Periodically, SCBWI offers contests for writers and illustrators. They'll present an idea, and we interpret it. This month, the idea for illustrators is called "Thanks, But No Thanks!" The description: "Ever been dragged to a Thanksgiving dinner against your will? Well, so have the brother and sister duo of your new book. But nothing could have prepared them for Thanksgiving '08. For this month's Illustrator's Contest, show us what your characters are up against at this year's feast."

I wanted to play a little with irony. For these Martians, it is their first Thanksgiving on Earth. However, when they are presented with the golden juicy turkey, they are disgusted. What does a turkey resemble to them? Why would it cause such disgust? (And no, they are not vegetarian.)

Artists can wear many hats. I started out as a Graphic Designer. Now I am a teacher. All the while I painted and illustrated. Now I am back to something I haven't done since my high school days. As a junior and senior in high school, I helped paint the backdrops for our musicals. I remember painting the backdrops to "Sweet Charity." Now, I am called upon to do some work for my school's Christmas program. The theme – "Santa, you have mail." Here is a small watercolor sketch I did as a design. Hopefully I can pull this off with a little help from the Art club and some parents. I get rather intimidated doing art at a large scale.

Yes. More progress has been made. I worked on a sketch yesterday developed from a few photos of my children. I wanted a more "candid" shot – though my son is looking right at the camera. But I still think I captured the essence of both my children. Molly is in the foreground – not because of importance, but I wanted to say something about her personality – she's lively, "bigger than life," a show-off of sorts and consistently happy. Jacob on the other hand, is less extroverted – her can be found standing behind someone a lot, not that there's anything wrong with that at all! He's just the soft-spoken one of the two. However, he's still laughing along with Molly. I wanted that to be an indicator that he's not devoid of humor or liveliness. In fact, there's more to him than he lets on. A complex one he is!

I think I will produce this at a larger size (most of my work is pretty small). And I'd like to experiment with application. But don't know how far I want to go outside my comfort level. I've been studying the work of a watercolor artist named Kim Johnson-Nechtman. I love the way she presents realism, but in a loose yet controlled style. Anyway, here is my final sketch:

My goodness! How long's it been since I've written?! And what has happened in a month's time? Well, what's happened besides Halloween, my school's Fall Pumpkin Festival (where I face painted for the first time!) and of course, the Election? For one, I have finally started the Art Club for my school. Looks like the kids'll dig it. Our first assignment? Set design for this year's Christmas program. I have also been preparing for something I haven't done in awhile – a portrait of my kids – together. I realized as I was looking at my portrait work, that I have done paintings of each of them, but not together. The challenge is that I want this to be more that a mere rendering. So I will produce it to enter in the North Light Book cover competition. And after today, I think I may have found the perfect images to work with!! At the same time, I will be working on the SCBWI illustration contest for November. The theme: "Thanks, but no thanks!" More on that later! In the meantime, here are some pumpkins I carved (from the fake foam pumpkins) and displayed in my classroom.