Paul Erdos!

PAUL ERDOS!!!

okay, today i'm posting about a book that's near and dear to my heart. this is a book called "the boy who loved math", written by the most excellent deborah heiligman. it's about a real mathematician named paul erdos, who was probably the most prolific mathematician of all time. he never lived in one place -- instead he traveled around the world, lecturing, discussing, and living math. he died a while back, but i was able to attend his centennial celebration in budapest last year, and got to meet many of the amazing mathematicians i illustrated in the book. the book came out last year, and has gotten some great critical notice. plus it's won an award or two to boot. but this book is crammed with math! i shoved as many mathematical concepts, diagrams, and equations as i could find into every image, and included massive detailed notes about it all in the back.

so please please please go pick up a copy of this one! deborah's writing is phenomenal, and so child friendly without being condescending (which i love). here are some images to hopefully entice you...

This one is an image of Paul as young child in Budapest with his mother.  The numbers you see in the background are examples of prime numbers.

This is an image of Paul at the black board.  It's a pretty iconic image.

this is a full illustration of the "erdos number", a number that all mathematicians covet. if you wrote a paper with paul erdos, you have an erdos number of 1. if you wrote a paper with someone who wrote a paper with erdos, you have an erdos number 2, and so on. sound familiar? yup, the six degrees of kevin bacon was inspired by this concept. and me? i have an HONORARY erdos number of 1.5! since the book is a published work, and i collected the advice of many mathematicians with erdos number 1 on it, and i guess erdos himself is included in absentia, then i was given this number. totally love it. so if you want an erdos number of 2.5, you've got to publish a book with me.

Lunar New Year Post # 8

okay, so i missed a couple postings! i made it, alive, to the camellia parade, and just got back!  loved it, hometowns are the best at welcoming back their wanderers.  loved every second of it!  i'm not keen on posting photos on this site, but here's one of me where you barely see me, but can see my crew (husband alex puvilland, artist extraordinaire, and leo and adrien puvilland, miniature humans extraordinaire!

and here's a link to the star news article on the event:
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/lifestyle/20140221/temple-city-to-celebrate-70th-annual-camellia-festival-and-parade-this-weekend

and finally, another image from something i'm working on...

Lunar New Year Post # 7

i wanted to post something else tonight, but you'll have to forgive me, as the antibiotics i'm on is really wiping me out.  i just do not do well with medication, seriously.  so instead, i thought i'd freak you guys all out by showing you the covers of all the books i've done in the past ten years.  the really really sad part is, i think i'm still missing a few.  for any of you whom i've worked with, if i am missing an image, let me know and i'll yell at myself tomorrow.  how sad am i?

Lunar New Year Post #6

Guess who's going to be the Grand Marshall of her hometown's Camellia Parade? This girl! So for any of you interested in seeing me and my boys and possibly my husband if i can convince him, ride by in a car and wave like an idiot, come to the parade in Southern California! It's followed by a good old fashioned carnival, all benefitting my lovely old Temple City and its many businesses and schools.

A total side night, it turns out I have pneumonia. i THINK i'll be alright come parade time next Saturday, but if I'm looking wan and pale at all, you insiders will know why...

GO TC RAMS!

Lunar New Year Post #5

Well, here's a project I've been working on that has it's own Facebook page -- all based on the adorable "Vampirina Ballerina"! Written by the lovely Countess Anne Marie Pace, this is a "how-to" manual for any fledgling vampire on how to succeed in the world of dance. To see more than just these offerings, please go check out the "Vampirina Ballerina" page in Facebook. 
https://www.facebook.com/VampirinaBallerina

Close observers will notice a similarity between the main "undead" heroine, and a certain little Vietnamese wannabe who wanted to dance as a little girl... Enjoy!

Lunar New Year Post # 4

so for all of you out there wondering how i can do all this art with two little ones underfoot, let me tell you that i can't.  tonight's post might as well be called "Why a home studio needs to have a lock on it."  so here is the evolution of a piece from a sketch, to a finish, to a ruin.  it's a piece from my book "12 days of christmas", coming out later this year.  i had just finished this painting, left it on my drawing board, and went to use the restroom.  when i came back, my little three year old (well, two and a half at the time) had snuck in and put his own brilliant swashes all over it.  it was the only time in my life i ever screamed at my son, and then broke down into tears.  even now, i can't look at it without a strong pain in my heart...  but c'est la vie!  my kid is still adorable to me, but MAN i've discovered the way that i must lock my studio door from now on, even just going to the bathroom...

here's the sketch

the finish

the ruin!

Lunar New Year Post #3

Sorry all, I missed yesterday! Here's my early day entry, I'll post again later tonight. This one is all about "Bo of Ballard Creek", written by Kirkpatrick Hill, illustrated by yours truly, and winner of the 2014 Scott O'Dell Award for Fiction!!! Very awesome for this amazing writer and this lovely book. Here's a review of the book:
http://www.hbook.com/2013/06/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-bo-at-ballard-creek/#_
and here are a few images from it. Pat has written a sequel, which is the third project on my desk I'm working! Hopefully to come out next year. When I got more polished images, I'll post those too.

Lunar New Year Post # 2

Here's the other book I'm currently working non-stop on.  This one is written by the great Jerry Spinelli, and it's called "Mama Seeton's Whistle".  The story is about a young mother who uses a two-note whistle to call her children home.  It's very sweet, and very very nostalgic.  I kept the palette almost black and white for that reason, with small punches of color to represent the whistle.  Here's a spread, let me know what you think...

Here's a sketch of the cover too.  Not finalized yet, but you get the rough idea...

Tomorrow night, I'll post from the book "Bo of Ballard Creek", which as the winner of the 2014 Scott O'Dell Book for Fiction award (yay!).

OFFICIAL ENTRY NUMBER ONE CELEBRATING LUNAR NEW YEAR 2014!

So here's what on my desk right this moment -- well, half my desk, I've got two other projects on the docket too. Those are coming tomorrow night! This one is from a book that I wrote ages ago, but am just not finally bringing to finish, called "There's No Such Thing As Little". It's a book that suggests that things are never ever ever as they seem. And it's a real kid power book. I won't show the whole thing, of course, but I'll give you a sneak at one of my favorite spreads. This will be my THIRD SELF-WRITTEN STORY !!!! Enjoy!

Where have I been all this time?!?