Jack and the Beanstalk sneak peak

I am into the home stretch on the children's book I have been working on. For the past months, I have been spending my time away from the studio working on books. My first book is a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk for Sterling Publishers. I have been promising a little teaser of my work for some time, so here it is. I have been doing the book in gouache and watercolor. Over the past few years I got accustomed to working in photoshop, so making a switch back to traditional media has been difficult but extremely rewarding. I hope you enjoy these.

This is artwork for the front and back cover. The large areas of open space are for the border and type.

These are a couple of my sketches for the book. In my illustrations, I try to bring a classic or antiquated feel to the work, that is inspired by a lot of my favorite artists and combine that with modern drawing and design aesthetics. Trying to employ this style in the context of a good ole' fashioned fairytale like Jack and the Beanstalk has made this a dream project for me.
I hope that you guys will enjoy the book as much as I've enjoyed illustrating it.

MoCCA Festival

I can't believe it has been an entire month since I last posted anything. Life out here has been absolutely insane. I have been hard at work trying to finish my children's book and the production on Horton Hears a Who has been kicking into high gear. However, I'm beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I have nearly finished all of the paintings on my book, and should be finished by the end of this month. I will be posting some samples very shortly.

In the meantime, here is a print ad for the upcoming MoCCA Art Festival. The folks at the festival were kind enough to ask The Out of Picture guys to design the promotional materials for this year. I did the painting and Mike Knapp did the type and design work for all of the posters, shirts and ads.
If you're in New York on this weekend of the 23rd and 24th, you should come check out the festival. I have to finish my book still, but I'm definately planning to stop by at least a little while on each day. I hope to see you there.