Dinosaurs in Dover

I'm proud to announce an exhibit of my illustrations at The Children's Museum of New Hampshire. The show opens February 1st and features art created for the book series, Introducing Dinosaurs, published by The Child's World. On display will be final illustrations, thumbnails, preliminary sketches and even an example of paleo-art that I created in First Grade!

The Portsmouth Herald and The Union Leader have both written great articles about the event. The Children's Museum of New Hampshire is located in Dover, New Hampshire – for hours and directions, click here.

The Year in Pictures

Last year was the Year of the Dinosaur. When 2009 began, I was working on a dream job: a 12-book series about dinosaurs. I created 72 illustrations for the project and had a blast, despite an aching back, sore wrist, and tired eyes.

I was fortunate to have steady work throughout the year. As you can see from the thumbs above, the subjects ranged from robots to Greasers to Frankenstein's monster–and a joint of ham. The variety kept me on my toes and certainly kept things interesting. Looking over these images, I realize I've made progress this year with:

• Working with tight deadlines
• Developing a suitable BW technique
• Conveying a wider range of emotions
• Refining my digital painting (only 2 illustrations above are traditional media)

And I feel like I'm getting closer to developing my own "style" of illustration. As I learned to work more quickly and efficiently, I found my work becoming more spontaneous and less labored. I'm learning I can trust my instincts.

I'm kicking off the new year with a book about elves and a short comic-book story about zombies.

Happy New Year, everyone!