Heading Out to my First Ever Book Signing

I'm pretty excited and weirded out. :)
First of all, it's not a solo book signing, it's simply all of the published alums of my college congregating at the college book store. Which really makes it the perfect intro into book signings for noob author like me. :)

But, as usual, I'm still in a rushed mess, trying to pack and do the dishes and finish printing off the things that need printing.

Like this, for example. :)

For the unlikely yet fantastic occurrence that I should sell out.

;D

Or, simply to hoodwink bystanders into thinking about a purchase even if they don't make one tomorrow.

To be completely honest, I'm also simply excited to see several of my college friends. It's going to be an awesome weekend for several reasons!

Playing With Watercolors

I'm woefully out of practice with watercolors. What does this mean? More watercolors!

Just a picture of a pretty lady to warm up my watercolor skills.  I'll post the finished version soon.

:)

Guess What Came in the Mail....!!!

I'll give you a hint: it came in a box and contained many copies of something I've been working hard to polish this last month!  :D

If you guessed the first ever official copies of my self published illustrated children's book, you were right!

Ferris Wheels and Faraway Places: Adventures at the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair

The blurb on the back cover reads:
"Explore the 1893 Chicago Worlds fair! See the first ever Ferris Wheel, a wooly mammoth, and learn where some of the objects in Beloit’s museums came from."

Look! A cover!

And look! Inside pages!

Please ignore my chapped hands.  Also, both the books and my hands are much less grainy in person. ;)

The books got here, they look fantastic, and I'm super excited to have them finished and tangible in my hands.

If you are interested in a copy of your own, check out the lulu.com page where they are sold

Each paperback copy is $15.

I don't even know what to do with myself  now. 

I'm obviously going to have to find another huge project to throw myself into. ;)

Drawing in the Fresh Air

Lately I've taken to drawing outside as much as possible.  Now that I'm working, I just don't get outside as much as I would like, so I found that forcing myself to do art outdoors kills two birds with one stone.
I'm not sure how much longer this lovely trend can continue, what with the weather turning colder already, but for the moment at least I'm enjoying it.  (Although I now have a set of sunburned shoulders...)

This is my favorite spot of all.  It's a picnic table on the far side of the lake near where I live, tucked a bit away from the path.  It's beautiful and partly shaded -- you can't get much more perfect than this spot.

So far most of what I've been drawing has been the Mad Jack project (which I can't share with you juuuust yet -- spoilers!) and just warm up drawings to get myself back in the habit of drawing for fun.

But tomorrow I have some exciting news to share, so check back!
Hint: something is coming in the mail. Something I've been working on for a long, long time.

I'm Back!

It's been a long while since I've updated this blog.  I've since found a home in a new town and found a job to pay the rent. :) My life has gotten exciting!

But I've also been busily working away on several art projects, including ones you might be familiar with from past posts!

One of the projects that is near and dear to my heart is Mad Jack, a joint comic written by my good friend Amber and drawn by me. It's still very much in the works, but we're both very excited about not only where it's at, but what it has the potential to be.

This morning I roughed out the first two pages of our prologue.  Luckily, they don't contain any spoilers and so I'm going to give  you folks a sneak peak!