The good stuff from 2007

• I've felt more motivated and creative than ever before
• steady increase in illustration clients and work
• got my first illustration client outside of Canada (Utne Reader)
• illustrated and designed my first children's book
• my closest girl friend returned after spending a year in Australia and stayed with me for about a month and a half which was so nice
• saw parts of BC that I'd never visited
• discovered my new cooking specialty: spicy pineapple-lime chicken
• made some important decisions about what I want to do in my life and have started to take steps to get there
• married my best friend.

Happy Holidays!

Today was my last day of work before Christmas. I'm off for a week and I'm so grateful for the break. The boy and I are going to North-East Saskatchewan to spend Christmas with family.

I will be unable to take on any new illustration jobs until December 31st.

Woo hoo! 5 months!

Today is the 5 month anniversary of my marriage to Dario Joseph Verrelli.
I hope we never stop laughing and having fun. Happy anniversary D!





Also, happy anniversary to my parents, Charles and Marianne Hudon, who celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary tomorrow.

weathervane illo

©2007

This is an illustration for an album cover I was working on. We're not going in this direction anymore so I thought I'd post it, maybe get some feedback. I like how simplistic it is - I don't often do just a line drawing.

Happy Birthday Chubby Broccoli

I just realized that today is the one year anniversary of my blog. I'm so glad that I started it and have managed to keep it up. I really wasn't exposed to the world of blogging until I started my own, but it's really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I've discovered so many talented illustrators who offer tons of great advice and insight. In addition to seeing their work, it's really great to get a look at their process and some of their thoughts. I've also made a few friends and I love checking in to see what they've been working on. And, of course, it's nice to get feed back on my own work. Just ask my husband - I get really excited when someone leaves a comment on my blog.

Update

I did a small update to my illustration website on the weekend. Check it out at www.jacquelinehudon.com
If you have trouble viewing the updated version, try emptying your cache.

Finished promo

Here's what the front of my promo will look like:


©2007

Colour inspiration

This is where the inspiration for the colours in my painting came from:

Painted Self Portrait

©2007

Thank you postcards & children's promo

Today I completed 2 things that I had been working on. One was the thank you cards from our wedding. I really should have sent those out sooner (the celebration was almost 3 months ago) but my husband and I are both creative types and we didn't want to just buy regular thank you cards, opting instead to design our own thank you postcards. Since our actual wedding was an elopement and no one was invited, we thought it would be nice to send everyone a photo of us from the wedding. The front of the postcard looked like this:


©2007

The back side just had "thank you" printed all over it in a bunch of different fonts. I really like how it turned out. I love typography...

And the other thing that I finished was the promos I made to send to children's book publishers. I loved illustrating that children's book so I'm trying to get some more work in that area.


©2007

Sketch for my next promo

Random stuff on my desk at work...

©2007

I like the scissors.

Reference Material for Illustrators

At the talk I gave on Thursday I was asked about good reference books for contracts and copyright relating to illustration and children's books. These are the books that were recommended to me:

• Graphic Artists Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines by Kathie Abrams, ed. North Light Press.

• Children’s Book Writer and Illustrator’s Market (an annual catalogue of children’s book publishers, plus useful business chapters)

• Business and Legal Forms for Illustrators by Tad Crawford. Allworth Press.

The following websites were also recommended:
• http://www.underdown.org
• http://www.scbwi.org

SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) publishes a useful monthly newsletter with tips for writers and illustrators. They also sponsor critique groups, conferences, and portfolio reviews around North America. If you become a member, they have a bunch of useful pdf business handouts that you can download from their website.

Art Talk at ACAD

I just had the best evening. I did my illustration talk at ACAD tonight and it went really well. It was such a relaxed and comfortable environment. I brought my portfolio, a sketchbook, some of my paintings and some of my process. It was a pretty cool experience. It made me feel like a professional.

Thanks so much to Mike and Renata for inviting me and thanks to all their students for being such a great audience.

weathervane & a special invitation

© 2007

I have a lot on my mind these days. I can't seem to stop thinking and I feel so... heavy. I think it's time to make some changes...

I spent most of this past weekend in my studio. The weathervane is part of something that I've been working on. I thought it looked interesting at this stage and decided to share it.

I forgot to mention last week that I've been invited to give a talk to some students in an evening illustration class at the Alberta College of Art and Design. That's where I graduated from 5 years ago. The class is taught by one of my old instructors, Mike Kerr, and his wife, Renata Liwska. They're both amazing illustrators. Check out their work at www.wronghand.com . I'm very flattered that they've invited me.

Headless Stone Angel - red ink

© 2007

Red Train

© 2007

The most wonderful and satisfying weekend

This weekend I

• saw a comedian and laughed harder than I have in a long time
• had the most wonderful Saturday with my very best girl friend
• saw an old friend and her new baby
• made a delicious Mexican inspired supper
• had drinks with some people I'd been neglecting
• started my Christmas shopping
• enjoyed a snowy Sunday with my hubby
• worked on drawings for an illustration project I'm doing
• ate a pomegranate and drank tea in front of the fire


(in honor of the fluffy white snow that fell this morning)

Just for fun

I love these cartoons by lefthandedtoons.com, they're totally my kind of humor. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. I especially like the 'hug' one.

Pumpkiny goodness

Today I carved a pumpkin for the first time in 10 years. Every year I think to myself "I should carve a pumpkin." But then I get busy, I forget to buy a pumpkin and before I know it Halloween is over. Not this year. I picked one up last week and carved it this afternoon. I did one side and Dario did the other. I also baked the seeds which made for a yummy afternoon treat.

This one's mine:



This one's Dario's:

The 5 year plan

In 5 years I see myself:

• illustrating full time. True, that was in the 5 year plan 5 years ago and it still hasn't happened, but I'm in a better position to do that now. I'd also love to work in a little book store part time. Something close to where I live that I could walk to. I've always liked that idea.

• I want to travel more. There are so many places that I want to see and experience. I'd like to live and work in Europe for a year or two. Maybe bring my computer and freelance from over there.

• I'd like to produce a series of paintings on a theme for an art show. It wouldn't have to be a big fancy gallery show, even something small in a coffee shop would be nice. Maybe a solo show, but maybe part of a group show with some of my artist friends.

• I'd like to write and illustrate my own children's book. I've had an idea since I was in high school but I haven't had an opportunity to seriously work on it. Maybe it wouldn't even be published, maybe it would just be for me.

• Once we've finished traveling, I'd like to pick a city (maybe Montreal) and settle down for a while. Buy a small home, fix it up ourselves, grow vines all over it. Have a garden in the back, and a patio where we could sit outside and have meals together.

• I see myself living a simple and humble life where I make time to read, cook, go for walks, drink tea with friends, take classes, learn how to make books, be part of an artistic community...

• Most importantly, I see myself still happily married to Dario :)

So pretty...

I work a design job on week days and Saturday night was my company's annual service awards where employees get recognition for their years of service. I didn't get an award as I've only been with the company for 3 and a half years, but I did win the center piece on our table which is made up of really cool and exotic looking flowers. I like how the banana leaf is curled up inside the vase.

Exclaim! contents page illo

It's taken me a couple weeks to track one down, but I finally found a copy of the October issue of Exclaim! I'm really impressed with how well my illustration printed. I'm always unsure how well the texture in my work will come out on newsprint but all the parts I enjoy are visible. Hooray!

I have to admit that I haven't been drawing lately. I'll get back into it soon as I have a ton of ideas that I'm excited to work on. However, at the moment I have a huge to-do list that has been neglected for months. I really feel like I need to take care of some of that stuff, as well as take a small break from art, before I jump back in. Besides, one of the things on my to-do list is to clean my studio as it has gotten out of control and I like working in a clean space. Of course, I'll still take on any work that comes my way...

The book is here!

I just got my copies of the book today. It was the first time that I had seen it printed. I'm pretty happy with the quality of the printing. I had been concerned with how the colours would look, but they look good. I'm happy with the way it all came together.

It's really satisfying to hold the finished product in my hand after all the work I put into it.

Power Lines Sketch

© 2007

This is a sketch I did of the power lines in the alley behind my house. It's one of the projects I started on last spring before I started working on the kids book and stopped having time for anything else. It's not finished yet. I want to turn it into a gig poster for my husband's band.

Check it out...

It took a few days to get all the bugs out, but my website is now up and running. I updated the design and I added a bunch of new work. I hadn't updated since March so it was time. However, in my defense, this is the first opportunity I've had to work on it since the children's book.

If you see/experience any problems with my website, please let me know so I can fix them.

Painted Problems Painted Finals

Although I haven't seen the printed books yet, Painted Problems has been printed and is now for sale. At this time they are not available in book stores but if anyone is interested in purchasing a copy they are available through this website: www.paintedproblems.com .

Now that the book is printed and out in the world, here are some of the painted finals...


© 2007



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Joy Division Portrait - Final

© 2007

Sorry for the delay. I didn't have time to post this yesterday.

Joy Division Sketch

© 2007


This is a sketch for an illo I just finished for Exclaim! It's a portrait of the band Joy Division. The were popular in the in the late 70's. The lead singer committed suicide and the remaining band members went on to form New Order. I put those 3 members on a separate branch for that reason. In the research I did about the band I found that they were described by the media as being "doom laden" and that death, sadness, anger, bitterness and loss were recurring themes in their music. I love using crows/ravens as metaphors for death and I love drawing birds so it seemed like a good solution. I wanted to incorporate the birds somehow and eventually arrived at using the bird's bodies. The art director wasn't crazy about my idea when I first suggested it, but he liked the sketch. That just goes to show that if you have an idea that you like, draw it even if it's not what the art director had in mind. They don't always know what they think they want.

I'll post the final tomorrow.

Funky mugs

© 2007

Here's a sketch I did on while I was on vacation.

These mugs live at my aunt's cabin. I love them. I don't usually drink coffee, but I like to drink coffee from these mugs when ever I visit.

Road Trip 2007

I got back from my vacation on Sunday. It was great. I love going on road trip adventures with Dario. We just laugh and have so much fun. After an entire summer of all work and no play I really needed that. The break was good for me. I feel refreshed and inspired and excited to work out some ideas.

Our road trip took us to Nelson and then to my Aunt's cabin in Salmon Arm. Here are some shots from the trip.



In a coffee shop in Nelson...





GOATS!!!!!!









I love old hippy busker couples.



On a pub patio in Nelson...









In this shot I'm enjoying the new rosemary olive oil Triscuit crackers while waiting for the ferry. They're wonderful. If you like rosemary you must try them.

I'm outta here!

The children's book is finished and has been sent off to be printed. I am officially on holidays and won't be updating my blog until after September 9th.

More Process

Here's the rest of the process photos I mentioned the other day.
The book is pretty much finished, I'm just making the final adjustments to the files. My husband printed out some color copies for me at his work yesterday (he works in printing). He even trimmed them and bound them so I could see what the book will look like. I'm pretty happy with it. I can't wait to see it all finished.