Five Alive!

Elephant with Blue Balloon. Acrylic & Indian Ink.

Things that may (or may not) tell a bit about myself

5 Reasons …
Why I'm hooked on illustrating (and authoring) children's books
• My love for creativity has escalated and taken on a new meaning now I have a little girl
• I love to tell a story with silly, wacky words that are fun to say out loud
• I've got to a point in my commercial art career where I really think it's time for a change while I'm still young enough ...ahem ... I think!
• To create a body of work that will bring joy to children all around the world (cheesy I know, but oh-so-true)
• It's a wonderful industry to be a part of — much different to adult publishing — where I feel like part of a global family. The support of fellow illustrators, authors and others who love children's books as much as I do helps me push myself forward

4 Goals …
for 2007:
• Launch my new book: think.jot.draw
• Finish revamping my Web site
• Getting some new work together
• Finish the revisions of my four/five manuscripts, three of which need finished dummies ready to send out to publishers in the autumn

3 Sources …
of recent illustrators who inspire me:
• GLIN DIBLEY I love his work because of his unusual perspectives, angles and approaches to assignments. His work is layered, textured, and simply delicious!
• DAVID SHANNON His books are refreshing, full of fun, energy and texture.
• IAN FALCONER (Creator of the Olivia series) He writes and illustrates — and his books are just so clever but simple and to me, hilariously funny.

2 Styles ...
I'm trying to define for myself:
• Acrylic — something free, flowing and full of texture
• Digital/Mixed Media — combining painted textures and pencil lineart with digital layering

and 1 ...
person to thank for leading me to children's illustration:
Tricia Tharp — yes that's right, our very own Frizz! It was an illustration of hers that led from some research on SCBWI.org to IllustrationFriday.com and back again. If it hadn't been for that day I'm not sure I'd have pursued the industry in quite the same way but I am so glad I did. And here we are sharing a site together — cheers Frizz!