You know that book you love? Remember that evil character in it that you really despise? Do they think they are the bad character? No. They do not see themselves as the heartless tyrant, the slinking coward, the greedy manipulator, the guilt-ridden critic, or even the plucky sidekick. Everyone is the HERO of their own story!

No one has an objective view of their own narrative. When you analyze your own story, be sure to do it honestly. Maybe you are the plucky sidekick. What’s wrong with that? Everyone loves that character! Just be sure you’re not those other characters who think they are noble or brave with a “high and lonely calling,” but everyone reading the story properly can see that they are just the pits! Don’t be that one.

Likewise, when creating a story, your antagonist should not be aware that they are wicked. They need to think they are in someway righteous, doing what they do for “the greater good” and believing that the end justifies the means. Those are the most evil (and believable) characters. A sliver of truth deceiving them into believing the lie that they are virtuous.

Also, don’t be that character.

I set out to paint a boy at the beach that just noticed an unfortunate change in the weather. Here is the sketch I started with.

Sketches are rendered loosely and I often like them better than the finished product. There is just more life and movement in the line. This one is no exception. I love his fat little hands. But his jaw is a little too square and head a bit small for the age I was shooting for.

Here’s the final painting:

In this image, the boy’s face is rounder and a bit larger making him look younger. I am disappointed that his chubby toddler hands didn’t translate from the sketch, but I’m happy with the sky. I also think the boy looks a bit more surprised at the change in the weather. That’s what happens when you’re having so much fun!

Books & Brews Event—Palouse Writers Festival
June 27 at 4 PM · 1912 Center · Moscow, Idaho

I’ll be signing copies of Penguin Sets Sail, and other books I’ve illustrated, at the 1912 Center Books & Brews event during the Palouse Writers Festival Saturday, June 27.

Author Jeni Leidenfrost and I had a blast during Story Time at Auntie’s Bookstore in Spokane on Saturday. Our time started off with Jeni reading Little Mouse Finds a Friend to a wide age range of readers. Jeni also introduced the Braille versions* of Little Mouse and some of the young readers got a chance to touch and see what Braille feels like under their fingers.

After the reading, we passed out paper, crayons, and clipboards provided by Auntie’s. Then I began to demonstrate how to draw Little Mouse with several easy shapes, like a lemon (for his head) and a moon (for his mouth). The finished drawing went to one of the readers and I drew another one for a little pre-reader who came to Story Time for her birthday treat.

It was such a delightful morning. Auntie’s is a wonderful place for children to learn to love reading!

*The full Braille version, with descriptions of the illustrations, are now available on Amazon!

Jeni reads at Story Time

A little fan with Little Mouse.

Drawing another Little Mouse for this little pre-reader.

“First, draw a lemon… “

The more children that can enjoy picture books the better. Right?

I’m so pleased to have illustrated two books that are involved in making picture books accessible to more children.

Little Mouse Finds A Friend is a mix of story and science and follows the life cycle of the Atlas moth. The author, Jeni Leidenfrost, has created audio descriptive readings for the visually impaired to be able to enjoy the illustrations. There are also Braille books available with the descriptive reading text. There are over 1.3 million visually impaired people in the U.S. This is perhaps the first time this resource has been made available to parents and children with this special need.

Solar The Polar is a story about the friendship between a snowboarding polar bear and a paraplegic adaptive sit-skier. This story is about snow safety and enjoying life with a disability. Author, Kim Constantinesco, is the Editor-in-Cheif of Purpose 2 Play, telling inspiring sports stories of athletes overcoming obstacles. The publisher, MacLaren Cochrane Publishing, is making Solar The Polar available in both a regular font and a special dyslexic font making it easier to read for children with dyslexia.

If you haven’t got all your Christmas shopping done, make sure you pick up one of the books by these fantastic authors!

My friend Ryan goes to Haiti on a regular basis to an island that does not have electricity or running water and helps the children and animals there. She travels down and gives the children and livestock immunization shots and has been instrumental in helping build a school on the island. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The Haitians rely heavily on their livestock to accomplish daily tasks. A 90 lb. donkey will carry 120 lbs. of water up hill from the river to the village. The saddles used on these donkeys are very primitive and most of the donkeys have terrible saddle sores that often get infected. Ryan treats the wounds and helps to guard the animals against infection. She is an incredible lady!

She always takes down care packages to the children donated by local philanthropists. And this year she also took copies of Little Mouse Finds A Friend to share with the children. So Little Mouse has gone international and I couldn’t be happier about where he’s landed. Thank you Ryan for all you do.

And Little Mouse thanks you too!

I’ve made some of my favorite inktober 2017 drawings available as prints on my Etsy page. Or vote for a chance to win your favorite print for free here.

This is the road home. I am thankful. It’s Thanksgiving after all.

As we drive home, we are nearly there and I take in the Palouse hills, now almost black with fertile soil. They tell the story of harvest, brought in during summer months. I notice the subtle green of the winter wheat beginning to sprout. The blue of the sky. The epic clouds. And, off in the distance, my beloved Moscow Mountain.

There was a time I would guffaw at that nomenclature. My Portland, Oregon family and friends would agree with my original observation: “What mountain? Those are foothills!” But that ridge is the backdrop for the town that has been my home over half my life.

And in that half of my life, I have more to be thankful for than I can ever write down or illustrate in a million books. I am grateful. Not just for the winter wheat, blue for the sky, and the color green (as one sage once pointed out), which is glory enough. But I’m thankful for the man that I met here and married, the extended family I inherited from him, the children God blessed me with, the friendships formed and cultivated in the fertile soil of the Palouse, the music sung, the prayers offered, and the laughter. So much laughter.

I can look back at the first half of my life with thankfulness too. That half had the backdrop of a “real” mountain, Mt. Hood. That is the ground where I was planted. The subtleties of the soil in the green Willamette Valley are still in me, body and soul, like a wine that has taken on all the flavors of it’s environment: the hospitality of my mother during holidays, my family’s love for one another, a whole day dedicated to processing the corn we harvested, making clam chowder and sharing it with dozens of friends, eating fresh vegetables out of the garden, and playing with my best friend all summer in bare feet (despite the gravel road).

The soil I’ve grown in has not been without large stones to deal with. And I know there will be drought and frost, and other adversity to face in the future. But the vines with the most hardship to overcome make the best wine.

So I am grapes from the Willamette and I am wheat from the Palouse. I am thankful, so thankful, for these things that have potential for wine and bread. I have been blessed. And I know it. I have been drenched with the early and the latter rain of grace.

It is all very good. And I am thankful.