New England SCBWI Conference

The New England SCBWI conference in is two weeks and this year they are having a juried poster exhibition. This year's conference theme is "milestones." So in keeping with that theme, illustrators were challenged to redesign the cover of a children's book that they consider a milestone in children's literature.

I chose The Cricket in Times Square. I don't know if it's a milestone in the greater sense, but I remember it being the first chapter book that I really enjoyed reading, and as a kid and I suppose learning that reading is fun is a big personal milestone.

Above is my redesigned cover. I always like to see other illustrators sketches and rough drafts. If you do too, you can see some of the preliminary sketches for this illustration on my personal blog.

I'll also be speaking at this year's conference. I'll be giving a talk about painting with Photoshop on Sunday.