Sketch with Christina Wald in Tuscany in 2025!

 

RESERVE YOUR SPOT BY OCTOBER 15TH

Join Christina Wald in Tuscany!

May 2025, immerse yourself in a 11-day/10-night art adventure!

• Explore Val d'Orcia's rich history & beauty

• Savor local food, wine, and transport on us!

• $4500 single, $4200 double, or $3800 for non-sketching partners

Includes:

• 10 nights accommodations

• 10 breakfasts, most lunches & dinners

More info here: https://www.lisastatkus.com/christina-walds-a-sketching-obsession-in-tuscany-workshop-info/

Register here: https://www.lisastatkus.com/product/christina-walds-sketching-obsession-in-tuscany-2025/

SKETCHING HERE & EVERYWHERE is Available!

 

My book on sketching is back from the printer and available! It is 128 pages and Clare Finney did an incredible job on the layout!

You can get yours here. 

If you are in Cincinnati, You can arrange to pick it up and avoid paying shipping.

I also have a bundle available with the mini-palette:

Get the combo here!

Sketching Here & Everywhere: My Sketching Obsession

  

The Kickstarter for my book launches this week! 

Here is a sneak peek at the video. The footage was shot by Tony Moorman and the music is by Hans Wald.

You will be able to pre-order here: mysketchingobsession.com 

Add your email address to the mailing list to get notified when it is available for pre-order.

We also will have this mini-palette available with the book that my husband Troy and I developed.

Mini-palette in action!

Christina Wald is Publishing an Art Book!

 

Sketching Here and Everywhere, My Sketching Obsession is launching this summer. 

I have it chock full of sketching and material tips, anecdotes, and sketches

SIGN UP TO BE NOTIFIED WHEN IT IS AVAILABLE!

One of the first 100 subscribers is in the running for a free pet portrait!

Domination Illustration at Clermont College

Artists: David Michael Beck, Linda Bittner, Sarah Rocheleau, Tim Fuller and Christina Wald

The show, which was curated by local professional children’s book illustrator Christina Wald, will feature Wald’s work alongside that of accomplished illustrators David Michael Beck, who is acclaimed worldwide for his contributions to the “Star Wars” mythos; wildlife illustrator Linda Howard Bittner; comic illustrator Tim Fuller, who won a Larry award for Best Comic 2015 at the W. Va. comic convention Tricon; and Sarah Rocheleau, who received the Award for Excellence in the Visual from the Independent College and Universities of Ohio in 2009.

“Illustration is a wondrous profession where any given day you might illustrate spaceships, animals, maps or super heroes,” said Wald, who has illustrated more than 50 children’s books. “Illustrators make worlds and stories come to life.”

The Park National Bank Art Gallery is located in the Snyder Building on the UC Clermont College campus in Batavia at 4200 Clermont College Drive. Summer gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., and Fridays 8 a.m.-4 p.m. For more than 20 years, the spacious 1,000-square-foot gallery has offered visual art exhibits open to UC Clermont students, faculty, staff and the general public.

https://www.facebook.com/events/203255873710017/

Ohioana Book Festival Poster

I am so excited I got to work on the Ohioana Book Festival this year!

From the website: "The Ohioana Library Association was founded in 1929 by Ohio First Lady Martha Kinney Cooper to collect, preserve, and promote the works of Ohio authors, artists, and musicians. By the early 1930s the Library had outgrown its space in the Governor’s Mansion and moved into the new State Office Building at 65 S. Front Street, where it remained until 2001. Ohioana and the State Library of Ohio then moved to the renovated Jeffrey Mining Corporate Center near downtown Columbus. Today the Library’s holdings include more than 45,000 books by or about Ohioans; 10,000 pieces of sheet music; biographical files on notable Ohioans; personal papers of Ohio authors and artists; and numerous scrapbooks created by Ohio civic and cultural organizations. The collection does not circulate, but is available for in-library use."

I saw their previous year's posters and loved how open the design requirements were.

I did five concepts:

I flirted with two different directions. Ohio has always been very active in the space program and I thought that could be a possibility. I also came up with a couple weird animal ideas I did not think they would ever go for. I was super excited when they chose this idea.

Final concept sketch

Process gif

Final art:

Final poster art

In:Sight Exhibition at NKU and Book Signing at Blue Manatee with Christina Wald

I will have work showing my illustration process in this amazing show at NKU. The opening reception is on September 28th. I hope to see you there!

https://www.facebook.com/events/352314915210012/

 I will have a book signing at Blue Manatee on September 30th to celebrate my new book Cao Chong Weighs and Elephant written by Songju Ma Daemicke from Arbordale Publishing.

https://www.facebook.com/events/145141739409493/

Stream of Consciousness Sketches By Christina Wald

Surveillance By Christina Wald

I just added a page featuring my Steam of Consciousness sketches until I put together a more robust website for them.

http://christinawald.blogspot.com/p/stream-of-consciousness-sketches.html

Holiday Book Signings!

 Lots of book signings around in time for Christmas. I will add to the list as I get information.

Jeffrey Ebbeler, Vanessa Sorensen and Christina Wald will be signing books at Sharon Woods Friday December 9th at part of their Holiday in Lights event from 6 to 9 pm.

Details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1048826188560862/

Loren Long will be at at Blue Manatee Children's Book Store on Saturday, Dec. 10, beginning at 11:00! He will be sharing his new book, Otis and the Kittens.

Details here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1312505292122407/

Books By the Banks 2016

It is that time of year again! The 10th Annual Books by the Banks book festival is October 15th!

There will be a bunch of illustrators there this year including:

Loren Long, Will Hillenbrand (who has a poster talk also at 1:30), C. F. Payne, Jeffrey Ebbeler, Tim Bowers, Christina Wald, Greg Pizzoli and others.

Check out this interview with Loren Long about this year's festival:

http://local12.com/news/good-morning-cincinnati/local-author-and-illustrator-to-participate-in-books-by-the-banks


UPDATE:
Check out these panels free at Books By the Banks tomorrow: 

1:30 in room 209:
 
Illustrating Picture Books

Loren Long, Bob Shea, Greg Pizzoli

The visual communication skills of illustrators are indispensable to most children’s books. These three accomplished artists will talk about their approaches to the creative process, their careers as illustrators and how they’ve negotiated the demands of the publishing industry.

Room 210 at 1:30:

Writing & Illustrating Comics

Darren Mueller

David Michael Beck

Scott DM Simmons

Join this session for a Q&A with three professionals who came to the comic book business in very different ways. Learn about their journey within the trade and tips on how to navigate it.

Moderator: LeAnn McNabb

http://booksbythebanks.org/panels/writing-getting-publishing/

Illustrators Show at The Flats Gallery Closing September 2nd

We had a great opening at The Flats Art Gallery Saturday. What a GREAT turnout!

If you missed it:

"The Flats Art Gallery will host The Illustrators Art Show and book sale on Friday, Sept. 2 from 6-9 p.m. Four renown Cincinnati artists -- Jerry Dowling, Jeff Ebbeler, C.F. Payne and Christina Wald -- will sign books they have illustrated!"

https://www.facebook.com/events/1641932699450132/

3028 Price Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45205

The Illustrators Art Show

Check out the Illustrators Art Show at The Flats Gallery on July 30th. Jeffrey Ebbeler and I will be signing books 5-7 and C. F. Payne and Jerry Dowling will be signing 7-9!

Check out the interview Channel 12 did with Jeffrey Ebbeler about the opening!

http://local12.com/news/good-morning-cincinnati/flats-art-gallery-hosts-the-illustrators-art-show-on-july-30

3028 Price Ave. in the Incline District.

Here are the details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1121858164501732/

Ohioana Book Festival

The Ohioana Book Festival is this Saturday in Columbus. Lots of Ohio illustrators and authors will be there with their books including Cincinnati illustrator/authors Jeffrey Ebbeler, Sarah Jones and Christina Wald.

Get the details here: http://www.ohioana.org/

Sketch Outing to Music Hall

Jeb Brack, Christina Wald, Sarah Rocheleau, Amy Bogard, Vanessa Sorensen, Margot Madison, Darcy Vorhees

A group of us (Jeb Brack, Christina Wald, Sarah Rocheleau, Amy Bogard, Vanessa Sorensen, Margot Madison, Darcy Vorhees Van Horn) went sketching at Music Hall March 7th.

I have wanted to sketch Music Hall again for a while and we were filmed as park of a segment they are doing on me for Arts Bridge on CET.

Here are some of the sketches!

The sketchbooks! Photo by Amy Bogard

Sketch by Jeb Brack

Sketch by Sarah Rocheleau

Sketch by Vanessa Sorensen

Sketch by Christina Wald

Our next outing is to the Cincinnati Zoo on March 23rd at 9am before the next illustrators lunch at Dumesh. Hope to see you there!

Book Celebrating the San Diego Zoo Centennial is out!!

Book Cover

The book I illustrated for the San Diego Zoo for their Centennial Celebration is out! It was an amazing project to work on and the author, Shari Lyon is wonderful.

Here are a couple spreads:

It is about a Galapagos turtle named Speed and a baby orangutan named Pongo who travel through the zoo at night reminiscing about the first animals brought there.


Here it is on display at the zoo. I hope to do a signing there soon. You can buy it here: http://shopsandiegozoo.com/collections/centennial/products/childrens-book-cd-paws-hoofs-and-wings 

 

Surrounded by hero plushes!

Illustrators Lunch Marker Road Test

Test by Robin Ewers Carnes

Several weeks ago, Ursula Roma came the the illustrators lunch and had a bunch of us test out a fancy set of Winsor & Newton markers she was doing a review of.

Here are some of the images in the article. It is in the January/February issue of Artist Magazine where you can read the details!

Test by Christina Wald 

We used to bring sketchbooks to lunch to draw; maybe we should re-institute the tradition!

Test by Margot Madison

Sketch Outing at Mother of God Church in Covington

The daunting view!

Vanessa, Jeb, Robin and I met last Wednesday afternoon to sketch the Mother of God Catholic Church in Covington.

It was a little daunting at first because we were so close; it was a bit of a forced perspective. We wanted to be in the sun though. This was the type of fall day that gets chilly the second you are not in direct sun.

It is always so interesting to see how each person sketching handles the composition.

The intrepid sketchers: Vanessa, Jeb, and Robin

We sketched until it got too cold and then finished the color portion at home.

The church bells tolled frequently as we drew which prompted interesting discussion of recorded over hand rung.

Group sketchbook shot

Here are the final results!

Sketch by Robin Ewers Carnes

Sketch by Jeb Brack

Sketch by Vanessa Sorensen

Sketch by Christina Wald

Shot on location