Here's a piece with some characterized animals in it...haven't shown those for a while. Our Holiday seemed a little like this scene at times...everything a little on the hectic side. But it was all good in the end and the spirit of it was lovely. My kids weren't greedy and loved their gifts, the food was good, and I got to see my sister and her family for a few hours (they live out of stat...
Illustration Friday: IMAGINE
Imagine you were transported to a fairy land where you ruled as princess. At the end of a long day, you find yourself back in your room with all your toys. Was it re...
Illustration Friday: BLUE
I was searching through old photos to see if something would spark a thought and out came a little picture of my little boy at the hospital emergency room. So sad. When my son was 2 I accidentally shut the car door on his hand. There's not a more horrible feeling than hurting your own child. He and I both were pretty blue. I thought..."what a horrible mother I am." It's not a fun feeli...
What do snowmen do at night?
I went to a lecture given by illustrator Mark Beuhner the other night. He showed a lot of work along with originals from his new best seller "Snowmen at Christmas." They were wonderful and full of color. His first snowman book was called "Snowment at Night," all about what snowmen do at night. Then I checked Guy Francis' blog (who went to the lecture as well) and his toilet paper snowman inspired...
Art for Christmas Gifts
This year I decided to do portraits of my brother's 5 boys for him and his wife for Christmas (I just finished the last of them). I had my parents provide some pictures as reference so it'll be a surprise (unless they read this blog of course...which they don't). I did portraits of my sister's kids a few years ago for her. I think doing portraits of people you know has to be one of the hardest things....
Painting More Spots
So, my days have been spent painting the illustrations for the Already Asleep book. I think I'm seeing spots...spot illustrations that is. I decided to do all of them first and leave the double page spreads for last. There are 25 spot illo's in all. And then 8 double page spreads and the cover. Anyway, here's another spot I liked...I used my son as a reference.I liked the comment on my pigs about...
Illustration Friday: Small
So, I did this spot today and took the accompanying photo so I could post it for Illustration Friday...both illustrate the topic to some degree (see the SMALL mouse). My little boy Spencer (4 years old) wanted to sit and paint like mommy...I loved it. I told him what I was doing and he came up with this. In his words "The guy" (on the top right) "with the lightsaber is the bad guy putting in SMALL...
Spots for Book: the process
Here's one of the first spot illustrations I did for the book. The illustrations are well under way but I finally am taking the time to post this. (I had to get some of the images off of my digital camera). I took pictures as I worked in stages and then scanned in the final product. I just thought I'd share the process. This is Lynn...I print out the sketch, then paint in the background making sure...
Some Color, Some Car, and Some Pie
This is the final color version that I never posted of that magazine illustration I did a while back. I thought I'd better show the final product not just the sketch. I haven't had time to start scanning the Already Asleep paintings as they finish, but I will soon hopefully.We've been car shopping this week b/c we were down to one car (which doesn't really work when your husband has to commute to...
Crawling out from the construction
So I haven't posted for the last week because my office has been disassembled and I had to do a DVD slide show for my husband's grandmother's 75th birthday (on a moment's notice). Anyway, the unfinished basement where my studio was had no walls and no heat and extension cords for electricity. As the winter set in here, I began to freeze down there. So we moved the computer and various items to the bedroom and had it framed and heating ducts installed. After I layout the wiring schematics (sp?) my...
Cover illustration
So I got all the interior sketches done for the "Already Asleep" book. Since there wasn't one main event or one character to focus on in the story, I had a hard time deciding how to do a somewhat interesting cover. Since the book is basically about being tuckered out, I decided to put all the characters in a heap, asleep (minus the horse...it didn't fit in the design). The publisher loved it and I...
REMOTE: Illustration Friday
This is a late addition to the Illustration Friday. I decided to start participating as a means to keep my blog active as well as my creative mind. (Mainly it was prompting from Guy Francis which got me to do it). So this last week's topic was "remote." I'm working on a picture book called "Already Asleep" as I've mentioned before. Skteches are due on Tuesday (no, I'm not done yet) and this one with...
Thumbnail to Final
Here's the final sketch for one of the thumbnail sketches you see below. I don't put value in my final sketches because I scan those in and then print them out onto watercolor paper and then paint them. I'll post the two subsequent pages that go along with this spread soon. I just don't have time today. I'm in the middle of moving boxes in my basement to make way for the framer to come and the Heating...
Magazine Illustration Job
Just so you know, I won't be posting again until next week. I'm going to visit my sister. But here's a sketch I turned in today for a magazine spot illustration. Quick and easy job. Not the most creative freedom always, but it helps pay the bills. From here I'll print it out onto watercolor paper and start painting. Have a great weeke...
"Inspired" by Lunch
Well, I was repremanded today at an Author/Illustrator lunch for not posting to my blog more often. Guy Francis (www.guyfrancis.com) said I had to post more often and he'd be checking up. So here is a post for Guy who likes to see an illustrator's process.These are just a FEW thumbnails from the picture book I've begun working on called "Already Asleep," by Angelique Tarbox to be published by Moo...
Feast or Famine
So it's been 3 months since my last post and here's why. On June 29, 2005 our house in Michigan sold and we had only 2 weeks to pack up and move across country to Utah. We found a house there and moved in on July 28th. Then the unpacking began. A few weeks later, most of the boxes were empty and the dust started to settle...JUST IN TIME FOR MORE ILLUSTRATION JOBS. It's amazing. I was blessed to have...
Recent Publication Hits Market
A board book I illustrated for a subsidiary of Lerner Publications is now available. It's called, "The Opposites of My Jewish Year." You can go to my site to purchase it www.jujubeeillustrations.com/books.html. Obviously it has a very select market...Jewish. It takes the Jewish holidays throughout the year and teaches opposites using objects associated with each. Hannukah, for example, uses the menorah...
Dog Walkers Finished
So, if you'll look in my previous posts, you'll see a sketch of a boy "walking" some dogs. Well I finally got around to painting the piece. Here's how it turned out. Notice I only outline the main focus figures in black line. For the other parts, I just leave the sketch line showing throu...
Star Wars Episode III and other matters
Well, it's been a while since I posted, but a lot has been going on. We're in the process of selling our house and getting it ready was a bit of a chore. But my parents came to visit and I took my dad to see Star Wars Episode III on opening day (5-19-2005). It was the 11 am showing so we avoided the real lines of the previous midnight showing. We thought we'd be avoiding the costumers too but this...
Out on the town
My husband and I drove over to Ann Arbor last night to hear a group called Opus21 perform at the Kerrytown Concert House. The group consists of a violinist, a saxophonist, a clarinetist, a bassist, a pianist and 3 percussionists (see their site for more info...www.opus21.org). It was an interesting group and an interesting concert. The concert house itself provides quite the intimate setting with...
Do you have any animals?
One of the first things I learned when I went to take my portfolio around NYC was that I needed to have depictions of animals in my portfolio; Every art director said so. Reason being, when you use animals, you don't have to deal with the race issue...you don't offend any person by not representing them or by representing them in a "stereotypical" scenerio. Plus, kids love animals. Pigs are a favorite...
Sketching, Sketching
So, what does an illustrator do? The answer is sketch, sketch, sketch, sketch, sketch. I wish I had more time to do more of it. Whether you work on the computer or on paper or on canvas, the initial stages of an illustration start out with sketches. I usually start out with thumbnail sketches (tiny 2x3 inch drawings) to work out the composition. I ALWAYS do this for a book. But then my method sometimes...
Advertising
Every illustrator has to advertise or promote their work in some way or they'll never get hired for a job. Some have an agent, some send out postcards, some mail out portfolios, and some advertise in sourcebooks like Picturebook. I do not have an agent. I try to go to New York and shop my portfolio around to the Children's Book Publishers about every other year. I also just recently purchased ad space...
Changing Styles
After focusing on a style done with Acrylics and some drybrush technique, I decided to try something new. I sent out a Christmas mailer in December of 2001 of a little girl and received a great response from Michael Green, then a senior editor at Philomel Publishing in New York. He asked for more in that style...so I did more. And that was the beginning of my line and watercolor style. Check out my...
My Published Books (so far)
My first book "What Could You See?" was published by and educational publisher soon after I graduated college. It was a low-paying job but gave me a taste of what it was like. It was a good place to get my feet wet. The second book "Hip, Hip Hooray for Annie McRae!" was my first retail market picture book. I had done a mass marketing campaign sending out a box full of Jujubee Candies and promotional...
Trying this all out
This is a new post from Julie. We are trying blogger out to see if it is going to work. See my site at www.jujubeeillustrations.c...
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- Julie Olson
- I'm a freelance illustrator working in the children's book industry. I love kids and raising my own 4 children. They are the inspiration and the passion behind all I do in art and in life. See my website at JulieOlsonbooks.com