laura's new cool blog

THE GIRL'S BODY BOOK!
Posted by laura tallardy at 7:24 pm on July 9th

good things come in big packages.

OMG! This wonderful package of books arrived in the office today and I'd thought I'd take a photo and SHARE WITH THE WORLD!!!!!!

This is the hands-down, high-fivenest book on girl's puberty that you ever have seen. Not only is it written by the spectacularly knowledgeable sounding Kelli Dunham, RN, but it's illustrated by the one and only Laura Tallardy!!! (that's me)

hmm...

It's over a hundred full-color pages of advice, tips, tricks and interior illustrations on how to grow up fabulous and well-informed teenager- including everything from bras to tampons (quickly growing into my speciality, disturbingly) to BFFs to BFs to looking fabulous (including a great section on shoes, my personal favorite topic).

Some art for you!

the girl in the "grr" shirt is based on my awesome bff from high school who wore all kinds of scary tshirts and spiked her hair like what. it was usually different colors too, but i thought i'd reign it in a bit. hi allison!

i'd like the record to indicate that i draw people shopping more than i actually get to shop :( this seems unfair.

one of these things i'm really into, and it's not the one running all around like a healthy person.

snap!

So if you are a darling girl on the cusp of blossoming into a full-grown woman or know of any of 'em, this book is totally perfect for you (or them). Now available in bookstores naaaaaationwide, and of course on Amazon!

Comments (15)

live from brooklyn!
Posted by laura tallardy at 11:48 pm on July 4th

happy 4th of july everyone!

i was at the big icon conference in midtown and didn't get back in time to meet up with my pals to watch the macy's day fireworks display. i managed to get a pretty good view from my roof though, and watched it in the rain for a while. headed in and was getting ready to go to bed when the fireworks on the other side of my apartment started up- and this time i didn't even have to stand in the rain. much better!

See more: diary, sketchbook

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F2F: Girl Talk!
Posted by laura tallardy at 3:28 pm on June 24th

Friend2Friend, the great book club series I've been working on for Scholastic, has finally been released in its entirety. It's unfortunately an exclusive book club release so you aren't able to purchase them through bookstores, but I thought I'd give everyone a quick rundown of the books and some of my favorite illustrations that came out of them.

So without further ado, Book 1: Girl Talk! This was the first round of art for the project (obviously), and I was working in a slightly new style, so this was really cool to see it all come together like this.

Starting up a book club for girls- I really loved this illo and it ended up being my Workbook ad for the year.

One of my first sports illustrations, ever! I was never into them as a kid, or now really, so I never felt compelled to draw sports. Until someone told me to. So here it is. How to make the new girl feel welcome.

This was more how I spent my childhood.

A side note, somehow this cooks club has actually happened and started meeting at my apartment. I have no idea what I did for this wonderful happening to occur, but hot damn if I haven't been eating steaks and pork chops left and right. Yum!

And a couple cute spots to wrap things up :)

See you all next week, for the unveiling of BOOK 2: GIRLFRIENDS!

Comments (5)

Orphan Works Sucks!
Posted by laura tallardy at 12:43 pm on April 29th

Hey everyone-
Normally I'm not a big advocate of anything except for kittens and cheeseburgers and whatnot, but this Orphan Works thing sucks!

Everyone's been writing about it, so hopefully you know what it is (if not, read on...). I received this email from Mz. Cheryl Phelps, a NYC-based licensing artist and speaker, and it's got some great ideas on how to take action.

Illustration geeks unite! And write some letters!

----from mz. Phelps...-----------------
Time to write! Please take action now! These proposed changes to the copyright law affect YOU!

The changes in the copyright laws proposed under the new "Orphan Works" bill have been released and it will affect your creative career!

Write your Reps and Senators.
Refer to Bill H.R. 5889 when writing a House Rep.
Refer to Bill S. 2913 when writing a Senator.
Same Orphan Works bill, different #'s for Senate and House.

Go to: http://capwiz.com/gag/dbq/officials to get the contact info
for your state's officials.

This affects all of us, painters, photographers and designers alike
and is getting fast tracked to get through now.

Please take time to write! Fax or snail mail in addition to any emails you'd send too please.
A sample letters is below at the end of this email.

For more info on this matter go to:
http://www.gag.org or
http://www.illustratorspartnership.org

A webcast interview with Brad Holland about the Orphan Works act bill can be heard at:
http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan.html

Thank you for joining with other creative image makers to get your voice heard!

This was posted by Stella on "The Art of Licensing" Yahoo group I belong to and sums up the consequences if this bill passes:

"If we do not stop BOTH Orphan Works Bills NOW-
It does not matter that you created it.
It does not matter that you have a copyright mark on it.
It does not matter that it is registered in the Library of Congress.
It does not matter that you signed it.
It does not matter that you put a big fat watermark across it.
It does not matter that you put digital signatures on it.
It does not matter if you get a lawyer- you will get a pittance
determined by the offending company and no reimbursement for legal fees.
It does not matter even if you do as they demand and pay to register
it in the new registries that they will form - there is no real
punishment for using your work for profit.
It does not matter that you do not want your image used on a product
or to promote an agenda.
They can even sell your prints and make money!"

From Illustrators Partnership and posted on the Art of Licensing Yahoo Group by Stella too:

Here is a sample letter you can edit and send to your local and/orstate representatives and Senators. These letters work best when you make your point clear, do not curse, and make them aware that you live in their district or state and can vote for or against them.

Feel free to make this personal with your story on how the Orphan Works legislation will harm your income. Stories are incredibly powerful.

Faxes work better than e-mails, as e-mails are too easy to delete.

Congressman/Congresswoman/Senator (their name)
(their contact info)
Fax: (their fax number)

Re: The Orphan Works legislation Bill # (either H.R. 5889 or S. 2913 depending who you're writing)

Dear (their name),

My name is (your name) and I live in (your city, state). After reading about the Orphan Works bill, I am shocked and outraged that this could happen in our country.

This Orphan Works legislation, if passed, will severely impact my income and life as an artist. Not only will it give license for others to legally steal and use my work for free, it will be virtually impossible for me to afford the time and money to register my creations in all the potential new registries.

(your personal story if you wish. It should show hardship under the new bill)

I strongly urge you to vote AGAINST the Orphan Works bill and protect my rights, my copyrights, to all that I have and will create.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

(your name)
(your address)
------

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERY ARTIST YOU KNOW! THANKS!!!

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Comments (6)

St. Lucia
Posted by laura tallardy at 11:14 am on March 19th

the only painting I got done while I was there... it was unfortunately a lot more fun to laze around on the beach and order drinks and sammiches than to get a lot of artwork done.

Hola!
I have been MIA again, and I'm NOT SORRY! My sweet awesome boyfriend pulled the most insane birthday/valentines day gift I've ever received... a week long trip to St. Lucia in the West Indies.

detail

They forgot our last wall! haha, no they didn't. it's keeping the pool in <3

As soon as we got there we were informed of an upgrade straight from God and into the fancy section of the resort, called Jade Mountain. This included amenities such as a missing 4th wall, and a 30' private infinity pool in its place.

the inside of our fancypants room

insane space resort architecture

my first fruity drink with mr. mans on arrival <3

plantation ruins near the resort

The whole trip was insanely fabulous, from the beach to the biking in the jungle to the fancy pants room to the room service cheeseburgers (which we ate in the pool) to fruity drink after fruity drink.

I am very bummed to be back in Brooklyn. It's cold, dirty and there's no room service or pool in my room :(

See more: diary, sketchbook, travel

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Ladies of Twin Peaks
Posted by laura tallardy at 11:01 am on January 4th

Drawing off the TV... I love this show <3 all the actors are so expressive and wonderfully pensive all the time.

See more: inspirado, sketchbook

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all kinds of jazz
Posted by laura tallardy at 10:28 am on December 19th

friend2friend book deux!

Been away from the drawger front for a while (like the rest of everyone).

In the meantime, I've had this Creativity 36 book by my desk for WEEKS now trying to post it. It was for a fun job doing school supply packaging for Walmart, the agency that contracted me entered it in the annual Creativity contest and hey, it got in! Aces! I was thrilled when I got the news, but even more thrilled when I saw who else I was sharing pages with... Istvan Banyai, Tim O'Brien, Rudy Guiterrez, James Jean, Yuko Shimuzu, etc etc etc... hi guys!!

my little corner of creativity 36 <3

Also the second installment came in for Scholastic's Friend2Friend book club. It's all about GFs and BFFs and I got to help propagate the phrase "Best Friends Forever, 4-eva." I'm working on the seventh book at the moment- and I just got word that it's being extended to 10 books total. Thanks Scholastic! I will continue to paint my little heart out for you <3

some art from f2f...

more f2f....

the outfit & book from american girl

I'm not sure if I blogged about the Sheba Lee book- a cute story about a ballet dancer betrayed by her BFFs I illustrated for American Girl magazine a year or two ago- but it was recently made into a minibook to be sold with their ballet outfits for the dolls. And great news! The other story I did for them, the Misadventures of Average Girl, is getting turned into a minibook as well! Not sure when this one comes out but I'll be blogging about it I'm sure.

the soon-to-be minibook...

coming spring 2007 from cider mill press

And last but certainly not least I just finished up work for a girl's puberty book called the Girl's Body Book. It was a mighty feat of deadlines, cafe bustelo and mild hallucinations, but it was all worth it now that it's all finished :D I believe it'll be hitting bookstores nationwide next spring? Summer? Who knows. Watch for it though :>

Comments (8)

Friend 2 Friend!!
Posted by laura tallardy at 6:47 pm on November 11th

The first installment of the book club I've been working on for Scholastic has just been released to the subscribed masses!! It's a very exciting project that's been keeping me from sleeping for some time now- about 7 books, covers + interiors, about how to be a cool technologically connected tween.

Every month the kiddies get a fabulously designed and illustrated book about makeup/boys/parties/computers and some kind of cool toy thingy, this time it's some kind of text messaging calculator-looking thing I can't figure out. It came with instructions but I was so psyched to finally have a plain old-fashioned calculator that by the time I figured out there was no +/- button I was too depressed to keep reading the instructions and gave up. I'm assuming the fine folks at Scholastic have it all worked out.

You also get a way-cool secret diary with a magic magnet key- I had to play with this for a while before I got freaked out about the magnets and put it all very away from my computer. You slide this innocent-seeming bit of plastic over the lock, and poof! it opens! Neat :)

I don't know if it's every month or just a one-time guide to being the most acronym-tastic kid on the block, but good heavens I thought I was a computer geek! There's an entire BOOK of emoticons included, people. Edel, don't make me break this out. Kitty faces ain't nothin.

You also get a free pass to this online magical wonderland of a social networking site that I haven't checked out at all- once again I'm assuming the fine folks at S-to the -lastic have the magical wonderland bit worked out.

All together a very fun package that I would be thrilled to have gotten as a kid (oh heck- I had a great time getting it as a relatively immature adult), and if there was still time to sign up for it I'd say y'all totally should. But.... it's too late for any of that now ;_;
Anyway, some art!

An interior spread for you!

Another one! For you!

This last one.... is not for you. Just kidding! Totally is. Got ya ;)

Stay tuned next month when I get the next packet 'o coolness and procrastinate blogging about it until it's not really as relevant as we'd all like it to be! Yay!

See more: books, publicity jazz

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Chairlift & Purple Crush
Posted by laura tallardy at 10:51 am on October 23rd

From left to right: Aaron Pfenning, Jonathan Patrick Wimberly and Caroline Polachek.

Kate and I caught the Chairlift show last night at the Knitting Factory. It was very dark and I missed everything but the last two songs :( but here they are. Chairlift is a great group from Brooklyn, they recently got back from their national tour and are back to givin Brooklyn their love <3

The myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chairliftmusic

We also hung around for the next show, Purple Crush, which was one of the cutest bands in existence. Composed of newlyweds Isla Cheadle and ...her new husband, they were really too energetic to be contained in one venue. The music was deliciously addictive too. http://www.myspace.com/purplecrush

See more: inspirado, music, sketchbook

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musicians takin over!
Posted by laura tallardy at 8:56 pm on October 14th

luckily i didn't have to go far to hang out this weekend, a bunch of friends came over with armloads of electronic music equipment and had an impromptu jam session for a few hours. everyone sounded fabulous for as long as i could stay awake :)

here's kate on violin, jp on the drum machine, and dan on the synth.