An Award Nomination for The Shadows that Rush Past

 
The Shadows that Rush Past has been nominated for a 2013 Forest of Reading® Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award by the Ontario Library Association! In connection with the book's nomination, the author, Rachel A. Qitsualik, fellow illustrator, Larry MacDougall, and I have also been nominated.

From the Forest of Reading® website:

"The Forest of Reading® is Canada's largest recreational reading program! This initiative of the Ontario Library Association (OLA) offers eight reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages. The Forest® helps celebrate Canadian books, publishers, authors and illustrators. More than 250,000 readers participate annually from their School and/or Public Library. All Ontarians/Canadians are invited to participate via their local public library, school library, or individually."

The award ceremony will be held at the Festival of Trees™ in Toronto, Ontario on May 15th and 16th, 2013.

And the winner is...

The Peryton

...Cantervania, with the peryton! (Image courtesy of the first result in Google image search.)

Congratulations, Cantervania! You'll be receiving a sketch of my interpretation of the peryton and a signed copy of The Shadows that Rush Past!

Thanks to all who participated!

The Shadows that Rush Past Contest: Only One Week Left!

Just one week left before the contest ends! Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a signed copy of The Shadows that Rush Past and a sketch of your favorite mythological creature.

Win a Sketch!

The Chimera

If you haven't seen the post about the contest I'm running to give away a free copy of The Shadows that Rush Past, please check it out here! In order to encourage more entries, I've decided to sweeten the prize.
In addition to the book, the winner will receive an original sketch of the mythological creature he or she listed in the contest comments. The contest ends on February 29th. So, get entering!

The Shadows that Rush Past will be released in the United States in March.

Contest: Win a Copy of The Shadows that Rush Past

In November, I posted the cover art to the recently released book The Shadows that Rush Past, a collection of scary Inuit folk tales for children with interior illustrations by Larry MacDougall and me. The publisher, Inhabit Media, is an Inuit owned publisher in Nunavut focused on stories from Inuit mythology and folklore. The books are currently available in Canada. Inhabit Media will soon begin releasing their books in the United States.

In honor of the book's recent publication, I'm holding a contest to give away a copy of The Shadows That Rush Past. 

What is your favorite creature from mythology or folklore? Leave your answer in the comments to be eligible for a chance to win a copy of the book AND a sketch of your favorite creature. The winner will be chosen at random on February 29th.

Please pass this info on to whomever you think might be interested in Inhabit Media's books!

Update: The Shadows that Rush Past will be released in the United States this March!

The Shadows that Rush Past

This is a book cover I completed recently for The Shadows that Rush Past, a collection of scary Inuit folk tales for children. The book has just been released in Canada and was published by Inhabit Media, an Inuit owned publisher in Nunavut focused on keeping the stories of Inuit mythology alive.

It was tricky to develop the composition as it had to be a wrap-around cover for a square book. There are four stories in the book. I illustrated two of them, and fellow fantasy illustrator Larry MacDougall did the others. I tried some compositions that incorporated elements from all four stories, and some that incorporated the two I was working with. My art director ended up picking this one, which was less cluttered. The stories were each so different that I wanted to have some kind of transition between the disparate elements from the front to back cover, so I added the ravens and carried the mountains in the background through both scenes. I wish the scan more properly represented some more of the subtlety of the colors and values, but it always seems difficult to capture when scanning transparent media.

The character on the cover is the amautalik, a giant ogress that kidnaps and eats children. She carries them to her igloo in the "cage" on her back made up of antlers and driftwood. The scene on the back cover is from a story about a giant polar bear that has been terrorizing a community, and the arrogant hero who slays it.