Tuesday, December 25, 2012

A Cratchit Christmas

Illustration by Trina Schart Hyman for A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
God bless us, every one.  
Happy Christmas to all!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Sweet Serenity

"The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books."

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


Iris Bookplate
Thanks to Jonathan Shipley

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Songs for a Machine Age winners!

Congratulations to the winners of the Songs for a Machine Age contest. 
Here is the winning image.
Winning art by Rhea Ewing

Gorgeous, right?  That's what illustration does:  It tells a story,  introduces you to a character,  sets the scene, fulfills the vision of the author, and displays the creative mind of the artist.   It is so much more than a sum of its parts.  Just like the steambeast itself, come to think of it.

My piece was named a runner-up!  My thanks again to Heather McDougal.


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Steambeast Unveiled

Steambeast festival design,
By Joanne Roberts

As promised, here is a concept of what Heather McDougal's steambeast might have looked like at the annual festival.  Its central core is a sphere.  It is composed of brass, copper, vellum, and other materials.  I enjoyed playing with the mechanical parts -- trying to reinvent them in an organic way.  The mythical steambeast is supposed to redesign itself as something totally new and inscrutable each year.  I wanted a beautiful form whose purpose was not readily identifiable. Thanks, Heather.  This was a good exercise, not to mention loads of fun!
Look for Heather's debut novel, Songs for a Machine Age, published by Hadley Rille (Ingram, dist.).

Sunday, December 2, 2012

PiBoIdMo Accomplished

A BIG thank-you to all who could make PiBoIdMo such a smashing success in 2012. I made my goal of 30 ideas in 30 days,  more than doubling that number.   Congratulations to all the participants.  I hope you made your goal too.
As a newbie, I had no idea what to expect.  The whole artistic community was very supportive.  I am blessed to be part of such an industry!  So here's to December, when I can finally unleash my inner critic on the list of ideas.  That's IF he promises to behave himself.

There's more to come on Tara's blog . . .


Saturday, December 1, 2012

Beth Bogert, Illustrator

Just a quick note to say Beth's page from 5/20/12 has been updated.  Check out her new site.

If anyone notices any other broken links, please contact me.