Buggy July

My family took the first week of July for a vacation road trip to Montreal and Québec City. It was our first visit, breaking in new passports, and we loved exploring two new cities. I managed to get the best gluten-free croissants ever (thanks to Erin aka Gluten-Free Globetrotter for the tip and best wishes to her in her new city!). I don’t think we did as many touristy things in our trip to NYC last year - we rode the Ferris

wheel, took the paddleboats out, found Mr. Pink, toured a cathedral, watched street performers, ate creme glacée, and watched the Canada Day fireworks. We took the Metro up to Paperole and I managed to not buy everything (it was a struggle!).

Then on to Quebec City where we walked up and down hills for shopping, food, churches, ramparts (I know now), our 3rd floor walkup, bookstores, and more Mr. Pink. We drove out to Montmorency Falls before heading home. It was a highlight, even with the 487 stairs down (and up) to catch some mist and close-ups by the falls.

I had DUCKS by Kate Beaton on my wish list for ages, and buying it at a Canadian bookstore felt just right. I’ve also been a big fan of Jess Hannigan’s illustration for a while and wanted to snag her debut picture book (it’s SO good!).

But I did title this newsletter BUGGY JULY, so… This month I knew that I wanted to share some bug drawing sheets. I couldn’t pick just ONE cool insect, so I have FOUR plus a page of imaginary bugs as a bonus. My kindergarten bestie found a stag beetle a few weeks ago, so that was a must-do. Cicadas have had their year, and I know you want to color in those red eyeballs. I’m proud that I can recognize ladybeetle larvae, and now you will too. Finally, I learned what I always assumed were moths in my yard are cabbage butterflies! Enjoy (and scroll for the rest of the post)

I didn’t draw A THING while I was away so I was glad to find an Introvert Drawing Club session the day after we returned. I promised myself to not use my pencil this time, and it made a huge difference. I do love how these owls turned out. I’m thinking about making prints from these - either as scans or repainting/collaging them.

Working: I started sketching up another new picture book dummy, this one is a winter theme. Maybe it’ll help me stay cool with all this hot, muggy weather? It’s a fun but personal story, and I’m using dogs as the main characters (not pugs though, don’t tell Hank!)

Watching/Re-watching: Mythic Quest on Apple TV. It’s been decades since I worked in animation, and I only worked in games for a hot minute, but I still relate a LOT to the creative workplace drama in this show. Funny and underrated! There’s a moment in an episode (S2, Ep9 *I think*) where a fledgling game programmer is confronted by the two creative directors about her terrible game. They ask if she would still work on her game even though they declared it garbage. She says yes, and they ask why, and she answers that she knows it’s garbage but she has a vision and can SEE something better so she’ll work to improve, thereby getting approval from the creative directors to support her education. Yes, it’s fiction, but it’s also a lot like making picture books. Minus the millionaire owners funding our pursuits… You have to push through the revisions and work because you can SEE that good or great book at the end of it all.

Reading: Catchpenny by Charlie Huston

Listening to: Sixteenth Minute. I’ll listen to anything from Jamie Loftus, and I’m starting with the Boston Slide Cop episode. I grew up a few towns away from Jamie in Massachusetts (Brockton v Weymouth) so she’s already pulled me in with deep thoughts on heavy accents.