Yes... it's that time again... time to add to the blog.
I have a suspicion I've made blogging too hard, or maybe I just don't have quite the knack for chatting away about the simple things.
Be that as it may, I've been lazy to boot. AND I've been painting the house (as seen in the photo)... and need to paint even more of the house before summer is over. Very satisfying thing, painting boards out of doors from the clarifying heights of a ladder. Just don't look down! That's the secret to working at heights.
Same thing with freelancing... 'don't look down'. By that I mean don't stop and think too much since it's usually best to just get on with it.
Thank gosh for second coats of paint! The beauty of the second coat of matching paint is that one needn't agonize over all the edging... which really can drive a person crazy when you're bending over into a pretzel twist at a height of 25 feet and leaning over backwards trying to make a perfect edge of grey against white paint. No need to be perfect with the second coat... just an approximation will do.
Hooray for Cookie! Yes, the first copies of 'One Smart Cookie', written & illustrated by moi have arrived. So I had my own little party to celebrate and took these photos. Can't wait to see if anyone takes notice... which of course is the dilemma of just about every artist and author I suppose. I think it ought to be a great little book for schools. It's got some fun classroom scenes and deals with the essence of books and schools... that is to say reading.
Anyhow, it's fun having dozens of copies of the Cookie around. I'm quite pleased with how it came out, considering the deadline for finish art and all. It's fun to see the printed book right alongside the original pencil sketches on my desk. It was really odd to come across a pencil sketch for one of the characters that I had drawn on vellum and to then put that right over the finished printed book and see how they matched! Just like magic.
More about the Cookie later.
9 comments:
Hi John,
Great to see your 'One Smart Cookie' book is in the shops now. I shall look out for a copy, to sit it next to my copy of 'The Dragon Painter'.
I look forward to hearing more about 'Cookie' as it is sure to go down well with schools.
I was thinking about your house painting... wouldn't it be great to be able to do it with Photoshop? Photograph the house, open the image in PS and then paint it, zooming in for the tricky bits, adding a smooth or textured bit as appropriate, then finding a different colour might be nice, so adjusting the hue!
But... you would miss that outdoor experience, and the smell of the paint, and the thrill of ladders and height.
Perhaps it is just as well we can't paint everything on the computer.
June :¬)
LOL! Yeah, and add to that fixing the car with Photoshop too... instead of having to get bruised knuckles trying to get off the lug nuts and jacking up the wheels. (that's the other summertime project waiting to be done).
In fact I imagine most things would go down easier with Photoshop than real tools in real life.
These looks great! It's so fun to receive copies of the finished book in the mail!
Anette
www.wynlen.no
How thrilling! And your name on the front for everything (or are you quite blase about that nowadays, being a well seasoned author illustrator?)
Oh I'm quite pleased... and it's fun to watch and see if anything will happen with the book.
Believe me, I'm not at all blase...
Hi
I just arrived here from Paris Daily Photo.
Your illustrations are great. I really loved your drawings!.
Greetings from Chile.
Ok, well someone has to say it, "you're one smart cookie"! Congratulations!
Merci boucoup!
One lucky Cookie more like... I think the secret to publishing is to be in the right place at the right time.
Oh well... I'll just try to enjoy it while it lasts.
Sorry my blog is only updated once a month... no excuses except that other people's blogs are WAY more interesting than my own!
jn
Hi John, this book looks beautiful!! I'll have to check it out. I've actually been a fan of your work since around 2002, when I first started to realize children's illustration might be a good direction for me. Thanks for the inspiration!
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