Tag Archives: Colleen Pressprich

God the Father’s Love: A Journey Through Scripture by Colleen Pressprich and Illustrated by Amy Heyse

I illustrated another book by Colleen Pressprich for Our Sunday Visitor! God the Father’s Love: A Journey Through Scripture for Catholic Families officially releases on April 15th but is available for pre-orders now on OSV’s website and on Amazon.


Get your copy here!

Support the channel! Buy Me a Coffee (and support my art supply wish list): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/amyheyseart

Colleen Pressprich can be found at:
Instagram – @colleenpressprich
www.elevatortoheaven.com
More of her books here.

(Note: Some of the links provided are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you. This allows me to continue creating free content for Catholic artists of all ages! I only recommend products that I use and love. Amy Heyse Art is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates)

The Jesse Tree for Families Interview with Author Colleen Pressprich

I had the honor of creating the illustrations for Colleen Pressprich’s newest book, The Jesse Tree for Families. I truly believe this will be a great resource for your family this Advent and Colleen graciously sat down for a short interview (and her sweet kids joined in too).


The Jesse Tree for Families by Colleen Pressprich and Illustrated by Amy Heyse can be found at…
Our Sunday Visitor Catholic Bookstore OR Amazon

Colleen’s Website: https://www.elevatortoheaven.com/
Instagram: @colleenpressprich
Colleen’s Author Page on Amazon

Support the channel! Buy Me a Coffee (and support my art supply wish list): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/amyheyseart

(Note: Some of the links provided are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you. This allows me to continue creating free content for Catholic artists of all ages! I only recommend products that I use and love. Amy Heyse Art is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates)

I Illustrated a Children’s Book! A look inside AND how to make ornaments from the book

Here’s a look inside the children’s book I illustrated: The Jesse Tree for Families by Colleen Pressprich. This is a great resource that your family can use during Advent in preparation for Christmas!


This book was a labor of love for both Colleen and myself. It was years in the making with publishing delays, but it’s finally here and I truly think it will be a gift for your family. Colleen did a great job of making the Jesse Tree tradition easy and accessible for families.

From December 1-24th, you read a short passage about a biblical figure or one of the O Antiphons. There is a “Note for Parents” section that helps provide extra context as well as some optional conversation starters. The best thing about the book is that it comes with 2 sets of Jesse Tree ornaments that you can cut out and hang on your tree. I included a quick tutorial in my YouTube video showing 2 different options you can try out to make your ornaments more of an heirloom quality.


SUPPLIES:

Whitewash Wood Ornament Bulbs
Round Picture Frame Ornaments
Mod Podge Matte Finish
Acrylic Paint
Brushes or Foam Brush
Scissors
Heavy books to weight down your ornaments

My mom used a 3 inch hole punch like this one to help cut the ornaments faster

Colleen Pressprich can be found at:
Instagram – @colleenpressprich
www.elevatortoheaven.com
More of her books

The Jesse Tree for Families by Colleen Pressprich and Illustrated by Amy Heyse can be found at
Our Sunday Visitor Catholic Bookstore or on Amazon.

Support the channel! Buy Me a Coffee (and support my art supply wish list): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/amyheyseart


(Note: Some of the links provided are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you. This allows me to continue creating free content for Catholic artists of all ages! I only recommend products that I use and love. Amy Heyse Art is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates)

Illustration Opportunities

Growing up, “illustrating a children’s book” was on my dream list (probably right under “workin a Disney”). I loved the work of illustrators like Jan Brett, Chris Van Allsburg, Mercer Meyer, and more. I used to write and illustrate my own stories. In fall of 2020, I got asked by Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) to create the cover illustration for a new Catholic kids magazine called OSV Kids. The January cover was to depict a family inviting home a new baby, so I had my daughters model for photos with an American Girl doll wrapped up in a blanket.

I created the cover illustration with the help of my new iPad Pro and the app Procreate. It was a dream come true. Seeing my daughters holding a copy of the physical magazine bearing their image was definitely one of the coolest experiences I’ve had as an artist.

It was such a positive and rewarding experience, so I was extra excited when I was asked to create another illustration for the centerfold of the June 2021 issue (I’ll try to share that one later when it comes out) as well as the artwork for a new book on the Jesse Tree by Colleen Pressprich (which will also be published by Our Sunday Visitor).

The cover illustration started off as a line drawing that I shaded using dark brown tones. I tried to create all of the tonal values with this brown shade to make an “under painting.” On a separate layer, I added the colors for the girls on top. You can see what the different stages looked like in the above photo (cover image copyright Our Sunday Visitor).