Dear Nancy

I want to share this little cover I finished and sent off to Zondervan Kids yesterday (click to enlarge). This book will be a giant reply letter from the author, Nancy Rue, to her many elementary-school-aged girl fans (pub. Aug.2008). When the deadline was extended out almost 6 months, I got a ton of time to let it sit in the back of my mind while I worked on other things, and let the sketches really ferment. By the time I got to the painting table, it all fell into place.

This cover was exhilarating to do because of the playfulness I was allowed by the great art director and designer there :) I got to dive into half-dried mismatched gouache, watercolor gingham, rambly lines and digital collage. The song, "MAPS" by the Yeah yeah yeah's was on repeat while I worked, and for some reason this girl even reminds me of Karen O, lead singer.
(p.s. I am posting the bare bones final art I sent in so you can see the bleedy edges which will be cut off ).

And now I am off, on this gray and thoughtful Thursday, to finish up a secret book cover project. Come back for details soon.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week, ate stuffing and avoided turnip. My family had 2 Thanksgivings back to back. This isn't a normal occurrence, but with my large family (7 people in the immediate!) it is not hard to pull off another feast, just us. And a Happy Birthday to Dad Denos this week :) Love to you all!

P.S. My interview/feature on Seven Impossible Things is this Sunday.