because we all should be so lucky

I love watching my wife take photographs. It's like witnessing magic happen right before your very eyes.


Taking a walk with Andrea on a foggy November morning as the trees slowly emerge from the mist is nothing short of awesome.


Autumn. Trees. Color. Yes, the obligatory leaves-changing shot.


A little beaded home. She probably took all night to work on it, too.

The Thanksgiving Story

The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh, with illustrations by Helen Sewell. © Charles Scribner's Sons, 1954.

Nice illustrations by Helen Sewell in this children's book about the first Thanksgiving in America. Helen won a Caldecott Honor for the work done on this book. More about Helen Sewell HERE.

On the first page, there's an Author's Note:

In writing the text and making the pictures for this book, Helen Sewell and I have kept them both very simple—so they tell the story of one family and of the changing seasons.

The Pilgrims and settlers were chiefly a group of country people—farmers, weavers, and other workmen. They wore the clothes of the time—perhaps less elaborate—and they wore colors. The wide, tall hats were expensive, so the men and boys had knitted and cloth caps for ordinary occasions.








There's a certain flattening of the scene that Helen does that makes it look like cut paper in some of the illustrations.






I noticed that the boy in the lower lefthand corner is actually a cutout - the artist must've painted him separately and glued him in place there. I've seen this done before many times.

Here's wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving, people. Hope you're enjoying your time with your family and friends. I know we are.

Big Birthday Sale in The Shop

In honor of my 42nd birthday coming up, I've decided to mark all my prints 42% OFF in The Ward-O-Matic Shop! Hurry and take advantage of this while the holidays are sneaking up on us! Stock up on all your favorite Ward-O-Matic prints! You know, the ones that you've been pinning over for months and months and never had a decent reason to finally make that purchase? Welp, now's your chance!

42% OFF means:

All 8.5 x 11" prints are now $14.50.

All 5 x 7" prints are now $6.96.


This is for a limited time! Hurry!

(Gah! I feel like I've stepped out of one of those crazy late-night mattress ads.)



Here, you can see my two most recent additions to the shop. Fun!

Big News and an Update

Lots to announce today! It's been a long time coming, so let me start with this:


CHICKS RUN WILD by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and illustrated by me, Ward Jenkins! To be released by Simon & Schuster on January 25th, 2011.

My second children's book! I'm so excited. It's a fun one. Had tons of fun working on it, with all the little chicks going crazy throughout the story. I also enjoyed drawing Mama Hen and coming up with all the various ways of her reacting to her little ones.

In case you're wondering, you can pre-order the book HERE and also check out the official Facebook page HERE. I know! It's all very up-to-date and all!

By the way, if you do a search for the book, be sure to type "chicks RUN wild." Not "go" or "gone" wild. Just sayin'.

In honor of this occasion, I've updated my website - somehow, a bunch of chicks were set free and are now running wild all over the site:



See if you can find them all!

Along with a few added illustrations in the Portfolio, I've also updated the Books section to accommodate Chicks Run Wild. Once there, you can take a peek inside, follow along as I show you my process for making the book, and a few other surprises (soon).

My last bit of news is very VERY exciting for me: I am now represented by the wonderful Jennifer Laughran of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. If you’d like me to illustrate a book, a book cover, etc., please contact her via email. I really enjoy Jennifer's enthusiasm for the world of children's and YA literature. Outspoken, honest, to-the-point, and very engaging, Jennifer is the real deal. All the more reason why I'm so ecstatic about sharing this news with you all. Be sure to check out Jennifer's blog. She shares a great deal of insight into the publishing world. Don't miss out.

Alright! There ya go! Lots of good things happening here at The Ward-O-Matic. Very excited.