Illustration Friday | Immovable

"What?! Why are you pushing me?!"

"Que foi?! Por que você está me empurrando?"

2010 Original Art: Celebrating the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration

Did you hear it?

The super talented Renata Liwska has won the Gold Medal at this year's Society of Illustrators' 2010 Original Art: Celebrating the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration for her work on The Quiet Book written by Deborah Underwood.

This is a fantastic exhibit! If you're going to be in New York City, it is a must see :-)

The publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is doing a random drawing for a chance to win a piece of original artwork by Renata Liwska. Very cool!! Click here to learn all about it!

Illustration Friday | Star Gazing

This is not a new illustration -- in fact, I created it last year for another IF theme (Infinite). But I have a soft spot for these two polar bears, and think they express perfectly this week's theme. Hope you like them too!

:-)

Esta não é uma ilustração nova -- na verdade foi criada ano passado para um outro tema IF (Infinito). Mas eu gosto muito destes ursos polares, e acho que eles expressam o tema desta semana perfeitamente. Espero que gostem também!

:-)

Illustration Friday | Caged

A quick line sketch for this week's theme.

Um rascunho rápido para o tema desta semana.

Illustration Friday | Diary

Some bears lead very busy lives...

Alguns ursos levam uma vida social intensa...

HUGE News!!! | GRANDES Notícias!!!

I'm jumping for joy!!!

Estou pulando de alegria!!

I'm thrilled to announce that I have a TWO book deal with Nancy Paulsen Books, a new imprint at Penguin Young Readers Group.

The first is a picture book based on the true story of Baltic, a dog found stranded on an ice floe in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Poland this past January. This incredible story made news all over the world, and when I first heard about it I used it as inspiration for an Illustration Friday post on the theme "Adrift."

From there I began to write the story and work on some possible illustrations. Now, thanks to my extraordinary and very talented agent Teresa Kietlinski at Prospect Agency, the story has found a home and will become my first picture book. The topic of the second book is still to be determined, but needless to say I'm very excited about the many possibilities!

Estou alegríssima de anunciar que fui escolhida para publicar DOIS livros com Nancy Paulsen Books, uma nova editora do grupo Penguin Young Readers Group.

O primeiro livro é baseado na história real de Baltic, o cão que foi encontrado flutuando num pedaço de gelo no Mar Báltico, perto da costa da Polônia. Esta estória incrível foi noticiada no mundo todo, e serviu de inspiração para minha participação no Illustration Friday com tema "Adrift (A deriva)"

A partir daí começei a escrever a estória e fazer mais desenhos. E agora, graças a minha extraordinária e talentosa agente Teresa Kietlinski da Prospect Agency, esta estória vai se tornar meu primeiro livro infantil. O tema do segundo livro ainda será determinado, mas naturalmente estou super excitada com as possibilitades!

Spotlight on Books and Illustrators

Author and illustrator Betsy Lewin has a brand new book coming out called Where is Tippy Toes? Published by Simon & Schuster, it follows the adventures of a playful cat from morning to night.

Her latest work reminds me of a lovely book she illustrated back in 1988, written by Maria Polushkin, called Kitten in Trouble. This book is currently out of print, but I was lucky to find a very nice copy at a used bookstore.

.

Betsy Lewin has a wonderfully loose and fluid style. Her characters come to life with just a few perfectly laid brush strokes, which make them seem deceptively simple. I remember when I first came across this book and how I fell in love with Betsy's art.

In her terrific book Show and Tell: Exploring the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration, Dilys Evans devotes a chapter to Betsy Lewin entitled "Liquid thought." This book is a must read for anyone interested in children's book art!

Ripple

Too late for Illustration Friday, but still in time to help raise money for the animals affected by the terrible oil spill in the Gulf. You can read about this fantastic project by Kelly Light on her blog Ripple.

Muito tarde para Illustration Friday, mas ainda em tempo para ajudar a arrecadar dinheiro para os animais afetados pelo terrível vazamento de óleo no Golfo. Leia a respeito deste projeto fantástico da Kelly Light no seu blog Ripple.

(2.5" x 3.5" ATC ink and watercolor)

Rescue mission | Missão de resgate

"Thank goodness! I thought I'd never get out of there!!"

"Ainda bem! Pensei que nunca iria escapar de lá!!"

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" :

Dog Lover Blog Award 2009

© Eunice Rosado

She did it again! The super talented Eunice Rosado from This Nice Dog has created, designed and awarded the Dog Lover Blog Award 2009. And I'm so happy and honored to have been selected! And now I get to pass it along to other blogs of fellow dog lovers.

So without further ado:

Erin from Rapture Pet Sitting Service

Stacey from Three Red Trees

Paige from Fox in Socks

Ginger from Gingerpixels

You're free to pass it along to other deserving bloggers :-)

The Renee Award

Brigitte from Atelier Brigitte and Monica from The Art of Puro have generously presented me with this touching award, created by Ces and Bella for their dear friend Renee -- a loving tribute to their friendship. Many, many thanks to Brigitte and Monica for thinking of me!

I've made many, many wonderful friends online through my blog, but I'd like to give this one to my very dear friend Monique -- we've know each other since college. Here's to long lasting friendship, Monique!

Brigitte do Atelier Brigitte e Monica do The Art of Puro me presentearam generosamente com este prêmio, criado por Ces e Bella em honra de sua querida amiga Renee. Muito obrigada a Brigitte e Monica por pensarem em mim!

Fiz muitos amigos maravilhosos através do blog, mas eu gostaria de dedicar este prêmio para minha querida amiga Monique - nós nos conhecemos desde o tempo da faculdade no Rio de Janeiro. Por amizades duradouras, Monique!

Hi | Oi

Hi, everyone! Abby, Ally and I wanted to say hello and let you know we've been busy with work during the day and an illustration project at night, so we haven't been posting or visiting our friends online as much as we'd like.

But we should be back soon. Hope all is well with all of you!

Olá a todos! Abby, Ally e eu queremos dizer alô e avisar que andamos ocupadas ultimamente durante o dia com o trabalho e a noite com um projeto de ilustração e por isso não temos postado nem visitado nossos amigos virtuais tanto como gostaríamos.

Mas devemos retornar em breve. Esperamos que tudo esteja correndo bem com todos vocês!

Illustration Friday | Rescue

For this week's theme, I couldn't resist using an older illustration I did a couple of years ago and gave to a shelter near our home. Our dog Connie is a rescue, and my husband and I are big supporters of animal welfare organizations and firm believers in the benefits (and joys!) of adopting rescued animals.

Para o tema desta semana, não resisti colocar uma ilustração antiga que fiz há dois anos atrás e dei para um abrigo de animais perto da minha casa. Nossa cadela Connie foi "resgatada" , e meu marido e eu apoiamos organizações em defesa dos animais e acreditamos nos benefícios (e alegrias!) da adoção de animais.

Spring has sprung | Chegou a primavera

Exhibit -- Drawing from a Story

A very cool exhibition of picture book art opens today at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA. You can read more about it here.

I'm definitely planning on going :-)