It's that time again...

Hey there blog-readers,

It's that time again - SCBWI conference time!

This year, when SCBWI published its winter conference schedule, my jaw dropped. Listed among the scheduled faculty were Shaun Tan, David Ezra Stein, Mo Willems, Barbara McClintock, the Brothers Hilts, Mark Teague, Julie Andrews(!)... I mean, how could I say no? I've traveled across the country for conferences before. I can certainly manage to get myself uptown.

I'll be back soon with an update about the conference. In the meantime, however, this seems an appropriate image to leave you with because this character first showed up in my journal at an SCBWI conference...

And then again...

And finally, this past week I got around to giving Henrietta her very own pre-conference painting.

And now, I'm off. There's just enough time for a few last minute preparations before tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Twenties Bunnies

Because I've been watching Downton Abbey... and because tonight you should have a couple of bunnies in 1920s clothing to look at.

That is all.

KidLit Interview

So remember how last week, I mentioned that I'm going to be contributing to KidLit Artists?

Well, now it's official!

I did an interview for their page and was featured on the blog. Weee!! Check it out here!

And because I would hate to leave you without something ridiculous to look at... here are some elephants ice-dancing.

Rolling right along

I've always liked making "To Do" lists. But even better than making those lists is checking things off of them.

Busy, busy, and rolling right along.

KidLit Artists!

Hey there folks,

It's been a busy week. In addition to the work I've been doing at HarperCollins, I just added a freelance gig at Penguin to my work-week. More kids' book design, board book conversions, and on my very first day, scanning Maira Kalman originals! A few years back, I spent a summer as an intern with GP Putnam and am really excited to be working again with such a talented group of folks. Many thanks to Cecilia Yung for asking me on board!

In other news, I've just been added as a new member to the KidLit blog! Check out the post here!

The blog was founded by the SCBWI Mentee group from 2010, and along with my fellow 2012 Mentee winners, I'll be interviewed on the blog in the coming months and will later help provide content and posts. If you're interested in children's books and/or illustration, this is an amazing resource with posts about publishing, illustration, inspiration, technique... it's a good one to add to your feed!

Super exciting things! Yippee!

Coco & Oscar, New Year's Doubts, and Resolutions

Happy New Year blog readers!

I hope everyone's 2013 is off to an excellent start. Thus far, mine has involved a whole lot of sketching, which is to say, it's been swell.

I'm nearly done with the latest version of Coco & Oscar's story and before pontificating on being an artist, having doubts, and making resolutions, I'll give you a sneak peak of some of the new sketches.

As enjoyable as the drawing has been, it took me some time to really get back into the work. Last year was a big one. It was my first calendar year as a working illustrator. There were big work moments and life moments. And it was chockfull of hoping, working, and trying.

2013 arrived in the arms of good friends and good fun, but January felt like a precipice, as it often does. January is the edge of the unknown, blank days and months sprawled out before you. It's incredibly exciting—think about it! Think about it!! All of that time for creating and making things!—but it's also just a wee bit terrifying. Ahead lies another year with all of that hoping, working, and trying; of pushing forward; and of painting and drawing through the doubts.

And as I sat down in the studio with my stack of blank paper, just beginning to feel that January doubt prickling, I came across this letter by Steven Anderson at Disney—I've pasted the body of the letter below—and I immediately felt better.

I don't usually make resolutions. I've found that they often come from the perspective that Anderson talks about - a comparative place, where you're surreptitiously eying the person next to you and hoping to have what she has, do what he does, look more like him, or be more like her. No way. This is where I am, who I am, and what I have. It's mine, I've built it, and at the moment, it's good just as it is.

But, Anderson's point is absolutely resolution worthy. This is something I can buy into - to compete only with myself; to make the best things I possibly can; to pour my heart and dreams (and not the doubts and worry) into the words on the page and the paintings on my drawing table.

So, dear blog readers, I wish you all the best this year. May 2013 be the year just for you doing your best. 

WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS

STEVE ANDERSON

Artists are emotional creatures. We feel things deeply. We see the world around us, react to it and base our work off of those reactions. Our work represents ourselves. It’s us. Not just what our bodies can produce but what our minds and hearts have to say.

We want people to like what we do. If we didn’t, we’d just draw, paint, sculpt, dance, act and write in our own living room with no documentation or recording of it. But we don’t do that because we want our work to be seen. We want to express ourselves to people and, in turn, produce a reaction in them. Our emotions create the art and our art creates emotions.

But there are days when our emotions get the best of us. They let us down. They didn’t give us the strength and motivation that we need when we’re discouraged or struggling. They convince us that we are “no good”. That we have no talent. Or that the talent we do have us not as much as, or as good as, the talent of another person.

Ultimately, the struggles that we have- the creative blocks we all face- come from comparing ourselves to others. I’m not as good as that person. I’m not as successful as that person. That person is at the level I want to be at and I don’t have it in me to get there. I do this constantly. But I realized a few years ago that what I SHOULD be doing is comparing myself to myself. I find that when I step back and evaluate where I’ve come from, and where I am in relation to that. I feel much healthier. Block out all those other people and focus on YOUR work. Are you better today than you were yesterday? Were you better yesterday than you were the day before? Better than you were six months ago? A year ago? Twenty years ago? If the answer is “yes”, then you’re on the right path. If the answer is “no” you’ve got work to do. But the only person you have to be better than is yourself. That constant growth, improvement and evolution is the mark of a healthy artist. Instead of looking around the room to see what everyone else is doing, keep your eyes on your own paper. YOU have to be the best artist you can be and the only person that can drive that evolution is YOU!

Steve Anderson

Snow!

Hey there blog-readers,

I hope all of you are enjoying a wonderful and bright holiday season. Today, we got our first taste of winter... it's snowing in Brooklyn! Weeee! Some of you might clarify it as "wintry mix" or "slush", but I'll take what I can get. Snow!!!!!!

And in honor of the snow, I thought I'd share a new piece from the season.

I'm excited to say that it was recently featured on Kathy Temean's amazing blog! She did a round-up and featured new work from many of her Illustration Saturday interviewees. Definitely take a moment to scroll through; there's some amazing work on the page. Thanks again to Kathy for the feature and for maintaing such an amazing resource for children's writers and illustrators!

A Very Merry

Wishing everyone celebrating a lovely holiday filled with all of the magic of the season!

Last InsideOut of 2012

Hey there blog readers,

The Forward's latest installment of the InsideOut series is up on the site. This was a hard article to illustrate and a harder article to read. In the wake of the Weberman trial and conviction, Judy examines abuse in the Hasidic community. It's worth a read and is, as always, well-written and thought-provoking. Check it out.

Stay tuned for further InsideOut pieces from Judy and illustrations from me in 2013!

Four hours

Hey there blog readers,

So you remember that lovely little children's book organization that I write about every now and then...?  SCBWI, you know, that one. Every fall SCBWI announces a pretty neat contest run by Tomie DePaola. Last year I had a bunch of free time and entered a piece. This year, however, was just a wee bit busy with trips and jobs and all kinds of stuff, so though it was announced months and months ago back in September/October, I didn't have any time to tackle the project.

The assignment: create an illustration in black and white (including half-tones) from a classic. We had to choose a passage, a line, or description from one of three books:

• "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott,
• "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain, or
• "The Yearling" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

I felt terrible about missing out on an opportunity not only to create a piece of work in beautiful black and white, but also to put that piece of work in front of Tomie. I tried my best to put it out of my head... but I contemplated it in early October. I half-heartedly considered it later in the month. I spared it a passing thought in November. And in December, I finally decided to pass. I just didn't have any spare time.

Until the day of the deadline...

At 1pm on the 14th, I realized that I couldn't not submit anything. So I made a beeline for the studio, grabbed a pencil, and dashed off a sketch. I use the term "sketch" veeeery loosely... scribble would probably be a better word. I've been dying to try out some old papercut techniques after seeing Andrea Offerman do an amazing demo, so with that in mind, I set to work.

When the contest was first announced, I realized that it had been years since I'd read Little Women, so I picked up a copy for my own pleasure.

One passage that I loved was something that Jo says to her sister, Margaret:

"I'd have a stable full of Arabian steeds, rooms piled with books, and I'd write out of a magic inkstand, so that my works should be as famous as Laurie's music. I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle-something heroic, or wonderful-that won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all, some day. I think I shall write books, and get rich and famous; that would suit me, so that is my favorite dream."

With less than four hours until the deadline, I sat down to work.

And at 5pm, I sent in my entry:

Thursday

Weee, it's Thursday!

Happy Chanukah!

To all those who celebrated last night and who will be lighting candles for the next seven nights, chag sameach!

Wishing you a warm, bright holiday filled with light, magic, and a heaping plate of latkes! 

Forward: InsideOut

Hey there blog readers,

The latest article in the InsideOut series is live!

It's been a rush-rush, busy week of work. Because of Sandy, this particular illustration ended up being a last minute, work-through-the-weekend sort of job. Despite the rush, I'm pretty happy with how it came out. After I sent in my first sketches, the art director liked the dichotomy of boys' world-girls' world, but he wanted to emphasize this difference even further. I love the idea of a cross-section of a house but was worried that the two pieces wouldn't come together. In order to better unify the piece, I brought some of the blues from the downstairs scene into the living room and some of the lighter living room colors down into the bookshelves of the basement.

Check out the whole article here.

Thanks to Naomi and Kurt for their art direction!

SCBWI Bulletin

When I checked the mail today, there was a pleasant surprise waiting - the latest SCBWI bulletin!

Guess who has a few sketches featured inside!

 Many thanks to Sarah Baker at SCBWI.

Also, be very careful when returning home after checking the mail... you never know when an attack-cat might be lurking.

Characters!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Just for fun... a few wee characters I've been playing with.

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