On Making Things Better

Recently, my book PET THE PETS (my third book … and very first novelty/lift –the-flap book) was released into the world! The concept began as sketches for a digital painting class that I took while completing my MFA degree in 2D Animation a few years ago. I wanted to create a series of 2-page flipbooks that could be united by similar characters and limited…

The Breaking News

Quick post for today – very excited to share that my debut picture book, THE BREAKING NEWS, will be published next year by Roaring Brook. Many thanks to my fantastic literary agent Emily Mitchell, as well as to my wonderful editor Claire Dorsett!  Here’s the clip from Publishers Weekly:

Portfolio update

Just updated my illustration portfolio – check it out here! Sneak peek at some fun new projects, mostly still under wraps…

Grandma’s Kitchen Process

Hello! I just got back from my first SCBWI conference and it was awesome… perhaps more on that later. For now, some thoughts on the process for one of my favorite recent pieces, “Grandma’s Kitchen/Two Sugars“. I often think about my Grandma Ruth, who passed away when I was about 11 years old. I loved visiting her & my grandpa – they lived about 4 hours away, so we…

Pattern Design: Beagles

Here’s the fun little side project I worked on last week! Spoonflower.com, an awesome site where you can upload or choose designs to make custom fabric, wallpaper & wrapping paper, has a weekly pattern design contest. This is for the theme “Beagle”(in honor of Miss P, winner of best in show at Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show). I think the voting runs through Wednesday this week,…

Rock Centaur

Two summers ago Nick made a birthday request: an illustration of him as a centaur, rocking out metal-album-cover style. And this past fall, he finally got it! I couldn’t resist a teeming audience of monsters. Here are the color comps I experimented with, many based on famous album covers (can you read my awful handwriting?) Some of the other location concepts – rock island in a pool of…

Collaboration = Awesomeness

Working from home can be a little isolating. Through online classes through Academy of Art University I’ve learned a ton about animation and illustration, but the often lackluster community aspect of sparse discussion boards and “good job!” critiques can leave me a feeling a little empty. I’ve been trying to brainstorm ways to get myself out there with other real people doing the same…

“The Smith Family Secret” – fully funded on Kickstarter!

I’m excited to say that the initial launch of my friend Alison’s book, “The Smith Family Secret“, has been fully funded on Kickstarter!  To celebrate, I’ve posted all of the illustrations on my website – you can find them here! The campaign will continue through Wednesday, August 7th, so if you want to get in as one of the early supporters (and get a first-run copy…

new website!

After letting my old blog languish for 6+ months, I finally got it together to revamp my website reuler.com and start it all back up again! I’ve got tons of stuff to post – assignments from the spring semester, personal projects (like illustrating my friend Alison’s awesome book, The Smith Family Secret!) and of course, updates on my MFA thesis. I’ve imported all of…

trunk monkey in color

Here we are – trunk monkey, color edition. The consensus from my instructor & classmates was that the colors were a bit too bright, but hey, I was restraining myself. It took a lot of self control to keep from going brighter.  Note the addition of keys in the guy’s hand in the first panel too.