I.F. "Sink"

The gator can just sink below the water and disappear, so watch out ...

Ink, watercolor in a Moleskine pad.

I.F. "Scary"

Spidery legs, dagger-like teeth, and lots of eyes--pretty scary. This is a scratchboard demo with digital color.

Demibooks Composer

I was a guest blogger for Demibooks because I am beta-testing their app-authoring software called "Composer." It's been a blast trying out their app and developing "Did the Big Bang Make a Sound? Simple Answers to Cosmic Questions." Here's a link to the post:
http://demibooks.com/demibooks-composer/composing-the-cosmos/

I.F. "Perennial"

Monster pirates are a perennial favorite of mine to draw. Alright, maybe a bit of a stretch, but here's a study that I just finished. It's a different approach (for me) to digitally color a drawing.
Charcoal drawing with color added in Photoshop.

I.F. "Swept"

Here's an astronaut being swept out into deep space.
Done in graphite with digital color.

"Guys Read" Event

In February I led a "Guys Read" event at the Wheaton Public Library. Over 40 boys attended. We discussed graphic novels and comics, I did a demo, and the kids drew their own 4-panel comic. I'll be running a similar program at the Wheaton Library this summer (for boys and girls).

Thank you Andrea Schaal for setting this up and thanks to Janet Dumas for taking the photos.

Lincoln Elementary School Visit

In February I visited Lincoln Elementary School in Wheaton, IL, as a storyteller for their family reading night. I had two sessions of about 90 people each. My theme was "reading as an illustrator" (paying careful attention to the story's images in order to illustrate it). I read a Chinese folk story, we discussed it, then I created an illustration from the story. The kids (and parents) did a great job identifying the key visuals from the stories.

Thanks to Karen Ringas for inviting me, and thanks to Debbie Bucher for taking these photos.

I.F. "Chicken"

Different types of chickens. Clockwise from top left: rubber chicken, pre-chicken, chicken chicken, fried chicken. Please click to enlarge.
Pencil in a Moleskine sketchbook with digital color.