Happy Halloween!

We were lucky that Hurricane Sandy mostly passed us by. We had lots of rain and wind, and the kids had no school, so we took advantage of their day off to carve some pumpkins. This year my 8-year old wanted a really scary pumpkin so I drew this and she carved it:

We were also at a fair earlier in the Fall and came across a pumpkin and gourd artist who carved the surface of pumpkins using carving tools for linoleum blocks. I had some at home so thought I'd give it a go:

Scale of the Universe

This is just very cool: The Scale of the Universe, by Cary and Michael Hwang (who were 14 when they created this), an interactive graphic that covers the scale of all things in the universe, from the smallest things (quantum foam, planck length) to the largest (the observable universe). It starts with a screenshot of humans:

Click here to go to the interactive graphic

Five Ways to Increase Your Blog's Page Views

So you started a blog. What's the secret to increasing its page views? This blog is tiny compared to many, but happily, it's going in an upward direction. 


This blog bumped along until a year ago, when I made a concerted effort to post more consistently and increase my exposure. Here are five things I did that helped increase my page views and readership:

Picture Book Trends Update: Fall 2012

This summer, I lamented the fact that the big box bookstore no longer featured picture books in its main display in the children's section. I went in a couple of weeks ago and, happily, the picture books are back:

I also take heart, because although it still helps to be Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, or Laura Numeroff to get featured on the main shelf, look at the top left corner. Sherri Duskey Rinker is a first-time author who has seen her debut picture book, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site rocket to the best-seller charts. My blogging friend Romelle Broas has a fascinating interview with Sherri about how she defied all the unwritten rules of the publishing industry (no rhyming books, you need an agent, no bedtime stories) to achieve her success.



If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:

• Picture Book Trends: mid 2012 Report (Aug. 2012)
• More Picture Book Trends: Holiday Edition (Nov. 2011)
• Picture Book Trends: Part 2 (Oct. 2011)

Sweet Squares Collage

© 2012 Sylvia Liu

I had a great time participating in illustrator Diandra Mae's Sweet Squares challenge. I started out doing a piece every day, and ended up doing groups of pieces, but I felt that I learned a new technique or tried out a new idea in each piece. I'll definitely continue to make more squares.

This collage looks like it's missing one more square, doesn't it?


If you liked this post, you may also like:

• More Sweet Squares (#23 - #28)
• Funky Frog from Melted Crayons 
• Kraken (Sweet Square #3)

More Sweet Squares (#23-#28)

© 2012 Sylvia Liu

Catching up on a few more Sweet Squares. Continuing the theme of mild existential despair.

© 2012 Sylvia Liu

And RIP little panda that was born at the National Zoo and only lived a week:

© 2012 Sylvia Liu

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy:

• Haring Homage (Sweet Squares #19 - #22)
• Meaning (Sweet Squares #16 - #18)
• Panda Art (Sweet Squares #11 - #15)