Some stop-motion to promote my new graphic novel series, Box Tales, that launches in September from First Second.

Dance like no one is watching! Some new stop-motion animation with a character I hope to use in a future picture book idea. #stopmotion #animation

I haven’t had much time to post lately, I’ve been in my writing cave working on the story for BoxTales book 3 and revising the outline for my new graphic novel idea, which is going out on sub. I had some free time, so I decided to rig this character in Toonboom and do some simple animation.

Some highlights from my two Indiana school visits. I was shown so much love and creativity by all the students, teachers, and librarians. Thank you! I'm always amazed that the books I've created have connected with so many people all around the US and the world. I don't take any of it for granted.

A good way to get to know a character is to design their space.

Kaw!

This is the other main character from my dragon story. When I drew the original turn around, I wasn't sure how the hair would look from all the angles. The nice thing about modeling the characters in 3D is that I can see exactly how it looks now from every angle and adjust the drawings accordingly.

Finished the dragon. Now, I'd like to get my brain to cooperate so I can figure out the story they belong to and turn this into a book. How's everyone else doing with their creative projects?

The latest from my adventures with Blender.

Here’s the latest from teaching myself Blender. I’m not sure why I spent two days on this. To animate it, I’d need to rig it, which seems daunting. I guess I did it to gain experience with Blender. Who knows, maybe it'll lead to something one day. Exploring new skills is never a waste of time.

Box gets the full 3d turnaround in Blender. I can't wait for everyone to meet Bea and Box when their first book drops this Sept.

Fun with props. Yesterday, I had an inkling to model a milk carton in Blender, and as these things usually do, it took on a life of its own. Ending with a fake ad for a made-up milk company.

I decided to download Blender and follow a Domestika course to learn the ins and outs. Here's my first character sculpt. The program is very robust, and I can't believe it's free to download.

Taking my anxiety on a little joyride.

The stop-motion adventure continues. Gilmore heads for the local Grub N Go for a quick bite to eat. #animation

Gilmore emerges after a long winter’s slumber. #stopmotion #animation #kidlit #stopmotionanimation #characteranimation