Hogwash & Nonsense: illustrator

Showing posts with label illustrator. Show all posts

SCBWI, illustrators, and logos, oh my!

Hey there blog-folks,

Yesterday night, I had the immense pleasure moderating a panel of illustrators for SCBWI Metro NY. I've been volunteering with the local chapter and organized a talk by a fantastic group of local illustrators - David Gordon, Brett Helquist, Kelly Light, and Dan Yaccarino.

It was the first time I've ever moderated a panel, and I was just a touch nervous. But all of the illustrators on the panel were so warm and lovely, it turned into a very comfortable conversation about process, the ins-and-outs of an illustration career, and finding community. Each panelist gave a brief presentation about their work, process, and current projects. I don't know about you, but I LOVE seeing how other artists work. After the presentations, I asked a whole bunch of questions and then opened up for further Q&A from the audience. It was a warm and wonderful evening filled with wisdom, encouragement, and a whole lot of inspiration.

We also used the evening to unveil the chapter's brand-spanking-new logo. After a several-months-long logo contest that spanned the five boroughs, our two amazing judges—art director, Laurent Linn, and art rep, Christine Tugeau—chose a grand prize winner and two runners-up.

The winning entry, by Elizabeth Baddeley (a super talented illustrator and former classmate from SVA), really represents SCBWI, NYC, and the field of children's illustration in a unique and wonderful way. The two runners-up, Barbara DiLorenzo and Ruth Chan, both submitted fabulous pieces.

Our new logo! Ta da!

We loved it so much, we even put it on a cake!

With Ruth & Barbara.

The three winners. Work by Ruth Chan, Elizabeth Baddeley, and Barbara DiLorenzo, respectively.

Many many thanks to the four fabulous panelists for participating! Likewise, an enormous thank you to all of the participants in the logo contest. And last, but not least, many thanks to the SCBWI volunteer staff for helping put on such a great evening.

(All photos courtesy of Bridget Casey)

Lost Weekend 2013 - New Orleans

Hey there folks,

At the beginning of November, I had the incredible luck to spend another amazing weekend in the company of a mentor and a singularly fabulous group of illustrators.

Unlike last year, Lost Weekend 2013 made camp in New Orleans. I had never been to New Orleans before and was excited when I discovered that our weekend would also include a bunch of sight-seeing.

Our first night in New Orleans, the inimitable David Diaz took us down to the French Quarter for a walk around. We were all vaguely exhausted (some of us jet-lagged, some of us post-wedding-lagged...), but we still managed a good bunch of goofing off bunch heading back to headquarters.

We were still waiting for a few additional Lost Weekend arrivals, so Saturday saw us heading into the city for further sight-seeing. We rode the trolley cars, strolled the streets, and checked out the Audubon Aquarium.

Brooke and Maple in a tunnel of fish.

Maple made a new friend.

So did David.

Something fishy going on? (::groooan::)

Aquariums are magical, and this one was particularly excellent. We saw all kinds of creatures and learned loads. Who knew that seahorses slept with their tails curled around plants to anchor them?

Once our additional Mentees arrived, the weekend began in ernest. There were art demos.

Brooke showed us how she works and demoed some amazing water soluble graphite.

Jen demoed powdered graphite.

Maple showed us her process.

David showed off a nifty spray mount technique,

and imparted his sage-like Mentor wisdom.

(photo courtesy of Maple Lam)

And I kept it all super classy; I brought everyone into the bathroom to demo how I stretch paper.

(photo courtesy of Maple Lam)

There was a party where we met the SCBWI NOLA crew.

(photo courtesy of David Diaz)

There were walks and a day in the park,

a sculpture garden,

(photo courtesy of Maple Lam)

meeting local artists,

trolley rides,

(photo courtesy of Maple Lam)

loads of goofing off,

and of course hanging out at the house and drawing.

It was an excellent creative recharge. Illustration is a solitary sort of career, but these weekends and conferences with the Mentees keep me going.

Many thanks to my fellow Mentees for your constant well of creativity and inspiration, and thank you David, for hosting us yet again, sharing all of your wisdom, and for creating this vibrant community and tribe.

For further photos and write-up by Maple Lam, check our her excellent Lost Weekend post.

You can find the other Lost Weekend '13 Mentees on the Internet:

Brooke Boynton Hughes

Jen Betton

Maple Lam

Sylvia Liu

Part II - SCBWI & West Coast Travels: Seattle

And for the second half of my adventure...

After the conference, Brooke (a new Mentee!!! as well as friend and critique partner) and I flew up the coast to visit the amazingly talented Jessixa Bagley (the third member of our critique group), for a little illustrator fun time. We stayed with Jessixa and her husband, Aaron, also an incredible illustrator. (While we were there, we got a sneak peak of Jessixa's forthcoming picture book AND Aaron's graphic novel. It was pretty magical.)

The Bagleys have a dreamy apartment with a breathtaking view of downtown Seattle, the space needle, AND Mount Rainier. (I don't know about the rest of you, but I am definitely not used to seeing a city surrounded by mountains... and we're talking serious mountains - Rainier, the Olympic Range, and the Cascade Range! WHAT?! Crazytown.)

We had illustrator fun times hanging at the table and working on our projects.

Brooke, Jessixa, and I spent the better part of the time bouncing between cafes, drinking tea, eating pastry, and drawing.

Jessixa played tour-guide and took us to some breathtaking spots in her neighborhood and around the city.

We did some picnicking.

And had a whole bunch of fun.

(photo of Seattle shenanigans courtesy of Brooke Boynton Hughes)

And finally after four glorious days, my fiancé, Ezra, arrived, and the two of us had a lovely long weekend of hanging out and exploring.

There was roller derby,

Sidewalk poetry,

And even a giant sandwich.

Seattle is a magical, wondrous place.

Fin.

SCBWI Winter Conference Recap

Hey there everyone,

It has been a crazy, whirlwind, head-spinning sort of week and weekend. The head-spinning may have resulted from the all too dangerous combination of conference-overload and cold medicine. Yep, I got sick just in time for conference weekend. No worries, though. I powered through and came home with a journal full of inspiration.

My illustrator friends are scattered across the country, so SCBWI conferences have become a lovely sort of reunion. Two of my dear illustrator friends even bunked at my tiny apartment in Brooklyn.

Pictured here with fellow Mentee, Maple Lam. (Photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi.)

The first day of the conference was the Illustrator Intensive, and it started with an amazing presentation by Shaun Tan. He told us, "You know an idea is great when it starts to tell you what to do."

He showed some of his incredible drawings,

and he even signed a book for me!

Floyd Cooper not only gave a talk but did a piece right in front of us!

David Ezra Stein talked about his inner artist and inner critic. (Inner artist pictured below.)

The Brothers Hilts talked about their recently published book, The Insomniacs. Check it out, it's amazing. I loved what they had to say about books as a whole: "The book as object is the art. That's what's going to be in 1,000 tiny hands and seen by 1,000 tiny eyeballs."