Favorite pbs and what matters to me as writer/artist of picture books

because what matters matters.

And after being thankful and full of turkey, I want/need to find sustenance in something more than calories.

So I weigh out those meaningless calories... those being words, cliches and stereotypes, and think about great pbs I love...the latest being "The Curious Garden."


I savor this book because:

The mc child affects the plot therefore making a difference. The mc cares about the outcome, and causes and changes it. And it is not about him and his issues. It is about what he believes in. It is about what he cares about. Essentially, he is a hero.

And the illustrations are amazing. The illustrator cares beyond compare. It is his book and it shows.

The mc is a hero and the emphasis is really off of him.

The approach is fresh, not cliched and non-didactic.

There is a real story and growth of character and some conflict. It follows the sole creator's vision and passion and interpretation, and indeed his inspiration. The creator cares about what he writes and illustrates and it shows.

It is not safe anywhere

(or just keep your yap shut)


Yesterday I visited one of my favorite locales, my local art supply store. I always have fun there and usually spend more than I intended... (oh, that pretty piece of handmade paper). I can use that, I know I can. I'll just buy it and put it my grand stack-o-collage papers waiting for a project. We stare at each other a lot, those papers and I. Some people collect stamps. Some people collect rocks. I collect beautiful paper.

But all I really needed on this trip was some Itoya(sos)dummy binders and some illustration board.

Doesn't seem like much to excite the average person but I always get more than I bargained for at my local art store.

As I approaced the cashier I noticed the conversation between the cashier (a young aspiring and cute artist) and an elderly, clueless woman making a purchase.

"What media do you work in young man?"

"Oh, I used to work in oils but now I am going digital?"

"Really, why?"

"Well, they are so expensive and I really want to be an illustrator."

"Oh. Have you done any books?"

(Oh, God I can't help myself...so I say)

"You need these Itoyas to make your book dummies (you cute cashier you)."

They both look at me, and my purchases.

"What media do you work in?"

"Primarily collage/mixed media."

"Are you an illustrator?"

"Aspiring."

"What do you illustrate?"

(God help me now.)

"Children's books."

(God help me.)

"I wrote a children's book. Can you illustrate it for me?"

"I am booked up for the next ten years...sorry."

(I lied.)

"Oh."

And she left without a trace... (of how this business works).

And the cute cashier looked down at the register, and thought about what I said. Maybe I got through.

And this customer walked out, drove home and marched up to her clean, organized studio, and began another piece of art.

When time is dictated by a machine

I spent four hours today scanning, printing and assembling four copies of one dummy. Four/4 hours at 60 minutes each.

I am not even sure I am going to send all but one. And it probably won't even be accepted.

32 pieces of paper times 4 is 128 pieces of paper. Right?

128 pieces of paper.

Publishers should start accepting edummies or CDs. Faster, more economical, and no or little postage. Really. Instead of thirty-two dollars (a dollar a page) to mail it would cost me 2 or 3 dollars. I figure that when I finally get bought I will have made a net loss.... (JK... better not.)


The system needs an overhaul. And when I get published I am going to lead the cause into action.

Teenspeak

This weekend we watched The Exorsister, The Amightyville Horror, The Sick Sense, Poultryghost.

I love children.

Halloween memories

I love Halloween now, and I loved Halloween as a kid. And luckily the one year that I missed it as an expat was not a total loss... as we celebrated Fasching in Munich (kinda like the Februation of Mardi Gras in N'Orleans and Shrove Tuesday in Britain) but not really the same.

The concept of dress up and parading around the neighborhood in the dark on a candy mission is priceless. And scary things falling out of the sky. Tripping over terror. Getting nickels instead of Neccos.

So as tribute to this wonderful day I finished my third doll installment! And I am so very happy with it. And now I get to dummy it. Dummies for mummies.

And I've taken my memories good and bad, happy and sad, and wrote with that. Bittersweet, batty, heartfelt and funny.

Now we will see how it evolves once again.

Hopefully, I'll finish the dummy by Christmas. And then I'll get the inspiration to dummy that story too.

7 Days Until Halloween

I don't have a pumpkin,

have not decked the house

I ain't got no candy

I am such a louse

My son has no costume

it hasn't yet shipped

This mom is unraveled

completing her script

I have just one page left

and then I must dummy

my Halloween story

like a good mummy

And the goal is to get this first draft done by Halloween which is a week from today. It has been a productive weekend but obviously things don't always go according to plan. It is coming along nicely though, and I think it will be done in by the end of the week. I want it finished so I can start laying the dummy which changes things for the rewrite. It is all like a puzzle really.

I am bored and when I get bored I

look at other illustrators sites and get ideas that take me out of my comfort zone.

So last weekend I attended my daughter's Parent's Weekend at UVa (home of Edgar Allen Poe who pretended he was rich but he was really po, Faulkner, Couric... Jefferson?!!) and Grisham's home town. We visited their small yet classy Art Museum. Of course we saw the Jeffersonian architectural drawings of all his campus "Grounds" buildings and quadrangle "Lawns" landscapes which are so beautiful and smart. And freshman here are not freshman. They are 'first year'. And sophomores here are not sophomores. They are 'second year' etc. etc.. And don't you ever forget that... you parents, you! But ooooh, ooooh, ooooh..what's this?

Did I see a coupla Goya? Original Hogarth? Original Odilon? Odilon of Poe(dilon)?

I did.

Yes, some of my favorite illustrators of yore were making appearances that weekend. I have always been a sucker for Goya because his simple illustrations tell stories. Pierrots. Pastiches. Pasquinades.

And Hogarth's while they are far from simple say multitudes about society and politics in yester England. I never imagined his Gin Lane and the Beer Street to be so 'libational.' Water in London and the like was not water back then. It was 'im'potable, impossible, unthinkable, undrinkable. So Hogarth made a caricature about how booze embodied and 'de'souled society.

The downfall of it all. Happiness in a glass. A glass half empty perhaps but nevertheless an underclass with a glass of libation and liberation even if fleeting.

But these illustrations are black and bleak.

So no...no!!

I've tried black and white but I can't seem to stick with it. I love color. Lots of color. Color is hope and ...

I must try something new. So I've looked at some of my favorite NEW illustrators and have decided to try these awesome monochromatic techniques. But I adore these artists who stay in one color range and I simply have to try it.

And more white space.

It is like writing for me. I love to try new things that I read that I love. I don't think I am ready to leave the picture book arena altho I would love to attack middle grade illustrations. As long as there is humor, heart, cleverness, structure and sophistication...

So tomorrow I have the day off. The day to finish that rough draft of my Halloween doll story since we are coming up on that Hallowed Day, the day to lay out the colors and ideas for portfolio illustrations and to scrutinize and fine tune my pig dummy. And maybe find a few new Mother Gooses to 'besterdize' my collection of Up in the Air Verses.

Lots of irons in the fire. But that is me...

And I started the art and it is going to be a fun challenge. Working in confines. Like writing picture books. I love challenge. That is creativity!