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.

American Illustration 32

Guess who’s been chosen for American Illustration 32? You guessed it...the RATS! These guys have been getting around—in addition to a cameo in the “Spring Children’s Book” issue of Publisher’s Weekly, Candlewick selected them for their World Rat Day promotional poster. 

sloths in creative quarterly 31

With all of my focus on rats these days, I was thrilled to learn that my sloths image from World Rat Day snuck into the spring Creative Quarterly competition as a runner-up. Of course, if you look closely, you’ll see the rat squad is in there too. 

3x3 children’s show winner

It seems the fine folks at 3x3 Magazine didn’t think one of my birds was decorated enough. So...pin another award to the little guy’s chest! In addition to American Illustration 30 and Print Magazine Hand Drawn, “In General” has received a Merit Award in the 3x3 Children’s Show and will be included in their Illustration Annual No.8, due out in December. Bravo to one of my favorite illustrators, Gary Taxali, for winning Best in Show, and to all the other winners!

the new york times: magnetic poetry

T. S. Eliot had it wrong. April was not the cruelest month—at least not for me—unless you count the weather in NYC. In addition to getting into some illustration competitions and being selected “Pick of the Week” by Illustration Friday, April was National Poetry Month and brought with it a new collaboration with The Learning Network blog at The New York Times. For the second year running, editors Katherine Schulten and Holly Epstein Ojalvo held their Found Poem Challenge. And what you see above is my illustration for the announcement of the winners this week. A reinterpretation of the old novelty gift magnetic poetry, the hand-lettered words represent the wide range of subjects submitted by student poets. Many thanks to Katherine and Holly, and congratulations to the 10 poets whose work will be featured on the blog.

american illustration 30

Excellent news received today: two images from Ornithoblogical have been selected to appear in the American Illustration 30 Annual. There were more than 7,000 pictures entered this year, but only 316 actually make it into the book. For more information about AI-AP, click here. That makes three birds (if you include me) who will be attending the AI-AP party later this fall. Woop!

print magazine hand drawn competition

Print Magazine, the venerable, bimonthly showcase of visual culture and design announced the winners of their first ever Hand Drawn Competition this week. I’m so pleased that “In General”—which ran on Ornithoblogical on day 177—has been selected as an Inaugural Illustration Competition Winner and will be featured on their website in May. A-Ten-Hut!

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.

picture-book.com portfolio

As part of my Portfolio Honor Award at SCBWI earlier this year, I won an online portfolio at picture-book.com, a source for publishers, authors, and art directors seeking children’s book illustrators.

Images are big and splashy, which is always good, and they have big online presence in the world of children’s publishing. Here’s a little preview of what you’ll see on my page. Click here and enjoy!

100 top new creatives: cmyk magazine no. 46

Several months ago, I entered a few illustrations into CMYK Magazine’s “Top 100 New Creatives” competition. I was thrilled to learn that three of my editorial pieces were chosen (above right), and will be featured in issue no. 46, due to hit newsstands (Barnes & Noble, and other stores) on March 15th!

LCS-the illustration news portal

Yesterday, I was featured on the Little Chimp Society website and newsletter!

scbwi winter conference 2010

This weekend I attended the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators 2010 Winter Conference here in very wintery New York City. It was a marathon of seminars, speeches and interactions with other professionals in the field of children’s publishing. Some incredible authors and illustrators were there, such as Jane Yolen, Jacqueline Woodson, Peter Sís, Kevin Hawkes, the hilarious Jim Benton, and Paul Zelinsky. And best of all, I entered my portfolio in the illustrators’ competition and won 2nd prize! 

Now I’m really looking forward to a full night’s sleep. And then it’s time to make pictures again—no rest for the weary!