Sketches approved…off to paintings!!

My sketches were all approved!! Off to paintings!! So excited about this job. It's a book titled The Hungry Dragon, part of a reading program for Heinemann, a subdivision of Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt, due to hit the school systems in 2017!

Great review for A Bailar!

I was happy today to find this review linked to the Barnes and Nobles site.

Children's Literature

You can't help but tap your feet as you read this book. The words make a beat throughout the book and by the time you reach the end you just want to dance. Marita's dad and his salsa band are performing in the park tonight and as she and her mom make their way through the town friends follow along. Reminiscent of a Gloria Estefan song you can feel the rhythm as you read along. Though fun and upbeat it's hardly the story to read when you want to calm the little ones for bed at night. But if you are in the mood for an upbeat fun time that requires no thought whatsoever, this is the book. The illustrations are as lively as the rhythm that urges you to move and the Spanish is so well woven into the story that bilingual readers don't even notice the shift from one language to the other.

Reviewer: Mandy Cruz

I am also very pleased to announce that I will be doing a book signing at the Barnes and Nobles in Howell, NJ Thursday March 15th at 6:00 p.m. Hope to see you all there!!!

Book Launch Party for ¡A Bailar! Was A Success!

I am so pleased with the turnout of my first book launch party. So many children came as well as many adults shopping for gifts for the holidays. Children had a great time getting their book signed, running over to get their faces painted and get a balloon animal. They were also able to make their own maraca at a craft table and then learn some salsa moves! It was a very exciting day and I don't think it could have been any better!

Finished Pet Portrait

Just finished this portrait for a private client.....I had a lot of fun with the bubbles! Place your portrait orders in now to get them for the holidays! Also I had my first book signing this weekend which turned out very well. Many people showed up and it turned out to be an amazing day. I'll be posting some pictures up soon.

Specultation Cover

I painted this illustration as a speculation for a publisher. They asked for the cover in color and a sketch for one of the spreads. Well, they decided to go with a different artist....bummer:( Hopefully my day will come soon, I am just so antsy to get my first children's book with all the promos I send out and all. I just get so frustrated sometimes because everyone has different tastes, which I suppose is a good thing, except when one publisher says I am too cartoony and then another one says I should rely less on reference because they look too much like photos. And so continues the never ending battle of finding some happy medium between cartoon world and realism to please all.....




....I changed the title and also added a cute caterpillar for fun.

Character's Contest Winner's Issue Cover

I just completed the cover to what will be the contest's winners issue of Character's Magazine. I am excited to see it all printed up and I hope the kids will get a kick out of it!

New Postcard

NJ SCBWI Conference

I had such a great time at the conference. When I first walked in I registered and then went into the room where everyone was gathering for coffee and waiting for the faculty panel to start speaking. I sit at a table and see this woman flipping through a Sprouts magazine (the NJ Chapter issues out a magazine a few times a year) with my owl painting on the cover!!!! I later found out it was supposed to be a surprise and they announced my name during the intros and I stood and had everyone clap. I was just thinking to myself, what a great way to start your day! All day I felt like a celebrity with people congratulating me and asking about my art. It felt nice, I never had something like this happen to me, almost like winning a contest.

The rest of the conference went quite well. Author Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen gave such a great workshop on how to pace your picture book and how to figure out where you need to cut down on text. She gave her "10 Commandments to a Picture Book Manuscript". That was just great. There were other workshops I attended on promotional pieces for illustrators, behind the scenes of making a book at the publishing house, making a book dummy, and picture book basics. All the information was so helpful. At lunch I sat at a table with 2 agents, 2 authors, and a self publisher. I learned quite a bit about self publishing where I previously was not fond of it and now I think it is just good for certain people, just not everyone. This woman says she published 12 books on her own and makes more money selling them in schools and book signings than she would have if she went through a publishing house. The most memorable thing she said was "Why are we putting our hearts and souls into perfecting a manuscript just to have some 28 year old yuppie with no kids tell us how it needs to be fixed. I finish a book and ask what the children and parents think, they are my advisers."

I had my portfolio critiqued by Patrick Collins, who I already knew was not fond of my work from doing a drop off last summer. Since I had not met him the first time he reviewed my portfolio it was interesting to see where he was coming from especially after I had added some new pieces the second time. He seemed to like my "Ice Cold Trouble" painting the best with the eskimo which interestingly I did after he critiqued me the first time. I also did something called speed pitching where I was put in a line and each of us had 2 minutes to talk to each of 3 editors/agents about our books and get their input. I pitched my "Finding Farah" story but I'm not so sure they were in love with my main character because he is a ferret. I bought some books, one by Sudipta and another by Eileen Spinelli. It was a great and eventful day and Princeton was the best and most beautiful place to hold this conference.