Posts Tagged ‘white water’

KUDZU baby!

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

It’s been a steady push down here in Atlanta to get my next book finished. I can’t give anything away, but I will say that the book takes place down south which means I get to draw and paint, wait for it…..

KUDZU!!!!

a.k.a. the vine that ate the south



(that might actually make a fun picturebook). The story itself isn’t about kudzu, but when I am working on books, I try to pick out visual elements that I can repeat and play with throughout. It keeps things fun for me. So, without further ado….here is the tiny sample from my next book, WHITE WATER.

For more kudzu info, check out this fun link! And don’t miss the Kud-Zoo with interesting kudzu shaped animals!

To learn even more about kudzu, here’s a short youtube clip for ya!

Printmaking in books

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

My etching class ended last night. I was able to pull one more print that I’m almost happy with, but will now be renting space at the Atlanta Printmaker’s Studio in order to study the craft and practice more. In the meantime, here is last night’s progress on the hummingbird piece. The drawing looks a little labored due to my having to redraw through the hard ground and having to reapply and redraw the soft ground details as well, and in this printing, I left a fair amount of ink on the plate for more plate tone….

My instructor, Kathy Garrou, brought in a book done completely in engraving! How crazy that? It’s a GORGEOUS book called TRICK OF THE TALE, written by John and Caitlin Matthews and illustrated by Tomislav Tomic. This book is published by Candlewick Press, who is ironically the publisher of my next book, WHITE WATER~ I can’t wait to add this book to my collection.

From the publisher: Enter (carefully) the world of the tricksters, those wily creatures who lie their way out of trouble, cheat when they get a chance, and devise elaborate tricks to get what they want — with delightfully unpredictable results. This truly diverse, elegantly illustrated collection follows such clever characters as Anansi, Coyote, Brer Rabbit, and others who play a role in a multicultural array of storytelling traditions, from African to Inuit to European, Tibetan to Native American to Japanese. Celebrate the slyest trickster tales from around the world in a lavish volume that gives a well-loved story tradition its rightful due.

Speaking of WHITE WATER…back to work~