Look, A Dog.

I drew a dog.

100 Gallons of Brick on the Wall

 Hello! In my absence, I've been busy painting bricks (among other things) at the theatre.

So, here is my second "a day in the office" post.

Working on walls for "A Raisin In The Sun"

Finished product. Looks kinda cool, right?

And now for some "RED"!

It's amazing how much matching and mixing colors looks and feels like cooking.

For those who don't know, the show "RED" is about the artist Rothko.

It's opening this weekend at the Clarence Brown Theatre.

My boss said I could do one of the Rothko paintings that will be on stage

during the show! This was the first canvas I've stretched in years. 

I've still got it! *victorious fist pump* 

An in-progress shot that looks really strange due to a funky glare on the wet paint.

A still from the show that I borrowed from the theatre's Facebook page.

I did some work on those nice, grimy windows as well as the columns. 

Good thing I'm not scared of ladders...

Out With The Old

 For some time now I've wanted to give my blog a little facelift.

Well I've finally done it! 

So for your entertainment (and mine), let's take a look back

through the good times with the old header.

And now, in with the newer look:

 Since creating the original header, I adopted two of the greatest kittens ever,

so in their honor, they are now part of the blog.

Meet Pontoof & Amelie

Pontoof assisted me in the creation of the updated model.

He took after his cartooned self and went after the dragon. 

At least you know I depicted his personality accurately.

Old School Raisins

Over the holiday break I spent some extra hours in the set shop

at the Clarence Brown Theatre prepping for A Raisin In The Sun, 

coming to the stage on February 21, 2013.

Click here to purchase tickets 

I was thrilled to be given the solo task of drawing out and painting the "billboards" for

the show. Play time for the illustrator!! There were 5 different signs, of which 

I did all of the drawing and most of the painting. 

Here are the two signs I completed first.

The "elevation" I worked from, drawn by the designer for the show.

Finished piece. Sorry for the poor lighting. There wasn't much I could do about it.

A tricky mixture of "tight" lettering and very "loose" handwriting.

The signs needed to look hand-painted and aged. A fun change for me and a

bit challenging at times. Painting in my own handwriting? No, thank you.

Little did I know my hand-drawn lettering days were far from over for this show!

Kelsey, meet the backdrop elevation. 

Thank goodness we had three of us working on it. 

The following images are a close collaboration between 

Charge Artist Jillie Eves, Grad Student Extraordinaire Jason, and myself.

We drew, we painted, we drew again, we're still painting...

How the drop looked when I left today.
(For the record, so as not to overstretch the canvas, we painted all that black by hand..with brushes. Jelous?)

A detail of the left side.

I drew and painted the first coat of all the lettering pictured above (except the "US", Jillie drew that).

I love tedious activities, so I opted to work on most of the signage.

Jillie brought in a bag of Santa candy, so I would reward myself every few letters.

The section I worked on for the last couple days. 

I wasn't done with the bricks on the building yet, but I'm pretty proud of my 

Blue Ribbon sign! My boss told me that if we tossed the drop, 

she would cut that sign out and keep it.

*victory fist pump*

Hibernation Recuperation

Happy New Year!!

I think 2013 is going to be a good one (even if I'm starting it off sick).

Due to holidays and illness I've been a little lax in my postings, 

but here is my first of the new year.

Here is the finished product of the cake topper I made back in October! 

The wedding was Dec. 8, 2012, and it was lovely!

The happy couple hacking into their delicious cake!

(She changed dresses on me after I made the topper, but this way

she has a record of both! ha)

Come One, Come All!!

THE BANANA POLICE would like to cordially invite you to:

SOME EXCITING, UPCOMING EVENTS!!!

BOOK SIGNING EVENT!!

Thursday Dec. 13, 2012

11a.m.-1p.m.

Smart Toys & Books

9700 Kingston Pike #12 

Knoxville, TN 37922

BOOK SIGNING EVENT!!

Saturday Dec. 15, 2012

@11a.m.

Union Avenue Books

517 Union Ave. 

Knoxville, TN 37902

Books will be available for purchase at both locations. 

The author and illustrator will both be available to sign books! 

Come join us, and get the perfect gift for a little one in your life this holiday season!

ADDITIONAL UPCOMING EVENTS!!!

Book Signing Event

Thursday Jan. 10, 2012

Panera Bread

205 North Peters Road

Knoxville, TN 37923

BIG NEWS!!! 

The Banana Police may be coming to the Knoxville Zoo

in the new year!! Keep checking here and follow me

on twitter @kelseycroy for the latest news

on new and current books!!!

BUY YOUR COPY NOW!!!!
Click here for purchasing information!!

Books for Christmas!!

It's that time of year again!!! 

If you have any youngsters (or youngsters at heart) on your holiday lists this year,

 check out these fun, colorful picture books written by local, Tennessee authors! 

To help you on your quest

for the perfect gift, I've included some notes by each title with summary

and ideal audience age range! Give them a look!! 

Written & Illustrated by Kelsey C. Roy

Ideal Audience: Elementary and Up

Description: Written completely in rhyme, Nemanee offers an enjoyable read for adults and children     alike! Tongue twisters and quirky characters encourage that the story be read aloud. Some vocabulary may be advanced for younger readers, but the play on sounds of words throughout is designed to make Nemanee a silly read even for those who may not understand the trickier words. I wrote Nemanee with the idea that children could grow up with it, getting more and more out of the story and detailed illustrations every time they read/hear it.

More Information/Summary: http://www.amazon.com/Nemanee-Kelsey-C-Roy/dp/1463571259

Written by Katy Koontz   Illustrated by Kelsey C. Roy
Willow Moon Publishing

Ideal Audience: Elementary and Up

Description: A fun, silly story about a fictional jungle town where people and elephants coexist peacefully... until the townspeople start getting a little annoyed with how much room the elephants take up in the shopping aisles and how loudly they snore at night. So, what do they do? They call in the Elephant Police! But when the elephants are gone, who is going to eat all of these bananas?? As the town starts flooding with fruit, the townspeople begin to panic! "Call in the Banana Police!"cries Mayor McFoontz! But will the town be able to save themselves without the help of those pesky pachyderms? --- ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK!!!

More Information/Summary: http://www.amazon.com/The-Banana-Police-ebook/dp/B00A45Q87A

Written by Elaine Barnes    Illustrated by Kelsey C. Roy

Ideal Audience: pre-K - Kindergarten

Description: A sweet, simple little story about Rose and her imaginary friend Yahootie who helps her learn the skills she'll need for Kindergarten. In this first installment of what author Elaine Barnes hopes will become a series, Yahootie helps Rose learn to tie her shoes. But they don't get it right the first time...or the second...in fact they don't get it right until they've gone through the entire house tying everything in sight. But practice makes perfect, and the mischief-prone duo try and try and tie until they succeed! A great read for pre-K and those learning to tie their shoes! -- Includes an illustrated how-to page in the back of the book!

More Information/Summary: http://www.amazon.com/Yahootie-Shoe-Shenanigans-Elaine-Barnes/dp/1477692231