Packing my Bags for NESCBWI

I'm going to the New England SCBWI conference this weekend and trying to finish up my homework for the Advanced Illustrator Academy. Gee, it's been a while since I've had to do homework, I'm finding it a little stressful. Part of the assignment was to design characters and create a finished piece of art for a story that was provided. Here's a peek at my final art.

One of my favorite parts of picture book work is designing the characters. It's fun to see who shows up for the casting call so to speak. I've grown kind of attached to this little bear character, I think he might have to come live in another stories at some point.