Time is flying!

Hey all!
It's been a few weeks since I posted. I was attacked by the flu after the NY conference and I've been getting back into the groove the past two weeks. But I'm busy at work on some freelance projects so I'm quite occupied at the moment. I'll try to post some up to date sketches soon of ideas I've been scratching around with, but for now its back to the drawing board for me!

Here's a pile of sketches I've been working on for one of my latest freelance gigs. I'll only say it involves a tree... More to come!

NY Conference: day three!

Hey folks!
I have so much exciting news to share from my last couple of days at the conference!!! I'll have to be brief for now and elaborate later as I am blogging this from bed, which I am currently quarantined to with a terrible flu.

But in more exciting news... Here is my top five from the past day and a half:

5) hanging out with all my SCBWI friends!!!!
4) hearing Julie Andrews say "practically perfect"
3) hearing Mo Willems tell a story about someone crapping in a friends car
3) hearing the inspirational Shaun Tan speak again
2) getting to meet, laugh with, and hug Tomie dePaola!!!
1) getting runner up in the portfolio show!!!!!!

Yes I won! And yes there are two third places- top six just doesn't sound a good!

Okay, off to my sickness...

SCBWI NY Conference: day 2

Hey all!
It's day two of the NY SCBWI Conference and its been great already! Yesterday we had the illustrator intensive where there were many great speakers: Shaun Tan, Mark Teague,Barbara McClintock, Floyd Cooper, David Ezra Stein, The Brothers Hilts, Brenda Bowen, Chris Tugeau, Jan Constantine.

So much awesome stuff...

I also met Mo Willems & Jon Sceznia!!! I said "hotdogs" to Mo Willems as a funny ice breaker. It worked, and I imagine he won't forget that right away. I'm nuts...

Okay back to the show! More updates to come!

N.Y. Here I come!

So in 24 hours i'll be on my way to New York for the winter conference! I'm so excited! But I've been preparing for a couple of weeks and right about now, I just can't wait to sleep on the plane! I feel prepared and ready to go! I've got my portfolio, my book dummy, my postcards just arrived...I even finished the first part of my graphic novel on top of all my other preparations so feels good. I'll be posting from the conference what I can. Let's hope the weather is good while I'm there.

Inking mania!

Hey all!
Quick check in: I'm two pages away from finishing part one of my graphic novel! I have some final inking and some last edits to make, the layout begins! Phew!

A perfect Saturday morning

Happy weekend!
So far the weekend is starting off great: reading Little Women in bed, Market Spice tea, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, David Sedaris on This American Life and working on drawings for my picture book dummy of Drift. What a treat!

Now onto inking the final pages of my graphic novel before painting my Drift drawings. There will be a soup break somewhere in there too.

I hope you all are having as lovely a day as I.

Art spot!

Hey Folks!

It's been a busy past few weeks! I've been gearing up for the NY Conference- I was able to get into the illustrator intensive and the portfolio showcase- woo hoo! Also I am finally finishing up my first part of my graphic novel! I'll post some pages in the next few days but it's based off of my sketchbook journal Diary Of A Wiener. I'm pretty excited about it and have been working on it for several years. So stay tuned for that!

Also, I wanted to share my illustrations used in this month's SCBWI newsletter. They are of my little mole! Also, they gave a specific spotlight to me and my work in the new "Art Spot" section of the newsletter! Thanks to Sarah Baker and SCBWI!

Okay- that's all for now. I have to finish up my book dummy, edit my portfolio, finish my last graphic novel pages, layout the book, ready my postcards for the show, oh and breath!

More to come!

Jessixa