tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10428604293617316152011-12-30T14:43:11.236-08:00and other wonders from the imagination of Jennifer Aikman-SmithJenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.comBlogger141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-47881814385175610372011-12-29T16:36:00.000-08:002011-12-29T16:36:03.459-08:00

I’ve always been a voracious reader.  By 12, I’d read my way through our entire town library. Thanks to supportive parents and an understanding group of librarians, I got special permission to take out adult novels from the main library instead of being restricted to the children’s section.  I think Robert Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy that I read that year extended the foray into Science

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-64955003854678004902011-11-23T18:02:00.000-08:002011-11-23T18:02:43.051-08:00

There are times when a picture can say it better than any words I can write.  It was a stormy day here in the Maritimes as the first heavy snowfall of the season played havoc with schools and road.  I also discovered that one of my favourite authors on the whole planet passed away two days ago. I was a gangly 13 year old when I first read the Dragonriders of Pern trilogy and the sub trilogy of

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-61738935834499756192011-08-23T11:14:00.000-07:002011-08-23T11:14:07.378-07:00

I’ve been a bit silent on all of my blogs this summer... partly because I’m still not sure where the time went and partly because I also ran some summer camps for young writers and illustrators, hosted volleyball players for Team NB and had wonderful visits with family members who came from overseas! Paul and I held the book launch for Emily Finds a Dragon in June and got copies off to our

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-48973171340936679762011-05-15T11:07:00.000-07:002011-05-15T11:07:38.097-07:00

It is early Sunday morning and the house is perfectly still. This was a long week of self-doubt and second-guessing myself.  I’ve been pretty quiet on my blogs, but that has because I have been editing, reworking  and getting “Emily Finds A Dragon” ready to go to the printers... a book Paul and I originally thought we’d have out last fall! I debated about writing blogging this entry, but a few

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-61206713546757304382011-03-27T19:55:00.000-07:002011-03-27T19:55:57.804-07:00

When Paul and I sat down to plan out our next project last year, we envisioned how much easier a chapter book would be with only black and white illustrations, or line drawings toned in Photoshop instead of all those big full colour illustrations in our picture book. Hah! Part of the problem is that I am a perfectionist... Part of the problem is that need to earn other income while the

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-82681769470502512092010-10-12T19:55:00.000-07:002010-10-12T19:55:35.653-07:00

The thing about deadlines is that they tend to drive you just a little crazy.   You find yourself chewing pencils, rubbing sleep from your eyes and wondering over and over what lead you to choose a creative career instead of one that would let you work 9 to 5, relax in the evenings and go to bed at a reasonable hour. Does that kind of life really exist out there anymore? I love to draw the

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-87896994911325554742010-06-20T14:23:00.000-07:002010-06-20T14:25:11.967-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who won a big contest and then decided that she was going to draw pictures for her job when she grew up... 33 years later, I am still trying to find the balance between creating art and earning a living.  For 16 years, while my kids were smaller, I designed counted cross stitch and ran a business from home, but about 3 years ago it became increasingly

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-49658160862628864752010-01-05T09:35:00.000-08:002010-01-05T09:35:41.785-08:00

OK... so I discovered that some of you were WAY too afraid to show off your own doodles, so this month’s contest is all about being FUNNY instead of drawing. So this time, I'll make it easier.  I drew up this cartoon to ask the joke: Why did the Dragon Cross the Road? Just post your answer as a comment below and I will award the leftover Artist Trading Card from the December contest (the

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-13635406353254357912009-12-31T06:00:00.000-08:002009-12-31T06:00:40.129-08:00

In my other blogs, I posted my thoughts and goodbyes to my Dad, but while cleaning off the hard drive as part of my year’s end activities this morning, I found a few of the illustrations that I’d made for a Father’s Day iPhoto book for my father a few years ago.  Since this blog is supposed to be the place to share my drawings, I thought I’d tuck them here. Sing or Talk to your Kids at

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-26937867227663038522009-12-01T08:35:00.000-08:002009-12-01T08:35:59.802-08:00

I’ve just finished revamping my Dragon Dreams website and am working on the final touches to change some of the artwork on my Dragon Doodles website for 2010, so I thought I should add a little contest for some co-creativity holiday fun. A larger version of this picture can be found HERE so that you can print out a copy and use your imagination.  Drawing ability helps, but when my daughters

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-73100847938954225592009-09-18T12:21:00.000-07:002009-09-18T12:23:20.100-07:00

Sometimes... I have to draw it instead of say it.  I tied this into my Inhaling Creativity blog, but when I heard the sad news yesterday, I thought in pictures first. This song was one of the first recordings I remember listening to where I understood the words.  It also was the fist song that made me want to create something so that I could re-work an ending to a story. When I was little,

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-4731920280407048332009-09-13T18:39:00.000-07:002009-09-13T18:40:52.275-07:00

Part of the Grade 4 and 5 curriculum is a component in Health where the kids have to fill out sheets about themselves.  I have seen several variations on this theme and blogged about it on Friday in my Inhaling Creativity blog.  Since this blog is a place where I can show off my doodles, I thought it was worth posting here too...Luckily, this page turned out better than the cooking adventure I

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-28107088013288683992009-09-10T16:57:00.000-07:002009-09-10T16:58:32.967-07:00

The bio on my  Dragon Doodles website says it best:"Crayons DRAW better than they TASTE!"  On this, my 44th birthday, I went back to my childhood roots and pulled out my big box of 96 Crayola crayons.  Remember the fun of getting a new box of crayons where all the tips were pointy and none of them were broken?  Illustrators are really just little kids at heart who love to have new art supplies

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042860429361731615.post-51903305980584090132009-09-04T13:59:00.000-07:002009-09-04T17:23:17.689-07:00

     This blog is the beginning of a whole new adventure looking into the trials and tribulations, the highs and lows and the challenges of being a children’s book illustrator... the adventure of drawing the impossible in a way that brings it alive.     I need a place to share sketches, work through ideas and promote myself to a wider world.  I hope you will enjoy what you find in these pages.

Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com2