SCBWI & Los Angeles

Halloo folks,

This update is long overdue.

As it is each summer, the SCBWI LA Conference was a whirlwind of good friends, loads of fun, and creative inspiration.

There was much hanging out, doodling, and goofing off with these two lovely illustrators.

(With Maple Lam and Brooke Boynton Hughes)

There were lots of great patterns.

(With my first ever conference buddy, Kathy Ellen Davis, and Ashlyn Anstee)

 There were Mentees.
 

 (Pictured with Mentor, David Diaz)

There were costumes.

   (With Art Director, Laurent Linn, and Brooke Boynton Hughes)

There were cupcakes... and goofing off. Did I mention goofing off?

  (Mentees and friends celebrating birthdays)

There were so many incredible speakers.

    (Meg Rosoff)

   (Judy Schachner)

    (The stunning character bibles that Judy S. creates for each book.)

    (Marla Frazee and Allyn Johnston talking picture books.)

    (Editor, Justin Chanda, talked about Debbie Ohi's fab book.)

    (Aaron Becker sang to us.)

    (And shared sketches that didn't make it into Journey as well as a sneaky peek of Quest.)

    (All 1200 attendees skyped with Tomie dePaola, who was sick and couldn't come.)

    (And Judy Bloom inspired us to tears.)

There was even found-art inspiration lying around.

    (#kefreeart)

And after all of the inspiration and the conference was over, there was still more goofing off.

Yes, I said more.

The tree didn't seem amused. It was looking at something else.

And we may have gotten lost in a good book... er, books.
  

I left LA feeling recharged, with a sketchbook filled to the brim with all kinds of new ideas. As always, many thanks to the folks at SCBWI, the illustration board, and the faculty for an incredibly memorable conference.

Ever Onwards

Hey there blog readers,

It's been about two weeks since the conference, and I am just starting to feel settled back into normal life. Two days of jury duty didn't exactly help, but, regardless, it does alway takes a bit of time for me to readjust and remember where I left off. Since then, I've resumed work on my picture book project and have started fleshing out a few new ideas (that came out of the conference) for books.

As I've said in past posts, the conferences themselves can be both inspiring and overwhelming. When I finally board the train back to Brooklyn, I leave the conference center with my head spinning. It takes some time to filter all of the advice, the comments, and the new ideas and integrate them into my work. However, the SCBWI conferences consistently leave me wanting to keep working and striving towards making even better books and illustrations.

I showed this new piece in my portfolio, and I thought I'd share it. Thought it's a nugget of an idea for a longer story, it feels appropriate and relevant to what I'm talking about. Because now—post-conference—I'm taking the comments from the professionals with whom I spoke and from my peers, and I'm forging ahead, trying to do the thing I love best in the world. Ever onwards, ever upwards.

SCBWI Winter Conference Recap

It's that time again.

It was conference season in NY. Illustrators and writers invaded the city, taking over cafes, prowling the libraries and museums for inspiration, and swarming the Hyatt at Grand Central for three days.

And what a three days it was.

The SCBWI NY conference this year featured a jaw-dropping faculty (as usual). And when it all started, Team Double Trouble (coined by the ever-fabulous Maple Lam, pictured left) was ready to go.

Friday's Illustrator Intensive began with an incredible conversation between Tomie dePaola and Art Director Cecilia Yung that likened picture books to theater and stage setting.

They were followed by presentations on character design and setting by Brett Helquist (pictured left) and Paul Zelinsky (right).

Later, we reconvened in smaller groups for critiques. Check out the amazing faculty at the front of the room.

Highlights of the main portion of the conference on Saturday and Sunday were two mind-blowing keynotes by Jack Gantos (pictured left) and Kate Messner (right). Jack had the 1,000+ attendees in stitches, and Kate's thoughtful and heartfelt talk on failure was hands-down one of the best keynote speeches I have ever heard. Ever.

I went to two stellar breakout sessions. The first with Art Director, Lily Malcolm and the second with Jane Yolen.

Lin Oliver and Steve Mooser kept us laughing and moving.

And a panel on the art of the picture book gathered some of the most talented illustrators in the industry on one stage. (The panel, pictured below from left to right: Arthur Levine, Shadra Strickland (fellow SVA grad!), Oliver Jeffers, Marla Frazee, Raúl Colón, and Peter Brown.)

The conference itself was an amazing few weekend of inspiration and a great creative kickstart. But for me, the best thing about these conferences is my community. It's one of two times a year that I get to see my peers and friends in the field.

So in addition to all of the learning and listening and absorbing that happened, there was a whole lot of goofing off, sight seeing, talking shop over meals, and having fun. 

Old friends and new: Maple, Katie Kath, yours truly, and Brooke Boynton-Hughes. Both Katie and Booke took runners up in the conference's portfolio show. If you're not familiar with their work, head over to their websites. All three of these lovely ladies have books forthcoming.
 

Celebratory drinks and fun times with the Mentees.

Maple, Brooke, and I took a trip to the Natural History Museum. Yes, we are ridiculous.

And at dinner in Chinatown, there were table-wide pano-selfies, courtesy of the Bagleys. (Check out their work! Jessixa and Aaron Bagley are both crazy talented, and Jessixa's first book comes out next year.)

And reactions to the pano-selfies:

And finally, Maple and I did a school visit at Pat Cummings' picture book class at Pratt.

As you might imagine, it has taken the better part of a week to catch up on both sleep and work. But I do have loads of new drawings to share with you and a sketchbook chockfull of new ideas to explore. 

So, cheers to SCBWI for another fabulous weekend, and kudos to all of the talented folks who showed their work. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm already looking forward to Summer '14 in LA.

Part I - SCBWI & West Coast Travels: LA

Hey there blog readers,

It occurred to me today that August is nearly over. WHAT?! That's preposterous. I don't understand where the time goes. I had hoped to get this post up earlier, but between life, work, and wedding, things have been busy.

In any case, I spent two weeks on the west coast - one in LA for the annual SCBWI conference and one in Seattle, spent partially with my critique group and partially with my fiancé. The conference itself was a sleepless few days of information, inspiration, seeing old friends, and making new friends.

The main conference room

(photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

The weekend began with the inimitable Laurie Halse-Anderson, who said one of my favorite things of the whole weekend: "Books are proof that humans can do magic." YES!

From there, the four days passed in a whirlwind of words and pictures and creative inspiration. There were so many great moments, but here are just a handful of highlights.

I met Bruce Degen, who wrote one of the foundation picture books of my childhood. I don't know how many times my mother read it when my sister and I were little. Honestly, I can probably still recite most of it by heart.

Bruce Degen showing original art from Jamberry!!!

Mac Barnett talked about a whale; David Weisner talked about process and finding your stories with a sneak peak of his new picture book, Mr. Wuffles; my amazing agent, Joanna Volpe had brilliant things to say on the agent's panel; the fantastic Carson Ellis talked about her work; and Jarrett Krosoczka gave a light-the-fire-under-your-pants ending keynote. (I actually had the privilege of working at Jarrett's table during the autograph party. His work is super great, and you should absolutely check it out... he has a graphic novel series about a secret agent lunch lady!)

I got to spend some quality time with fellow Mentees--my tribe, and an unending source of support and inspiration--

Cozy Mentees around the fire.

(photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

Lunch time with the new Mentees! Congrats new Mentees!
(The new Mentees are amazing. You should definitely check out their work - Brooke Boynton Hughes, Andy Musser, Corinna Luyken, Linda Dorn, and Rodolfo Montalvo.)

(photo courtesy of my lovely mentor, Pat Cummings)

The Gala - pictured with Mentor, David Diaz; AD, Laurent Linn; and loads of fab Mentees 

(photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

And with my oldest SCBWI conference buddy, the inimitable Kathy Ellen Davis and Singe Singe.

(photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

It was an amazing bunch of days, and I'll end the post with words that I've held on to since coming back to NY. I seriously want to carve them into a wall in my studio... this is really at the heart of what I do. Jarrett Krosoczka concluded the final keynote of the weekend with these four words: Make magic. Preserve wonder. 

Oof July...

Hey there blog readers!

It's been ages, I know. Things get all kinds of crazy around here in the summertime, and this year is no different. July was particularly nutty, filled with personal-life things—a dear friend's wedding, the birthday of my spouse-to-be, a full-day illustrator boot camp (this one, not as an attendee... I planned this particular mini-conference), going-away lunches, a couple of visits to friends and family in other states, and, of course, looooads of work - hand-lettering, wedding invitation design, new paintings, manuscript edits, book dummy revisions, book designs, and sketch after sketch after sketch. Whew. I'm tired just thinking about all of it.

Most of the book-related work, as has been the case for the last two Julys, was prep for the annual SCBWI Conference in LA. You remember which one.

So, with the clock ticking down, I'm adding finishing touches, printing the last pieces out, and dusting off my portfolio.

Time to put that best foot forward.

SCBWI Conference Doodles

Hey there folks,

As promised - conference doodles! 

Conference weekends are some of the most inspiring of the year. Hearing from illustration greats is a creative jolt, and I often come away with a sketchbook full of doodles and ideas. This year's winter conference was no exception, even leaving me with a spark of inspiration for a new manuscript.

Over the course of the weekend, this grumpy little girl showed up a couple of times.

And later with a friend.

I had actually come down with a cold just before the conference, so the weekend was a wee bit rough on my system. Not to mention, I was waking before 7am each morning and getting home after midnight each night. As you might imagine, by the third day of the conference, despite all of the creative energy buzzing around the room, I was ready for a nap or, at the very least, an early night. (Which didn't happen... I think we got home "early" on Sunday - around 10:30.) Most of my doodles from the day were "wishful thinking" drawings...

::yaaaawn::

In fact, I could use a nap now...

SCBWI Winter Conference Recap: Mentee Monday

Apologies dear blog readers. This post has been a long time coming. It's been a busy few weeks of working and good things in the works. 

But let us travel back to the beginning of the month, to the Monday after the conference.

One of the bests parts of the whole weekend was reconnecting with my fellow Mentees, and on Monday--with our fearless leader, David Diaz, at the helm--we spent the entire day together.

We started out with brunch,

(Photo courtesy of David Diaz.)

stopped to make t-shirts

(Photo Courtesy of Maple Lam.)

and pick up some hot chocolate,

(Photo Courtesy of Maple Lam.)

and then headed up to Books of Wonder. Books of Wonder is the only bookstore that I know of that organizes its picture books alphabetically by illustrator. (If you've never been, you should go immediately.)

(Photos courtesy of David Diaz.)

After books, we marched east to meet with Chad Beckerman, Tamar Brazis, and Maria Middleton at Abrams Books. The team there talked to us about promotional materials and really showcased what makes Abrams special.

(Photo courtesy of David Diaz.)

(Photo courtesy of David Diaz.)

And finally hopped on a subway that whisked us downtown to Penguin

(Photo courtesy of Jessica Lanan.)

where we talked to an incredibly talented and generous group of art directors and left our portfolios out on a table for folks to look at. Art directors from six different children's imprints shared with us the similarities and differences in the materials they print and talked about what makes each imprint unique.

(Photo courtesy of Jessica Lanan.)

It was a whirlwind non-stop sort of day, and an excellent end to an incredible weekend.

Heaps upon heaps of thanks to David Diaz for organizing an amazing day; to the folks at Abrams - Chad Beckerman, Tamar Brazis, and Maria Middleton - for talking to us about publishing and promos; to Cecilia Young for arranging an incredible program for our visit to Penguin; and to the art directors at Penguin who took the time to talk to us - Giuseppe Castellano, Lily Malcolm, Nancy Brennan, Semadar Megged, and Irene Vandervoort.

And until next time, I'll leave you with my favorite photo from the weekend and a clear winner for our next album cover:

(Photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi.)