“Our Celebración!” – Pre-order links & Kirkus Starred Review!

I am very excited to share with you the upcoming book that I illustrated “Our Celebración!”, coming out this October 2nd to bookstores near you! It is written by Susan Middleton Elya, published by Lee & Low Books and I am very happy to share also that it has received a Kirkus starred review!

It is available for pre-oder at the following locations: IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

 

Thank you so much to everyone that has been supporting my work!

 

Interview with animator-illustrator Catalina Matamoros

Catalina Matamoros is an award winning animator and illustrator from Colombia. She has been animating for the past 10 years and is currently working in very exciting projects for interactive children’s books in places such as Airbnb.
To learn more about her work please visit catalinamatamoros.com

Her work is whimsical, full of joy and unique! I am very happy to share with you an insight of Catalina’s work:


Q. Where do you find inspiration for your illustrations/animations ?

I really like looking children’s books and other illustrators’ work.  I like taking pictures and later using them for illustrations and animations.





Forbidden Music – A story told in Gifs – Airbnb

Q. Can you describe your process and how you came to find your voice? Which are your favorite tools?

My favorite tool is Photoshop! I do everything with it. Usually my process starts with writing. I like doing to-do lists of ideas that I have that I can later go back to. When I have a project I also write the ideas down. I try to describe as much as possible what I am visualizing and I make little doodles.

Once  I go with one of the ideas, I start sketching it out. I like working in Photoshop because I like using layers. I first start with a simple drawing creating the composition. After I go refining in different layers until I have a result I am happy with.

At the beginning I was always copying the work of others. I felt like I didn’t have a signature of my own work. but that was good in the way that I learned to be versatile. Now I prefer, flat, geometric and colorful compositions.

For animation I usually do a rough animation in Anime, after I go to Photoshop and paint it, and do compositing in After Effects.

   
Two Americans – A story in Gifs – Airbnb

Q. Congratulations on your amazing new animation projects for children! Can you tell us more about this projects and your experience in it?

Thank you! Yes, I am working on a series of interactive books for children. These are aimed to inspire children when they travel anywhere in the world. The idea is to teach them about the destination so they can be inspired to go to new places.

It was a fun experience, for this I collaborated with Lisa Vuong a talented interactive designer. Something I learned in the process was to develop interactive stories. Usually in animation we just create the story for an audience but here the audience plays and modifies the stories so it has a different structure.



  

Character design – Animals

Q. Favorite children’s book(s)/animations:

My favorites animated movie for children are:

The Secret of Kells by Cartoon Saloon
A cat in Paris by Folimage
Mulan by Disney
and Song of the Sea by Cartoon Saloon

The big O by Shel Silverstein
El viaje de los Elefantes by Dipacho
Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers
and of course Madeleine!



Q. What projects are you working on right now and what are your dream projects for the future?

I am finishing a film about face blindness, it’s a story a about a man who falls in love but doesn’t remember the face of the person he fell in love with. This short film received an animation grant from the Sloan Foundation and now it is almost done. I also want to start developing a short film about my great grandma.


 

Q. What advice would you give to people who aspire to be animators / illustrators?

Just try and practice and be patient. If something doesn’t come up the first time, try a second or a third time and I am sure it will be better. 

Thank you so much for the inspiration, Catalina!

Chupacabra drawing contest!

Please share with kids ages 5-8: draw the SCARIEST thing you’ve eaten for a chance to win a signed and personalized copy of the picture book comedy “The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra.” See attached for the rules and drawing template! (Entering is as simple as tweeting your child’s drawing with the hashtag indicated.) Four winners, one per week starting today, 6/19/17

 



¡Concurso para niños de 5-8 años! Dibuja la cosa más ATERRADORA que has comido para ganar una copia personalizada y firmada del libro “The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra“. Ver las bases en la plantilla adjunta.
(Para entrar al concurso basta con twitear el dibujo de tu niño con el hashtag indicado.) Habrán cuatro ganadores, uno por semana empezando hoy 19/6/17



The Chupacabra at the Bay Area Book Festival!

Join me this June 3rd at the Bay Area Book Festival, I’ll be very happy to see you there!
I’ll be participating in two sessions:

 

  • June 3, 11:00AM-12:00PM. FREE at the San Francisco Chronicle Stage in the Park
    Writers and Artists Whose Books You Love, Part 1: A Picture Book Extravaganza for Kids and Their Adults
    (with Ana Aranda, Jon Agee, Gennifer Choldenko, William Joyce, Michael Slack, moderated by Alex Green) Calling both children and adults to celebrate the joy of reading on a lovely Saturday afternoon in the big tent on the grass in the park. No one’s ever too old to read a great story—even if it’s meant for kids. (Aren’t we all still kids inside?) These all-star picture-book creators share some of the key moments and inspirations from their journeys as visual storytellers that both kids and adults will love.
    Saturday,
  • Saturday, June 3, 1:15-1:45PM. FREE at the Showtime Stage
    Ana Aranda Presents The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra
     Ana is a Mexican artist and mural painter, and are we ever glad she created the illustrations for this tale about three goats and the legendary chupacabra, whose favorite food is not what those goats expect! It’s a hilarious, laugh-out-loud story with vibrant illustrations to love.

More info: https://www.baybookfest.org/children/

Big thanks to everyone that has been supporting The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra , it is greatly appreciated!

 

 

Book Announcement: Day of the Dead!

I am SO excited to share these awesome news and to be working with this amazing team!
Thanks so much to everyone that has been supporting my work, it is greatly appreciated!

¡Estoy TAN emocionada de compartir estas increíbles noticias con todos ustedes y también de trabajar con este gran equipo de nuevo! Muchas gracias a todos los que han apoyado mi trabajo, ¡significa mucho para mí!

 

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/73548-rights-report-week-of-may-8-2017.html

 

Book Launch Party & Original Art Show “The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra”

The book ¨The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra¨, written by the incomparable Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by me and published by Penguin’s Nancy Paulsen Books will be out very soon!

Join me to celebrate the book birthday and an original art show in the Bay Area:

I would be very happy to see you there! Thank you so much to everyone for your support!


¡El libro ¨The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra¨, escrito por el incomparable Marc Tyler Nobleman, ilustrado por mi y publicado por Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books saldrá muy pronto!

Todos están invitados a los eventos de lanzamiento así como una exposición de arte original en el Área de la Bahía:
 

¡Me daría muchísimo gusto verlos por ahi!  ¡Gracias a todos por su apoyo!

 

7th annual Wes Anderson art show @ Spoke Art NYC!

Last few days to see the 7th Annual Wes Anderson art show in NYC!

Thanks to everyone that has come to the “Bad Dads” show at Spoke Art NYC, a tribute art show to Wes Anderson’s films!
Check out some of the amazing articles that talk about the show: Juxtapozi-D / Vice and Arrested Motion

You can also check it out online at the following locations:

Original Works : http://spokeart.com/collections/bad-dads
Limited Edition Prints : http://spokeart.com/collections/bad-dads-prints

anaranda_zissou_crayon-ponyfish

My original piece for the show (also available as a print), inspired in the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. 

anaranda_zissou2

Detail of the piece, created in watercolor, inks and gouache on watercolor paper.

Thanks for stopping by!