Cool links

Ladybird has a blog!

Click here if you want to check it out. :o)

Fun links! Leigh Hodgkinson

This has got to be one of the most creative websites I've ever seen! Loved it! (Make sure you click on the button). Amazing work by author/illustrator Leigh Hodgkinson! She has a blog too.

** via Cupcakes for Clara. Thanks to Laura for posting about it. Take your time and check out her sweet work as well. She makes darling plush animals! Just adorable. :o) **

The Sketchables

I was recently invited to post as a guest on a wonderful new blog,

The Sketchables.

Do visit and have a look around.

You'll find the work of a group of very talented ladies. :o)

Fun links!

I recently found this cool conversation between

Tomie dePaola and Eric Carle! :o)

(make sure you scroll down)

Great links- A Portfolio Makeover

I've mentioned several times in the past what a big fan I am of Christopher Denise's work. I don't know if you know but besides making beautiful books he also blogs.

He recently posted about portfolios and what it takes to have a critical eye when it come to your own work. Updating and editing portfolio pieces and leaving only your best work is no easy task. He starts by saying less is in fact more and he found a solution on how to pick the best pieces. Click here if you want to know more.

Babybug has a blog!

Now say that three times in a row, really fast and without stopping.. ;o)

I am deep into working on a book right now so my life is completely crazy.

Dirty dishes in the sink, hungry dogs staring from under the desk, kids at school looking at their mixed up lunch boxes and an empty refrigerator except for one apple and half a bottle of diet coke. Does this happen to anyone else or is it just me?

So the truth is I really had nothing planned for today's post. But then I remembered that our lovely Gina mentioned the other day that Babybug magazine had a blog. How great right?

You can visit the Babybug's blog here. And today's post is an interview with a wonderful illustrator, John Sandford. You can read the interview here.

If you are bored, I also posted on my blog about how crazy the minds works sometimes, well at least mine does. Maybe you can relate. Click here to read my post.

Ok now back to work.

Just one more book, join the celebration !

We wanted to share with you guys this blog in case you haven't heard about it.

Just one more book is a great place where you'll find wonderful podcasts interviewing authors and illustrators of children's books. They also review books and everything is done in their favorite coffee place. You have to check it out, as it is an amazing way to learn about others experiences in the field.

Right now they have a special event going on.
Read this:

"This July, children's book podcast will celebrate its second anniversary and 400th episode of promoting children's books and literacy. As part of our celebration, we are redesigning our website and would like the new look to include artwork that promotes a love of reading.

Illustrators of all backgrounds are invited to submit a logo-like illustration that can be resized nicely and featured on our website for everyone to enjoy. Illustrators submitting artwork will be invited to be guests of Just One More Book!! to talk about their design, the creative process and how their submission helps to promote a love of reading.

We ask that all submissions be emailed to justonemorebook@gmail.com in JPG, PNG or GIF format, 500×500 pixels on or before June 15, 2008. Let us know if you have any questions.

And don't forget to stop in to our Love of Reading Gallery to see the great artwork we've received so far.

Thanks and Happy Reading!
Andrea & Mark"

Hope you go visit and enjoy it as much as we do :o)

Check this out!

In case you are looking for interviews with illustrators or authors of children's books, here is this amazing blog full of podcasts interviewing artists, writers and also doing book reviews. They do everything on their favorite cafe. It's really great.

It's called Just One More Book. Check it out! Click on it and it will take you there.

Happy weekend everyone! :o)

Links

Library Spot - My favorite reference tool. Dictionaries, rhyming tools, thesauri, encyclopedias, phone books, quotations, directories, etc.

more link lovin'

I heart Crazy Aunt Purl - The true-life diary of a thirty-something, newly divorced, displaced southern obsessive-compulsive knitter who has four cats.

Have you ever had a fun, mischievous friend? One who sometimes lands you in trouble, but it was always worth the risk? That's the kind of fun this blog is! It's irreverent, very funny, and full of heart. And, I can hardly wait, Laurie Perry (aka Crazy Aunt Purl) has a book coming out this October!

Link Love

Happy Wednesday! There is so many great resources available to us on the web. Here are a few (mostly software support/tutorial) links that help me time and time again.

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Photoshop:

FREE Adobe Photoshop Brushes
(FYI: the Nagel brushes are incredible!)
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshopbrushes/
Free_Adobe_Photoshop_Brushes_to_Download.htm

Rookie Designer podcast & blog
http://www.rookiedesigner.com/rookie/

National Association of Photoshop Professionals
http://www.photoshopuser.com/

Designorati
http://designorati.com/

Photoshop Support.com
http://www.photoshopsupport.com/

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Painter:

Jinny Brown's Pixel Alley
http://www.pixelalley.com/

Hot-rodding your brushes in Corel Painter (article)
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?
t=55589&highlight=hot-rodding

Lynda.com's Getting Started with P X
http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=124

Creating brushes in P 9 (David Nagel article)
http://animationartist.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=30736

Concept Art Painter Forums
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=23

Corel Tutorials on P X
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Content/1170190221936

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General house-keeping:
Mozy offsite back-up storage
http://mozy.com/
(Take advantage of their great offer- 2 GB FREE offsite storage - no strings!! - plus extra space incentives to pass the word along to your friends )

If you would like to sign up for Mozy and would like an extra special "treat" :), please use my referral URL:
https://mozy.com/?code=BEYE87
If you use my referral URL to join, we will BOTH get an extra 256 MB extra space (free and clear, no strings attached). Pretty cool, huh?

Edited to add:
You Send It
Send large files to your clients via this replacement FTP server! I just learned about it. Cool!
http://www.yousendit.com/
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Learn about school visits:

These two artists have great information on their web sites regarding school visits. Helpful and well-written!! I find that School Visit information is not the easiest to come by, so it is GREAT that these artists are sharing this informaton with us!! Thank you, ladies!!

Grace Lin
http://www.gracelin.com/index.php
Go to the "Visits" page and there is a whole sub-section.

Elizabeth O. Dulemba
http://dulemba.com/index_visits.html
Go to the "Visits" page for School Visits info.
ALSO, visit Elizabeth's "Etc." page for lots of useful information!! It's a great site!!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

...and (last but not least!!!!)
A couple of sites, just for fun:

Candy Blog
http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/

Etsy
(I know this is probably not a new one on anybody, but it is a wonderful site and it's name bears repeating, over and over and over and over...)
http://www.etsy.com/

Weekly Theme: "Links"

Whenever I'm trying to remember "who played that guy??" or "what was that darn movie called?", I go here:

http://www.imdb.com

I'll hurt my brain trying to remember, so imdb.com comes in real handy.

Some of my other haunts include:

http://www.childrensillustrators.com
http://www.etsy.com
http://www.artchive.com
http://www.moma.org
http://www.ortakales.com/illustrators/ (this is a wonderful site that illustrator Denise Ortakales created and it's inspirational!)