Lots of Good News!!

My Zoey portrait will make it's next tour stop at the Holy Family School of Lakewood, NJ for their Tricky Tray Gift Auction on November 8th. I will be donating a custom portrait of the winner's pet. Tickets are being sold now. If you would like a chance to win one of my hand painted pet portraits please stop by the school. The address is Holy Family School 1141 East County Line Road
Lakewood, New Jersey 08701 or visit the website for more information.



On a side note I am pleased to say I will be signing my first picture book contract next week!! Woo Hoo!! I can finally say I am officially a children's book illustrator!! Can I get a WOOT WOOT!! ;o) More info on that to come!



I also very excited about an upcoming SCBWI illustrator's conference in November in which I will be working with award winning illustrator E.B. Lewis in a critique. I will also get a chance to have a private portfolio review with Donna Mark, art director for Bloomsbury Children's Books. I will be bringing with me the finished version of this sketch that goes along with a manuscript given to me by E.B. in which I was assigned to choose a double page spread for the story to illustrate for a critique. I am very happy to be taking out the scary little boy looking through the magnifying glass as a suggestion from E.B. so I can focus more on these fun frogs.

Vote for me to be the next WRAT Rock Girl!!!

So I tried out to be the next wrat rock girl.....I made it to the final 32 contestants now I need you to vote for me!!! This will be great exposure for me since I will get a chance to talk on the air, be interviewed in magazines and meet bands. What could be a better way to get my name out there to tell people about my art and represent my home turf on the radio?? So Please vote for me!!

http://www.wrat.com/Default.aspx?tabid=993

Color Me: Bathing Elephant

Print and color in this coloring page and send it to me at mail@crodillustration.com as a jpeg or pdf and I'll post it on my blog! Happy Coloring!! For more Coloring pages click here.

New Postcard!..and Color Me: Pelicans Fishing

Finally a new postcard! I just ordered it today. I tried out a new company 48HourPrint so I hope they come out nice!!! I was able to get rounded corners which I am also excited about!! If you noticed I also reversed the painting for the front of the postcard. It helped the over all flow and design so I think it was a clever choice to have the car headed towards the right corner.
Here it is:
Front:

















Back:




















Print and color in this coloring page and send it to me at mail@crodillustration.com as a jpeg or pdf and I'll post it on my blog! Want to learn more about Pelicans?? Just click here. Happy Coloring!! For more Coloring pages click here.

Alice In Wonderland Trailer!!!

Watch it here!!! http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=60963677

Elder Magic Book Cover Finished!!... and some other stuff

The third and final painting for Cindy Davis and John Richters' Elder Magic, Book three of the Desert Magic Trilogy is now finished! The second book just came out to purchase, so this one will be out sometime this Winter. You can read more about the trilogy at the Desert Magic website here. You can read the first two books Healing Magic and Stolen Magic by purchasing them at Amazon!


Some of the fun of being an illustrator is the anticipation and waiting for certain books to hit the shelves and finally get a chance to peek at the beautiful cover art that was selected by the publishers. A while ago I blogged about doing some speculation work for Raven Tree Press for a picture book. They asked a number of other illustrators as well as myself to send in cover art and a sketch for one of the spreads after sending us a manuscript. After finding out I wasn't selected I had to wait almost a year to see the cover art and artist that was finally chosen for the picture book. Here it is! Seed Was Planted will be out this September and was beautifully illustrated by Pamela Barcita. Congratulations!!

Color Me: Hungry Puffin

Do you know where Puffins live or what they like to eat? Learn more about the Puffin at National Geographic Kids Creature Feature, just click here. Print and color in this coloring page and send it to me at mail@crodillustration.com as a jpeg or pdf and I'll post it on my blog! Happy Coloring!! For more Coloring pages click here.

Stolen Magic now Available on Amazon!!

Buy it here !

A young mage and his healer friend must recover a stolen Node of magical power. Obsessed with becoming the most powerful magician in the world, the insufferable Eklet returns to Worlton to steal the town's Node of power. In the process, he discovers a hidden storehouse of ancient spells. Determined to possess everything, including the bracelet of Dorea, he hires marauders to do his dirty work. Only the young mage Narle and his healer friend Laan have the means to stop Eklet. But they are distracted by the arrival of the beauteous Josella, a mage in training. She manages to dazzle Narle and alienate Laan, before finally joining forces with Eklet. Can Narle and Laan put aside their differences to foil Eklet's plot and save Worlton?

Color Me: Hedgehog

Did you know you can have a hedgehog as a pet? Want to learn more about these funny prickly animals? Click here. Print and color in this coloring page and send it to me at mail@crodillustration.com as a jpeg or pdf and I'll post it on my blog! Happy Coloring!! For more Coloring pages click here.

Color Me: Leopard

Print and color in this coloring page and send it to me at mail@crodillustration.com as a jpeg or pdf and I'll post it on my blog! Happy Coloring!! For more Coloring pages click here.