Ripples in the Water...

Have you heard of Ripple Sketches?

Check out ripplesketches.blogspot.com if you want to make a donation to help the animal victims of the Deep Water Horizon Gulf Oil Spill, and pick up some cool art in the process.

I actually made a few quick'n'dirty ones myself. They've already been purchased (by total strangers, which is exciting!), but you can see them here, if you want.

As noted, until the end of September, I'll be donating to IMMS the proceeds of all greeting card sales from my seascape series as well as 75% of all other net sales until the end of September!

The Mandrill Illustration - in Kite Tales!

I was chosen to illustrate a poem about a mandrill in this summer’s Kite Tales newsletter. Kite Tales is published by the LA chapter of SCBWI.

THE MANDRILL

by Thalia Chaltas

Mandrill manhandled the mangroves

and bit them till they cried,

He ate their leaves, stomped their roots,

and then lay down and died.

I started with a ton of preliminary sketches, since this assignment was officially A Big Deal, since Kite Tales is read by a lot of kidlit industry professionals. Mandrills and mangroves are not everyday images in my life, so I decided to really research what they were all about before committing to any of my sketches. I think it paid off.

Here's a link to the issue, my illo is on page 13!