My Favorite Children's Books 3

This next book is the last one but most importantly it's the one that made the biggest impression on me. I finally found it through one of the local libraries. The first thing I did when I opened it up I took a big breath to smell that old familiar smell. Of course, you know what I mean. It's that musty, comfortable scent that takes you back.

Below I've included the pages that really hit that old childhood nerve. These pages delighted me and haunted me. It's hard to describe but it is truly wonderful. This book is wonderful. And if I could find it without paying an arm-and-a-leg, I'd buy it.

Suppose You Met A Witch
By Ian Serraillier Illustrated by Ed Emberley


As a child I definitely had a fear of
drowning after seeing the image below.

I was definitely glad that nasty, old witch got
her comeuppance but it was quite a ghastly way
to go. Later on, a farmer sets a match to the thistle
hedge that the witch is tangled in.
"And that was that."

My Favorite Children's Books 2

Here is another children's book that made a big impression on me as a kid. Once again, I had no idea of the title, author, or illustrator. I could only remember that there were some very odd creatures and monsters in the book. I remember copying the illustrations of some of the weirder creatures as a kid. I recently read these books to my nieces who are 3 and 4 years old. As I read to them I realized that these books were pretty horrific and that many of the latest kids books I've seen recently are pretty tame.

Grandpa's Ghost Stories by James Flora


I imitated the image below in my own drawings as a kid. I found the cross section of the cave fascinating. To be able to see inside and out of the cave was genius.


The image of below is something that disturbed me a kid and still does.

My Favorite Children's Books 1

Recently, I've thought about children's books that I had vague memories of. I couldn't remember the titles, authors, or illustrators. The only thing I could remember were certain illustrations that stuck with me these 30 plus years (give or take). These illustrations had made an impression on me as a kid and probably were a gateway into my interests in artwork and other things.

I challenged myself to try to hunt these books down and identify them. Remember, I was only going on vague memories of illustrations. That's it. No names or titles. My first step was to go to the public library I frequented as a kid. I went through their entire Easy-Reader and Juvenile sections. I didn't find any of the books but I did come across one book that featured illustrations of a similar style to one of the books I was searching for. I took down the illustrators name and did a search online and came up with the following book.

One Monster After Another by Mercer Mayer

As a kid I was interested in anything that involved monsters. That's still true today. Below are some of the images that have stayed in my mind all of these years.

Check out these pages that feature a Lovecraftian horror.This image is from the stuff of nightmares. I love it!

Grad Caricature 4

This is the final graduate caricature. It was also my most difficult to complete. I really struggled pinning down the likeness while trying to achieve some sort of exaggeration. In order to create a successful caricature I really need to experience a person's attitude and personality. This girl was always subdued in my presence but I knew well enough that she was quite fun-loving and mischievous around her friends outside of the classroom. That left me drawing solely from photo reference, which bore no fruit. After days and many sketches later I came up with the above drawing to my joy. I think that I balanced the likeness with exaggeration pretty well. When I finished the image it felt like I just gave birth.

Grad Caricature 3

Here's the third caricature I did of our school's 2010 graduates. After I finished this one I realized that it kind of looks like Tracy Morgan.

Grad Caricature 2

Here's the second graduate I drew using pencil and Photoshop.

Grad Caricature 1

The senior class asked me to create caricatures of them for the graduation day program that was handed out for the ceremony. Here's the first one I did using pencil and Photoshop.

Crayon X-Men Caricatures

I know the end of the school year is upon me when I start doing caricatures of students. I don't start projects during the last week of classes because we probably won't finish them. So, as a form of classroom management I will pick a student in class and draw a fast caricature. The three knuckleheads in the image are from a class I refer to as the "Sweat Hogs." I've drawn these three many times before because they have faces and personalities that lend themselves to exaggerated caricature. The boy represented as Wolverine has recently become obsessed with the X-Men so I decided to represent these three as such. All three caricatures are on an 11"x17" copy paper. They were penciled and colored with some crappy crayons. All finished in a 45 minute period. From left to right: Nightcrawler, Beast, Wolverine.

Deer Under Stars 3 - Final

Here's the final composition for the deer illustration. Hopefully, they'll figure out where to go out to eat.

Deer Under Stars 2

Here is the final inked image.

Deer Under Stars 1

Here is a sketch of three deer getting together to plan the night's events. This sketch is for a new book illustration.

The Hangover - Zach Galifianakis

The Hangover - Ed Helms

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Here's the work of my students.

Dr. Martin Luther King Exemplar

Here is an exemplar I made for a lesson on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that I will be doing with on of my elementary classes. His birthday is coming up.