I’ve uploaded 8 new card designs to my shop at GreetingCardUniverse.com/HeatherCastles

Greeting Card Universe is a new site which allows artists to upload their greeting card designs to make available for print-on-demand to earn royalties. The interesting thing about these print-on-demand facilities is that it means as artists we can put products (greeting cards, story books, calendars) out there without the overhead of printing expenses. I found GCU an easy site to use, my shop simple to set up, and the staff super friendly & interested in feedback.

Carlo Giovanni illustrates some gritty, loveable characters using just paper! (woah, I just was checking out Drawn.ca, and saw someone else posted the exact image as me only an hour or two ago! eeeeeeeee!)

I just laughed & laughed when I read this article at X-entertainment. Here are a few of the highlights of the article…but the 3-part Crayola Crayon review is worth a read if you’re a Spidey & colouring fan like me.

Yo, you know what’s mellow about this yellow? NOTHING….

Oooh hooo hooo oooh ooh! Something under the covers is tickling me! I wonder what it could be! “Tickle Me Pink!” Oooh hoo hoo hoo! What a funny crayon this is!…. (Read on …)

I think I’m 99% done the illustrations for Diane Cantrell’s “Good-bye, Baby Max”! Diane is having a look through to see if anything else needs to be changed… I’ve got a couple details I’d like to change (like adding Mrs. B’s hoops in on spread 4!), maybe fiddle with brightening some highlights & colour correcting in Photoshop…but this is pretty close to finished! Any feedback at this stage would be most welcome! Next up will be playing with the typography and getting the book ready for print… (Read on …)

This is a really great idea…starving artists, this is a gold mine! …I just signed up today for my local Adelaide Freecycle group, and already am arranging to pick up my first bit of free stuff (art supplies!)

“The Freecycle Network™ is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free.”

“The Freecycle Network was started in May 2003 to promote waste reduction in Tucson’s downtown and help save desert landscape from being taken over by landfills. The Network provides individuals and non-profits an electronic forum to “recycle” unwanted items. One person’s trash can truly be another’s treasure!”

I had an illustrator recently ask me ‘How - physically - does one present initial samples when submitting [illustrations] to a publisher for the first time?’ Here are a few suggestions for straight-up sending a package of printed samples to potential clients (Read on …)

I have brightened up the colours & added some more details to Diane Cantrell’s “Good-bye, Baby Max” children’s book illustrations… only a few days away from completing now! Thought I’d post with the type this time so I took some screen shots from the InDesign layout. I find it helpful seeing the illustrations with the type on top at various stages, to be sure the illustration behind the text is light / dark enough for the text to read easily. Read on to check out the rest of the illustrations in the book.

(Read on …)

I got this Bite today and thought it was pretty apt …As a children’s book illustrator I have a unique opportunity to encourage kids to be caring for others & the environment by adding in the little details like : recycling bins in school settings; making the main characters natural rather than unattainably beautiful; toys that are well worn & loved rather than new & flash; and I rarely show kids playing indoors with video games or on computers.

Here’s a snippit from the Ideal Bite :
“Get ‘em while they’re young - instill kids with green values through books that inspire an appreciation for nature instead of a dodgy love for all-things-material.”

The Benefits

• “Girl goes to the mall. Girl buys dress. Girl lives happily ever after.” There are A LOT of bad children’s books out there - why not choose ones that will make them feel good without the new dress?
• 53% of kids surveyed in a 2002 poll said buying certain products makes them feel better about themselves. Through positive children’s books, let kids know that more isn’t always better.
• Time and again, studies show that when kids read, they do better in school.

Wanna Try?

• Gaia Girls - teacher and grade schooler-approved and printed on recycled paper, this book follows four girls approached by an Earth in-need ($13).
• There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars - teaches starry-eyed kids all about light pollution in the prettiest way possible ($13).
• The Precious Present - for parents and young’uns, it’s about a boy who gets everything for Christmas but wants something that you can’t put under a tree ($13).
• The Gift of Nothing - as soon as they leave the womb, kids are bombarded with the message that they need more stuff. This classic sets ‘em straight ($10).
• Dawn - huge collection of books to get kids started on the eco-friendly path (prices vary).
• Ideal Bite’s “I Speak for the Trees!” Tip - another classic - this time from Dr. Seuss - The Lorax.

This tip submitted by Joel Makower.

I’m so excited…my new Threadless t-shirts arrived yesterday! EEEEEEEEEEE!