Elia Velasquez Murray

Happy Monday indeed! Thanks for the reminder about the #kidlit postcard - I want to work on one.

Otherwise I’m feverishly working on some final book art! Hoping to wrap that up this month. It’s been taking me waaayyy too long.

Illustration of woman counting to three on her fingers

What are your plans for this weekend?

It’s a three day work week for me!!I am so ready for this long weekend. I need a nap. I need some wilderness. I need to lay in the sun and stare at a blade of grass for way too long. 🫠

Sneak peek of the book I’m currently working on.
#kidlit #kidlitart

Potatoes are the beeessstt

Animal is. She let me know it is a white tiger.

So on my lunch break today I finished the series - three years later - with such a full heart.

This is why I love art. I made “silly doodles for kids” three years ago and they are still loved, and still thought about. #kidlitart #kidlit #artlove

That the kids still loved then and liked to show their friends “their own personal drawings from the nice lady at the campground”.
She told me that the eldest didn’t have a drawing, because he hadn’t been camping that year.
So of course I needed to complete the set and asked what his (cont)

Three drawings pinned to a wall. One is a wolf howling, one is a kitten with a yarn ball, and one is a lion with a butterfly.

Had the most beautiful message today. A woman sent me a message: “I was wondering if you’re the wonderful lady we met camping that did the drawing for our kids.”

This camping trip was three years ago - and I don’t know how she found me.. but she sent me a photo of my sketches and told me..(cont)

Happy Monday ✨

I’m not a big landscape person - I love seeing other peoples landscapes but I struggle to make and practice my own.

I’d really like that to change. So a goal of mine this year is to really lean into the landscape study and playing with color fields.
#kidlitart #sketchbookpractice

😂 true but the one in my head wouldn’t have very nice ones

Lately my brain keeps coming up with chapter book/YA concepts and I’m like “Come on brain! We’re a picture book illustrator!! Think picture books!!!” 🫠 but no… apparently I’m void of those ideas right now. #kidlit

Hahaha the lord of the rings has been on my list for sooo long too but I jussstttt caaannntttttt - such a commitment!!

A drawing of a girl in green clothing holding an arrow.

Listening to the audio book of The Hunger Games (I know I’m late) and I am thoroughly impressed with how shot-for-shot the movie/book is! Except (this might be controversial) the movie wins by expanding upon the book to show behind the scenes, beyond the arena… and that’s really cool. 🤯 #kidlit #ya

Thank you so much!

Wishing you a speedy and enjoyable new technique!

Lol ahhhh yeah that’s a rough spot to be in!! And you pretty much won’t know for sure until the book is finished when you’re finally comfortable with the new technique 😅

Huzzah! Welcome welcome!! The more the merrier!

Welcome welcome! It’s nice being in a big group of “new” people to a “new” platform. I feel like it sort of takes the pressure off because we all just getting to know the space and each other :)

Thank you so much!!

Hi Kellie! I’d love to be added #addkidlitart - I’m still learning how this app works and didn’t realize I needed to be added!

Now BlueSky is open for everyone, It would be good to make a new introduction. 💖
Hi! I'm Maria Antonieta, I'm a children's illustrator from Mexico. Currently, I'm looking for new projects and Representation too!
My website: www.mariadrawss.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/mariadrawssa...
#kidlitart

Kidlit illustration showing a group of students showing off their art creations to their teacher. One little girl has made a giant paper dragon.

I hear there’s going to be a flood of new #kidlit people joining now that Bluesky is open!! Looking forward to connecting with more #illustration folks and #kidlitart people.

Hi! ✨

Bluesky is now open for anyone to join | TechCrunch Bluesky looks and functions like Twitter at the outset, but the platform stands out because of what lies under the hood.

Woohoo! Bluesky is now open to the public, no invite codes needed!! For those who need it, feel free to use my Starter Thread: Debbieohi.link/starter

techcrunch.com/2024/02/06/b...

A pirate dad and pirate girl swing their swords and yell while standing in front of a cloudy sky. For kidlit

Ahoy and happy Monday!
The rain has been incredible here in CA - feels like an oceans worth of water has poured. Nothing that these two can’t handle of course!

Working on a story for them at the moment. Anyone else love a good pirate story?

#kidlit #kidlitart #kidlitauthor #pirates

An illustration of a woman in glasses looking up at a poster with a super cat surrounded by little admiring cats. Text on poster reads: "Our Favourite Picture Book, by John Writer" and "Our class has drawing his character!" The woman in glasses is labelled "Jane Illustrator, Feeling Miffed" and her thought bubble reads "But…John Writer didn't decide how this character would look…I did!" In the bottom right corner: #PicturesMeansBusiness, signed by artist Sarah McIntyre.

Gentle reminder to authors & publishers of illustrated books launching this week: Remember to credit/tag the ILLUSTRATOR, esp if you're using their art in promotional materials. See www.picturesmeanbusiness.com Illus: @sarahmcintyre.bsky.social #PicturesMeanBusiness #KidLit

I love a good power outage. They make everything feel magical and mysterious. When I was little and lived out in the sticks we would get them a lot. I had my own little walking candle and a box of matches next to my bed. The wind would howl, the rain would fall, and me and that candle would dance.

A singing wizard with birds flying around him. He is riding on a singing donkey.

A grumpy dragon who has broken a violin in half.

A singing wizard and a not-so-singing dragon for you this fine and rainy Sunday. This is some early concept pieces for a game from a while back. I would absolutely love to do some more designs for games! Or maybe some middle grade fantasy books #kidlitart #kidlit #mgart #mglit

Congratulations on getting your idea!! I made it but I definitely had to be ok with “bad ideas” .. that was almost the whole lesson I took haha be ok with just having some bad ideas. But hey! I got a couple I totally want to go back to which is great.

I love that feeling when you meet someone and you just know you’re going to be friends. Like meeting a mirror to your own heart. 💕

#kidlitart #kidlit

Thank you so much!

I’m still definitely learning the ropes on this platform and am excited to dive into this community. Any information is welcome :)

Hello Brian! I would love to be included :) I’m pretty new around here

Great color scheme ✨