How everything started

This is the first book that I ever made, back in 1983. I still have it, and it's now on the bookshelf in my office. It kind of reminds me how simple everything was when I was in Kindergarten and just starting out. It also reminds me when I get stressed out on the job, that I'm making children's books and things could be a lot worse.

We had a small publishing company in my elementary school, and we were able to go there if we wrote a story. It was a fun place to be...coloring, gluing, and construction paper. I thought the laminating machine was so fancy :)

Emma-Jean Take 2

Here is my second cover! The first Emma-Jean Lazarus book developed into a series, and I was able to work on the 2nd book. This time she falls in love :)

I began working on it this past summer, and finalized the art in Sept 2008. It's not in bookstores yet, but keep an eye out this May because that's when it goes on sale!

My first published illustration...and how it all came together

I currently work as a Designer at Penguin Books in the Young Readers division, and luckily I was assigned to work on this cover. I began working on it in the spring of 2006. The book is very charming and special, and I was having a hard time deciding how it should look. I began wrestling with it, and bringing my comps and layouts to meetings, but the design just wasn't going anywhere. I began to feel connected to the book, and was frustrated that I couldn't find the right photo or illustration to suit the story or the main character. So, I began sketching out my own ideas hoping that something would click.

I was a bit nervous to cross over and try to become the illustrator and designer of this book, but I showed my sketches to my Art Director and Editor at a meeting, and they actually loved them. I worked the sketches into final art, and now I have my first published cover.