How long have you been working as an illustrator? - Anette

I've been drawing a lot my whole life, so I just kept doing what I loved and turned it into my job. After finishing school I worked as an in house graphic designer / web designer for about 6 months. When I had to quit that job because I moved to another part of the country, I decided to start out as a freelancer. I started my business in 2001, so I've been working as a freelancer for 8 years. In the beginning I worked mostly on design projects, but I found myself gradually turning into an illustrator. I still work on design projects every now and then, but my main focus is my illustrations.

Back to School

It's that time of year again - new school supplies, larger school uniform and stocking up on lunch supplies. It still feels like summer here, so we are not ready to end our holiday mode.

It does leave me more time to work though. So while my son is getting used to his new school timetable, I will be working on my own timetable and planning the year ahead :)
Illustration from Paula Deen's Lunch-Box Set, Simon and Schuster - to be released September 2009

Holli on Back To School

I love back to school time! Not because of school itself but because of the things that come along with it. Like fresh new school supplies and the promise of fall (my favorite time of the year). It's no secret that my daughter started kindergarten this year and when I walked in her school it smelled like every first day of school I had. Isn't that weird? Maybe there's some "new school smell" spray. I always find this time of year more inspiring and motivating as an artist. Not sure why but it has always been that way for me. Maybe I subconsciously feel like there's a new year/a new start ahead of me!

The above image is a promotional piece I did a few years back that got me a lot of great jobs from clients. You can see my process here.

Chicken Girl Design Stamps by Jannie Ho

Stamps! Stamps! Stamps! A nice switch from doing children's books, I have a new stamping line called Chicken Girl Design Stamps, exclusively through I {heart} Papers. They are high quality photopolymer stamps made in the USA. Each 4" x 6" set are only $10 each. They are fun for both adults and kids! The first two sets were just released:

Into the Forest

Hugs from a Bug

Go get your set now at I {heart} papers. More sets will be released soon!

Back to school

Here's an illustration I made for a math book published by Norwegian GAN Aschehoug last year.

Paula's Take on "Sunshine"

A little spot drawing done for Happy House.

Sunshine

The magical kind of sunshine - lots of lightning bugs!

Play N Worship samples-by Jannie

A month ago, I received these Play n Worship: Play-Along Bible Stories for Toddlers & twos samples in the mail in which I did artwork for.
Inside of the kit, it comes with a CD, DVD, and 10 storytime teaching trifolds.
Here is one of the spreads-Noah's Ark!

What I'm working on at the moment

Even though it's the middle of the summer I've been drawing a lot of winter scenes lately. I'm working on a series of 4 illustrations for a client. I'll tell you more later.