The Latest

First off, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a wonderful 2012.  We could all use a better year, no?

I just wanted to come in here and share a couple of new updates on my website.  I've added a few new illustrations to my online portfolio.  One of which is a holiday card design that I entered into a contest.  I'm proud to say that it won!

While you're in my portfolio, you might notice that I've moved a few items around.  The navigation menu is now on your left instead of on top.  I thought t was probably too confusing up on top, so I hope this way it is easier to navigate.

I've also added a new book that I illustrated, "Ava and Alexis - First Day of Ballet", written by Annette Oquendo.  It is available for purchase on Amazon.

I plan on adding more and more of my work.  Please keep your eyes peeled for new updates.  I will be adding another children's book I completed illustrating last month as soon as it is published.  I will also be beginning a new children's book project.  I've written a story and just have to illustrate it and publish it.  I hope to have that project completed by late spring, early summer.  Wish me luck!

Well, I hope all is well with everyone and hope you have a wonderful end of 2011!

Much Love,
Michelle Hewitt

A little piece of Fan Art...

So, I discovered an ebook called Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher.  It turned out to be such a great read that I went ahead and read Demon Day (book 2) and Demon Dark (book 3) and am eagerly anticipating the release of Demon Boy (book 4) for the summer of 2012.

I was inspired by the main character, Rae Wilder and contacted the author to let her know I wanted to draw   Rae for fun.  I just needed to confirm her features for me.

Anywho, this is what I came up with...

I'm happy to say that when I sent it to Miss Fletcher, she loved it!  She even proudly posted it on her own blog.  How exciting is that?  Here is the link to her blog post:

http://fictionfierce.blogspot.com/2011/11/rae-wilder-fan-art.html

Rae only recently found out that she is a fairy, rather than a human.
She is also the fairy High Priestess and very powerful, so she is under a lot of pressure.
In this drawing I depicted her biting her lip and tugging at her hair,
just as she often does in the books!

Thanks for checking it out!

A Little Preview

When much of the work that's keeping me busy these days is complete, I intend to embark on a new children's book project of my own.  I've had the story written out for a while and toyed with the main character's look.  Finally, I came up with the above and I really like her.  She's perfect for the "part".

Without giving much of the story away, let's just say for now that you shouldn't let her appearance deceive you.  This is not one of those gothic/dark children's tales.  Though, I love those and my children find them pretty cool.  This girl is just, well, different.  And the story is more about friendship and love and wonderful surprises.  

I hope to have it completed and released by Spring of 2012.  That is the goal anyway!

Holiday Pencil Portrait Special

Stumped on what to get that special someone for the holidays?  How about a Pencil Portrait?

Right now, through November 31st, I am offering 50% my regular Pencil Portrait pricing as shown below.

Offer limited to one portrait per customer.  This means if you decide to order more than one portrait, only the first portrait will be 50% off.

8x10 or 9x12 - REG $50 -- DISCOUNTED $25

11x14 - REG $65 -- DISOUNTED $32.50

New Book!

My latest project is finally completed!

I am proud to announce that I have illustrated a children's book for an author friend of mine, Annette Oquendo, and the book is now available as a PDF ebook!

Click Here To Download PDF

The paperback copy is in the works and soon to follow.  I'd say a couple of weeks max, so stay tuned for that announcement!

Yes, at the moment, the link above will also offer a hard-cover copy of the book at $25.  That is a special edition hard cover that may or may not be available for a limited time.  You are free to purchase it at said price, but keep in mind that the paperback copy will be available at a much more reasonable price once we have tied that final loose end.

We are very excited about the release and you can be sure there will be some upcoming local reading and book signing events.  Of course, I will gladly announce those when the time comes.

Website Issues & Maintenance...

To anyone who has attempted to visit my website... Please be patient. The server I use has been having issues for the passed 48hrs and it is effecting the functionality of my site. Many links are not working, or they work sometimes then go off again. And some web pages disappear and reappear. Big mess. If I hadn't recently renewed my annual subscription, I would be switching to another provider.

Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators

I am now officially a member of the SCBWI, a wonderful resource for writers and illustrators in the children's book field!  I've been wanting to join for some time, but just never got around to it till recently.  I am learning so much about how to submit my work to publishers and what I need to do to get noticed as an artist.  It's going to take a lot of consistent work on my part, but I hope it will be worth it.

Here's my artist's page on the website...
http://www.scbwi.org/MemberProfile.aspx?u=2972405942210914

  It feels great to be a part of this and to be included among so many talented people!

Testing...

Just testing for Facebook blog import...

Photo Manipulation - Little Cherub...

We've taken to calling our youngest daughter our "little cherub" She has ash blond hair that curls at the ends, and it is at just the right length that most cherubs are painted to have. She also, just seems to have the look of a cherub, especially when her cheeks are blushed.

I've been teaching myself a lot of Photoshop techniques, so I decided to pose my little angel and take a photo of her. It was tough getting just the right pose and lighting, but when I finally did (with her kneeling on our washing machine) the photo was terribly blurry. Still, I decided to work with it since getting the photo "perfect" was proving to be a challenge.

And work with it, I did...

Here is a comparison of the original photo beside the photoshopped cherub...


And here is the photoshopped version on its own...


Thanks for looking!

original

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you all enjoy your holiday! I wish I had a special V-Day sale for you, but it's a little late for that. No one would get their gifts in time to give away!

So, instead, I'd like to extend my $5 print sale. Order a 5x7 print of any of my existing work (like the illustration, "First Crush", above) for only $5 a piece! This includes shipping!

With the looong and miserable winter some of us have been enduring, I'm sure I'm not the only one looking forward to spring. I'm planning on having a spring sale as well, and maybe a couple of contests for free prints.

The above illustration has been added to my online portfolio. Thanks for visiting!
original