@ Nashville Public Library: From Good Ideas to Finished Pieces

This month five Midsouth illustrator members were psyched to be included in a show at the Nashville Public Library's Main Branch displaying their illustration process from start to finish.

In the Nashville area? Here's a teaser of the display but it looks much cooler up close and personal in the beautiful downtown library.

Not in Nashville? Check out these talented artists' websites and blogs. After doing that you'll definitely want to make a special pilgrimage to Nashville just to visit the library before the end of May.

Susan Eaddy sets up her clay creations from Papa Fish's Lullaby:
See her website, www.susaneaddy.com, and blog and youtube channel.

Mary Uhles shows off her piece for the May/June issue of Ladybug Magazine. See her website, www.maryuhles.com and read more about her process here.

Cheryl Mendenhall really gives a behind-the-scenes look at her process by even displaying some of the tools she uses to create her illustrations. They're digital but you'd never guess without the Wacom tablet to give it away! See her agent's page here.

Doug Jones' great sense of humor is on display in this cute Easy Reader about a lost space alien, Once Upon A Planet. See his other cool cartoons at his website, www.dougjonesart.com and his blog.

Kris Sexton rounds out the pack with these awesome clay dinosaurs, models created for her picture book, Five Huge Dinosaurs. See more of her watercolor and Illustrator creations at her site, www.krissexton.com.

All five of us were incredibly grateful to SCBWI, Susan Eaddy, Kristin Tubb and the Nashville Public Library for letting us share a peek into what goes on in the life of an illustrator. 

'Strangers in the Stable' ... my latest book illustration projet completed.

I don't post here often, because my schedule is filled with more than children's book illustration, however, my latest project was for a Christmas early reader, and now that the publisher has sent the files to the printer, now I can share.

This was my first kid's book illustrated purely digitally, so it was quite an experience. I normally only paint digitally for novels and some older kid's genres, like MG or YA (which are only sometimes illustrated).

Strangers in the Stable, by Jim Laughter and 4RV Publishing, is a charming twist to the traditional Christmas tale, which makes me doubly honored to have been the illustrator. Now, for a peek at the illos:

The stores and shops teemed with life,
and people lined up at tables in the marketsquare,
signed books, and paid money to
men in flowing red robes and shiny hats.

Finally, three more men entered from out
of the night. Kings, the people called them.
They carried gifts and laid them before the
child and his parents.

The kids got to know the young family,
and even Young Billy became friends with
Mary.

If you're interested in seeing the original cover I created for this book, and read why I changed it at literally the last minute, check out my latest 4RV newsletter post.

If your thinking on buying a few copies for Christmas, pre-orders are being accepted now on the 4RV Publishing catalog site.

Until next time,

Aidana WillowRaven

http://WillowRaven.weebly.com