What's Raccoon up to? | O que é que o Guaxinim está fazendo?

Just pencil | Só lápis

Quick sketch

A quick sketch of my personal assistant and muse!

Um desenho rápido da minha assistente pessoal e musa!

Bear and Boat | Urso e Barco

Usually I first draw a pencil sketch and then go over it using pen and ink. For this exercise, I drew with the ink pen directly on the paper, and then added a bit of watercolor. I had originally thought of this illo for Illustration Friday's "Dip", but didn't have time to do it. I'm way behind!

Normalmente eu desenho primeiro a lápis e depois passo bico de pena e nanquim por cima. Para este exercício eu desenhei com nanquim diretamente no papel, e depois acrescentei um pouco de aquarela. Tinha pensado nesta ilustração para o tema "Mergulhar" para Illustration Friday, mas não tive tempo de fazer. Estou bem atrasada!

International Reading Association | Annual Meeting Chicago 2010

This past week I was in Chicago attending the Annual Meeting of the International Reading Association.

I had a great time traveling with my colleagues, attending sessions, and seeing the exhibits. It's wonderful to get a peak at some of the new titles

coming this summer and fall. And, even more special, it's an opportunity to hear authors and illustrators speak and get autographed copies of their books.

We were lucky with the weather as well, a bit cool but sunny. Chicago is a really beautiful city!

Here are some of the highlights of the conference for me:

Hearing Kevin Henkes speak about his books and the power of imagination (and getting an autographed copy of "My garden"!)

Meeting Henry Cole, and getting a signed copy of his lovely book, "A nest for Celeste":

And meeting James Howe, Bonnie Becker and Jane Yolen and getting signed F&Gs of their upcoming books, respectively "Brontorina," "A Bedtime for Bear," and "Elsie's Bird" :