This was a fun book cover job for Ellice Lee and Heather Palisi at Random House. The book, called “The Girl Behind the Glass” by Jane Kelley, is about a ghost girl who drives apart the twin sisters who inhabit the creepy old house on Hemlock Road. It was a perfect assignment for me, and I had fun composing the sketch ideas here and going pretty seamlessly to the final image!  Not all assignments play out this easily or are this much fun along the way, but book covers have consistently been my favorite jobs on which to work.

My new children’s book, written by Laurel Snyder, is out on shelves. Okay, so it has been out on shelves since October, but my schedule has been too packed for updates.  It is my sincerest resolution to bring you more news and updates this year. I’ll do my best to post something each week, letting you in on what I’m working on as time seems to fly by.Inside the Slidy Diner is a book all kids can enjoy, especially those just a little bit older then the pre-school crowd. Here are a few spreads from the book:

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, a great children’s book blog, wrote a little feature on Slidy Diner, which you can link to by clicking here. If you still aren’t convinced you should buy this book, the reviewers had some good things to say:

The Slidy Diner is one big health code violation: the proprietress wears a fly-covered sweater and “smells like rotten grill grease,” the toilet is a cesspool, “someone is usually running with scissors” and the sticky buns are scraped up off the floor. Even the people are ghoulish, with their flattened, oversize heads, blank eyes and doll-like bodies. Snyder, a debut picture book author and PW reviewer, and Zollars (Not in Room 204) serve up a wealth of Grand Guignol detail, beginning with the creepy premise: Edie, the narrator, claims she is held captive at the diner for stealing a lemon drop, and she gives a young patron the insider’s tour of the joint. Most of the best jokes are visual: the poison label stuck onto a countertop; pet food tins stashed amid the staples; a slice of pie garnished as if with eyeballs. The gross-out crowd will eat this up. Ages 5-8. (Oct.)–Publishers Weekly –Publishers Weekly, October, 2008Â

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 In as fine a game of Grossout as ever was, a child squires an anxious-looking friend around a diner in which, she claims, the cuisine runs to Pumpkin Asparagus Pie and Greasily Niblets, the floor is so slick that booths sometimes slide out into the street and the proprietor is decidedly witchy: “Sometimes Ethelmae grins at you, and you can see her tooth.” Zollars’s canted, full-bleed cafe scenes follow suit, with views of diners chowing down on a pig’s head, a trophy-sized cockroach fixed to a platter above the counter and basement restrooms surrounded by a flood crawling with “nefarious wigglepedes.” Still, unlike Merrilee Kutner’s Zombie Nite Cafe (2007), as depicted by Ethan Long, or Jane Breskin Zalben’s Saturday Night at the Beastro (2004), it’s not all bad, for “Inside the Slidy Diner, there are dark, blue secrets. / And silver whispers. / Inside the Slidy Diner there are magic trapdoors. / To birthdays and Saturdays.” Best yet, all “goodbyes have been banned!” Here’s a diner well worth repeated visits – but steer clear of the “chocolate” milk. (Picture book. 6-9) (Kirkus Reviews)

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There are lots of things going on here, so I’ll do my best to update you on any happenings!  Â

The Forest in the Hallway has hit the shelves! Written by Gordon Smith, this story takes the reader on a fantasy adventure and is a fun read for all ages. I had the wonderful opportunity to illustrate the cover, and I must say that it was the most fun I’ve had on the job.

This image that I created for the cover was also selected as the Gold Award winner in this year’s Los Angeles Society of Illustrators annual competition in the category of Children’s Publishing!

I’ve loved Klutz books since I was a little kid. They taught me Card Tricks, Crafts, and how to juggle (in theory.) Now my art is a part of one. Last year I designed an alphabet for this fun lettering book for kids, and you can now find it at your local bookstore. It was a nice break from the daily routine, and I had to chance to color with markers and colored pencils again. Below is my lowercase alphabet based on the theme “Bloom”. Also included in the book are my uppercase alphabet and dingbats, along with alphabets from other artists.

I created this holiday card for the Red Cross with the theme “hope”. It is now available for purchase along with cards from two other artists at the Red Cross website. Support the Red Cross and get your holiday cards too. They are $10 for 12 cards at the Red Cross online shop.

Here’s an piece running in the current Los Angeles Weekly. It was inspired by L.A.’s competative private school industry. There are plenty of “superkids” out there being pushed by their parents, but what will happen to the little average kid in the center? Perhaps I’ll continue this thought in my next installment.

Here is a book jacket I painted for a terrific young adult fantasy novel for Clarion Books. The book, called “The Forest in the Hallway” by Gordon Smith will hit shelves in November. Clicking on the image will give you a bit larger view.

Here’s an image I finished this week for the L.A. Weekly. The ongoing assignment is to depict “Life in Los Angeles” in a series of images that will print every 5-6 weeks. There will be a rotating group of new artists depicting their own experiences and viewpoints on living in this distinct city. My first thought was how many pets get the royal treatment out here.