Art Challenge Day 2 - Rainbows

It's Day 2 of the 5-day Art Challenge! I was nominated by Gary Fabbri to start this challenge, where each participant shares 3 drawings/paintings each day for 5 days and also nominates a fellow artist each day to do the same. Yesterday I invited Jason Hart to share his awesome work. Today I'll nominate Stephen Macquignon, who's delightful watercolours won over Tomie dePaola himself. 


Day 2 - Last year I taught some classes at a wonderful non-profit organization called Story Planet and Intergalactic Travel Authority. They run workshops that encourage young people to create and tell their stories. One of my programs involved a dozen 10 year olds and 5 weeks to create 1 picture book! Here are some spreads in that book...

:: Picture Book Idea Month ::

Ever since I was young, I was always pretty comfortable drawing. It came natural. It's easy to be good at something when you have confidence.

Unfortunately I lacked the same conviction with my writing. As hard as I try, I have great difficulties honing and crafting my written ideas. My problem stems from my obsession over details. I need to communicate all ideas clearly, concisely, and perfectly. That is a lot of self-imposed pressure.

Confession - tweeting is actually quite laborious for me. I write and rewrite all my tweets many times before hitting send.

I fully understand and recognize the magic, power and beauty of well placed words. Great writing can communicate complex ideas with brevity and style. Great writing can paint fantastic worlds without a paint brush. Most importantly great writing can inspire. And that is what I want to do, oh so very badly.

Well, something changed exactly one week ago...

I signed up for PiBoIdMo. "Picture Book Idea Month" is a 30-day challenge for picture book writers. The concept is to create 30 picture book ideas in 30 days. There are over 700 participants world wide!

This fun month-long exercise has allowed me to write freely without all the pressure. The result has been absolutely amazing! I have written down and sketched out a dozen solid picture book ideas. I have also completed three written manuscripts and most importantly I am really happy with my writing!

So thank you Tara Lazar. Thank you for curing my writer's block and providing me confidence to write. You are a star!

leaf play

There's just something magical about autumn. The brisk cool air. The wonderful colors and textures. The crunchy leaves...

My favorite childhood memories involve playing in bright and beautiful autumn leaves.

I didn't have to look far for my fall pattern inspiration. The sweet colors please my emotional tastes and the mathematical tessellations appease my intellectual half.

That is what my favorite shirt pattern would look like. I love that I can still play with leaves even now.

Above is my submission to the Steven Alan & Threadless challenge.

To see more slides, please click here.