Click image for larger view.

Todd Lockwood Step-By-Step

All art students everywhere should have a look at this step-by-step progression of a book cover by Todd Lockwood. His isn't the only way to paint, or even the only way to paint digitally, but what's most important here is seeing how much work and thought goes into this cover before he starts the finished painting.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
(Thanks to Irene Gallo for the links)

Nebula Interview

There's a nice interview with me over at the Nebula Awards Website Blog Thing. My novel, The True Meaning of Smekday, was nominated this past year for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (sort of the YA Nebula), but of course lost to the last Potter book.
If you like the interview, maybe leave them a comment.

Mustaches For Kids–Final Update

Together you and my mustache raised $1,120 for underfunded classrooms. But like another seasonal tradition, my mustache has waved goodbye, sayin' "Don't you cry, I'll be back again some day."
Special thanks to Ellen Greene, Ms. Deborah Bass, Mr. Mac Barnett, and Scott Rex.

Mustaches For Kids–Final Stretch

The Mustaches for Kids donor drive ends on the 13th...and I'm just overwhelmed by the results. My personal donors have at this point raised over a thousand dollars for underfunded classrooms. One of them stipulated that their pledge was contingent on my promise to do this every year. So you're going to have to put up with this again next November.
Anyway, I would have felt remiss if I didn't make one last plea. The donor sidebar is on the right. After the weekend I'll post a full mustache retrospective, and then I'll stop talking about it for eleven months.
Thanks to past donors and to Ms. Melinda Millington, Mr. Phillip Hilliker, Ms. Reiko Nakajima, Katy Kelly, Jon Scieszka, Angus Yuen-Killick, Mr. Steven Malk, Mr. Matt Phelan, Mr. David Adamson, Dawn Murin, Mark Susson, and Alicia Neal.

Whale Finish

Here's the finished painting of that sketch I posted last week. You may notice that I fixed a few drawing issues in the final–I'd done a pretty lousy job blocking in some of the houses in the background, and I think I had several horizon lines in play. I'm sure there are plenty more drawing mistakes where those came from, but I fixed a few of them, at least.

This is Photoshop and Wacom. No traditional painting in this book, though I'll be back to traditional materials with the following one.
Here are a couple details, including a bunch of cats that weren't in the sketch, but which I added at the suggestion of a friend of mine. I think it was Cyril.

As usual, click for larger views.

And Now, a Whale on a Skateboard

Wow, apparently I wore out my welcome with the mustache updates. Got a couple of snarky comments on the last one. Perhaps I'll continue to quietly try to raise funds through the sidebar, and stop talking about mustaches and needy schoolkids so much.

You'll have to take my word for it that this whale is on a skateboard, I suppose, since you can't see it under him in this drawing. But this is the sketch of the cover of my next picture book, Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, written by Mac Barnett. In a few days I'll post the finished painting.
As always, click to see it larger.

Mustaches For Kids Update #3

To my regular readers, I apologize. There have probably been a lot more mustache-related posts recently than you'd come to expect. Sure, you read someone's blog, you're probably thinking, you expect a few mustache posts. But shut up already. I understand. If you can just bear with me a little longer, I promise to soon show pictures of blue whales on skateboards.
In the meantime, won't you consider donating ten dollars through the DonorsChoose sidebar on the right? You'll be helping underfunded school teachers to buy things like books and frogs.
Special thanks to new donors Dan Santat, Chelle Jenkins, green froggie, and Mrs. Elizabeth Haltom.

Anyone else notice I haven't posted much art lately?

Unless you count the performance hair art that is my mustache. Here's a cover painting I did for Irene Gallo over at Tor a couple years ago, for a book titled Hawkspar.