Harp Player

Graphitint pencil and wash sketch.

A Temper

Washington's Birthday

Just a quick pencil and wash sketch of His Excellency on his birthday. A new and very nice review of Anne Rockwell's Big George can be found at the All-en-A-Day's Work Blog.

Dolphins in the Barn

I haven't actually seen one, but here's the "new" cover.

5 Questions

I answer 5 questions from Roger Sutton in the new issue of Notes from the Horn Book...

SCBWI-New England Conference Registration!

Ahoy, New Englanders (or Yankees, if you prefer)! Registration for the SCBWI-New England conference starts on Monday, February 8th. The conference will be held from May 14-16 in Fitchburg, MA.

On Saturday, I'll be teaching two workshops (one on illustration, one on writing graphic novels). On Sunday, I'll be joining illustrator David Hyde Costello, editor Yolanda LeRoy, and Storm in the Barn designer extraordinaire Heather McGee in an epic 4-hour Illustrator Academy workshop.

Also on the conference bill are Marla Frazee, Allyn Johnston, Jo Knowles, Kate Messner, Jennifer Morris, Kara LaReau, Kelly Fineman and many, many more (seriously, this line-up is pretty impressive).

Conference details (including faculty bios and workshop descriptions) can be found HERE or if you prefer your info in Tweet form, you can find it HERE.

It should be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there.

Another one

Ink, neocolor crayon, and watercolor.

Insta-Wash

Been playing with Neocolor crayons which are water soluble. I like 'em.

Thank You, ALA! (part 2)

Great news from the American Library Association! The Storm in the Barn has been included in both the 2010 Notable Children's Books list and the YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens list!

Many thanks to both committees for these honors.

Some Ink, Some WC, Some Bear

One of the Peafowl Family

The Mariner

The Girl Reporter

SCOTT O'DELL AWARD!!

The Storm in the Barn was just awarded the 2010 SCOTT O'DELL AWARD!!!!!

Here's Roger Sutton's announcement and here is the official website! I am extremely, extremely honored.

The Wheelman

New year, new graphic novel. Allow me to introduce the cast...

So long, Aughts!

THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by the Planet Ham this year with an extra bit of thanks to all who left a comment. I really appreciate the support and feedback and I'm looking forward to continuing the blog in the... Tweens?

Bloke

Half-Full Sacks of Sugar

One of my favorite sketching exercises, courtesy of the great Disney animators and The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

Lil Bird

toddle

Blue

Splotch

Guy at Podium

Some guy talking about something somewhere. I honestly can't remember a thing about this, but I did sketch him. Note to self: leave more notes to self.

Mod Clown

Big

Ink and acrylic ink wash on a free sample of Ampersand gessoboard.

Punk Rock Girl

Professor Ex

End of Year Post-a-Palooza

Each year I shoot for a nice even 100 posts for the ol' sketch blog. This usually means that at this time of the year, I'm scrambling through sketch books to find things to post post-haste. So here comes a rare blitz of posting... at least for me.

Instant Cheer

Booklist Top of the List Selection!

The Storm in the Barn has officially been named the 2009 Booklist Top of the List selection for Youth Fiction. You can read the press release here. I could not be happier about this honor. I wonder if this is the first graphic novel to be selected in this category...

UPDATE: An interview with me is now on the Booklist website.

Santa 2

Santa 1

Snow Day!

Horn Book Fanfare!

I am very happy to report that The Storm in the Barn is a Horn Book Fanfare title for 2009! You can see the complete list HERE.

Kind Words

100 Scope Notes has a review of Two of a Kind that I think hits the nail on the head in regards to Jacqui Robbins' writing. Check it on out.

Fantastic Firsts and the SLJ list!

Storm in the Barn made the School Library Journal's 2009 Best Comics for Kids List! Storm's in some pretty great company on that list. Check it out.

Also from the world of comics, the great Sequential Tart site has a review up in the Fantastic Firsts! series. (!)

Above are some early pencil tests for the palette and look of Storm.

Graphic Classroom Review!

There's a new review of Storm in the Barn up at the Graphic Classroom blog. This is a really cool site that reviews graphic novels and comics specifically with an eye for use in schools. There's also lots of interesting articles in the archives and links to other sites of interest to teachers (and comics fans).

The above moleskine sketch has nothing to do with either Storm or Graphic Classroom...

Free Mugs!

Sorry to sound like a commercial, but I just found out that Zazzle is offering a buy-1-get-1-free offer on mugs today. If you were thinking about any of my mugs, today might be the day. Just click on the Zazzle thingy at the right.

And now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Miss F. Castell

BCCB Review!

Storm in the Barn has just received its 5th starred review! This one comes from the venerable Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. The review isn't online, but here's a bit of it:

"The spare, sketchy lines and soft washes of the mixed-media illustrations underscore the haziness of the dust filled air; it's a toss-up whether the rolling black dust clouds or the shadowy half-human form of the Storm is more of the threat... With its appealing format and touch of fantasy, this tale of coming of age in hard times will entice readers who may otherwise be indifferent to historical fiction."

Black Spot Books for Black Friday

If you have an illustrator on your holiday shopping list, you need to look no further than the handcrafted books of Margaux Kent at The Black Spot Books. Each of these amazing books feature cut and bound Strathmore paper (good weight, can take pen easily) and leather covers that have been scavenged from objects of the past such as saddles, doctors' bags, and whatever else Margaux finds on her travels. Each one is unique.

Here is one of mine. I've been filling it up with sketches for awhile. I call it The Wee Book of Pirates.

Although The Wee Book of Pirates is not for sale, there are plenty of treasures available at The Black Spot. The Etsy shop is having a 20% off sale through Monday! (I'm not getting a cut of this or anything, I'm just wildly enthusiastic about these books).

Oh, and be sure to check out the cool behind-the-scenes video. I love seeing people's studios.

Much Obliged!

I'd like to send a big thank you to the state of Texas for including The Storm In The Barn on the 2010 Texas Maverick Graphic Novels Reading List! The complete list is on their site but (at least on my computer) the spreadsheet is a bit wonky (I'm listed next to Refresh, Refresh and it appears that Richard Sala is credited for Storm. It actually makes for an interesting match-up quiz.)

And another thank you to everyone at NCTE and ALAN! I had a great time, met many fantastic teachers and fellow authors and illustrators, and saw a lot of friends that I don't see very often outside of convention halls.

Red Shirt, Red Cheeks

NCTE/ALAN: The Convention Within Walking Distance

Hey teachers! Going to the NCTE and/or ALAN convention in Philadelphia this weekend? Me too. Here's my schedule:

Friday, 2-3 pm: signing Storm in the Barn at the Candlewick booth (#112).

Friday, 5-6 pm: signing Storm at the Anderson booth (#544).

Saturday, 10:30-11:30: signing Big George and Very Hairy Bear at the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt table.

Saturday, 3:10-3:40 pm: Author Roundtable!

Tuesday, 11:40: speaking on the Appeal of Graphic Novels panel for the ALAN workshop (signing Storm as well, I think).

I will also be giving free tips on cool places to check out in the City of Brotherly Love. You can't spend all of your time at the convention center.

Lititz Kid-Lit Fest!

If you are in the lovely Lancaster County area of PA this weekend, stop by Aaron's Books in the town of Lititz for their first ever Kid-Lit Book Festival! There'll be lots of guests and events for all ages, plus books, pretzels and chocolate. Stop by!

Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2009!!

Received word this morning from my editor that The Storm in the Barn has been included in Kirkus Reviews' Best Children's Books of 2009 issue! You can read the entire section online HERE!

The List Post

After Storm in the Barn, I'd imagine that I'm not the first illustrator to pop into a publisher's mind if there's a new bunny book. However, I assure you that I have nothing against bunnies.

Speaking of Storm (nice segue, huh?)... it has been nominated for YALSA's 2010 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list (the final list will be announced in January). In addition to that honor, Storm has been included in the New York Public Library's 2009 list of 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing.

My thanks to ALA/YALSA and the NYPL!

Comic Book Resources Interview!

Alex Dueben from the the great CBR website recently interviewed me and you can read it all HERE!

Faces

Children's Book World's Big Night!

Hope y'all had a spooky Halloween. Although we still have a bucket of candy, perhaps an apple would be a good idea right about now.

This Friday night (11/6) is one of my favorite events of the year: the astoundingly awesome annual Author/Illustrator Night at Children's Book World. How astoundingly awesome is it, you ask? Well, you get to casually mingle with folks like David Wiesner, Jerry and Eileen Spinelli, Donna Jo Napoli, Judy Schachner, Gene Baretta, Brian Biggs, Eric Wight, and at least 27 more authors and illustrators.

And this mind you, is only the partial list. Wow.

It's free and open to the public. Their website seems a bit spotty at the moment, but if you google Children's Book World in Haverford, PA you should be able to find it. I'll be there signing Storm in the Barn, but they always have my other titles in stock, too. Where I Live fans can get signatures from me AND the genius author, Eileen Spinelli! Hope to see you there.

There wolf.

A Keeper of Bees

Just a little drawing of Mr. Holmes in his later years. Pencil, color pencil, scanned paper/texture, and digital white.

In Storm news, there's a new interview up on Wendy Martin's blog featuring hula hoops and a monkey.