NJ SCBWI Illustrator Day

On Sunday, November 14, the NJ SCBWI will hold another Illustrator Day at the Princeton Hyatt. Two Art Directors will be on the faculty: Laurent Linn of Simon and Schuster, and Marijka Kostiw of Arthur Levine/Scholastic Press/ Orchard Press.

The illustrator is emailed various passages of PB text and chooses one to illustrate. The illustrator gives specs to the art director and submits a preliminary sketch to him/her by a predetermined deadline. The AD sends back comments. Then the illustrator goes to work and completes a final from that sketch with the AD's comments.

On illustrator day, the art directors give group critiques of all the artists' finals. (Two separate groups.)

The other art director gives the artist a portfolio review.

Basically the illustrators are divided into two groups and spend half of their 'time' with one and then the other. Plus they get a yummy lunch with one or the other.

What I love in addition to this is seeing how everyone interprets the text differently and how they work. And everyone always has something (no matter how little) that can be improved.

Saving my pennies and dimes and using this as a kick in the bottom to finish my dummy and more samples.

Can't wait!!

This is one of the best things offered from SCBWI to illustrators... IMHO.

If anyone has any questions or would like more info please email me.... soon! It fills up fast.

The Biting Pear of Salamanca by Ursula Vernon

I usually don't like anthropomorphic food... but sometimes I eat it. (I also love and collect pear paraphernalia.) Sold right there... like I am so there. And I need this today while I work... for inspiration.

(Could this be in a picture book, perhaps?.....................................no, that pear is scary)

But there is something funny about this without being campy and cheesy (I could use a pear salad right now)... to me anyway. Maybe the lack of a complete face on the pear's part, and the traditional styled little rodent with his daguerreotyper alongside this five-foot tall, food-engineered poire.

Should that chipmunk be afeared?

"If you bite me, there will be no more portrait du poire, today."

(But you can't see anyway, pear... so your mouth would be chasing only air.)

Thank you, and courtesy of 'Art of the Day' on my homepage... one of my favorite things to wake up to.

Summer Accomplishments

It has been a LONG summer... I think the extreme heat and mugginess have not helped. Not the best summer for fun and travel but the best for getting things done... book, art and family related.

1. Got daughter moved into college apartment. Not an easy feat as hers is a four floor walk up (No elevator, she's top floor and it was the hottest day of the year... and her apt. is unfurnished) We put the bed together which took hours... and the desk and...
How do parents do this with multiple kids?

Said goodbye without tears. Just blood and sweat.

2. Framed over forty pieces of art (not really framed... but glassed) and they look grrrrreat. Can't wait to hang them.

3. Got a date for my opening.

4. My latest dummy is in progress. This one is a blast and is working itself out well. Is interesting b/c I have to do the middle first to get all the characters set before I can put them in the opening page (Kind of like a play) Their physical appearance has to be established first. DId I mention how much I love structuring? I think it has become my new favorite thing (next to world building.)

And I can tinker with the nursery rhymes once I have the art going. They really work hand-in-hand.

I love this project... took me long enough to get it all set in my head... and on paper. It has lots of hooks, and I hope kids will find it extremely entertaining and engaging. As I write I have to be that kid who has to be entertained both visually and with sound of words. And out of all the dummies I have made, this one and three others make me the proudest.

5. I've got some new art samples. Yay... don't have a new postcard image though. I may go with an existing image I love.

6. I wrote up a press release. I should call it "I HATE TALKING ABOUT MYSELF". I know I've said that before. But my friend is helping me through it. And it will go out soon.

7. I sent out a few queries and have heard nada. What does that mean? It is a puzzlement.

(Anyway, it is supposed to be a beautiful Labor Day weekend... and I reckon I will be working on my dummy for part of it.)

Hospital Bloopers

(A friend sent me these recently)

I particularly like number six and number twenty-three. Enjoy!


>1. The patient refused autopsy.
>
>2. The patient has no previous history of suicides.
>
>3. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.
>
>4. Note: patient here-recovering from forehead cut. Patient became very angry when given an enema by mistake.
>
>5. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
>
>6. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.
>
>7. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.
>
>8. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
>
>9. Discharge status: Alive but without permission.
>
>10. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.
>
>11. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
>
>12. She is numb from her toes down.
>
>13. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.
>
>14. The skin was moist and dry.
>
>15. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.
>
>16. Patient was alert and unresponsive.
>
>17.Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.
>
>18. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.
>
>19. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.
>
>20. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.
>
>21. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.
>
>22. Skin: somewhat pale but present
>
>23. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities
>

Plotting, framing and studying favorites

Blimey it is hot. Thank goodness for a few air-conditioned rooms.

My studio has AC so lately I am up there a lot. Comfort breeds productivity. Thick air breeds thick thinking and naps.

Today I framed six pieces (frameless glass as I have at least forty I need to do for the exhibit... can't go broke in the process.. they look great thanks to creative paper working on my part). Now to think about writing bits.

But I had a bit of a breakthrough on my nursery rhyme heavily-reliant-on-illustrations-to-text project. I reviewed Each Peach Pear Plum and The Jolly Postman (fantastic books) and others to give me a visual beginning and end, to tie up the sequence. (Another kind of framing perhaps?) Plus I love me my cast full of characters. Yes, in picture books. Always have. They need not be described. But they are referred to and do things I notice and go back to over and over again.)

This project is turning out to be more than I had planned but WTH... I intend to make it work... words and art. Why not. It may take a while but I think it will turn out well.. with patience.


Gettin' stuff done..........................

I got it down... all my characters and their worlds, and how the whole thing works!


Update as of early August: FINISHED first draft of 14 fractured and themed rhymes, got some illos done. FIgured out the approach, the introduction and the end. Got the characters and scenes... now to dummy! (This project has been simmering for over two years.)

The plight of tigers

I just read a writer's blog post about the plight of tigers in the wild. There are only a few thousand or so in left existence. They are being poached for every possible use of their anatomy. I find it horrific.

The rest are in zoos and while I love zoos I always feel depressed when I see the big cats pace. They must feel humiliated. I would were I a big, regal beautiful beast. (The gorillas just throw things at you as in "you deserve it, you voyeur"... but the tigers just pace as in "get me outta here.") I know they are spared from the rugdom and cared for by the keeperdom, and absolutely loved by spectators... but still.

Now more than ever I have to write this story. They say to write from inspiration. That is always the best place to start. But before I do so I have to let go of the anger I feel towards the greedy killers. Otherwise, it'll just be an angry response. And that is not a good place to start.

Soon, I will talk about giraffes and how I feel about them. (They are so cool... yes they are!) And our experience with them.

Till then...think about nature as being here for you now, to enjoy as it is in alive and kicking. Not something to kill or destroy (physically or mentally). Please respect it.

My World and Welcome to It

Remember that show with William Windom... the cartoonist (he really is NOT a cartoonist... he is an actor.) EDIT: Based on Thurber. Good ole "One-eyed Thurber".

And his daughter with the braids... what's her name?

no. Me neither. EDIT: Her name was Lisa Gerritson and she was a pistol!

Well. You (we) are (were) too young... or just lost that segment of our over crowded-minds. Ahem. That was a great show. Windom's cartoons kinda morphed into live action. Dry and funny and... wise.

The show never took off but it did maintain a viable presence thanks to side-by-side air-time (by Sondheim) ...no no by Bewitched... I mean Bewitched (great show... Darrin... Tabitha... Sabrina...) campy like most shows of its day but fun nonetheless...EDIT: That show won two Emmys. (Oops.I wrote too soon!) So it DID take off.

I digress...

I LOVE making worlds in my art and I think it one of my strong points. My World and Welcome to It. You got me.

And I proudly jest that I am completing (illustrating and writing) two more worlds for my In-Progress picture book, and it is so much fun and working well. Check off a summer project.

Caveat: Never post until you've got the answers. Smirk.