Animals in a Show!

My artwork will be in an upcoming show, I invite you all to attend the opening at the Three Graces Gallery.

Opening Reception 5 to 8pm
in conjunction with the first friday artwalk
Friday February 3rd
105 Market St.
Portsmouth, NH

I have a couple of new pieces:

Kookaburra is my buddy at the zoo. I’m always happy to see him in the spring when it is finally warm enough outside for him. He lives next to the flamingos, viewing them is like watching a soap opera, so much drama!

Portfolio update of January 2012

I have rebuilt my whole portfolio. It has nine new images and each of them are watercolor and color pencil on wood boards. I have taken into consideration their reproduction of course. They are a size that can be scanned. When I spoke to my friend in production about my new plan he gave me an cold stare. Until I explained their size. Then we were friends again.

The new pieces are three series. Two stories of my own, A Visit from the Wild Side and My Monster Friend(current titles, they will most likely change) and one classic, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. My hopes for the pieces from my own stories is to complete one of them into a dummy book for the dummy book challenge. I haven’t yet chosen which one. So, you can vote your choice at the bottom of this post!

Monochromatic – 7

Here is the line art for page 7! Things have been so busy my sketchbook project has been languishing in the sidelines. I decided to warm up by drawing this page. I will add in the monotone later.

It has been a wild 5 days. On Friday I was featured on Behance Network’s front page! As of today I am on page 2 of their featured projects. I am beside myself with the recognition my Animals in Alphabet has received. Since then a few other websites have picked up my project, Plog(they actually posted a couple days before the Behance release), Abduzeedo.com, chuk*num, blogyst, and Don Serifa. I have been doing my best to keep up sending thanks you and responding to questions. Thank you everyone for sharing my work. I appreciate all of the comments. The response is so encouraging. I want to get to work making more art.

If you have popped over here and are wondering, the X is missing but, is planned to be completed in February. That is when I will have time to finish it.

Thank you!

I’m head over heals!

Arisia

This week I feel like I am cramming for an exam. Although, I’m a little ahead of the day of the test so it’s not that bad.

I will have a table in the Art Show at Arisia this year. I am excited to know my work will be on display along with my friend Gareth Hinds, who is the Rising Star Artist of the event. Congrats Gareth!

Here is the information about when you can view the Art Show.

And here is a sneak peak at a couple of pieces I will have there:

 

Check out more updates about my Specimens at their Google+ page.

Picture This

Always looking for new ways to connect people I am contributing to a new blog called Picture This. It shall be a blog of links, photos, videos, quotes, or news on artwork pertaining to children’s illustration. These items will be posted by a group of editors consisting of Dani Jones, Kelly Light and myself. We will post whatever we personally find interesting or relevant.

The blog began from Dani’s call out to the internet for not providing a blog specifically directed at tidbits for Children’s Illustration. I gave her a shout out and we decided to create a partnership and put this blog together.

Please subscribe, follow, and share the site with your friends and help us spread the word!

Send Your Submissions!

We are opening Picture This to reader submissions. Just go to the Submit page and send us your links. We’ll post anything we find interesting.

Riverside Gallery’s Choice

My animal paintings are going to be up in a Cambridge gallery, the Riverside Gallery to be exact. The opening reception should be November 20th at 2pm. To see me you will have to stop by then but, you can see my art anytime from mid-November until mid-January. Get directions here

Here is a sneak peak at two of the new pieces:

NE Illustrator Events in November

I have all of these events rolling around in my head as things I want to do. Since I can’t be in 4 places at once, I’m going to let all of you know so, we can get folks at all of these events. [edited] Here is a blog post, which I will continue to update as I find more events for this month, of all the Kidlit/Illustration events that I know of for the month of November happening in New England. With hints to big events in December.

November:

November 1, Tuesday on going
Sign up for Novel Writing Retreat 2012 at Vermont College of Fine Arts
Actual Event: Friday, March 16, 2012 – Sunday, March 18, 2012
$450
Vermont College of Fine Arts
36 College Street
Montpelier, Vermont

November 4, Friday · 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Picturing Stories-Professional Development Workshop
$50 (Members $45)
The Eric Carle Museum
125 West Bay Road
Amherst, Massachusetts

November 4, Friday · 5:00pm – 8:00pm
The ART of the Story: Art Round Town with local Illustrators!
free
Kennedy Gallery and Custom Framing
41 Market Street
Portsmouth, New Hampshire

November 5, Saturday · 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Meet Author Kara LaReau and Illustrator Scott Magoon:
Otto, The Boy Who Loved Cars

free
The Blue Bunny
577 High Street Dedham Square
Dedham, Massachusetts

November 6, Sunday · 11:30 am and 1:00 pm
Events at the Carle
Talking About Words and Pictures with Caldecott Medalist, Beth Krommes
Free, Museum Admission extra
Special Gallery Tour with Jules Feiffer
Free with Museum Admission
The Eric Carle Museum
125 West Bay Road
Amherst, Massachusetts

November 6, Sunday · 4:30-6:30pm
R. Michelson Galleries 22nd Annual Children’s Book Illustration Exhibition Opening Reception
free
Art will be up through January 15, 2012
R. Michelson Galleries
132 Main Street
Northampton, Massachusetts

November 7, Monday · 7:00pm
Peter Sís, Book Event for The Conference of the Birds
This is an adult book but I’m sure many of you would love to hear Peter Sís speak.
free
Porter Square Books
Porter Square Shopping Center
25 White Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts

November 8, Tuesday · 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Poetry Reading with Jane Yolen
free
Neilson Library
Smith College
Northampton, Massachusetts

November 19, Saturday · 1:00pm – 6:00pm
Illustrator Day
$50 for SCBWI members and students $75 for non-members
New Hampshire Institute of Art
The French Building
148 Concord St
Manchester, New Hampshire

November 19, Saturday · 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Stories Through a Poet’s Eye: Making Every Word Count With Nancy Tupper Ling & Nadine Mullins
Cost: $25. Limited enrollment
Yamawaki Art & Cultural Center at
Lasell College,
Newton, MA

December

December 6, Tuesday · 6:30pm
Artist Lecture Series of NHIA Chris Van Allsburg Lecture
Tickets: $20 per lecture; $50 for series
New Hampshire Institute of Art
The French Building
148 Concord St
Manchester, New Hampshire

Keep your ears to the ground for more events. If you know of more email me! casey.girard (at) gmail.com

Illustrator Day! Are you EXCITED yet?!

 

(click to in-large)

Yes you will notice if you have been following our marketing thus far, the time has changed by half an hour.

We look forward to having many people come. We have a lot in store for all our attendees. Check out Anna Boll’s blog for more details about it and how to win prizes!

Now, you should go register here’s the link go go go!

Dani’s Choice

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of having my piece of fan art posted on Dani Jones’ webcomic page for My Sister The Freak. She has reached a milestone for her work having finished 4 issues which she has now printed all together in Volume 1. Congrats to Dani on such an accomplishment!

Dani launched My Sister the Freak on March 12, 2010. Since then she has developed a remarkable fan base while having written a truly inspired comic. It is great for all ages, covering issues such as family, life, and of course Alien invaders. Her comic is part of the group Space Dock 7.

In addition to having my piece on her blog Dani, being the gracious soul that she is, drew us a rocking Octopus in Boots as a thank you. How cool is that!?

Dani has always been a source of encouragement and inspiration. Her tireless effort towards her craft and out reach to other illustrators is remarkable. Last year she helped me get back into drawing regularly with her Ustream shows and mind blowing amount of art created. It was from her suggestion that I started to explore using sculpey for more of my illustration. It started with my making a Frosty the Gourdman action figure; she asked if I had thought of doing dimensional illustration. It got the wheels turning. I’m glad I could contribute another piece of dimensional fan art. Thank you Dani!

Be sure to also check out the Illustrated Section a fabulous junction for ebooks by a great number of illustrators all brought together by Dani.

Quote Quiz:
“Morgan took a sip and it’s got his amoebas in it. “

currently watching: Ghost Busters
currently reading: Zombie in Love by Kelly DiPucchio illustrated by Scott Campbell

Blue Skies with a Chance of Giggling Giraffe

So many things are coming across my desk right now. I am going to post whatever I have that works for Wednesdays, animals or kids. This week I have news that goes with a Giraffe.

This year I submitted and had a piece accepted into the 8th Annual Silent Art Auction to Benefit the Non-Profit Brattle Film Foundation. I’m very excited to be able to help support this organization. I hope they do well with all the art they received and I hope many people will attend the event. Please follow the link above to learn the details.

This is a watercolor and gouache painting on a wood panel, with chalk pencils, colored pencils, and paint pens for the line work and detailing.

Quote Quiz 5: “WHAT!? You expect me to help you just like that? JUST LIKE THAT?!”
“eh”
“okay”

currently watching: Arsenic and Old Lace
currently reading: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

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