Illustration

Illustration Competition

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Apr 26, 2021 in Illustration, PIcture Books | 0 comments

Astra Publishing is running a competition for illustrators–a great way for artists to get your work in front of editors and art directors as well as, perhaps, win a bit of prize money.

Picture book art is such a rich and fascinating form of visual expression–I know I don’t understand as much about it as illustrators and designers do, but I love the complexity of it, the way a good illustrator will capture character and interaction and action and emotion, at the same time moving the reader’s eye deeper into the book, and of course remembering to avoid the gutter! When done well, it sweeps the reader along so easily that it can be hard to remember to slow down and appreciate the detail and the skill. Illustrators, I salute you!

How (and Why) Wombats Poop In Cubes

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Feb 19, 2021 in BOOK: Wombat Underground, Children's Literature, Dog Life, Illustration | 0 comments

Wombat himself, illustrated by Charles Santoso–just a snippet of the lovely, lovely art for this book

And…now we know. Check out CNN for more. The wombat’s intestine has two stiff sides and two flexible sides, and as muscular contractions force the, er, stuff through, it is shaped into a cube. Like a lot of other animals (anybody who walks a dog knows what I mean), wombats use poop to communicate, and leave little piles of their cube-shaped droppings in common spots to let other wombats know who’s around and what’s up.

No other animals poops in cubes–only wombats. Let’s hear it for the hero of Wombat Underground! There is no poop of any shape in this new picture book, which will be out next year, but (sigh) you just can’t fit everything fascinating and wonderful about wombats into 32 pages. There will be plenty of adventure and action and escaping of raging wildfires.

One More WOMBAT sketch

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Dec 16, 2020 in BOOK: Wombat Underground, Children's Literature, Illustration | 0 comments

Although Wombat is not actually in this one–here are Wallaby (and Joey, but I’m not sure you can really see Joey in Mom’s pouch), Skink, and Echidna.

Thanks to the ever-fabulous Charles Santoso for not only bringing these characters into the visual world but allowing me to show you some of his process as the book takes shape.

More Wombat Art

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Nov 20, 2020 in BOOK: Wombat Underground, Children's Literature, Illustration | 0 comments

Another adorable sketch of Wombat for the upcoming Wombat Underground by the hugely talented Charles Santoso. This is pure essence of Wombat–dig, dig, dig!