The elephants were sluggish and stunned.
WE COULD HAVE HAD IT!

After the end of this game, I was stunned into silence. (Sigh) we totally almost had it. 
I'm still wearing my jersey to sleep in solidarity. I'll put it away in July until four years from now when the nest World Cup starts up again. Fingers crossed for better luck for the Elephants.  

You can take a look at the ongoing creative matches here: http://326490.com/
There is some great graphic design going on! 

Catastrophe! It's Raining in My Office (AGAIN)

A couple of weeks ago, on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning (perfect weather for a wedding, which I was headed to) I woke up to the drip, drip, drip sound of water leaking onto my computer desk. Grrreeeeaaaat! 

Freak-out moment #1: Half-asleep, in tears and more than totally panicked, I proceeded to unplug and move my computer, keyboard, mouse, speakers, brand new printer/scanner/photocopier, lamp, bulletin board, office chair and piles of paper from my desk and place buckets under the leaks...

Unfortunately, this has happened every spring during the four and a half years I've lived in my apartment. This is the worst it has ever been. I live on the ground floor, but every time we have a heavy rain or ice and snow melting on the roof, I have to move all my computer equipment out of that room. There is apparently a drainage pipe from the roof which empties out into the alleyway, but overflows at the point where the pipe enters the building between the ground floor and second floor causes drama in my life.

There is water in the walls, in the ceiling, in places where it shouldn't be. Rusty rainwater, at that.

Not cute.

... threatening water bubble in the ceiling ...

... buckets ...

... bucket ...

Well I after I made sure everything was out of the room and contacted the landlord, I had to get the heck out of there to calm down. I packed an overnight bag and headed to my parents' house, which is halfway between my place and the wedding venue I was headed to that day. (Mom and Dad are always there to save the day!)

The wedding was gorgeous: outdoor ceremony on a lush green golf course... but I had to leave the reception early when I got word that no one had come to my apartment yet to check on the leaks and the roof and the drainage pipe... so I rush back home to find that three out of the five buckets I had placed under the leaks in the morning were overflowing....

Freak-out moment #2: kick my heels off, tie my long black cardigan on backwards over my dress and walk the buckets, one by one, into the bathroom to empty them into the tub, spilling plenty of rusty water in the hallway. I didn't make it back to the reception. Got a pep talk and hugs from my cousins (thanks, Jen and Julie!) and went to (try to) sleep at Mom and Dad's.

... water dripping in the hallway ...

... the patched up crack in the bathroom getting wet ...

I let my computer air out for about ten days before trying to turn it back on... praying it would be OK.

... And my computer still works! Hurraaayy!! I haven't tried the scanner yet though, but the printer function works. 

The following Monday at 5:17 am, I was awoken to a loud BANG! sound in the bathroom.

Freak-out moment #3: I have no words.

SO NOT CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!

That patch job holding the ceiling together where it was cracked gave way. Whhyyyyyy meeeeee?

This is after the ceiling debris in the tub was cleared and the shower curtain rod screwed back into the ceiling. Can you make out the blue sponge up in the hole? There was also a paintbrush that came down with the debris... so weird.


I thank my lucky stars that no artwork got wet- I would have absolutely had a nervous breakdown. There is artwork EVERYWHERE in my apartment; my own and art that I've purchased. I had illustrations for two books drying in the hallway: thankfully, not the hallway walls that got wet.

Suffice it to say: I now refuse to now use that Evil Rainy Season Catastrophe room, I've had to slowly re-configure my work spaces. I now have my computer in the room where I keep paint materials and let paintings dry, but had to move the internet modem and get wireless internet so that I actually check emails and do research on my computer.

             






That room is too small to fit my huge printer, so thanks to Geek Squad (and 50 bucks) I can now print wirelessly to the other room, where I have my drawing desk.

So much drama... I'm attending another wedding out of town, this time an hour away this weekend. Let's hope I don't come home to Freak-out #4.

Plein-Air Painting (in the living room)

Now that spring is finally (kinda) here, I'm painting with the window open in the living room.

It's great! Except for the fact that I haven't installed the screen in the window, so nosy bees keep popping in to buzz around me. But it's great to paint and feel a cool (not frigid) breeze on my shoulder. In the winter, I was doing this for shorter periods of time, bundled up with sweater, scarf and flannel pants.

Also, it's great for listening to the sounds of the street (when I'm not blasting music in my earphones). And for spying on passers-by and their conversations- BUT the mailman is pretty tall and has a booming voice, and the sounds of his phone conversations while he walks by sometimes startle me!  

And if I can hear people out there, they can probably hear me, which means I am less apt to uninhibitedly (is that a word?) sing along with my music like a crazy person... In my mind, I have a voice like Norah Jones, but I will not sing for the whole neighborhood... but I do sometimes forget that the window is open and sing anyway... What can i say? It it helps me relax.

... the living room at the end of the hallway...

... little front table overrun with necessities:
brushes, music, glue, tape, etc...
(yes, I still buy CDs)

I also make sure to close the sheer curtain when I need to get up for a dance break! Sometimes don't you need to just get up and DANCE?

You do. Trust me.

We Need Diverse Books Campaign

Today marks the first day of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign to promote diversity in literature! 

There is a Tumblr at http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/ that is hosting all of the photos and messages contributed for the campaign.

You can also take part on Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks.

Here is my contribution!

Join the party! Post a photo of yourself holding a sign that says: "We need diverse books because....." fill in the blank and post, tweet, blog, whatever!!