Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a little sibling love for you this time. Valentine's Day doesn't always have to be about romantic love. Love comes in many forms! Tell someone you love them today.

Kobee Manatee: Cover

Kobee Manatee front cover is finished! Come with Kobee and his friends, Pablo the Hermit Crab and Tess the Seahorse, as they adventure from the Northern Atlantic Coast down to the warm waters of Florida.

This painting was a bit of an experiment to try a new process. I blocked in all the colors digitally and then printed on Bristol paper and painted over that. I believe it made that painting process a bit quicker, so I think I will continue trying this technique for awhile. Always looking for ways to make the the creative process quicker without compromising quality.

Interior sketches are finished and will start painting those soon. The book should be out by next summer!

Blog Interview: "Illustrator Saturday"

Today I am the featured artist for "Illustrator Saturday" on a great blog about illustrating and writing for Children's Books. It's a very extensive interview with a whole bunch of my work, new and old, and very old. 

I've never had an interview before, and especially not one that is this long.

Read the interview on Writing and Illustrating Blog and share with your friends.

Thanks Kathy!

Dimplemeyer's Design: A Secret Meeting

Hot off the scanner: another finished painting for Dimplemeyer's Design. My favorite so far.
I'm pretty satisfied with how Dimplemeyer's face and hand turned out, I lack confidence in illustrating and rendering hands and human faces, but I think they turned out ok! The biggest challenge and scariest part of this painting was the glow on the eye. I can easily add a glowing effect digitally, but with paint I don't know how to get the same effect. I think I got a semi-decent glow going. I guess the more I practice the better I will become. Maybe I should do some more glowing illustrations...

Introducing: Ratty Rhymes

While working on Vulture Verses there was always talk about doing a sequel book, but it was never for sure and couldn't be committed to. After dropping hints, begging, and pleading -- ok, maybe not very much at all -- we finally got the word in September from the publisher that they COULD commit to a second book! (I knew they would all along...hehe)

So with MUCH excitement, this is my official announcement that the sequel book to Vulture Verses is Ratty Rhymes! Coming Fall 2013, published by Prospect Park, with more fun and educational poems by the wonderful Diane Lang, and illustrated by me, of course! This book will be mostly bugs that live on or in the ground, but also the oh so cute mouse and rat!

I will be posting a few sketches as they are developed but for now, here is my sketch for the front cover. I hope you are as excited as I am, but I highly doubt it. :)

More news and announcements coming soon...

Finished Painting for Dimpemeyer's Design

Three finals paintings for Dimplemeyer's Design are finished. Here is the one I like the most so far. Of course, there are still 13 more paintings to complete so that might change. I think this one if worthy of my portfolio, so I am also adding it to my website shortly.

There has been a recent change in plans as far as prioritizing projects, so this book will take longer to finish than anticipated. But in the end it will all be a good thing. More explanations to come.

Vulture Verses Release

Today is the official release date of Vulture Verses (even though it has been available online for awhile)! It seems like there has been so much going on already, I'm excited to see how the book does now that it is officially out! I have absolutely loved working on this book and working with Diane Lang and Prospect Park on this book and there is talk about a second book, so my fingers are crossed!

There has already been a lot of publicity for the book including newspaper articles, reviews, radio interviews and I'm sure so much more that I don't even know about!

Here is the Radio Interview with Diane Lang that happened last Monday and they so kindly mentioned me as well!

Here is a great review from Forwardreviews.com

And a great article from Mercurynews.com

There is a whole list of events planned to kick off the book release. If you are interested in attending one, see the Prospect Park Events Page. I will be attending a few of theses events in Southern California if you want to come get a book signed!

Hope to see you there and thank you to everyone for all your support and encouragement! I am so thankful for all my friends and fans!

Sketch Progress for New Book Project

Back in September (that was a long time ago!) I started on a new book project, now titled Dimplemeyer's Design, that was put aside for awhile during the holidays so I could finish some other projects with more strict deadlines. Fortunately for me, the author of this book was gracious enough to allow me to take a break. Now I'm back on the project working on the final sketches before I start painting. Here's the evolution of one of the sketches from thumbnail to (almost) final sketch. I will be posting a few more in the next few weeks.

Thumbnail sketch just to get the gist of the narrative and idea.

Slightly more developed sketch with atmosphere and detail in the character. The stereotypical gesture of the character isn't doing it for me. But sometimes you just need to get it out of your system. That's what sketches are for.

Setting the composition. Still not satisfied with the character's actions...

Tight, detailed sketch fixing a lot of problems with proportion, composition, narrative, etc. Now the character is holding a dying flower which recalls an earlier event and also holds some symbolism in the story. (Hurray for symbolism!)

That's as far as I've gotten so far on this sketch. Next is to add value/lighting, and color before I can move on to the final painting. I'll need to finish all the sketches before I can do any painting, so that wont be for awhile. Plus I will be taking a month off to backpack through Europe with my husband (WOOHOO!) so that will put a hold on things even more. This book WILL be finished this fall (I'm determined!) and hopefully published shortly after. But we'll see how things play out. More to come!

BE LITTLE Book Now Available!

My latest book cover is now available! Really excited about this one!...probably more so for the book itself than my art, although I'm proud of that too! It is a middle-grade novel by Chris Karim, whose story addresses the topic of bullying and the courage to overcome it. A great book for boys, in my opinion. It made me really excited and inspired to illustrate the cover. What a privilege!

Author, Chris Karim, started his own website for children (Letkidslead.com) as he starts his career as a children's author. This novel will be his first self-published book and certainly not his last! He is very passionate about his book and the message it gives. (I must say that I am passionate about it too)

Be Little is available at the Letkidslead.com bookstore as a printed book as well as Kindle version.

Vulture Verses

After a full month of nothing but painting, designing, and lots of tea and coffee, Vulture Verses is done and ready to print! WEEE!! Actually, there is still time for small edits before it goes to print, but the bulk of the work is done. I'm really excited to see it all done and in book form. Unfortunately, it doesn't come out until September, but that's ok. I'll just have to be patient I guess. There are a bunch of fun events planned to kick off the release of the book. I hope I'll be available to be involved! The biggest learning experience for me during this project was definitely the printing process and preparing for it. But that just helps me to know better for next time....and I believe there are thoughts and rumors of a second Vulture Verses book after this. Fingers are crossed!

Here are a few of my favorites from the book. There are plenty more to love if  you get the book! Let's love our unloved animal friends!

Vulture Verses Covers

Oh, hello. I haven't seen you in awhile! I've been crazy busy getting work done for a deadline at the end of January. I need to complete a painting a day to finish on time. But since I haven't posted anything in FOREVER and I was so excited to have finished a few paintings, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share what I'm up to.

I'm currently working on 3 books. Vulture Verses, a book from a small publisher in Pasadena is my first one. I started it in October. I just finished the paintings for the front and back cover last night, so here they are. The text colors will likely change, but probably not too much. Next I will start on the interior paintings. I'll post a few of my favorites as I complete them. I'm illustrating AND designing/laying out this book, so it's really exciting but a lot of pressure! The book will be out this Fall!

The oh-so-sweet and creative Diane Lang wrote all the poems in the story. Check out her website!

I'm also working on a middle-grade chapter book cover. I have to squish it into my painting schedule this month. I'll finish sketching it in my in-between times when I'm prepping canvases and such. I'll be posting that as soon as I get the ok.

Project Sketches

Here are a few sketches for the projects I'm working on. Can't reveal too much, but here a few character studies for a story someone is self-publishing. It's more of a classic fairytale type story. The second book is what I am doing for Prospect Park Books in Pasadena. These animal sketches probably wont be in the book, so it's fine to post. But I thought they were so cute, I wanted to at least post them so they didn't just sit in my sketchbook forever. More to come!

Big News!

Hello everyone,

I've been hinting at some big news lately, so here it finally is! Today I signed the contract to illustrate a children's book for Prospect Park Books! It is a small publisher in Pasadena, CA, who is doing their first children's book and I have been given the opportunity to work on it with them.

My Fiance's grandma told me that she heard about a publisher in Pasadena who was going to do a children's book and was looking for an illustrator. She had heard it through a friend of her's. So I looked up the publisher online and contacted them. They said they were surprised to hear how I found out about their project because they hadn't really told anyone about the children's book project. (haha, oops!) To my pleasant surprise they asked me to come in for an interview with the President and the Author if the book. The interview went great and soon after I got an email saying they wanted me to be the illustrator!

I'm not sure how much I can tell you about it but I think it's going to be really fun! It has an educational element to it, and I get to paint lots of fun animals! It will be released in September 2012. I'm so blessed to be able to do my first book with a real, established publisher! I can't wait for the adventure to begin!

Good Morning Red Polka Dots!

Just finished a freelance project. It's actually going to be a YouTube video of a song someone wrote for his daughter who loves their Red Polka Dot curtains! My illustrations will accompany the music. Here's a clip from 2 of the illustrations.

Other big news coming soon!!!...

On The Day Love Was Born now available!

The lastest book I illustrated is now available to purchase! Here's a special note from the publisher/author:

Hello Friends!

Its finally done! A labor of love, 7 months in the making, my new book On the Day Love Was Born is now published! For children, parents, and parents-to-be, it highlights the sweet sentiment of "soul connection," with gorgeous illustrations by west coast artist Lauren Gallegos that really engage the little ones.

Please visit my website www.littlehillpublishers.com for more info., and *please* forward this email to everyone you know! My marketing campaign includes a big "grass roots," "get-the-word-out" effort, so any assistance to spread the word would be much appreciated.

For a limited time, Little Hill Publishers is offering an Introductory price of $8.95 to our first customers (an 18% discount off regular retail), with flat $4.95 shipping for up to 12 copies. Perfect for Mom's clubs, church groups, school groups, etc.. Wholesale discounts to qualified resellers are also available.

Soon I'll be sending blasts via Facebook and LinkedIn, so you may see this announcement again in a different form. For anyone interested in reviewing or discussing my book, please visit my Amazon Author's Page. I welcome any feedback and encourage reviews!

Thanks so much everybody, and enjoy the rest of your summer!
Warmest regards,

Dana Cerrito, President
Little Hill PUBLISHERS
A small elevation can still improve your view
www.littlehillpublishers.com

Inspiration - Chris Sheban

No new work from me today, but I want to share someone else's work! He has been one of my biggest artistic influences while starting my illustrating journey, and even now. During college when I was trying to find my "style" I spent a lot of time looking at other illustrators just to see what I liked.


I kept coming back to Chris Sheban's work. I just couldn't pull myself away from it! And I couldn't figure out what his technique was! It was different then anything I had ever seen! I bought all of his books and studied each image intensely. Finally I couldn't take it any longer...I looked him up online and emailed him! I didn't really expect him to answer, but to my pleasant surprise, he did!! He was very appreciative of my curiosity and told me about his technique in depth. (He starts with a dark watercolor underpainting an works over that with Prismacolor pencils and occasionally touches of pastel. He works back into darker areas with watercolor. The grainy surface texture is achieved through the use of and Arches 90 lb cold press surface.)

This led to my attempt to use colored pencil on toned pastel paper. I loved the textured look of it! But, as some of you know, I've run into difficulties with this technique, the colors would fade (a lot!!) after some time and the drawing pretty much looked dead. I tried everything to fix it, so far I haven't found anything. So recently I've started to switch to acrylic. However! I'm still in love with Chris Sheban's work, and will always be inspired by it!


Another one of my favorites of Sheban's books is "Red Fox at McCloskey's Farm". GREAT illustrations, GREAT story....it always reminds me of a song by Nickel Creek (GREAT band!) called "The Fox"...

I want to share his WEBSITE with you. It has been updated with TONS of new illustrations. I was SO excited when I discovered this because he used to only have a few illustrations available to view in his portfolio. Now there's tons!

He also has another book out A Night On The Range. A lot of the interior illustrations in his portfolio. I admit it...I just ordered a copy for myself...guilty. I can't wait for it to come!!

Book Cover - Ghost Tales

Just finished a Book Cover for a client. This is probably one of the easiest projects I've done in awhile. The client had no complaints about the sketches or the final painting, so there were no revisions! Now those are the kinds of projects I like!!

As always, I did a sketch and added some values in Photoshop. This time, however, I did some underpainting values...which I never do. It really helped! I'm going to make it part of my process because it makes the painting go faster in the long run.

The book will be released sometime around September as an eBook only. I don't know many more details other than that. But look for it soon!

The Ant and The Cricket - Spread 1

Spread 1 is done! YAY! It took a lot longer than I expected to complete it. But that's partly because I'm still getting used to the new technique I'm using. I will be entering this into a couple contests/art shows so critiques and feedback are welcome! (Although it'll have to be soon because I'm entering it tomorrow!) I'm also thinking about whether or not I should do all the spreads for the book, or just a few for my portfolio. I want to send it out soon! Very soon! We'll see I guess. Thoughts are welcome!

The Ant and The Cricket - Final Drawing 1

Well, December is almost over and I only have one final drawing complete. Oh well, I am still going to finish them all, but I'm not going to rush it. I have a lot of work ahead of me that I am still motivated to finish, so that's good! That was partly why I gave myself that goal.

Here's the Title Page with a new Typeface. I think I like this one better. If you hadn't noticed or guessed already, I'm taking inspiration from the style of the 60s/70s (or "hippie" times) and Woodstock. So I thought it would be appropriate to use The Beatles' "Abbey Road" cover to inspire one of my images. I also found it convenient that they are called the Beatles and it's a story about bugs. Heehee. I also have a VW Beetle in some of the other images. It just seemed to work!

I might get another one done before the New Year, but we'll see. If not, then as soon as January starts, it's back to work...double time!

Gloria The Ostrich

Here is a sketch for one of the characters in my next children's book. Gloria is a performer in the circus, and her special talent is Hula-Hooping while riding a unicycle! It's pretty amazing! She also has a thing for feet and only speaks in idioms. Her favorite phrase is to "always put your best foot forward" (her best foot is her right foot). I'm in the final weeks of school and there is still a lot to be done to finish my book....so why am I spending my time posting something instead of drawing?....that's a great question!!