This one is for a nifty bag-making venture, with a ren faire theme. She makes fab dice bags too. As soon as she gets her website up I'll post a link! 
Had a GREAT time at Sputnikfest 2009!
just did this lillie lemon gig poster for stumpjack coffee and since it features a modified lemon, thought i'd post it for illustration friday.
a very thoughtful pal commissioned this piece for his lovely wife for mother's day.
oooh, had this one done already and oh boy, it works with this week's illustration friday theme! nine am with one jelly donut down and i am SO productive already, look at me.
(from "Ivan the Elf's Christmas Vacation" book pitch)
Between masterpieces I am starting a local citizen's group to help revitalize our neighborhood park that needs some serious TLC. We are hoping to make it a truly "green" park with new energy-efficient outdoor lighting and to add some outdoor sculptures!
Just added a bunch of new stuff for my Cafe Press shop!
from another book pitch i am working on for my fab agent and another fab author. cross everything for me.
another scribbly one for SCBWI.
a quick made-up CD cover featuring a made-up band for illustration friday, "vacant."
here you go! it's the line art for my sputnikgirl, ready for your next tattoo! because what better way to deal with the financiapocolypse than to get another tattoo? seriously.
my son & his new bodyguard
me & my pal Vader
saucermen! run for your lives!
oh! and here's my rough:
Based on the gigantor demand for my Sputnikgirl poster (thanks everybody!), the Rahr-West Art Museum in Manitowoc commissioned me to do a poster just for them to sell for Sputnikfest! Spotnik the Atomic Wonder Dog is a 16x20 hand screenprinted poster, hand signed & numbered edition of 100, exclusively available through the Rahr-West (920-683-4501) for $20. And yes that is metallic silver!
okay, so this is a piece i just finished...anyway, it's a re-working of an old piece (below) that i did in april 2007, which was my very first piece i did on my beloved cintiq with corel painter.
that's, uh, a little different.
stream-of-consciousness. or lack thereof. the baby is sleeping so i get a chance to draw. hence the emptying of the mental lint collector.
Click for a close-up! This is a limited-edition (of 100) hand-numbered silkscreened 13x20 poster (with metallic silver!) I will be selling for Sputnikfest. Want one? Friday, Aug. 15th I will be doing a poster signing from 6-9pm at Persimmons in Manitowoc, and after that they will also be available at the Rahr-West Art Museum in Manitowoc and Stumpjack Coffee in Two Rivers.
a self-portrait for promotional purposes. this is me approximately 9-10 months out of the year. here is what i look like during the remaining 2-3 months.
Coming to a T-shirt near you, it's my Spotnik design for Sputnikfest!
here is a gig poster i did for a july show at stumpjack for a band called them damn kids (out of chicago).
and here is the pencil rough:
I found this great link about building a better illustration portfolio, so I did a study from an old photo (my kindergarten class picture). I'm the one in the glasses.
A "final rough" before full color:
A different design rough:
Another different design rough:
Oh! And Ms. Laura (my lovely client) just wrote a really funny post (which is quite flattering, thanks) on her own funny mom blog about her attempts to have said logo redesigned in the first place.
Can't decide which version I like better. 
for our pals in milwaukee...congrats & good luck guys!
The Stumpjack is one of those critters, not unlike Rhinelander's Hodag, that once (and some say still does) occupied the deep forests of the great northwoods. It's a fairly small creature, with physical attributes common to other well-known animals. For example, it has a body and tail like a raccoon, the hooved front feet of a deer, taloned owl-like hind feet, a fox-like head, small antlers and a face partially covered with a hard scaly skin like a fish or perhaps an armadillo.
The Stumpjack is by nature a secretive little beast, with rather unusual habits. Catching one (yes, they have been caught and at least partially domesticated) requires not only a thorough knowledge of their habits and haunts, but also a fair amount of luck.The most well-known account of the capture and domestication of a Stumpjack occurred in the mid-20th century in the area of Ladysmith, Wisconsin by a man named Lester V. Smith.
Birmingham Parent commissioned me to do a version of my previous illustration to silk-screen on T-shirts for their 2008 Camp Expo.
For the March 2008 issue of Birmingham Parent, cover for the Birmingham Senior insert.
sooo, okay, i drew this in photoshop and thought i'd bust out my still-in-the-box-from-four-years-ago coveted print gocco machine (!!!) and make some cute little rosemaling hodag prints...uh...okay, in a nutshell i am completely inept and i wasted a ton of materials and they came out looking dreadful. (and the baby cried the ENTIRE time.) long story short (too late) this faked one looks wayyy better. uh, video killed the radio star, right? enjoy!
calling all librarians and teachers and parents! print out this free coloring page for use in your school library or classroom or public library's youth dept. or use it at home for your own kids or what-have-you. just keep my name on it! think of it as a valentine for book people.
finished piece
pencil rough
If the Hodag works in the forest and there's no one around, does he still hate his job?
Hot damn! I received the "You Make My Day" award from artiste extraordinaire Sheree Boyd (a fantabulous illustrator) which made me feel all warm & fuzzy inside! (which is quite impressive in itself considering the wind chill was minus 40 this morning, PLUS my shriveled, bitter little heart is cold & difficult to warm, but I digress)
this thank-you goes out specifically to my pal susan (whose website i intended to link to but can't find, crap); i have also added the design to my cafe press shop so YOU can order a pack of 20 for yourself! hot dog! everyone loves to get mail!
so we are going to a new year's screening of the big lebowski for a friend's birthday (note: happy birthday, jason!) which is one of our favorite movies ever.
another quick one for art jumble. i'm supposed to be doing 6,000 other things but couldn't resist the topic, the abominable snowman. i was holding the baby when i drew it, so i'm still multitasking, okay?
(spoiler alert! okay, if you normally come to our house for christmas, don't read this one, because you will be getting this for your gift!)
a quick little one for the very cool art blog art jumble. this week's topic is "gingerbread man's revenge."
these are for my son's kindergarten cookbook. i did them all holding an extremely heavy sleeping baby and now half of my body is asleep. i'm going to painfully shuffle off to bed now, if i can get out of my chair. oooch.
for illustration friday, "little things." click to enlarge. another experiment with a limited palette.
i still have trouble with watercolor, even painting with the computer like this...but a fun experiment anyway. (and digital watercolor is much easier to work with while holding a baby.) these are doodles from a local project that a friend and i are doing.
for illustration friday, "excess."
Another one for illustration friday. From a nonexistent book. Click to enlarge.
made this for a notecard. (which, conveniently, you yourself can purchase in my groovy cafe press shop!) bring back the written word! write a letter to someone!
...demolished by a 2-year-old wearing daddy's shoes. if i would have had the video camera handy, he'd be the darling of youtube right now.
Public Service Announcement: It's not too early to order your holiday cards from my Cafe Press shop! Just $20 for a pack of ten! Everyone on your list will think you're the coolest, especially ME because I will be able to buy groceries! Yay! (Why yes, I will be putting more of my stuff in the shop, thanks for asking.)
i made this change-of-address postcard for my sister-in-law & her husband. (moving to minneapolis! jealous!) it's a little different than my usual style but a fun experiment.
now in color!
Check it out, Kim's site for Manitowoc's Sputnikfest is online!
We are revamping our store website for web sales (um, probably) & I made a new header. Click to enlarge.
Found this while cleaning out the hard drive. It was a little experiment I did a while back in Adobe Illustrator- for the CD section for our children's bookshop.
A happy little train! The name of a shop (not ours) is supposed to go in the bubbles (which is why there are so many, in case you were wondering).
