Which Way USA?

Here's some work I did for Highlight's Which Way USA over the past year. Notes & links on each piece below. Which Way USA is a cool online magazine that teaches children about our states through games and puzzles. Be sure to check it out!

Maine Potato Blossom Festival.  What's Wrong?

Mystery Cave, Minnesota. What's Wrong?

Miami Beach, Florida. Hidden Picture.

Saint Mary's Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana. Hidden Picture.

Punkin Chunkin, Delaware. Hidden Picture

Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico. What's Wrong?

That's Silly, Ski Slope!

This That's Silly! illustration is in this month's Highlights' High Five magazine. Thanks, Highlights!

Highlights makes a great gift for the kids in your life. Get them a subscription by clicking on this link. It's easy!

More Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures...

Hi. I don't know why blogger isn't working well for me today. It probably has something to do with my own lack of sleep, hydration and sanity that I suffered during a recent trip to Florida. Weeeee. Anyways, here are my recent Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures which can be seen in Highlights' Hidden Pictures Club advanced magazine called Eagle Eye. Get a subscription for the kids in for life today!

That's Silly, Beach Lake!

... and some Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures.

My latest That's Silly! illustration is in this July's Highlights High Five issue. I took inspiration from many childhood summers spent at Pennsylvania's Promised Land Lake and some more recent memories of Rickett's Glen Sate Park (seriously the most beautiful park in PA).

The Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures are from July's Highlights Eagle Eye Hidden Picture magazine. Unlike regular hidden pictures, short stories accompany the illustration. In the first one Heidi and Zeke help a troubled young girl find her bunny rabbit before her family goes on a long car trip. Second, Heidi and Zeke help the Zamboni operator find his lost keys so he can clean the ice for the kids to get back to skating. 12-14 other objects are also hidden in each of these illustrations but I did them so long ago that I can't remember where they are. Wink!

My first cover.

Forgive my excitement. Here is my first cover art for Highlights' July issue which is available now. Nerdily, the sky is astronomically correct (as best as I could research it) for July 4th at about 9:30pm.

Highlights subscriptions are available here. Do it!

Heidi and Zeke snowman and soccer help!

In this month's Heidi and Zeke adventure: Heidi and Zeke help a friend find a cookie to complete their snow family and an absent minded soccer coach needs help finding a soccer ball!

Northeast Philadelphia's Vogt playground and a northeast Philadelphia rowhome can be seen in the soccer illustration. I grew up right next to Vogt playground- the largest playground in Philadelphia- consisting of 7 baseball fields, 5 soccer fields, an olympic size swimming pool, 2 tennis courts, a roller hockey rink, 2 outdoor basketball courts, a kid's jungle gym, several drunk teenagers (at night) and a large gymnasium (of which my brother fell of the roof of and broke his arm).

Oh, and our puppy (at the time), Abbey, can be seen in the soccer illustration as well.

Remember, Highlights makes a great gift for the kids in your life. There's magazines and hidden pictures for all ages! Get them a subscription!

4 Heidi and Zeke hidden pictures.

These are my latest from Highlights' Eagle Eye Hidden Pictures. I love playing with lighting in my illustrations and these four were a treat! From the sunny beach to a dingy basement I tried to get it just right.

The challenge I have about making an outdoor illustration is that I really want the sun to look like it is out and not hiding behind a cloud somewhere. I find this is best accomplished through the use of warm shadows.

When we're indoors, as we have here, the light is more diffused, it comes from above and bounces off the floor creating some reflections. This is the trickiest to work on. I still don't feel like I've quite got it yet.

A dimly lit basement comes to life by placing a partly snow covered window.Lastly, my favorite lighting to work on is dark nighttime scenes. By just adding some small light sources the eye is easily drawn exactly where I want it to be.Be sure to get the kids in your life a subscription to Highlights. For ages 0-12 it's the best magazine on earth!

Birds Eye View

This busy piece appears in the May issue of Highlights High Five. The city is based on my hometown of Philadelphia. The original art can be seen below.

March's Heidi and Zeke for Eagle Eye!

Let me tell you, drawing a bleacher is not fun. Tilt-a-whirl, however, was kind of fun.

Be sure to get the kids in your life a subscription to Eagle Eye Hidden Pictures! Highlights has something for every age. 

Latest Heidi and Zeke's in Eagle Eye!

Here are my latest Eagle Eye Hidden Pictures starring Heidi and Zeke! Eagle Eye is a monthly series of Hidden Picture magazines from the folks at Highlights. Click here to order!  Thanks for stopping by!

Heidi and Zeke Parts 9 and 10

Here are two of my recent Heidi and Zeke Hidden Pictures from Highlights' Eagle Eye!

Latest published stuff...

Hi. I'm busy. Here's some fun stuff I recently did. Have a Merry Christmas!

A School Band What's Wrong? from January 2014's Highlights...

From Highlights Hidden Pictures Eagle Eye Books 3 and 4...

Introducing Highlights' Eagle Eye Hidden Pictures featuring Heidi & Zeke!

With this month's debut of the first two issues of Highlights Eagle Eye Hidden Pictures debuting online at Highlights Hidden Picture Club, it's hard to believe that I've been working on Heidi & Zeke for just shy of a year now. In fact, I just submitted book 17 and 18's sketch last week. I've been doing my best to quietly contain my excitement but, if you know me, it hasn't been easy.

It has been a tremendous pleasure to consistently work on and develop the characters of Heidi and Zeke. I confess, it wasn't until I finished book 8's hidden picture that I realized Heidi and Zeke's names were a play off of Hide and Seek. Hoo-boy! I'm swift! 

Unlike the hidden pictures you may be familiar with, the ones in Eagle Eye are accompanied by puzzles, stickers, games or, as with Heidi and Zeke, a story! Join Heidi and Zeke twice a month as they help their friends find their many lost objects. As the tag line says: "No object is too hard to find when detective Heidi Hamilton & her trusty dog, Zeke, are on the case."

Subscribe to Highlights or Hidden Pictures for the kids in your life. You know they'll love getting their very own issues each & every month!

Sketches from the Stargazing What's Wrong? illustration.

Here are the sketches from my latest What's Wrong? illustration created for November's Highlights. 

As you can see the first one is a bit too crowded, there aren't enough average sized telescopes and there isn't enough sky showing.

The second is less crowded. The only problem is a few "wrongs" aren't obvious enough.

The "wrongs" are not a bit easier to read but more children are needed.

The final sketch.

What's Wrong, Comet ISON?

I created the back cover What's Wrong? illustration for this November's Highlights. As many of you know I stargaze quite often. Staying up late or waking before dawn to view astronomical events is fun for me, much to my wife's chagrin. I'm not entirely sure when my love of astronomy began. Honestly, I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated with the skies. I have a very vivid memory of seeing Saturn's Rings for the first time through my telescope and just how much of an impact that had on me.

So you can see why I was thrilled to create this What's Wrong? illustration. I did extensive research to make sure that the sky was as accurate as possible For mid-November at about 4am. However, I did use a little artistic license by adding a very bright comet ISON which is visible starting this month. After the comet passes the sun (which will happen this November) it could become extremely bright or completely fall apart. I'm praying it will survive and give us a great show. 

Easter Eggs in this piece include: Lowell Observatory's Pluto Dome, Galileo, Laika, a map of the Apollo 8 flight path, aliens, and my family and I on the bottom left.

Highlights makes a great gift for kids! Subscribe for the little ones in your life. Do it!

Sneak Peeks from upcoming work.

What's Wrong, Italian Market?

When Highlights asked me to make a What's Wrong? of a City Market I could think of no other than Philadelphia's Italian Market. I've only been there once in my life, during the off peak time, but I did a lot of research (see below) to make it look authentic minus the trash and fire barrels. If you've ever been to the Italian Market in South Philadelphia, or saw the scene in Rocky when he is jogging through it  (starts at :23) one thing comes to mind, "this is so beautiful and yet, totally disgusting." Honestly, it smells, there's trash all over the place, and most of the merchants are rude. Ah, Philadelphia! City of Brotherly Love. That's what makes this city so great- everyone wears their hearts on their sleeve and we don't apologize for it or care if you're offended- much like you would speak to a close family member. Ha!

I finished this piece the week my Dad went into the hospital before he passed away. Good friend and designer, Drew Phillips, helped me out with doing some flat coloring for me. All I had to do was make some adjustments, then add textures and shadows. Thanks, Drew!

Things to look for in this piece: Adrian Balboa ironing a sock, myself, wife and daughter driving a row home, and my personal favorite, a girl mouse being serenaded with her concerned Father reacting in a nearby window.

The original sketch is below. One thing I was sad to see go was Adrian Balboa carrying Rocky's two turtles known as Cuff and Link.

The scene was based loosely on these photos:

Make sure to get a Highlights subscription for the kids in your life. It really is the greatest magazine on earth.

Some instagrams of recent work.

The top two are small snippets of some hidden pictures for Highlights. The bottom one is a sketch of a guy I saw cutting a lawn in Willingboro, NJ.