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)

(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)

(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

Lost Weekend

Hey there blog readers,

Last post I very briefly mentioned my SCBWI Mentees "Lost Weekend"in California. Lost Weekend was born last year after a few of the mentees from 2010 joked about visiting mentor, David Diaz's house and studio. This year, 18 of us gathered for a weekend of talking about art, illustration, and process; Q & A with David; meeting agents; cooking; and hanging out. What could be better?

David is an incredible cook, and we served as an army of sous-chefs, learning the art of homemade sauce, popovers, fritatas, "cheese-y things", and other delicious dishes under his careful watch.

  (photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi) 

The cheese-y thing:

 (photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi) 

At one point during the weekend, we had to stop work immediately because popovers, as David explained, MUST be eaten straight out of the oven

(photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi) 

(photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

In between all of the cooking, we spent much of the weekend talking. We gathered to discuss art, illustration, our personal processes, the children's publishing industry, social media as a tool for self promotion, agents, etc. David's house is a piece of art itself - spacious and filled with light and color - and I couldn't think of a better place to meet up with a bunch of illustrators.

 (photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi) 

(photo courtesy of Jen Betton Rogers) 

  (photo courtesy of Arree Chung)

We spent a whole bunch of time in front of the fireplace, throwing around ideas.

  (photo courtesy of Andrea Offerman)

Rubin Pfeffer and Jen Rofé spoke to us about the agent's role in children's publishing and graciously answered any and all questions. Each agent had a unique perspective on the industry, and it was interesting to hear about their backgrounds and clients. 

   (photo courtesy of Jen Betton Rogers)

My favorite part of the weekend were the process demos. Each illustrator shared a piece of his/her process and did a short demo. Here are a handful of mentees showing their skills:

Debbie Ohi drew us a vampire squirrel on the computer.

  (photo courtesy of Jessica Lanan)

Erin O'Shea did a carving demonstration and displayed her woodcuts.

  (photo courtesy of Andrea Offerman)

We had not one, but three amazing watercolor demos -

Jen Betton Rogers

   (photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

Maple Lam

 

(photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

Jessica Lanan

 (photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

At one point during the weekend, we were so cozy in front of the fireplace that a few of us did our demos right there.

 (photo courtesy of Maple Lam)

  (photo courtesy of Andrea Offerman)

David wowed us with a demo and showed off some recent work.

A major highlight of the weekend - everyone brought a portfolio of work to share. The caliber of work on that table was extraordinary, and I felt incredibly grateful to be included among this incredibly talented group of illustrators. 

   (photo courtesy of Jen Betton Rogers)

And finally, what weekend in California would be complete without a trip to the beach?

  (photo courtesy of Andrea Offerman)

 (photo courtesy of Maple Lam)

  (photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

It was a whirlwind wonderful weekend that ended all too soon. I cannot believe it's already been two weeks since my plane touched down in NY. That being said, the weekend inspired a major wave of creativity. There are more than a handful of techniques that I saw over the weekend that I've been trying out. And since then, I've started two new dummies, begun a complete overhaul of an old favorite, and finished a few new paintings. 

It was probably one of the most inspiring and supportive weekends I've ever spent, and I'm truly grateful to be a part of this kind and talented group of illustrators. I cannot wait until the next time I get to see everyone.

  (photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi)

Many thanks to David for generously opening his home to us, to Rubin and Jen for providing advice and answers, and to my peers for sharing their work and stories.

Attendees: 

Mentees of 2009: 
Erin O'Shea

Mentees of 2010:
Andrea Offermann, Debbie Ohi, Eliza Wheeler

Mentees of 2011: 
Christina Forshay, Jessica Lanan, Juana Martinez-Neal, Andrea Zuill

Mentees of 2012: 
Lisa Anchin, Maple Lam, Karyn Raz, Brian Won and Jen Betton Rogers. 

Others invited by David: 
Bonnie Adamson, Arree Chung, Alice Ratterree, Heidi Woodward Sheffield

David and Lily the Wonderdog