HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
Have a blast everyone. I hope they're magical!

Here’s the group photo of the authors/illustrators at the 9th Annual Kids’ Lit Gala presented by The Ottawa Children’s Literature Roundtable and the Ottawa Public Library. A very talented bunch, if I do say so myself. :)

From left to right: Ben Hodson, Paul Glennon, Vickie Cameron, Andrée Poulin, Eric Péladeau, Brenda Chapman, Kevin Bolger, Caroline Pignat, Robert Sutherland, Crystal Beshara, Michel Rene de Cotret (thanks for the photo, Michel!), and Suzanne Pinel.

(A big congratulations to Caroline Pignat for being awarded the Governor General’s Award for her amazing book!)

I'm working on a picture book right now, but in the morning I like to do a bit of sketching to loosen up. I've been doing a lot of 80's influenced fantasy drawings. Above is another Kenku sketch. This one has some Russ Nicholson, Brian Froud and a little Don Bluth (The Secret of NIMH)

Here's a Dragon Rider. WAAAAY more fierce than Eragon. :)

A Deep Gnome influenced by the great Russ Nicholson in the Fiend Folio.

A Boar Rider. Snort. Wild boars and wart hogs are such amazing animals.

A Dwarf Champion ready to rumble. Some Clyde Caldwell, Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley vibes. I really like a lot of the DragonLance and Dragon Magazine artists.

Orko from He-Man. I couldn't really stand this character in the cartoon, (or any sidekick except maybe Ookla from Thundarr) but I thought he looked cool. Like a Jawa wizard.

A little Berbalang action. I always loved the drawing in the Fiend Folio by Russ Nicholson. So nasty.

I'm so happy that I found a groovy Keith Haring website devoted totally and completely to kids!!
That means I'll fit right in! Colouring book pages!!! YES! That's for me!

This was a great show I used to watch when I was a kid. See the intro here.

And a little clip of the Wolfman here. He had a groovy radio show and they used to have these great psychedelic light shows where the Wolfman and Igor would shake their thang. Fab show!

Some Count Floyd clips. Monster Chiller Horror Theater!!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

and an animated Scary Story!!

Okay everybody....slide on over to see the one and only

JESSE JOSHUA WATSON

and pick up his fantastic books, I AND I, and Chess Rumble!!! Also, for an extra treat, his blog is filled with brain gems, gorgeous art and all around good vibes.

Whoooohooo!!! Yipeee!
Yesterday I had so much fun visiting and giving workshops at the Rockcliffe Park Public School Literary Festival and Book Fair.
http://www.rockcliffebookfair.com/kids/wauthors.html
http://www.rockcliffebookfair.com/

We drew zombies, vampires, werewolves (or werepigs) and ghouls.

OOOOOOOOHHH!! VEEEEERY SCAAAAARY STUFF!!!

A big shout out to my Author posse, the super chief picture holders and all around cool guys, Jack and Sang Bin, who kept me on time, out of trouble and entertained for the day.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the 9th annual Kids’ Lit Gala (presented by The Ottawa Children’s Literature Roundtable and the Ottawa Public Library).

A handful of authors and artists were asked to give a small presentation or reading. It was a lovely evening and I met some excellent local authors.

A special thanks to all of the wonderful Youth Ambassadors, who kept us well hydrated and well fed (with lots of cookies!), and to all of the parents who came out on a cold and rainy evening.

Lately I've been really into listening to audiobooks while I work. I can download them from our library system and love the chance to catch up on books that I would otherwise not have time to read.

The latest gem that actually had me laughing until tears was Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka, by Jon Scieszka. Yes, Mr. Stinky Cheese himself tells of growing up with 5 brothers. If you grew up with the comics G.I Combat or The Haunted Tank, then you show read this book. If you didn't, you should read this book.

Okay folks... a big treat today!! Some MAD Magazine flashbacks!
Captain Klutz was one of my first fav superheroes (as was the artist, Don Martin), thanks to my dad and uncles comic/Mad magazine collections. They were gold to me.

I loved the "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions" gags by Al Jaffee, but even more than that I loved his fold-ins at the back of the magazine.

You must check out this incredible NY Times tribute to Jaffee's fold outs and it actually lets you fold them in and out right on the site. His art is unbelievable!

Another pen and ink redraw of an older image. Ride to live, live to ride.

Some South African sketchbook goodness with a little colour added.

On a movie note...I just saw Soul Power and it was incredible! A must-see if you are even a moderate fan of soul /funk of the 70's. Check out the trailer here.

Just reworking some old drawings. Without the colour the shapes jump out. I like the simplicity of it.

Playing with colour using an old sketch. Thinking of painting this one. We shall see...

A Ranger illustration for Kobold Quarterly. While I worked on it I listened to the audiobook The Sword in the Stone, by T.H. White. Very funny book. A classic.

Two of my books are e-books! They look amazing!!! Scroll down, follow the link and enjoy.

Part of the press release is below...

From Sylvan Dell publisher and co-founder Lee German: “These are the most technologically advanced eBooks in the world today, featuring Auto-Flip, Auto-Read, and Selectable Language. There is nothing even close to this on the market. Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble eBooks are not even in the same category. I encourage parents and teachers to take a test-drive and see for themselves. Let the children play with these for a few weeks, and you’ll be amazed at their excitement and improved reading performance. For children wanting to learn a foreign language or ESOL families learning English, these are phenomenal tools.”

Below is a link to a 90-day trial of all 45 Sylvan Dell eBooks:
http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/ebooktrials.php?e=MSBL9JCode expiration date: 10/31/2009
For guided directions: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/documents/eBookOperatingInstructions.pdf

“Whether in Auto-Flip or Manual Mode, switch back and forth between English and Spanish text and audio (more language choices on the way) and remain on the same page,” said German. “With the addition of Auto-Flip and Auto-Read features, our Sylvan Dell eBooks are powerful literacy and language learning tools to complement our mission of teaching ‘Science and Math Through Literature.’”

Heres my contribution to the Three Kisses for Tomie blog in honor of Tomie dePaola. He's celebrating his 75th birthday. I love all of his books, but Jingle, the Christmas Clown is one of my favs. For Zoe's birthday, she was given Brava, Strega Nona! pop-up book which has elaborate gorgeous mindbending pop-up pages. I've never met a Tomie book I didn't like!

Some more art for the upcoming issue of Kobold Quarterly. Hobgoblins, minotaurs and bugbears, oh my!

Hot off the press!! My new graphic novel is out and I'll keep you posted about the launch.
See more of it here.

My little Zoe LOVES her books. In fact, she devours them. Yum!

Sketches of wizardy types.

One day I just started drawing these tiny muscle cars with little kids in them. I drew a bunch of them. I really like the shapes and giving them wacky names.

I know, I know, the art just keeps getting scarier! I'll try to tone it down for later posts...I don't want any of you to have nightmares.

I think Thor would've been one heck of a toddler.

Okay, I couldn't help but do a couple of comic strip entries for Art Order...

Two entries in the Catastrophic Dragon Challenge over at Art Order.

(http://artorder.blogspot.com/)

The top image was the first entry, and again, I was too rushed to really get into the concept of the Dragon, and Jon ,the Art Director, called me on it. So I came up with the bottom image. I think it's closer, but man, it's tough to show something embodying the fury of an earthquake. Looking forward to seeing the other entries.