Notable is Nice

Though Deborah Hopkinson and I missed the medal stand at the Youth Media Awards on Monday, the ALA just announced its Notable Books of 2009, which comes with the very desirable gold-ish sticker, and included was Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek! Very exciting to be a part of the conversation in regards to the industries highest awards. Now go show those librarians what they missed and buy 10 copies!

Seven Impossible Things...

The cool blog Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast ran a feature on me in association with the Cyblis and Caldecott Award nominations last week. She also gives a shout out to my amazing wife for our 10 pound baby girl!

Sequential Show: Opening

Many thanks to my East Coast Fan Club for accepting my silver medal in my absence! Check out the work of these amazing ladies... Yuko Shimizu, Katie Yamasaki, Aya Kaykeda, Sara Varon and Ai Tatebayashi.

Safety vs. Danger

A fascinating study in Popular Mechanics. It seems that when people feel "safe" driving (like on large highways with ample medians, signage, etc.) they drive much worse. Whereas, drivers who are on narrow or winding roads are much less likely to have accidents. The author proposes that we make our interstate highways slightly more 'dangerous', to induce needed awareness to the road.

Small Joys

Being a person who draws all the time, every single day, I can assume that I've drawn just about everything. Illustration may often be a kind of blue-collar art job on some days (art director have hole in layout, him need art to fill extra space so words look pretty) but it also has its small joys. Like today, I finished a spot for Money Magazine about making sure your will is in order. During my brainstorming, I realized I have no idea how to draw a hearse from my head. I had never drawn a hearse in my life. Even after my Ghostbusters Phase (between 10 and 14 years old when I watched the movie once a week)! Well, that visual library gap has been filled.

It ain't winning any awards, but I really loved drawing that hearse.

Drawing In Church- 1/11

John Brown: Harpers Ferry Attack

...This is the last of the interior art for the upcoming John Brown book, a love letter to N.C. Wyeth. Now, nothing left but the cover.