A character sheet from several years ago

Character design sheet for the Tugg and Teeny books by J. Patrick Lewis.

#christopherdenise #illustration #kidlit#kidlitart #art #artwork #lion#photoshop #artstagram #picturebook#picturebookillustration #childrensbooks#instaart #best_of_illustrations#character #characterdesign #gorilla#animals #anthropomorphic#jpatricklewis

On being a good listener.

Forgot about this one from The Tugg and Teeny books written by J. Patrick Lewis. Both the hedgehog and hippo are side characters but I really enjoyed the conversation here! Hippo is a very good listener.

#christopherdenise #illustration #kidlit#kidlitart #art #artwork #hippo#photoshop #artstagram #picturebook#picturebookillustration #childrensbooks#instaart #best_of_illustrations#character #characterdesign #hedgehog#animals #anthropomorphic#jpatricklewis

Time to Play Magazine reviews Tugg & Teeny.

http://youtu.be/SN7qDvudMNU

Two of my books receive nominations!

So proud to see "Following Grandfather" (Rosemary Wells) and "Tugg and Teeny: That's What Friends Are For" ( J. Patrick Lewis ) on the list of nominees for the Easy Reader/Early Chapter Book category of the 2012 Cybils Award! There are so many great books nominated this year. See the complete list here: http://www.cybils.com/2012-nominations-easy-readersearly-chapter-books.html

Just two years ago I was admiring the work of my friend Kelly Murphy (http://www.kelmurphy.com/books.html)  in this book category and wishing that I would have the opportunity to pursue some similar projects. The Universe responded with a wonderful Rosemary Wells manuscript and a three book series by Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis. Fantastic. Now, lets see...what would be nice for 2013?

Many thanks to our friend Jamie Michalak (http://jamiedmichalak.blogspot.com/) for letting us know!

A glimpse of the process...

My publisher asked if we could put together some footage of the Tugg and Teeny work in progress. In the end, there just was not enough time but I did grab this quick photo of my workspace on that particular morning.

Thanks to all that have remained followers of the blog even without any updates in so many months. Lots happening, some good, some bad, and through it all the work and the books continue.

Lots of exciting news.

-It looks like I may be back at the CTN EXPO in Burbank this year and I may be more than an audience member. More about that when the details are confirmed.

-Tugg and Teeny #3 " That's What Friends Are For" by J. Patrick Lewis is done and I will post some images when I get the greenlight from the publisher.

-Tugg and Teeny #2 "Jungle Surprises"

published at the end of May and is doing great.

-I can also mention that I will be collaborating with Rosemary Wells on a project.

I will post the followups to earlier posts that were listed as part one as soon as I can!

Cheers,

Chris

New posts coming soon.....but first BEA

Part two of the Redwall cover post (and many other updates) will come soon.... but first I need to head down to NY to attend BEA. I will be there signing books on Tuesday, May 24th. If you are the conference, be sure to drop by The Sleeping Bear Press Booth. I will be joined by the author of the Tugg and Teeny series and recently named Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis. Stop in to say Hi, get your copy of Tugg and Teeny signed, and hopefully, grab a sneak preview of the second in the series, Tugg and Teeny, Jungle Surprises. It looks fantastic!

New book, hot off the press!

Working on the sequel right now.