Storybook Brushes

A few months ago, I received an email from Maria Bogade inviting me to be part of a small group of children’s illustrators. The idea was to join forces and make quarterly mailers. Our first assignment? A fairy tale, 12-month calendar where each one of us would illustrate 3 months of the year.

Giving that: 1) I had never done a mass mailer (although I really, really wanted to); and, 2) I liked the work of all the other members in the group; I immediately said yes. What could be better than help to get the work out there into the world of Children’s Publishing? Nothing, really!

 

 

Collaboration is a wonderful thing and we all have worked together, really hard to get Storybook Brushes to where we are now.

Shortly after my initial “YES!”, emails started flowing back and forth and they haven’t stopped. We had so much to do! We had to pick a name, decide on an identity, get the calendar designed, sort publishers and take care of our website. And that was just to get started!

At times, we banged our heads against walls and bedframes – together and alone. Now, a few months later I can proudly introduce you to our group: Storybook Brushes. And who are we? In alphabetical order, with you the Storybook Brushes illustrators:

• Maria Bogade – Deutschland
• Katriona Chapman – UK
• Juana Martinez-Neal – USA
• Angela Matteson – USA

 

 

Our 12 new, fairy tale illustrations are completed. The design of the calendar is done and our 2013 Storybook Brushes Calendar is being printed right now. Publishers will receive copies as promotional mailers. If you are an Art Director or Editor interested in receiving one, please subscribe here.

If you are neither an Editor nor an Art Director but still would like to get a copy of the Calendar? You can PRE-ORDER a copy of the Storybook Brushes Calendar for only $10 plus cost of shipping from my BigCartel Shop (USA), Katriona’s Shop (UK) or Maria’s Shop (Germany). The 8.5″x5.5″ calendar will arrive in time for this 2012 Holidays with a print from the Illustrator’s store you shop at! All proceeds from the Calendars we sell will cover our printing costs so help a children’s illustrator out! :)

For now, we include the cover and 1 month so you can see what it looks like. We will be posting product pictures as soon as we get them back from the printer so stay tuned.

 

 

 

Pre-order your 2013, 12-month, wall Calendar from:

[button_small href=”http://juana.bigcartel.com/product/2013-storybook-brushes-wall-calendar”]Juana’s Shop[/button_small] [button_small href=”http://www.etsy.com/listing/115001558/storybook-brushes-2013-calendar-of”]Katriona’s Shop[/button_small] [button_small href=”http://www.etsy.com/listing/115615611/storybook-brushes-2013-calendar-of”]Maria’s Shop[/button_small]

What? What are you saying? What are those piggies? Oh, well… I’ll tell you about them since you asked. The piggies illustration is 1 of the 3 I completed for the calendar.

It was time to get back from my self-prescribed piggy-break and what could have been a better fairy tale for my withdrawal than illustrating “The Three Little Pigs”. But 3 piggies weren’t cutting it. I needed more piggies, more piggies, MORE PIGGIES! And, I ended up with 10 little piggies.

 

 

 

While the Storybook Brushes wait for the calendars to arrive, we are posting one piece at a time on our blogs. So stay alert or follow us on Facebook or Twitter! You don’t want to miss our next fairy tale delivery. I promise I’ll post one more piece in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, support our group by ordering your calendar. And with that I sign-off for now :)

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