RFXU Poster and more Breadcrumbs

Recruiting poster I created at work for our Apprentice Program. I started at Reel FX as a concept art apprentice in 2008, and it was quite the learning experience. Three years later, and I'm still happily working in Texas.

And, a bit of a Breadcrumbs round up-
I posted the cover to Breadcrumbs (written by Anne Ursu) previously, but since some interiors have been showing up in reviews around the internet, I'm excited to share a few of those as well.


But she was not alone. There was a palace just ahead, sitting in the middle of the plain like a gift. It was simple— a small square with a dome framed by four minarets. It looked like it had been sculpted out of snow.
Review and illustration posted at Laurel Snyder's Blog


For the snow was not snow anymore, but a woman—tall and lithe like a sketch, in a white fur cape and a white shimmering gown that looked so thin it would melt if you touched it. Hair like spun crystal framed cream-colored skin.
Review and illustration posted at Book Rat

And now, back to work. Hope all are well.

10 o clock art p2

Using twitter's 10 o'Clock art meme to warm up for the day. Here's a quick one. Enjoy!

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs is a middle grade novel by Anne Ursu, published by HarperCollins and Walden Pond Press, and illustrated by Yours Truly. The writing in this book is just beautiful, and I know 10 year old me would have absolutely loved it. Really, the illustrations for this one were a complete pleasure to work on, and I was lucky to work with Jordan Brown and Carla Weise at Harper who just pushed me to up the emotional ante on every piece. This book comes out in September.

Breadcrumbs is already getting some buzz round the internets, so here's just a few posts if you're inclined to see more illustrations and hear more about the story-

School Library Journal

There's a Book

Novel Novice

Mundie Kids

Close up from the cover, of our heroine, Hazel

Thanks for checking it out!

10 o clock art

For twitter's "10 o'clock art" meme

Odds and Ends

A few odds and ends and quicker studies-

Creepy Hallway


Summer Field






These are all a little different in approach. Having to constantly wear different styles in the commercial world results in a bit of an identity crisis in my own work. It's hard to "see" your own style, even if it's so apparent to other people. Now that things have lightened up a bit, I'm aiming to turn back to just creating some work for myself and figure out what kind of images I really want to make.

Circle of Secrets Cover

detail

I'm happy to share the final cover art for Circle of Secrets by Kimberley Griffiths Little and published by Scholastic Inc. The book will be available this October for your reading enjoyment. Here's the blurb from Amazon- Critically acclaimed author Kimberley Griffiths Little weaves a haunting story of friendship and family and the power of faith, once again set against the lush backdrop of the Lousiana bayou.

Also, since blue bottle trees play a vital role in the story, I did a spot to include on the back cover.



And here's a shot of the wraparound.

All in all this was a fast and fun project. Not including this cover, I'll have 3 books out this fall with my illustrations in them- French Ducks in Venice, Breadcrumbs, and Lucky for Good. No doubt I'll post more about them as their publication dates grow closer.

Hope all are well.

French Ducks in Venice

FRENCH DUCKS IN VENICE
Text copyright © 2011 by Garret Freymann-Weyr
Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Erin McGuire
Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

I'm proud to show the cover for French Ducks in Venice, published by Candlewick Press, and written by Garret Freymann-Weyr. The book is up on Amazon already, though it won't be out until December. Lesson #1 from the publishing industry has been patience. I have 2 other books coming out this year, and a bunch next year, so hopefully blog readers won't mind being inundated with news.


I also took a screen grab from the Candlewick catalog to show all the nice things they've said about me. (I'm actually a concept artist, rather than a fine artist, but now I have something to aspire to :) )

I hope to have more news soon, but for now I'm just happy to put up some finished work! Between Reel FX and book work, I am as busy as ever, but hopefully this summer I can take some adventures and recharge a bit.

Hope all are well.

tantrums and braids

A fast entry, just a few things I've been sketching between projects.

yarr

My mornings start much like this. I will never be a morning person, but hungry kitties make efficient alarm clocks.


I also like drawing bored, ornery kids.

Did I tell you, dear blog, that I have a book club now? Coworkers Alison, Sarah, Elise, and the other ladies at Reel FX decided we should organize our reading efforts around snacks and fun times. It's a good way for me to read some new stuff and force myself to schedule in some reading time.

In between book club books, I'm trying to read or re-read as much YA and MG stuff as I can. If I'm going to draw pictures for that audience, it's nice to keep up on the industry. We all forget how hard it is to be a kid.

Working hard, enjoying spring in Dallas, and finishing some exciting stuff. Hope all are well.

Ides

I've been painting a lot of snow lately, and this sketch was almost another winter landscape. Then I realized I'd just finished a similar illustration for this book with HarperCollins, which will be out later this year. So I decided I'd save my snowy efforts for that book, and make this one thawing. It is spring, after all.

I have a lot of things coming out later this year, and the patience is killing me! I can't wait to share stuff with everyone, so this fall should be exciting for a few reasons. You can follow book releases on my Goodreads page, if you're so inclined.

Friday Sketch- Springtime

Friday Sketch at work was springtime. Us Florida girls are no strangers to rain like this. ;)

Yeah I am

This doesn't particularly look like me, but I felt like doing something self-portrait-esque. I included Ginny, my lil' buddy. She's a lil pudgy and has a crooked tail but she's still the best. I'm not a crazy cat lady :|

Real Drawrins!

Dr. Sketchy February Session. You can actually see this pose on the Dr. Sketchy Blog. As you can see, I didn't get her cane in there, but I thought it looked fine without it. (Though, it might just look like she's doing The Creep)





The model, Hollis Wakefield, was probably one of my favorite models we've had at Dr. Sketchy. She reminded me of old 50's and 60's fashion illustrations, so I had a lot of fun hanging out with Sarah and Elise and getting some drawrins done.

I think I have a different outlook on figure drawing compared to most. To me, it's like jogging to get ready for a race. The training is important, but the race is the point. Though, that being said, I sorely miss having time to sketch for fun. I guess that's the equivalent of skipping, in my running metaphor ;)

Hope all are well, I think Spring's just around the corner.

Signs of life

Bored girl and a scottie for good measure.

After a week of crazy weather for Dallas (before we hosted the Super Bowl, no less), I'm finally feeling back in the zone of making more art.

Drew and I had a great (but cold) time in New York City for the big SCBWI conference. I feel focused and inspired, and excited to tackle the projects on my plate. It's good to remember that you can't let the well run dry, and time spent getting inspired can be more worthwhile than hours drawing in circles and getting nowhere.


Me at the Met, checkin out Joan of Arc

We also got to spend time with our friend Chase, a former Reel FX'er who showed us the ropes a bit. And, I finally got to meet my agent Susan Cohen, which was really cool considering how much we've worked together without having met. Seeing the Writers House offices was one of the highlights of the trip.

As for the conference, it wasn't so much of a "networking" opportunity, as it was a chance to get a pulse on the publishing industry, and where it's heading next. Also, keynote addresses from RL Stine and Lois Lowry can't hurt.

I wrapped up my first picture book with Candlewick, and am hard at work on two projects with HarperCollins. In addition, I should have a book out this year from Simon & Schuster (the newest in the Lucky Trilogy), and a cover with Scholastic. In the midst of all of this, I hope that 2011 is the year I focus on some personal projects as well. Trying to pick a new travel destination as well. Maybe Ireland to visit my people. ;)

Hope all are well and staying warm!

2011

A belated Happy New Year to you, blogosphere. Here's a sketch playing with some new brushes in Photoshop. This came from a combination of seeing True Grit, and driving through the bleak Texas landscapes on my way to Austin last month to see Michael Pollan give a talk.

I'd say the only thing that comes close to my dedication to illustration is my interest in food, and the science, politics, and preparation of it. I think I must drive my friends and coworkers crazy when I get going about something, but it really is fascinating to me.

I'm happy it is 2011, 2010 was an insanely busy year for me. In addition to working full time at Reel FX/Radium, I worked on 7 book projects across 5 publishers. If nothing else, I got a crash course in time management, so hopefully 2011 is the year of balance, improvement, and developing my own projects as well.

Heading to New York City for SCBWI at the end of the month with Drew. So much to do before then!

Friday Sketch - Fort

For those who don't follow the Reel FX blog, thought I'd throw this up here also. We did "dream forts" for our sketch topic. Cats are good buddies.

Fun Size

Click to enlarge

In lieu of a Halloween illustration, here are some creepy buildings concepts that got cut from a music video project at work, being lead by Nader Husseini. They ended up using no backgrounds at all, but they were still fun to come up with.

This year is flying by for me, hopefully I will soon have a lot to show for it. Stay Tuned!

Higher Power Cover

Higher Power of Lucky

Simon & Schuster

After completing the Lucky Breaks cover last spring, Simon and Schuster approached me again to do a matching paperback cover edition for the Newbery Award winning Higher Power of Lucky, also by Susan Patron. Quite an honor to do covers for such a beautifully written series!

I'm currently working on interiors for the third book in the Lucky series, which will be out in the spring next year. Oh and still finishing final details on French Ducks in Venice. And maybe some other things.

And, a sketch-

I saw this adorable girl on Sartorialist today and wanted to do a drawn version of her. She had a lot of character.

Even though I get busy, I try to find time to sketch for myself. Sometimes if I can grab enough time through out the day waiting for emails or feedback or whatnot, I can usually fit in a little sketch. I also made my Photoshop history take snapshots every time I saved, so it occurred to me I could make a little gif of this sketch coming together

My process is THRILLING I know ;)

Til next time!

Autumn Sketches

Friday Sketch topic at work was Autumn. You can keep up with other sketches and such from the art department on the Reel FX Art Department blog.


I also drew this gal.

I really enjoy autumn in Dallas. Everyone is in a nice mood, there are all sorts of pumpkin flavored things, and I can have my windows open.

This has been a busy few months for me. I'm wrapping up on French Ducks in Venice, as well as the illustrations for the next Lucky book with Simon and Schuster. Books are a lot of work. I'm still deciding whether or not to go to the SCBWI conference this winter. We'll see I guess! :)

In the bits of free time I can find, I'm also taking a baking class this week, the guys from Baked NYC are on tour for their new book, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I have their first book, and everything I've made from there was really tasty. Baking is what I do instead of video games, I find it relaxing and delicious.

Nothing new besides that. Just wanted the blogosphere to know I'm still around. I hope to have a lot to show soon. Until then, I hope all are well.

I can tell that we are gonna be friends

I'm not in school anymore, but I still get nostalgic at the beginning of the school year. How easily we forget how hard it was to be a kid.

My mom and sister are both teachers and I have a great deal of respect for the profession. It was always eerie being at my mom's school after hours or during the summer; seeing the school empty and the teachers relaxed and speaking freely about their lives. Teachers were always real people to me, I never doubted the existence of their personal life, because they were also family friends.

But enough sentiment.

I'm finally done(!!!) with all of the interiors on my children's book, just needs a cover and I'm finished. The next book, another in the Lucky series, is already next in line, and I'll be switching gears from ducks to desert children forthwith. Reel FX is keeping me busy also.

Also, after running out of reasons not to, I joined twitter. Better late than never, I suppose. Follow me and I promise I won't retweet too many 50 cent posts.

Hope all are well :)