Bella & Luci ebook in the Apple Bookstore

My book Bella and Luci's Fantastic, Amazing, Magical Adventure was just accepted into the Apple Bookstore as an e-book! You can buy a copy for your i-pad/i-phone here on i-tunes.

to Bear's great delight...

Interview with LeUyen Pham

I had a chance to interview one of my favorite children's illustrators, LeUyen Pham. Her artwork is full of life and energy, and always great expressive characters. I was very inspired by her journey, and motivated to keep on going! Check out her work on her website www.leuyenpham.com


Pamela: What was your journey like to children's book illustration?

Uyen:     I was approached by an art director from Harcourt books when I was a student.  He kept me in mind for a project, and when I was a year out of school, he contacted me.  I was working in animation at the time, so the project he gave me had to be done on my spare time.  It was a chapter book (a book cover with 8 interior black and white illustrations).  I thought I did a horrible job, but he loved something about the cover, and recommended me for a picture book a year later.  I finished that book in a year, and they liked it so well that they offered me three more manuscripts.  Since then, I’ve worked pretty steadily.  I only started self-promoting after 9/11 -- the publishing industry came to a stand still (as did most businesses in new york), and I had to rejump my career.  I’d only had 7 books at the time, so I really had to reinvent self.  But since then, knock on wood, I’ve kept steadily busy.

Pamela:  What is a typical day like for you as a freelance illustrator?

Uyen:    Wake up, have breakfast with the kids, send them off to school, spend an hour cruising internet, answering mail, etc, work steadily from 10-4, walk to pick up son from kindergarten, spend time with family until their bedtime, then back to work if I'm on a deadline, until the wee hours of the morning.  When I'm not on deadline, I can relax in the evening!

Pamela:  Do you have any special places you go for inspiration?

Uyen:    I always get inspired when I'm out talking a walk, or when I go to bookstores.  Occasionally I’m inspired by my  kids (they're 2 and 5, so they're just the right age!)

Pamela:  How long does it usually take for you to illustrate a picture book?

Uyen:    I’m pretty fast, but it depends on the style of the book.  The longest I’ve spent on a picture book was maybe 9 months, but I’m always doing other projects at the same time.  The fastest I’ve spent on a picture book was a month.  Average, from start to finish, is about three months.  But I do lots of different kinds, and I’m constantly overlapping.  For instance, I spent three years on a 450 page graphic novel, but then spent three weeks on a 200-page chapter book.

Pamela: What kinds of self-promotion do you do, and how often?

Uyen:    I don't self promote any more, believe it or not.  When I first started, I sent out just ten mailers, these intricate little books that I sewed together myself, and sent them to ten publishers I really liked.  I got call backs from almost all of them, and since then, I don't send out mailers anymore.  What I DO like to send, though, are little Christmas presents, or Halloween cards, things like that.  Last year I sent my publishers mugs with my drawings on them.  The year before I made calendars, and the year before that I wrote a little story.

Pamela: What advice would you give to an emerging children's book illustrator (like me!)? 

Uyen:    Keep at it!  Draw what you love, not what you think others will like or what's in vogue.  Attend conferences, and try to meet as many editors and art directors as you can!  Write your own stories, if you can, and illustrate them.  But mostly, be informed!  Buy the book "children's writers and illustrators market", and read it from cover to cover.  It tells you how to submit manuscripts, how to put together book dummies, who works where, what each publishing house likes to see, everything.  I used it when I first started out, and I still refer it to everyone!

Pamela:  Thank you for your time Uyen!

Uyen:      Best of luck to you!  It’s a lovely business once you get in! Cheers!

Snow White & Rose Red

Another one of my daily paintings turned into this little one. . . Snow White and Rose Red out for a reading picnic with Bear.

artists who inspire me...

When I was a little girl I remember coming home from the library with a huge stack of books! I loved looking at the pictures, and I would pull books off the shelf based on how pretty the pictures were. These early experiences pouring over books and getting lost in their worlds made me want to be an illustrator. There was something magical and special about "reading" through pictures. There are tons of artists who inspire me, and I thought I'd share some of my all time favorites, the ones I still can't stop looking at for their rich color, details and mastery of design. A tribute to those who have inspired me, and make me want to be a better illustrator every day...

Edmund Dulac

Tasha Tudor

Mary GrandPre

  

Kinuko Y. Craft

  

Scott Gustafson

Owl and Mouse look at the moon

one of my daily mini paintings out of my 4x3" sketchbook (tiny!), but I liked it so much I kept going with it... harvest crescent moon out tonight and it feels very fall...

Painting time-lapse

"they explored the treetops"

Here's a fun time-lapse I did while painting the finishes for my book. It was pretty fun to see afterwards! The only part that was hard was trying not to move my board, and racing my daylight! It took a total of 6 hours.

daily painting #1

Ive been trying a new exercise, doing a painting a day in an ity-bity watercolor journal! Sometimes there is so much to do in a day, errands, emails, other work that I never get to painting anything, so I decided at the very minimum I would paint one small thing. Here we go!

Animated music video "The Ancestor" by Darlingside

I recently had a huge opportunity to help create an animated music video for the band Darlingside, with two friends Abe Dieckman who did the amazing animation, and Timothy Hahn, producer. I created the background paintings and textures, as well as many of the individual assets: trees, clouds, plants, stars, furniture etc. It was such a fun project to work on, and I realize how much I miss collaboration! It turned out beautifully and we are all so proud to share it! It was just mentioned on Cartoon Brew, Everything Animated, Maimed and Tamed, and was a staff pick on Vimeo! We are trying to get the word out so please share it in as many ways as you can.

"The Ancestor" by Darlingside – Official Music Video from Crazy Lake Pictures on Vimeo.

credits
music by: Darlingside
director: Keith Boynton
producer: Mike Lavoie
producer/editor: Timothy Hahn
lead animator: Abraham Dieckman
lead artist: Pamela Goodman

Bella & Luci's book!

The last six months have been spent working on a secret book project, that I've been dying to share for forever! I finally finished the illustrations in July and had a couple copies printed. It was a surprise book for friends of ours (and awesome photographers at Bellalu Photography!) Lindsey & Nathan Freitas and their adorable daughters Bella & Luci. The idea was planted in my head last December, when Lindsey mentioned to me how she would love to have a storybook about her two girls. I had so much fun writing, and sketching out the thumbnails for the book trying to figure out the flow of a full 32 page book (and trying my hardest not to mention anything to them the whole time!). And finally after months of multiple dummies and redrawing, I tackled the final step: painting 34 watercolor illustrations! Whew it's done, and I'm pretty proud of it!

heres a couple in-progress sketches from my book dummy:

and the finishes:

Its official! I am now Mrs Pamela Goodman!

It's been a while! I have been busy all spring and summer planning and getting ready for my wedding to my wonderful husband Luke Goodman! We were just married this August, and I made the switch to change my name. So I'm officially Pamela Goodman, and it feels really good to have a fresh start, with a new logo and look. Time to order new business cards & promos! My old website and emails will continue to forward to my new one:

www.pamelagoodmanart.com 

new promos

My spring goal was to send out some new promo postcards to book publishers. After a year and a half of revamping my portfolio, and working on some new paintings, I finally put together a brand new set of promo mailers to send out! ( I can't believe its been since fall of 2010 ) It feels really good to have spent more time developing my style and having fun with what I really like to illustrate. This time around I included response cards, and Im glad I did because I already got some positive responses back! So they are off to my targeted publishers! woohoo.. next project book dummy submission...

my cover letter, envelope and postcards

Whats Inside? A color concept book

A random idea for a color concept book came to me about a year ago, and I re-discovered the sketches the other day. So heres what I came up with so far, the little bunny just crept in as I went along! hehe.

new work: "Go Fish!"

New Illustration: The Summoning

The Summoning

A newer painting I did for a novel cover concept. Its watercolor & digital, although Im trying not to overuse the digital aspect. I love the bright translucency of colors you can get with watercolors alone, but my photo/ scanning looses some of that. (Time to get a larger flatbed scanner!)

Beauty and the Beast cover illustration

beauty and the beast

I did this illustration for a young adult novel cover concept. The first sketches were too much like a girl and wolf, so I added horns and pants to make the beast a little more human and beastly at the same time. Beauty wears a locket with a mysterious picture of a handsome prince, but she has yet to find out that its the Beast himself.

( first sketch, and revised final sketch)

Edwardian Beetles

Edwardian beetles! Luke and I went to the Edwardian Ball in January and it was such a magical festive night! So many great costumes, and creativity everywhere. Plus dancing in a fancy dress and top hat? yes please! We will have to go again next year.

New Illustration: The Beetle Ball

A new illustration I have been working on over the last 6 months! These critters have been waiting on me forever, and whew its finally finished. Now time to go find some blue grass music and dance!!