Colored Pencils and Packing

My husband and I are packing up our cozy, little Somerville apartment and moving to the suburbs very soon. It's s surreal experience, knowing that in a month I'll be leaving the hustle and bustle of the city behind. I've been living in Boston for about 14 years and my head is craving quiet!

While packing, I discovered a bounty of neglected colored pencils. I chose a few to carry in my pencil pouch and decided to add some color to these regular sketches of mine. I'll keep posting when I can, but things are about to get even busier for me with two book deadlines and a moving day approaching!

As always, I appreciate you checking in on my little corner of the internet. :)

Cheers!

~Renee

A Little Update.

I know people say this all the time, but I have been SO busy, you guys. It's kind of been an unbelievable summer. I've completed 2 books for Lerner Publishing's Cloverleaf series and am right in the middle of coloring the 3rd. I've also been sketching away for another book project about some adorable, hairy primates (news about this to come soon)!

What my drawing table looks like.

I find that regardless of how busy I get, it's still really important to keep drawing in my sketchbook. It's still a good escape for me, and then I get to share them all with you here! It's kind of interesting how you can tell if I took the picture in the daytime or at night. There's no perfect time of day, it's just when the idea hits:

Before a trip to the New England Aquarium.

The last page of a sketchbook!

Practicing fur.

"Still life."

The first page of a new book!

Inspired by Kemosabe the talking porcupine!

I can't wait until I can share more about my projects with you, but I hope Kemosabe makes up for the void! Thanks for visiting my little internet corner!

Cheers!

~Renee

Drawn to Spring

This past weekend, I attended Drawn to Spring, a children's book illustrator event at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. It was the perfect kind of morning, though Saturday is a day when I usually try to take a break from art making. :) I took my break on Sunday instead (*cough cough* Game of Thrones)

One of my recent personal goals is to concentrate more on sketching and keeping loose. I've had my nose stuck in my digital portfolio for so long that it feels good to do so much sketchbook drawing.

I've also wanted to focus more on story. The amount of ideas in my head is phenomenal. Choosing which ones to focus on is the hard part.

Taking time like this away from your thoughts is so important. Remember to recharge.

Yak-tail-drawing photo credit: Dan Moynihan

That said, FableVision is still keeping my digital skills in tact. I'm starting to work on the Summer Issue of Ranger Rick's Tree House soon among other exciting projects! I'm also very close to being able to announce a new freelance book project that is totally right up my alley! :) 

Busy Springs are good Springs...but don't forget to go outside! 

(I'll keep trying to remind myself to do the same!)

Cheers!

~Renee