One of my favorite benefits of the book industry’s presence in the online world is the fact that so many of us now have a little window into the process of illustrating a book. With the advent of blogs and the accessibility of web tools, an increasing number of illustrators are offering their fans occasional sneak peeks at the books they’re currently working on, pages from their sketchbooks, examples of the "non-book" work they do, or proof that they’re able to work in more styles than we might otherwise have imagined.

I was reminded of the great benefits of this phenomenon when Matt Tavares sent out a message last week, announcing that his blog now includes illustrations-in-progress for Lady Liberty: A Biography, written by Doreen Rappaport, to be published by Candlewick in May 2008. The illustration Matt shows evolving step-by-step over the course of four days is a such a beautiful one that it leads me to believe this book could well prove to feature his best, most mature work to date. Of course, it’s hard to tell from one illustration, but… if Matt posts a few more blog entries of this sort perhaps we’ll know for sure! In either case his addition of these posts to his blog certainly has me eagerly awaiting the publication of this book.

Matt is, of course, following the example set by other illustrators on their blogs and web sites. Here are just a few of the many folks now doing what he’s doing. Feel free to fill my comments with the names of more!

Alissa Imre Geis is currently working on her snowflake for Roberts Snow 2007 and you can watch her collage process unfold on her blog.

Kelly Murphy is working on a book that features dragons apparently. Back in April she showed the steps of her painting process.

Matt Phelan has a sketch blog that consists mostly of (you guessed it) his sketches.  So does Mo Willems. And check out Oliver Jeffers’ sketchbook.

Did you know that the fabulous Polly Dunbar does puppet shows? Can you guess Scott Magoon’s favorite picture books?

For a steady fix of interesting, eclectic illustrations, try Drawn, "a collaborative weblog for illustrators, artists, cartoonists, and anyone who likes to draw." It’s updated daily (often more than daily) and offers plenty of eye candy and oddities.