Sketchbooks

There's nothing more tempting than a new moleskin sketchbook, especially one with thick, rich watercolor paper. (Here's my inaugural "dip.") I love looking at others' sketchbooks so I'm enamored with Danny Gregory's An Illustrated Life. Makes you want to do nothing but play in your sketchbook all day. So maybe I won't do that all day. The SCBWI summer conference is around the corner and there's still much to do to get ready - postcards, finishing touches on the portfolio, new look for the blog (ta-da!), updating website (not yet done), practicing the elevator pitch, and of course the Saturday night outfit! All very exciting - can't wait!

Buy a Book

I am continuing to explore black and white this summer and have spent the last couple of weeks working on editorial-type projects. I developed this pencil image for use on a flyer for a certain museum group conference with a focus on bridging cultures.

On an unrelated and far more important topic, has anyone else noticed a change in the inventory in the children's book section of the larger chain bookstores? I had a chance to be in both the Barnes and Noble down the street and the wonderful independent children's book store Whale of a Tale this week. B&N has definitely reduced their offerings and seems to be stocking up on oldies but goodies at the expense of a lot of amazing new books. I hadn't realized the extent of lack of great kids' lit at B&N until I saw at W-o-a-T what I had been missing. This raises all kinds of troubling questions - most of which I have no answers for. I've always been an equal opportunity book shopper: I patronize all kinds of booksellers, and I think B&N does a great job enticing customers (a good thing for the publishing industry). But I know I've got to make a greater effort at supporting the independent stores. Without them, all these fabulous books that B&N doesn't carry will . . . disappear.