Watch the demo, see the final illustration...

So, if any of you have viewed the second and third recordings of my paintings on Ustream, you saw me working on the following illustration. Well, I thought I'd post the final result for those viewers. This is for the upcoming book, "The Littlest Emperor of Antarctica," published by Marshall Cavendish, 2011. I post this here to show the little bits of digital manipulation I do after the painting stage. I added texture to the ground ice/snow, cleaned up the horizon edge, enhanced the colors in the penguin a bit and darkened some areas of the water. Enjoy.

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See the Illustration Process LIVE

Today June 28th at 2pm Mountain Time, I will be broadcasting live from my studio...painting illustrations for "The Littlest Emperor of Antarctica." So click on the video stream at the top of the blog at 2pm for the live show.

UPDATE: unfortunately the record button did not get pushed correctly (by me) so this part 2 of the live broadcast will not be available for later viewing. Sorry! But I did broadcast another one right after to show the beginning process of another illustration for the penguin book. So even though you won't see the finish from the first illustration, there is a new video to see.
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Book Launch!

This Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 5pm-7pm The King's English Bookshop in downtown Salt Lake City will be holding a huge book launch party and signing for "The Chihuahua Chase" by A.E. Cannon, illustrated by me, Julie Olson. But starting at 4pm and going til 8pm, they will be holding their summer reading program's block party as well. So come join the fun! And enjoy this little book trailer to get you ramped up.
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Conferencing, Mingling, Illustrating

Well all this week I am helping out with the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference in Sandy, UT. I fortunately get to assist in Kevin Hawkes' illustration workshop every morning and then attend workshops in the afternoon put on by amazing writers, illustrators, agents, editors...it's awesome! The best part is hanging out with people who are passionate about what I love...children's books. I become inspired and rejuvenated (although exhausted at the same time). During morning workshop, I get to listen in and then I just work in the back of the room on my personal current book job (the penguin book, mentioned in other blog posts). Here's a close up of the little baby penguin. I can't show you final images right now, but hopefully you get an idea of the feel and look from this close up.

In addition to the conference, I was put in charge of a potluck mingle for all the local professional authors and illustrators as well as librarians, booksellers, publishers and all the visiting presenters to the conference. "The King's English" Bookstore in Salt Lake City hosted the event and it was a lot of fun. We have AMAZING talent here in Utah I must say. So many award winning children's book authors and illustrators.
But now, I am worn out. It's time for some rest before beginning again tomorrow. But I will enjoy the next three days as much as the first two (and thankfully get some work done as well).
I would like to thank my husband, mother-in-law, and babysitter for taking turns watching the little ones at home while mom's not in the home studio. Getting out and socializing with my peers has been nice. We illustrators get a little lonely in our studios from time to time.
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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

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