Illustration Friday - "Soar"

This little boy's trying to soar out of bed and downstairs without anyone but a mouse noticing. Some Dads are quicker than that though!

This illustration is a rework of an illustration in which I had Santa sneaking upstairs (instead of Dad standing there). I like this Dad illustration much better.

Illustration Friday - "Backwards"

Penguins dancing forwards and backwards and all over!

This little lamb is learning that watching incredible performers right before you're supposed to perform is a big mistake. I learned that lesson in college when my dance team went to Nationals for Latin Dancing. We watched the team that ended up winning first place go right before us even though our dance coach told us not to watch. We were all jitters after seeing their perfect performance. We ended up winning fourth place -not bad considering the jitters.

Click the image to see it larger. I'm working on this piece for my portfolio - not quite done yet.

Illustration Friday - "Little Things"

Do little flakes of snow cause this much excitement in your house?

Click on the image to see it larger.

Illustration Friday - "Excess"

An excess of cupcakes!

I'm still working on this one to make it a nice piece for my portfolio.

Illustration Friday - "Zoo"

This is a large watercolor painting, roughly 2' x 3', that I created for my brother. I took the reference photos for it at the Columbus, Ohio zoo.

On the zoo theme, has anyone read Adam Rex's new picture book, "Pssst!"? It's hilarious and well worth the buy.

Illustration Friday - "Scale"

"Uh... I know you've been climbing for an hour and all but before you come any further...
may I ask...
are those tights you're wearing?
And what's with all the ruffles?
And are those pink ballet slippers?
And why didn't you bring your own rope and a grappling hook instead of using MY HAIR?"

Portfolio

I've decided to add my portfolio to childrensillustrators.com because I've heard some good things about this site. Here's my portfolio on that website: http://childrensillustrators.com/kristivaliant

Illustration Friday - "Hats"

This is a color study for my picture book dummy I'm currently creating. I'm still deciding the look I want for my characters. What do you think?

Illustration Friday - "Trick or Treat"

All the holiday characters dressed up as each other for Halloween and are on their way to trick-or-treat.

I think I'm going to dress as a black cat this year (simply because I already have the costume), but if I get the chance, I have another idea in mind for a costume. What are you dressing up as?

sneak peek

Here's a lil' sneak peek at what I'm working on. She's a small part of my current painting. I'll post the full painting when it's finished.

I'm also working on black & white line drawings for an educational publisher again and greeting card designs for Christian Collection. And of course, my sketch dummy for one of my picture book manuscripts that I want to have fairly ready to show to the Scholastic Art Director when I meet her in a week and a half at a conference! Wow, that's coming up quick. Back to work...

Hmmm... 40% Left, 60% Right Brained... that's about right

I think this is fairly accurate for me, but there were quite a few questions that I wanted to answer both on or add in my own answer that was a mix of theirs. Click on the link below the box to see where your dominance lies.

You Are 40% Left Brained, 60% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Illustration Friday - "The Blues"

I drew the pencil sketches of my little friend Michelle awhile back. I thought I would go back into them and add some shading for this Illustration Friday topic "The Blues."

At a recent portfolio review I was told that my sketches would work well for inside chapter books and middle grade novels. I'm going to be doing a bunch more showing a little bit older kids in a variety of narrative scenes. What do you think of this style?

I won a copy of PICTURE WRITING

The talented Elizabeth Dulemba was the Grand Prize W.I.N.ner of this year's SmartWriters.com Competition. One of her prizes was a copy of Anastasia Suen's PICTURE WRITING. Since she already has much loved copy, she held a drawing to give the new one away and I won! I've heard great things about this book, so I'm excited to read it. Thanks e!

Illustration Friday - "Alphabet"

When I was little, I played with those alphabet blocks that were cubes with one letter on each side. I always wished that the block itself was shaped as a letter. Wouldn't that be more fun?

Illustration Friday - "Visitor"

"This is your new babysitter, Miss Squeezytight."

I'll probably color this one later this week if I have time. I'm working on creating Christmas cards this week so we'll see how much extra time I get. Gotta start thinking of new card designs...

New book from Seedling

I just finished the illustrations for a new children's book to be published by Seedling Publications. Here's a sneak peek of the front and back cover illustrations. The illustrations called for a hispanic dad, son and daughter. I used my husband and my nephew as models, neither of whom are hispanic and neither of whom are a daughter. Both, in fact, are very blonde haired, blue-eyed, adorable boys, but they worked great as references. The wiggly dog on the back cover was played by our friends' dogs, Oscar and Nemo. Our house played the part of the house in the book (except that I changed the color of our door and shutters from an ugly purply maroon to a lovely cobalt blue instead).

I won Honorable Mention!

The giraffe illustration that I posted on this blog on June 1 won Honorable Mention in the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators illustration contest entitled, "Wacky Wedding." Yay!

Illustration Friday - "Suit"

I created this illustration for the Save the Date cards for my wedding last year.

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We used this illustration on our dinner/reception invitations.

Illustration Friday - "Your Paradise"

I just created this illustration for a SCBWI illustration contest. The name of the contest was "Wacky Wedding" and the assignment was to illustrate a very unconventional wedding. Click on it to see the illustration larger and to find the cute lil' mouse who's officiating.

I like how this piece turned out for how quick I made it (last night and today). I might use it for a self-promo piece.

Illustration Friday - "Remember"

A truth to remember all year long - not just at Christmas.

This is one my Christmas card designs that I license to greeting card companies. You can see more of my greeting card designs on my website: www.kristivaliant.com

Illustration Friday - "Green"

The light turned green and the hare took off.
The tortoise stared up at the green light. "Green, yes, that's green," he mumbled. At a speed the tortoise had never before acheived, he deliberately placed one foot on the stone path.
After transfering his weight, he placed another foot. "Wow, watch me go!"

Illustration Friday - "Snap"

"You'll catch on... ice skating's a snap!"

Illustration Friday - "I Spy"

(click on image to make it larger)



I Spy fireworks, Jack-o-Lanterns, Easter eggs,
Bunny-eared Santa, Cupid's leprechaun legs,

A cheerleader pyramid, a witch's bat,
Lanterns, a turkey, Easter Bunny's green hat.

My two-year-old nephew loves the "I Spy" books. He's super perceptive and can spot the smallest details in all of the images.

Illustration Friday - "Hide"

This is one of my sweet lil' friends, Michelle. This sketch seemed to go well with this week's Illustration Friday topic, "Hide".

Illustration Friday - "Communication" 2nd entry

These are some of the illustrations I created for an upscale clothing store in Indianapolis called Angela David. I thought they fit well with the Illustration Friday topic, Communication: writing, reading, and cell phoning.

"Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice" - Communication IF

This illustration brought to mind that sweet poem that begins, "Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of". That's exactly right.

What's a better way to communicate than through drawing and writing... even if it's on the wall.

I created this piece just for my portfolio and sent out postcards of it as a promotional piece to children's book publishers.