Here’s a really fun puzzle spread illustration created for the October 2022 issue of Chirp Magazine, depicting the Fiddler Festival in Alsace of France! A lot of liberty is taken here so kids get a glimpse of the real thing, but can find letters hidden in the scene, among other things to do within the scene! My thanks to those at Owl and Chirp for the enjoyable project!
Something New! Grassi Lakes Hiking Trails Illustration Spread
This illustration for the summer 2020 issue of Chirp magazine took a lot of turns due to the Covid-19 pandemic, changing subject matter twice before it became what you see here. My poor clients! We all survived and in the end, it was decided the Grassi Lakes Hiking Trails in Alberta, Canada would be showcased! It was a fun challenge to look at the map and work out a stylized illustration of place geographically. I have the view looking north to south. Anyway, what a great place to visit and hike, see the falls, and rock climb among many other activities. Here’s the official link to the provincial park. I hope to discover and enjoy it myself some day! Oh, and due to pandemic, I haven’t been able to get a hard copy of the magazine, so these digital files will have to do for now. You can see the AD’s notes in the layout!
(c) OwlKids
Something New! Magzine Spot Illustrations/Cartoons -- The Great Bear Rainforest!
It’s always a pleasure to work with Owlkids Publishing and Owl magazine on their many educational projects. This time, I did a spot illustration/cartoon & map for an article about The Great Bear Rainforest, located in British Columbia, Canada. It looks like a wonderful place to check out and perhaps hike and enjoy other activities. Someday I will go! In the meantime, I hope the kids enjoy learning about this place, and that the bear cartoon and map add to their fun of learning! Samples are below. The second bear was one of the sketches I sent to see what would be best to put in that spot. The bear sitting up was chosen, but the other is just too cute to not include! And please check out Owlkids and all the books and magazines they have to offer! Your kids will be glad you did!
Something New! Magazine Puzzle Spread: "Drive-And-Go-Seek" ("I Spy")
Here’s a VERY busy 3-page illustration spread I did for a magazine, in which kids are to identify numbers of cars & trucks from the poem (by Stacy Lane) and find them in the picture. I hope they enjoy doing that as much as I enjoyed creating the puzzle! Sample photos are below.
(c) Click Magazine/Paula J. Becker 2020
Something New! Whooping Crane Spot Cartoons!
I had such fun drawing these Whooping Crane illustration/cartoons (below) for this article to educate kids about this amazing bird! I love birds and birding so getting the opportunity to come up with something humorous to accompany this article was really special for me. Please get the magazine (OWL magazine, April 2020 issue) and learn about Whoopers and more!
(c) Owl Magazine/Paula J. Becker 2020
Something New! Highlights Hidden Picture (The Corona Virus 2019 Edition)
Highlights is really one of the best companies to freelance for, I have always said! Things have changed a lot over this past decade, but they never cease to appreciate their illustrators! So with this odd time of the world shutting down and sheltering because of a very-bad-no-good virus, they have found ways to be relevant, helpful, and continue to educate and amuse kids! I am grateful and honored to be one of many illustrators commissioned to do a special HP to reflect the this period of time. These Hidden Picture illustrations were published on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, where kids and adults alike can find the hidden objects, and maybe even identify with the scene. I know I do! My contribution is below, including some closeups. Thank you, Highlights, for all you do!
(c) Highlights For Children/Paula J. Becker 2020
Something New! "Wacky Wetland Tours" Puzzle Maze
It was really fun to work on this Maze/Puzzle spread for the spring 2020 issue of Chickadee magazine! Samples are below. Check out Owlkids other magazines and books! Your kids will learn a lot and have fun at the same time!
(c) Owlkids/Chickadee Magazine/Paula J. Becker 2020
Something New! High Five Halloween Spread!
I was so excited when I finally saw how this illustration spread I did for High Five magazine turned out in print! It’s a “That’s Silly!” for the October 2019 issue. I had a blast working with the art director with the layout and coming up with all the “sillies”. I did a mix of some line and a more painterly style, as well as textures. A bit different than my line work. I hope the kids enjoy finding all the silly things as much as I did drawing them! Thanks, Highlights/High Five!
I love how these were isolated!
Something New! Highlights Puzzle--Check-Double-Check
It’s always a treat and privilege to do some work for the amazing Highlights magazine! I was given the task of doing a puzzle depicting a bicycle race across the African Savanna—with animals bicycling, of course! I had such a fun time illustrating these cute characters! Then I made subtle changes to the same illustration, which is the fun part—to find the differences! See if you can, too, if you will!
Something New! How-to-Play Soccer Illustration Spread and Spots!
It was so fun (and educational to boot!) to work on this spread for Ask Magazine! I am not a soccer player nor fan, so I learned something myself doing this! I hope others learn, too!
4th of July '19 -- A Marching Band!
Sometimes it’s fun to play with old images. I experimented with a washy, watercolor style a number of years ago. I still like many of the pieces I did. This one seemed fitting for an Independence Day illustration, so I made it into a pattern. Happy 4th of July, everybody!
Canada Day 2019
A little spot illustration for Canada Day…
Magazine Spots: "Smart Like a Pig!"
I had a fun time drawing pigs doing fun stuff to enhance this article on…well—Pigs, of course! Very informative and a fun read for kids to learn about them. So below is a spread with the spots, and then the spots isolated.
Magazine Spread: "Winter Fact or Fiction?"
Below is a really fun maze I did for Owl magazine, winter issue, illustrated in a more of painterly style than using more line.
Magazine Illustration: "Cat Craze"
Here’s something for Chirp magazine! It was a cat theme and I was also asked to do this two-page spread in a different style than the other “Cat Chat”. I really enjoyed painting all these cats doing fun, silly stuff. I hope the kids enjoyed the variety of “crazy cats, and that the puzzles were an added bonus to helping them in their cognitive growth!
Magazine Illustration: "Creepy Corn Maze"
This fun maze I illustrated is in the October 2017 issue of OWL magazine. Wow, was this fun (and intricate!) to create! When I do mazes, I also have to work out the routes, then I can build the rest on top of that. I love how this came out, if I may say so myself! I was surprised how nice all the details printed. A big thanks to all on the art directing and editing I got from OWL! They do a great job of making sure things look as good as they can! So try the maze and see how you do!
Magazine Illustration: "An Amazon Town"
Here’s a really fun magazine spread, depicting an areal view of Presidente Figueiredo, Brazil, a town in the Amazon that is a big tourist destination! And I can see why. So many amazing things to do, from swimming in a river, hiking, going to caves, waterfalls, zip-lining, etc.! After researching this area, and then drawing it, I really want to go! But for now, I’ll enjoy it through this illustration. I hope kids enjoy all the information they learn when they read and play the games on this jungle spread!
Magazine Illustration: "Cat Chat"
This is a recent puzzle project for Owl magazine, Chirp! Very fun and I loved drawing the cats!
Magazine Illustration: "Allison is an Astronaut"
I had a load of fun working on this spread for the July 2018 issue of High Five magazine! This poem, “Allison Is an Astronaut” by Barbara L. Scanian was such fun to create a scene for! Since I’ve been taking up star gazing again, I enjoyed recreating a solar system mobile, books about stars and planets, sketches that “Allison” drew, and that fun star background. I’ve been using a bit of collage in my illustrations again, seen on the floor and the star background. And besides the poem, this is a puzzle, too. Look for the letter “A” hidden throughout the illustration.
Such fun! It was great to work with Kelley Cunningham Lanuto on this! Thanks again, Kelley!
Magazine Spots: Rhinoceros Rescue!
Written on September 24, 2018 by Paula in Cartoons & Comics, General Illustration, Samples
These really fun spot illustrations were created for a magazine article about rhino conservation. I learn a lot when I do these types of jobs, so I appreciate the project in more ways than one! I’m happy to be a part of helping animals and the conservation of our world!
