THE BLOG
Oh the Places you Go and the People you Meet.
The first time I heard Faye Gibbons voice was when I read her words. They were typed on a 8 1/2” by 11” sheet of paper. It was the manuscript for “Emma Jo’s Song”. Her words captured my imagination and I immediately saw pictures in my head which is what you want if you are going to illustrate a picture book. I loved her story and had great fun coming up with the illustrations.
There are a lot of unwritten rules in children’s book publishing. One of those rules is that writers and illustrators should not communicate, it might interfere with the illustrators creativity. But with a twist of fate, I called Faye Gibbons and heard her voice on the other end of the phone, a nice gentle southern voice. I felt an immediate connection and count her as one of my friends. I was lucky to illustrate two more picture books by Faye, “Full Steam Ahead” and “The Day the Picture Man Came” all three books were published by Boyds Mill Press.
I was very excited to hear that Faye had sold another manuscript to NewSouth Books “Halley”. This book is a young adult novel. I couldn’t wait to read it. I was not disappointed. I was transported back to the Georgia mountains and the hard times of the depression. The story tells how one young woman rises above the the death of a father and the hard times that she finds herself in. It is a great read. It kept me captivated to the very end. If you would like to hear Faye Gibbons voice, I recommend you get the book and read it. You can get it at New South Books or Amazon.
Getting Ready for the SCBWI New York Conference Portfolio Display
Here is a link to a video I made http://youtu.be/FORuJwitMbE I’m getting my portfolio ready for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators New York Conference.
A Week of Fourth Graders, Paiutes and Chuckwallas
I drove down into Cache Valley and even though my heater was cranked, the temperature in my car dropped. The cold seeped in around me. 11 degrees. First stop Edith Bowen Elementary on the Utah State Campus to visit three different classes, fourth and fifth grade, second grade and 1st grade talking about the life of a children’s book illustrator. But first I had to make my way into the school. I dragged my suitcase across the ice about half a block from the parking terrace to the school. The cold bit into my hands. Just keep walking and hurry. I made it to the school doors and read the sign. “For the students safety these doors are locked. Please enter through the north doors.” I thought I was going to freeze to death before I found the right door. I found the right doors and the right classes and the students were great. Day one down.
The rest of the week was at Greenville Elementary as Artist-In-Residence. The fourth graders learn about the five Utah Native American Tribes and the teachers wanted me to integrate that into my visit.
I walked the students through a portrait of a Shoshone. We talked about the Southern Paiutes and listened to a bit of the Paiute language. The fourth grade art was amazing.
The students concentrated and drew carefully. The room was absolutely quiet except for the sound of pencil to paper. The teachers were very supportive and the art specialist jumped in with some great help with logistics.
Here is a picture of the art specialist and the Cache District Arts Coordinator. They were great.
I saw one of the students sitting in the back and holding his portrait so no one else could see it. He was looking like someone had just ordered him to eat the rest of his over cooked broccoli.
I went back to him and said, “That is a mighty fine portrait of an Indian.” He held up his feather that we were suppose to attach to the portrait. He had cut off the hole punch. I told him to bring it up front and we would punch another hole. I told him that is such a good portrait that he should give me a nice big grin. He stretched his lips thin but neither end curled up.
The next day we worked on drawing and watercoloring chuckwallas. He brought up his finished chuckwalla to show me. He held it out for my inspection and asked, “Does this look like a lizard?”
I said, “That does not look like a lizard. That looks like an amazing CHUCKWALLA!.” He gave me a genuine, full faced grin.
That is what these visits are for, sharing with students the joy that comes from creating art and letting them be the artist in charge of their own work. It was a great week.
(Thanks to Aurora Hughes Villa for many of the photos.)
Is it “Hockey” or “Hake” Brush
The Utah Watercolor Society combined with the Intermountain Society of Artist for their meetings to watch me do a watercolor demonstration applying the John Salminen Workshop to my children’s book illustrations. The crowd started to gather.
It was great to have my Mom-in-law there.
When I’m working on children’s book illustrations there seems to be inspiration I can use all around. Some of the techniques taught by John Salminen seemed perfect for the illustrations I’m working on now.
There are a lot of things you can do to create texture with watercolors but they have to fit the mood and design of the illustrations. Spattering with a bit of miskit can create some great texture and great sound effects.
I masked out the trees and ravens with some masking tape so I could put a nice wash in the sky.
John Salminen taught us how to use a hockey brush to make a wash.
I told the audience that there was a bit of controversy on how to pronounce hockey brush or hake brush but that Salminen pronounced it “hockey brush” so I introduced them to my homemade “Hockey brush”.
I whisked the top of the wash lightly with the hockey brush. The audience was amazed with the technique.
When the wash was dry I took the masking tape off the paper being careful to pull towards the edge of the paper.
Once the tape was off, I painted in the trees and then used an atomizer to put some atmosphere into the sky. The ladies in the front row got a bit of the atmosphere on there knees. Then like Martha Stewart I pulled the finished illustration out of the oven to show the audience. My illustrations will be better because of the workshop and instruction taught at the John Salminen Workshop.
The evening was great. It was a great group of artists and we had a very enjoyable night.
Intermountain Society of Artists
Winsor Newton Masking Fluid
