Snoot - How-to-Draw Page

The monster menagerie march continues, with the curious looking Snoot. Hey, don't blame me for the silly name, folks. My assistant named him the very moment we first spotted him slogging through the swamp on Monster Island. He was standing on a half-submerged log below a hanging branch with a segmented serpent draped over it, just as you see here. I grabbed my sketchbook and sketched him on the spot.

Each spread in the upcoming Monster Safari book will feature a full-page sketch of the monster (just as you see here) on the left side of the spread. The how-to-draw page will be on the opposite page. Though we discovered many more monsters during the course of our safari on the island than you will see in the book, I selected my favorite dirty dozen beasties for the book.

Here's a shot of me in the jungle on the island, taken by my assistant. This photo was taken just moments before we spotted the Snoot. You can see that the jungle is very dense and spooky, with lots of tangled vines and roots, and animal trails that lead to nowhere. I felt like I had just climbed into a Tarzan movie.

Have you seen my other blog, The Trowbridge Chronicles? Check it out.

Limbot - How-to-Draw Page

Ten monsters down...and two to go.  I'm on the home stretch with my monster how-to-draw pages.  After this I will write and illustrate the full-color introductory pages of the book.  There will be a bird's-eye view of Monster Island and some other descriptive art.

I'm in a rush to finish the book because the sooner I finish it, the more I will sell during this school year. I know the school year will be over before we know it. I'm happy about the topic I chose because I know that monsters never go out of style with elementary age kids. This will sell for years to come. They can't get enough of monsters, dragons and space creatures. Perhaps my next how-to-draw book will be a dragon book.

Have you seen my other blog, The Trowbridge Chronicles? Check it out.

Oregon Duck Going Long for a Pizza

Thought I would break the monster monotony with a Oregon Ducks pizza commerical. This was the only painting that I ever did for my Trowbridge Chronicles blog that was not a "Mrs. Trowbridge" painting. I cheated a couple years ago and posted this illustration that promoted the Ducks for a pizza company. Now I have this blog to post my own drawings, sketches and paintings. The next post will take us back to my Monster Safari book. Stay tuned.