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!