Picture This! at the Danforth Museum of Art

“Picture This!” is an annual juried exhibition at the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham, Massachusetts showcasing new work by picture book illustrators. 

I’m thrilled that three images from World Rat Day have been included—flamingoes, and rats, and sloths—oh my! A big thank you goes out to judge Joann Hill of Disney/Hyperion for selecting my work.

The show runs from June 8—August 4, 2013. For more information and directions, visit the museum website.

another peak @ sylvia’s spinach + bird 500 + more

 Happy Friday! Also Happy Birthday to Theodor Geisel, one of my idols.

This week, I’ve been finishing up the final art for “Sylvia’s Spinach”, and finally met my delightful editor/publisher Philip Lee of Readers to Eaters in person. Another teaser from the book is pictured above.

In other news, Ornithoblogical reached a big milestone yesterday with the posting of bird #500. There’s been lots of heavy-lifting going on in my studio this week. Not the least of which has been trying to find a place to store all of that art.

Also, I’ve got series of spots in the current issue of Kiwi Magazine, another installment in their cooking with kids series. This time we wash and trim mushrooms! Living the dream...

wrapping up 2011...rapping about 2012

I must admit, in many ways, 2011 was quite kind to me. In case you missed my earlier blatherings, here are a couple of highlights:

A few birds from Ornithoblogical found their way into some exhibitions and illustration annuals, and I began work illustrating two children’s books.

The first book (mentioned here previously) is a collection of poems by J. Patrick Lewis, the current U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate. Published by Candlewick, World Rat Day is due out in Spring 2013. The second book, Sylvia’s Spinach, with children’s publishing startup Readers to Eaters, will be available this Fall.

As usual, throughout 2012, you’ll see more birds—hopefully several each month—and updates on my other illustration projects.

And I wanted to followup on my last post about the piece I made for the annual “Postcards from the Edge” exhibition and benefit. Great news—Visual AIDS raised a record $82,200 this year! And since the blind auction and sale are over, secrecy is no longer necessary. Here is my piece below—although, where his current home is now, I do not know yet. Best wishes for a Happy New Year!

a very worthy cause

I finished a painting today that I’m really happy with...and guess what? It could be yours.

For the third year in a row, I am participating in “Postcards from the Edge,” a show and sale of original postcard-sized art to benefit Visual AIDS. Emerging and established artists contribute works on paper, all priced at $85, that are hung in an egalitarian exhibition at a Chelsea gallery. Each work is signed on the back. Meaning: buyers—if they know what they’re looking for—could walk away with an original piece by the likes of William Wegman, Kara Walker, Yoko Ono, or [*a-hem*] Anna Raff. (No spoilers here, sorry; you’ll have to guess about my imagery. Hint: it’s not a bird.)

The Preview Party is Friday, January 6, 2012. For more information, visit the “Postcards from the Edge” website.

a more mobile-friendly ornithoblogical

Ornithoblogical is now even easier to follow while you are on the go. With a new mobile-friendly interface, you can quickly scroll through the latest birds on your phone, as well as read or add to the comments section.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the latest installment of Thanksgiving-inspired birds. Looking over the comments, I see no one has yet cried fowl. ;v)

big night

Last night I had the privilege of attending two great Illustration Week events in NYC. Chair of the Masters in Illustration Department at the School of Visual Arts, artist, mentor, saxophone player, and my occasional boss, Marshall Arisman was one of the honorees at the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame Gala. Just being in the same room with luminaries of the design and illustration worlds, such as Viktor Koen, Steven Heller, Louise Fili, Massimo Vignelli and Paul Davis, to name a few, was a thrill.

Next, doing my best impression of a jet-setting New Yorker, I jumped into a cab to head over to “The Party,” which marks the publication of American Illustration 30, and to hobnob with my fellow illustrators and celebrate our inclusion in this years annual. Needless to say, I’m a little weary today. 

etsy updated, and a little etc.

 

Summer’s end finds me busy with several small, ongoing projects and one really big one. But more on that in a later post. In the meantime...

It’s been a while, but I finally updated my Etsy shop. There you’ll find a selection of digital prints from Ornithoblogical, as well as some etchings and other goodies. This batch features “cock a doodle do” and “cock a doodle drew” (seen above), as well as some perennial favorites.

I take requests, so if there’s a piece that is not available in the shop, just let me know, I’m happy to put it up there.

blue canvas magazine

The current issue of Blue Canvas Magazine includes an article on the MFA in Illustration at the School of Visual Arts, and I’m tickled to be amongst the distinguished alumni (John Hendricks, Nathan Fox, Brian Floca, Yuko Shimizu, Sam Weber, Daniel Lim, Martin Wittfooth...the list goes on) whose work is featured. 

gallery nucleus - illustrated type

If you find yourself in the Los Angeles area between May 14th and June 6th, make your way over to Gallery Nucleus for their “Illustrated Type” exhibition. I was invited to contribute a letterform of my choice, and decided to make a new piece featuring my “M is for Monster” character—originally created for LetterPlayground—who at post time, was crawling his way across the continent. Among the other luminaries showing their wares will be John Hendricks, Jessica Hische, Josh Cochran, and my SVA buddy You Byun.

nytimes.com—the learning network

Yesterday’s posting on The New York Times’ The Learning Network blog featured “100 Ways to Celebrate the 100th Day of School” with oodles of creative ideas for teachers, students and schools to mark the occasion.

Unbeknownst to me—while I was marking the occasion with a 100+ fever—Ornithoblogical got a great mention in #9. Now that sure made me feel better!

While the power of social networking sites like Twitter can more dramatically (and importantly) be measured by the events currently taking place in the Middle East, I have to acknowledge my own little learning network experience here. Through Noah Scalin’s 365 blog nod to my birds on Twitter, Katherine Schulten, one of the authors of The Learning Network, and I were virtually introduced. It just goes to show that “tweeting” is not just for the birds...or is it? Thanks Noah and Katherine!

postcards from the edge

I am pleased to be among the artists who have anonymously donated work to the 13th Annual Postcards from the Edge benefit for Visual AIDS, on view this weekend and hosted by the CRG Gallery. Beginning Friday with the Preview Party, buyers can view the over 1400 postcards on display. It’s an excellent chance to get your hands on original works of art by established and emerging artists. See if you can pick mine out of the crowd. You might even see me nearby, plotting a purchase of my own. Click here for more details.

a little process blogging...

With the latest Kiwi Magazine hitting newsstands this week, it seemed an ample time to describe a bit of my my illustration process for this issue’s essay piece:

In “My Special Boy,” a mother navigates a labyrinth of special needs education schools to help ease her socially-challenged son through nursery school. I was excited about the opportunity to illustrate this subject because it allowed me to explore a more serious tone in my drawing.

 

Primarily, the mother’s frustration lay in a system with limited resources that assumed the worst in her son. I submitted three sketches (two of which you see here). In the sketch on the right, the super-imposed words—those used to describe the boy—would loom ominously over an otherwise innocent looking child. Yet it seemed to me, the way to express the emotion of the piece was through gesture rather than expression. Luckily, the art director agreed, and we went with the idea on the left. Here is the finished piece—not far from the original sketch:

now available in ye olde etsy shoppe...

Just in time for Cyber Monday, I’ve added more prints to my Etsy shop. Newly available are Ornithoblogical favorites Flight, Jays Jaunt, Pluck, Birdcode, and Lift Off (right), along with my bestseller Mixer. These signed, high-quality, digital prints are ready for framing, and make great gifts. Click here for more.

annaraff.com—updated

As of this week, and after a few months of neglect, there are now several new (and new-ish) images up on my website. Incidentally, Mayor Bloomberg has officially proclaimed this “Illustration Week.” Thanks Mike!

Look for lots of work from the past few issues of Kiwi, along with some political concept pieces, and of course, birds like this guy at right, named “pluck” (a new favorite). Click on the children’s and editorial sections.

the bird call for entries!

In celebration of fast-approaching day 300 of my year-long daily bird illustration marathon, I’m holding a competition for the best title to accompany the image posted above.

HOW TO ENTER:
Go to the contest page here to read about rules and what you can win.

JURORS:
MATTEO BOLOGNA is the founder and principal of Mucca Design, a multidisciplinary branding and design firm based in New York City. He is a board member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and is the treasurer of the Type Salons for the Type Directors Club.

ALEX MATHERS is an illustrator and designer based in London, and regular contributor to Design Taxi, the 99%, and Mashable. He is also the creator of the contemporary illustration blog Ape on the Moon and the Red Lemon Club, a blog about online promotional methods for creatives.

MARTHA RAGO is Associate Creative Director of HarperCollins Children’s Books where she oversees the development and design of picture books, including those in the Rayo and Katherine Tegen imprints, the estate programs of C. S. Lewis and Shel Silverstein, and the Balzer & Bray imprint. Prior to her position at HarperCollins, which Martha has held for seven years, she was the Creative Director at Henry Holt.

STEPHEN SAVAGE is the award-winning illustrator of the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Polar Bear Night and The Fathers Are Coming Home. His editorial work regularly appears in The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, and The New Republic among others. In 2008, he was the recipient of a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators.

LARRY SMITH is founder and editor of the personal storytelling community SMITH Magazine (smithmag.net), creators of the Six-Word Memoir project and bestselling book series. He is a contributing editor of ESPN the Magazine, former executive editor of Yahoo Internet Life,and has written for numerous publications including Men's Journal, The New York Times, Popular Science, and Salon.

ornithoblogical news

The birds of Ornithoblogical are pleased to announce the publication of Ornithoblogical: Selections from the Showcase of 365 Birdies on My Brain. Featured in this 7" square paperback are 22 illustrations from the first part of this year (hence “volume one”) including such favorites as “Swami,” “Scribe,” and on the cover, “Dot the Chicken.” Take a look at a preview of the book by clicking here.

Also this week, birds-watchers have been flocking to the new Ornithoblogical Facebook page to share the love. If you are on Facebook, and would like to get highlights from the blog in your news feed, click here. Select the “Like” button next to the heading.

You can also subscribe to receive a bird each day by clicking the orange RSS feed button located on the upper left-hand corner of my bird blog home page.

I’ll be hatching more bird-related events in the coming weeks, including the “Bird Call for Entries,” a contest to celebrate the fast-approaching day 300 of this year-long project. And there will be prizes! Details coming soon...

annaraff.com version 3.0 is live!

After a few fits and starts, I’ve finally completed the relaunch of my new html-based website. Earlier this year, I decided the time had come to let go of my old, animated flash site, to speed up the experience and make it readable for people with mobile devices.

The new site showcases my portfolio with cleaner navigation, and the help of thumbnails and slideshows.

Also featured, is a new books section (see below) which allows viewers to page through portions of my books and links to places where they can purchased.

If you miss the little animations, never fear. No doubt, I will be making more of those in the future. In case you’ve never seen one,  here’s a little something I made for National Pencil Day back in March.

kiwi magazine - august/september 2010

The people at Kiwi, the magazine of organic parenting, have been keeping me busy with another back page essay piece (above), and five spots for their cooking section (below) in the latest issue. Their recipe for “chicken fingers minus the chicken” looks delicious. I had a great time working on these—it’s not often one gets to draw a block of tofu shimmying in a bowl of eggs, or wearing a winter coat.

illustrationmundo editor's favorite

For a little over a year, I have posted to illustrationmundo, a great online resource for illustrators and art directors for all things illustration. The other day, I was selected as an “Editor’s Favorite” by the site’s creator, illustrator Nate Williams. Needless to say, as a huge fan of Nate’s, I’m very pleased. You can share the love by going to the IM home page here, scrolling down the right hand column until you see my “Henna” image under my name and clicking on the heart. There is an incredible wealth of talent to peruse on illustrationmundo, so be sure to take a look around the site. Thanks Nate!

sva illustration as visual essay: “we tell stories”

Fresh off the dvd press is the new MFA Illustration as Visual Essay promotional video from the School of Visual Arts. Directed by Department Chair Marshall Arisman, “We Tell Stories” features several of the program’s past alumni. I am very proud to be among this illustrious (ha!) group which includes Nathan Fox, Yuko Shimizu, and Sam Weber.

I was also asked to design the new packaging, showcasing a gorgeous cover image by Steven Tabbutt, class of 2006.