Done with my book!

Ahhhh. Finally, after a year of work and a couple months of especially intense painting (plus balancing dozens of March-Is-Reading-Month school visits), I am done with the art for the lion book.

Here's my mentor, EB Lewis's favorite spread:

Here's my teen daughter's favorite spread:

Here's a detail from my favorite spread:

Here's the original sketch for that page:

And I am very happy to say that Louie the dog made it into the book:

Now, before I lose any momentum, I'm on to the next project. I have a few more picturebooks in the works, and I've learned so much from sketching and painting this book that I know it'll influence my work on the others. Can't wait to see how they turn out!

 -- Ruth McNally Barshaw

The lion's share

My lion is demonstrating the lion's share of sadness here, but he's not allowed to say why yet -- the final art isn't done yet. This is a detail from a sketch for the picture book I'm working on, but it probably won't make it into the final book; my next sketch will be this lion looking out a different window. We'll see how it goes. 

-- Ruth McNally Barshaw

It's National Bubble Bath Day!

One of the books I'm working on has a bubble bath scene. Here are some of the sketches I did before deciding on the last one.

Now, back to work for me. I have 30 other pages to tend to...

-- Ruth McNally Barshaw

Happy Rejection Day!

We all experience rejection at some point.
The goal is not to get all worked up about it.
Here are some of my latest rejected sketches.

New point of view wanted, to include the driver.

Rejected scene. (I know those parents on the right aren't well done. I liked the rest, though.)

Just nope.

Eh. Keep moving. Do better. It takes a stack of paper a few inches high to create the art (and writing, when I'm doing the writing) for one book. Lots of ideas never make it into a finished book. Maybe all those ideas go play someplace... (Actually that little fantasy was part of a novel I started writing, a few years back. It was... rejected.)

-- Ruth McNally Barshaw

'Tis Fall

It's fall already. In a few minutes it will be winter (at least in my neck of the woods).

I didn't mean for this little bird to look melancholy. 

And I didn't mean to feel that way myself. 

I suppose more drawing will fix my mood...

Wheeeee! That's better.

-- Ruth McNally Barshaw

Guest Blogger-Greg Matusic

"In like a lion?" laughed the polar bear and penguin. "King of the beasts indeed!"

(Check out more of Greg's work here:http://www.matusic.com/)