lello news

Have a safe and happy holiday season! We’ll see you in 2010 with new art and fun.

Go easy on that Eggnog.

They’re on the way… hopefully we haven’t missed anyone. If you’d like one, shoot us an email and I’ll drop one in the mail.

Introducing our Snowy Night Puppy and Christmas Tree card sets just in time for the holidays.  Each set includes 8 fold-over cards with matching white envelopes. Cards measure 6 1/2″ x 4 3/4″ and are blank inside, perfect for you to add your own special message.

Christmas card sets are available for purchase from our Etsy store at:  www.etsy.com/shop/lello

The other day I gave my son Jackson a sketchbook and a red pen.  He’s at that age where he really likes to draw and he’s often asked me about the sketchbook I carry around, so i thought giving him is own book might be a fun gift.  I explained to him that he could draw and/or write anything in the book that he wanted… that it was his book to do with what he pleased.

Apparently this gift made quite the impression on him as he’s taken it to school with him every day.  Each night he shows me his days’ work.  When my wife went to pick him up from school yesterday, she found him drawing horses with a bunch of classmates gathered around watching.  Can’t say it doesn’t bring a smile to my face when I think about it.

I apologize for the slow down in posts. For those of you that don’t know, I injured my arm at the beginning of June. The injury required surgery and I’ve been working through physical therapy since. The whole experience has been frustration as it’s really slowed down what I’ve been able to accomplish… oh well right.

Anyhow… in keeping my posting some of my illustration favorites, here is another illustration I created for a cookbook. Surprisingly enough, pots and pans are fun to draw.

Frank Daenen has been a favorite illustrator of mine for some time… I can’t even remember how I came across his work, but I’m glad I did. Frank is an accomplished Belgian children’s book illustrator, and his original compositions, color/texture usage, and view of the world are things that I both admire and aspire to. If you haven’t have the privilege of seeing Frank’s work, you can check out his collection online here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frankdaenen/

A few weeks back, after attempts to get my hands on his books here in the U.S. had gone nowhere, I emailed Frank to ask if he had any suggestions. To my great surprise, he offered to ship me his books personally. They arrived a short while ago… and I’m in awe. Although they’re not written in English and we can’t understand a word, it hasn’t stopped me and my eldest (Jackson, 4 years and 355 days old) from flipping through each book at story time, making up our own plotlines and dialogue for each page.

Jackson, as well as dad, is especially intrigued by the little illustrations Frank drew on the inside cover of each book before shipping them to us. How cool is it that an artist thousands of miles away sent us books of his drawings, including one that was hand-drawn especially for us? Very cool indeed.

In no particular order, here are books I ordered:

Frank Daenen’s newest book called, Een Huis Voor Wiezewotje …

… A book of bunnies called, Laps En Wieb …

… And a book where a mouse, cat and dog appear to cause havoc in a young boy’s house called, Muizenbeetje …

Not pictured are the interior illustrations Frank personally drew for us… You’ll just have to order your own books for that enjoyment.

Why use the post office’s boring change of address cards, when you can create your own.

Illustration for a McGraw-Hill elementary level text book.

Until I free up some time to build a proper area of the site to showcase my illustration work, I thought I’d post some of my favorite illustrations here for your viewing pleasure ;)

The following piece was commissioned by McGraw-Hill and published in an elementary level text book.

Just wanted to quickly thank everyone who stopped by and chatted with us at last Sunday’s Summit Street Fair. The weather and company were perfect…. we had a great time!

If you missed us, don’t worry, we’re gearing up for more local appearances. Dates and locations to come soon.