ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ IMMOVABLE

With no way around will this tree be the one immovable object these two cannot conquer?

©Ginger Nielson 2010

The Dragon paintings Exhibit

CBIG DRAGONS & MAGIC Exhibit
Art inspired by the books THE RELUCTANT DRAGON and THE MAGIC CITY
At the Jefferson Market Library, 425 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan.

DATE: Sept. 7- Oct. 29, 2010




This is the process I used for the painting I am showing at the NYC Public Library at the Jefferson Market Library.
If you have never seen this building I urge you to take a look at images or if you are in the area to visit.  The exhibit will be available on the dates above and is being done with a storytime for children.  Most or all of the paintings may be for sale after the exhibit.


I started with a sketch ...

But I felt the dragon needed a friend ... a rider ... one who could follow the directions for actually riding a dragon.
So I painted Mr. Dragon and then photographed him and transferred the photo to my computer so I could add a reasonably sized child.

After I did this I traced the image of the child onto tracing paper, enlarged it and transferred the image to the actual painting.  I needed to block out all the dragon, so I overpainted with heavy white acrylic and let that dry before finishing the child.

And finally after the drying and the framing, this is what the result is:

Each of the 18 artists who are exhibiting also created color pages for the children and some  printouts of the actual illustration for use during the storytime and follow up activities.

On the back of the painting I attached an instruction sheet for 

How to ride a dragon ~ 101.

Helpful tips for managing that first flight  are included.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ ATMOSPHERE

©Ginger Nielson 2010

Another peek at Daniel

©Ginger Nielson 2010 and Stemmer House Publishing

From the soon to be released book, Daniel and the Harmonica, by Robert Dubreuil, published by Stemmer House.  

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ STAR GAZING

Once upon a time we lived near a hill that gave us a wonderful view of the night sky.  We had only to walk out the door and a few steps then up the hillside.  With our telescope we could spend hours searching the night sky for our favorite constellations.  The most brilliant stars would take our breath away. Even in the colder winter months we were drawn to that hillside.

the Sketchbook Project

I noticed in some of the sketchbooks, that collage, alternative materials, and prints were being used.  I am working on a combination of prints I have created, sketches I draw into the booklet and cut outs to create my story. The theme:  Science Experiments Gone Wrong.   I am approaching this with a picture book feel, a sense of humor, and some drama.   This is the opening spread .... I took the stitches out of the book and will resew the pages back in when I am done.  Got a lot of experience with that doing dummy books *:)

I am still working on the cover.  I have some gesso drying that I want to paint on top of.

The story I wrote is one that may never make it to the publishing houses, so I decided it was time to let it go and the sketchbook project is the perfect place for it to live on.

COMING SOON ~ Flying Poodles, A Christmas Story

Over the past few months I have worked closely with an amazing author and entrepeneur.
Karen Morss is a true renaissance woman. She grows and markets her own Mayer lemons in her very own orchard, creates creative stained glass works of art, coloring books, is the "mom" to Lucy Ball her red haired poodle, several kitties and is a great story teller!

When Karen contacted me to illustrate her book,
"Flying Poodles, A Christmas Story, "I was honored and delighted to be chosen to illustrate this story and enjoyed the challenges it presented to an artist.

Just imagine an illustrator given an assignment that includes not only 8 reindeer but 8 adorable poodles as well.  Each dog with it's own personality will charm readers of all ages.  Beyond the delightful story is a message to us all.   Don't ever give up.... you are capable of more than you realize. Helping your friends in need has rewards that are priceless.

Karen's  Poodle Dog Productions website offers a pre-order for the book as well as the announcement for the iPad app.  The iPad will have quite a few extras for the audience that downloads the app.
For every book sold, Karen offers a donation to the Smile Train Changing the World one smile at a time. So while you are smiling at her fantastic story, others who need to smile will have a chance to do so as well.

Getting started... gathering supplies

I am gathering supplies for my Sketchbook project.

Oh . Wait.  How did those chocolate chips get in there?

Today I signed up for the Sketchbook Project.  You can join in the fun as well.
Go to the link and order your Sketchbook, choose your topic and off you go.

It is really nice to have a review.

There is another wonderful review of Beth Bence Reinke's book, "In My Bath," which I illustrated.
Picture books are at least 50% artwork.   Sales can depend upon a great cover or the colorful and inventive interior illustrations. The other 50% of the picture book is the great story offered to the illustrator. Beth Bence Reinke has an imagination that sets off sparks of creativity for any illustrator lucky enough to have one of her stories to create in paint.

I truly loved doing the illustrations for this book and hope that anyone who purchases it will enjoy them with their children.

For anyone who does purchase the book,  here is a bookplate that matches the theme to print on sticker paper and insert into the book.  If you don't want to print out a sticker you can print this on good quality paper and use double sided tape to put it into the book.

If neither of those suit you, just let me know if you purchased the book and I will send you a signed sticker to put into your book.

Click on the image to see it full size and either drag to your desktop or right click on your mouse to download. I give you permission to do so.

Good Morning Mr. Frog

This was our morning visitor in the swimming pool.  The tiles measure about 3 inches square so you can
see how big this critter is.  The colors are amazing and I am so glad I could get this close.  I have some other shots of him swimming but they are a bit fuzzy since he is a pretty fast  underwater swimmer*:)

His other leg is not visible but he does actually have one ~

Cover Images for Daniel and the Harmonica

I finally got to see the cover images for the book, Daniel and the Harmonica, by Rob Dubreuil, published by Stemmer House Publishers.  The book will be out this September... not too long to wait.  I need to practice my harmonica before we launch. I wouldn't want to be caught off guard.