JOANA MIRANDA STUDIO

Lest you think that I settled down for a long winter’s nap, let me say that nothing’s farther from the truth. Yes, I’ve been remiss in putting up blog posts of late, but that’s because I’ve been super busy. What with musical performances and running around town to photograph my illustrations on the LinkNYC kiosks, I’ve had very little free time. However, I did just put the finishing touches on my winter wonderland art submission for the SCBWI December Draw This contest.

My latest winter wonderland art…

Started first with several whiteboard doodles. In the end, I settled on this concept:

After photographing the doodle above and printing it out on 9×12 scratch paper, I used the printout over my light box to create an inked version on watercolor paper. Today, I spent the afternoon adding watercolor to the inked final:

Here’s a closer look…

What’s SCBWI and the Draw This contest?

SCBWI is the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. I’ve been a member of the New York chapter for about a year and a half. During that time I think I’ve only missed one of the monthly Draw This contests. Each month a word prompt is selected and illustrators are tasked with coming up with art illustrating the word. (In case you’re wondering, this month’s prompt word was “snow day.”) While I have yet to be selected as a winner, I look forward to each month’s challenge. Some months I find the prompt word easier than others. The hardest thing for me this month was to create color for a theme (snow) that is basically white. My little character above is cheering not only because he got a snow day, but also because his world is so beautifully colored!

Meanwhile, speaking of a colorful world…

Thanks to all of my New York friends who sent pictures and texts of my illustrations on the LinkNYC kiosks. My five “I Love NY” ink and watercolor illustrations were up on all 1800 kiosks for a full two weeks. I confess my heart sped up every time I passed one of my illustrations on the street!

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