unwrapping prints from INPRNT

2013/11/062013/11/05 | kirsti

I ordered a few of my prints from INPRNT.com to see what the quality is like. The print and paper quality is great, I’m really happy with it, and the colour is exactly as I was hoping for. It actually exactly matches earlier prints I had done through Opus.
The only thing that I’m not keen on is the shipping price from the U.S to Canada. It’s reasonable within the States, but to Canada I think it’s way too much ($35!). For that reason, I’d love to find out if there was a good print on demand company in Canada as an alternative. If anyone knows of any please drop me an email or leave a comment.

For now, I’ve chosen to offer the prints at sizes that are as close to the original size. As a result of the size, they come in a mailing tube:

Inside the tube, the prints are wrapped in glassine paper:

Because the paper is thick, they required a bit of flattening:

Artwork at YVR

2013/11/052013/11/05 | kirsti

Today, I dropped off a few packages of artwork at the Vancouver International Airport where it’ll be on display in one of the terminals for the next few months to a year, alongside the works of a few other Vancouver children’s book artists.

Included are paintings from Looking for Loons and A Pod of Orcas, as well as drawings and a final print from Dream Boats.

Here’s a little peek at some of what will be on view:

new book beginnings ~ db

2013/11/012014/11/08 | kirsti

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On the list!

Dream Boats made the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Best Books for Fall 2013 list (news and accompanying photo via my publisher).

Also, a copy of the book made it all the way to Japan, where it got this very nice review.
For a lot more book reviews (fiction and non-fiction), visit the Perogies & Gyoza website.

Aaaand…Dream Boats was also nominated for a Cybils. Nice!

And finally, Harper Collins is putting on a contest to illustrate Dennis Lee’s title poem of Alligator Pie. It’s Alligator Pie’s 40th anniversary. Not sure how I feel about that; I love the poem, I love the book, but I also really love Frank Newfeld’s illustrations and they were a source of endless delight to me when I was a kid. When I think of Alligator Pie, I can’t, nor do I want, to separate the words from the drawings. They are illustrations from another time – in a good way. As is the text.

On a related note, that wikipedia page on Frank Newfeld is sorely in need of some more content, and sadly, many of the out-links are broken. So in lieu of finding some images online, pick up a copy of Alligator Pie in your local children’s book store (I was pleased to see that it’s in print!). Or maybe have a helping of Garbage Delight. Or dig a little deeper and discover other book Frank Newfeld designed, illustrated, or wrote.

If you do want a little more information on Frank Newfeld, there is a write-up on him for a past GDC BC/Alcuin Society/CDOT/Canada Council/SFU event with a bit more info. I feel fortunate to have been able to attend this, especially given the great memories I have of the time I spent with his illustrations as a kid.

There are also some photographs from the event, including some photos of his artwork. Beautiful, beautiful work.

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This post is part of a series documenting my process of illustrating the picture book Dream Boats (author Dan Bar-el, pub. Simply Read Books). The entire series of posts is archived here.

View a gallery of all the work-in-progress images including first sketches, reference material, mistakes, redraws, and tests, to final art at a much larger size, here.