I thought I would post this drawing of a minor character who makes an appearance in Kendra Kandlestar and the Search for Arazeen. This is an Izzard (though unlike Kendra has ever encountered in her previous adventures) and his name is Ziiinga.
Many of my geeky friends (you know who you are) may assume that I named this character in reference to one of our favourite TV shows, The Big Bang Theory—specifically Sheldon’s catch phrase, “Bazinga!” This, I assure you, is NOT the case!
A young reader sent me this poster that he assembled using some of the new images from Kendra Kandlestar and the Search for Arazeen! I’m glad someone likes Ungers as much as me!
Here’s an illustration I recently completed to go with Kendra Kandlestar and the Search for Arazeen, featuring two fan-favourites: Jinx and Oki.
In this chapter, Kendra and her companions find themselves trudging through a jungle as they try to find their way to the City on the Storm. There are many traps and troubles in such an environment for the small Eens—including mosquitoes. Here’s an excerpt from the book that goes with this illustration . . .
The insects began dive-bombing the Eens in an attempt to satisfy their insatiable appetites.
“I’ll show them who’s the boss!” Jinx declared as a giant mosquito swooped towards her. With a slash of her sword she cut the enormous insect in two, leaving a pulpy mess at her feet.
“That’s disgusting,” Ratchet said. “Besides, how can you kill a bug, Jinx? That could have been your long-lost cousin!”
“Then he should have been more polite,” Jinx snarled.
I’m pleased to announce the release of Stephanie Lisa Tara’s Turtle Book, illustrated by yours truly. This book serves as a companion to one of the most successful picture books I’ve been involved with, I’ll Follow the Moon.
The truth is, I’m a little immersed in my own books (Kendra Kandlestar!) these days, and don’t have a lot of time for extra illustration projects. But how could I turn down another project with Stephanie Lisa Tara? Our first book did such amazing things.
This book is non-fiction, full of “fotos, facts, and fun.” The book uses many of the original illustrations I did for I’ll Follow the Moon. In addition, I completed over a hundred new mini-illustrations to create a little flip-book of a turtle hatching from his egg and making his way to his mama in the ocean. You can see a sample of them in the corners of the pages:
In her own words, Stephanie Lisa Tara’s Turtle Book has a primary goal: SAVING SEA TURTLES FROM EXTINCTION. A portion of proceeds from this book go to charitable organizations like the Turtle Foundation. Stephanie also asks that you consider joining the 40,000+ fans on her facebook page, Save Green Sea Turtles.
Please check out the book! In the meantime, here are a few of my illustrations for the flip book portion (they are much more fun to look at when you are actually flipping through the book).
One of the key locations in Kendra Kandlestar and the Search for Arazeen is the City on the Storm. It feels like Kendra and her companions have been search for it forever, but perhaps the more tiring quest has been my attempts to illustrate this mystical city to my satisfaction.
I’ve posted many illustrations of it over the months, and every time I think I’m done, I end up posting another “final.” Well, here’s my latest, in which I try to make the city seem less like a fortress and more like a magical palace.
I thought I would just post all the other, older versions too for the sake of comparison. I’d like to claim that this one is really my final . . . but I think I’ve now learned my lesson!
Here’s the previous versions, including my sketches . . .
Here’s a final, inked version of a sketch I posted some time ago of a new character in Kendra Kandlestar and the Search for Arazeen. This is Captain Sneeedo, and he is a Krake. He has only a small role in the book, but (I like to think) a very important one.
Here’s the final, inked, version of a sketch I posted previously that depicts two important characters in Kendra Kandlestar and the Search for Arazeen. You probably recognize Trooogul beneath his cloak. The other character is the would-be-king of Arazeen, a central location in this new book.
Last year I posted some sketches of what Unger drums might look like. The drums play an important part in my final Kendra Kandlestar book, The Search for Arazeen. The Ungers have different beats depending on the ceremony or circumstance. The “thunddrum,” for example, is played when the Ungers are on the hunt for a dangerous quarry. They also have a very specific beat for when they are headed into battle—which will happen at the climax of this book.
I decided to make the final version of the Unger drums sharp and hooked, like one of those beast’s tusks.
In a previous post, I showed the illustration I did of a new character for Kendra Kandlestar and the Search for Arazeen. As I said in that post, the character’s name is Charlo Charmsong and she is based on my goddaughter. In that post, I also listed the reasons why I don’t like basing characters on real people. Well, add to that list the fact that I had to listen to my goddaughter criticize my drawing of her character for several days. In her opinion, the girl looked too old based on the character description. (She was right, by the way).
In any case, I did several versions of Charlo’s face, and—finally—I was able to redo it to my goddaughter’s satisfaction! Here’s the final (or what I hope is the final) . . .
Today I received a wonderful package from overseas—the copies of the Kendra Kandlestar books in their Chinese editions. You can’t see it here, but the covers feature an embossed title and a French flap. I have NO idea how they translated Trooogul, Uncle Griffinskitch, Oki, and some of the other character names!
Between the Cracks of Here and There 