IF: Disguise

It's been awhile since I last did Illustrator Friday.  I've been meaning to do this illustration of a kid dressed as a ninja for a couple days now and it just fit in perfectly with the theme.

Favorite Illustrators

Since I'm aspiring to become a children's book author/illustrator I thought it would be fitting to name my top 10 favorite illustrators.  These illustrators are seriously my heroes.  Their work has captured my imagination, shown me what it takes to truly tell a story through art, and inspired me to create.  

1.  Leuyen Pham 

2.  Arthur Rackham

3.  Graeme Base

4. Don Wood

5.  Jan Brett

6.  Norman Rockwell

7.  Lane Smith

8. N. C. Wyeth

9.  Robert McCloskey

10.  P. L. Lynch

Giant, Story, Storm

My mom told me of this dream she had where it was very important for her to remember these three words: giant, story, and storm.  When she told me her dream this image immediately popped into my head and I just had to illustrate it.  

Poem of the Month

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to memorize one poem per month.  If all goes according to plan I will be able to illustrate each poem as well.  This January I memorized and illustrated my favorite Emily Dickinson poem. 

GLEE!  The storm is over!

Four have recovered the land;

Forty gone down together

Into the boiling sand.

Ring, for the scant salvation!

Toll, for the bonnie souls, 

Neighbor, and friend, and bridegroom,

Spinning upon the shoals!

How the will tell the shipwreck

When winter shakes at the door,

Till the children ask, "But the forty?

Did they come back no more?"

Then silence suffuses the story, 

And a softness the teller's eye;

And the children no further question,

And only the waves reply.

Mush!

Man oh man! It is a cold winter day out there folks!  Here in Berea Kentucky it is about 5 degrees.  I just got back from vacation in Arizona where it was 70 degrees!  It's been a major adjustment.  

Despite the frigid weather I am glad to be back home because it means I can get back to writing and illustrating.  This illustration was inspired by my friend Elle who posted a facebook status saying "I wish I had a team of sled pigs.  In sweaters."  That idea sounded so fantastic it would have been a sin for me not to illustrate it.