A nice review of BEA!

That's BEA ROCKS THE FLOCK, not BookExpo America. That hasn't happened yet, silly!

The review can be found at For Immediate Release Reviews- Kids!

Thanks so much, FIRR-K!

Kid-Lit themed auction!

I'm sure many of you have heard about the online auction to benefit Bridget Zinn, YA author and librarian. Bidding ends this Saturday, May 30th! The item that really catches my eye is Carl Kasell's voice on your home answering device. All that glory, without having to be smart enough to win on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! My kind of prize.

There's also a silent auction here in Portland on Friday evening. I'll have this piece of original art from Bea Rocks the Flock up for bids:

As well as a signed copy of the book. Come one, come all!

Merchandising PASS and FAIL

You may remember from earlier posts about my wedding that my mother has the gift of the craft. Oh what the hey, I'll post this picture again:

Imagine my delight when she turned her crafty eye to Bea Rocks the Flock!

Is that not the cutest thing ever?!?

I was visiting the Jamieson estate this weekend while in town for a friend's wedding, and was welcomed into the house by a veritable shrine to Bea, with the 10 (yes, 10) books they had purchased, surrounded by Bea and her flock. Unfortch, I only had room for Bea in my suitcase.

Now, I will tell you what is indeed NOT the cutest thing ever: my previous attempt at toy merchandising.

Ok, it wasn't an attempt at toy merchandising; I was merely making a model of Motha when I was thinking of writing a story about her, based on this illustration:

The story's been put on hold, but I still like to keep Motha around, usually in her birdcage, to generally creep out my husband/slash/visitors.

If this doens't terrify you, you have a heart of stone.

Sweet dreams.

Bea's Official Release Date!

Yippee! BEA ROCKS THE FLOCK goes out into the world today! Here are some sketches- about half of these did not make it into the final book. It's like I'm giving away DVD extras over here!

And a finished spread, one of my favorites from the book.

Also, you've perhaps heard about the online auction for Bridget Zinn.  IShe's a YA author & former librarian, recently diagnosed with cancer. There are some great items up for bid- I put my money down for a publicity blast with Mitali Perkins, but I was promptly out-bid, and have a feeling I won't be able to keep up with the ensuing bidding war. Ah, well. Lots of good items, though- check it out!

Pugs, and a confession

I guess painting personalized cards is my new "thing". One of my bestest buddies in the world is getting married this weekend, and she (inexplicably) has a thing for pugs. I mean, the longer I looked at them, the more they looked like aliens. Anyway, I am banking on her being too busy with last-minute preparations to be reading my blog, and thus, seeing her card early:

Now look... Honest Abe, I am NOT spending all of my time drawing greeting cards. Truth is, I am working on a new story, which- honestly- I thought was close to being finished. Then, I showed it to some people. One person, in particular, gave me some feedback that was simultaneously very very helpful, and very very hard to hear. It made me realize... I may have been approaching my picture-book writing in EXACTLY the wrong manner! I've read all sorts of writing manuals and author interviews, and they talk about just getting to know their character and being as surprised as the reader at what will happen next in their story. And I thought, That is all well and good for them! Me, I like to have a plan, and to know exactly how all the pieces fit together, and how it will all end up from the beginning. The problems with doing things this way is that there are no surprises. Not for me, not for the reader.

So, it's been a learning experience for me these past weeks, to say the least. It seems easier, right?!? This character is very fully formed in my mind, I just need to let him do his thing! Just relax and let the imagination flow! The thing is, I am the kind of person who applies her brakes when going downhill quickly on her bike, who will ski down the slope in the plow position so as to not lose control, who never, ever got so drunk in college that she didn't have control of her senses. If you're sensing a theme here, it's that I like to be in control! It's hard for me to hand over the reigns to my main character, and to trust that things will turn out in the end.

So, that's been the story of my workadays. Struggling with writing by day, and using my evenings to relax with painting, with which I feel much more comfortable. Do all the rest of you illustrators-turned-authors feel these growing pains? It's funny, BEA ROCKS THE FLOCK is being released TOMORROW! Just when I thought I knew a thing or two about writing picture books, I realized I know next to nothing at all. Isn't that an Indigo Girls song?

Another experiment in acrylic gouache

Why is "gouache" the hardest word ever to spell?!? I always get it wrong the first go 'round.

Anyway, here's another quick study- and serves double-duty, as a thank-you card to my niece for being the most studious, conscientious flower girl ever.

And in case you were wondering, here's the finished product for those soon-to-be-mailed (honestly, family members!!!) thank you cards:

Experiments with Acryla Gouache

Just playing around with some of the nice matte qualitites of acrylic gouache. I haven't used gouache since art school, so I thought acrylic gouache might be a nice gateway material.

(click for a larger view)

More Gyo Fujikawa

I travelled back home to Florida for a friend's wedding last week. While there, I took the opportunity to look through the Jamieson Memorial Library, and found our old copies of Oh, What a Busy Day! and Come Follow Me. They were even more beautiful than I remembered:

Look, my brother and I shared! What good siblings.

I remember playing "sandwich" quite a bit as a kid- perhaps inspired by this book? We'd lie between two pillows, and tickle the other person whenever a new ingredient was added to the sandwich. Condiments required blowing on the stomach, raspberry-style. Oh, and I think we even "pressed" the sandwich, panini-style, by sitting on the person.

I loved this illustration...

... and this one.

And I think this one is just stunning. My crummy scan does not do it justice (O, how I miss you, high-quality flatbed scanner from my previous job!)

I can't find too much information about Gyo Fujikawa, which I find surprising, as it seems like she was groundbreaking in many ways. According to her Wikipedia profile, "Fujikawa is recognized for being the earliest mainstream illustrator of picture books to include children of many races in her work, before it was politically correct to do so."  A New York times article says that her family was interned in an Arkansas relocation camp during World War II. She sounds absolutely fascinating, and hopefully I'll be able to find more information about her. She had this quote in the Wikipedia article:

"In illustrating for children, what I relish most is trying to satisfy the constant question in the back of my mind--will this picture capture a child's imagination? What can I do to enhance it further? Does it help to tell a story? I am far from being successful (whatever that means), but I am ever so grateful to small readers who find 'something' in any book of mine."

What a beautiful quote- and what a nice thing for me to keep in mind as an illustrator, when it's easy to get sidetracked by thoughts like "hooks", "marketability", or "the next big thing". I certainly found more than "something" in her books, and I'm grateful that she created them.

Bits & Bobs

BITS:

This weekend was a little "BIT" of fun... the Stumptown Comics Fest was going on! Here's Herm blending in:

The Stumptown fest did not reach NEARLY the levels of crowds or general zaniness of the New York Comic Con- but you know what? That's alright by me, because there was more of a focus on the creators here, a sort of DIY celebration. Less about the big corporations and more about the artists. Of course, there were also some big names attending, like Jeff Smith (creater of BONE) and Craig Thompson. And that wasn't the only thing "big" going on at Stumptown...

Take a look at that library card! The library posted a flickr set of people posing with the giant card. We told them they should have had one of those giant read-aloud books to pretend check-out. (*side note- please forgive the 100% fleece outfit. I ran a 10k race beforehand, ok?!)

I'm the Incredible Growing Woman! First I'm dwarfed by a library card, now I'm stomping on trees!

But seriously folks, a giant library card is just what I need. My wallet is currently, and always is, so stuffed to the brim that it will not velcro shut anymore (velcro wallet= classy). Part of the reason why? I feel the need to carry with me, AT ALL TIMES, the library cards from every city I've lived in. (clockwise from top left: Pinellas County (Florida), Brooklyn, Sydney (Australia), Portland, and Montreal).

You know how James Bond keeps like a collection of passports and foreign currency so he can dash off to any country on a moment's notice? I'm like the James Bond of libraries- I'm ready to check out The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants in any country in the entire world* (* ok, the US, Canada, and Australia).

And finally, the BOBS section of this post:

I was "on location" yesterday and today, and here are the results from a) the park, and 2) the art museum. Again, real locations, imagined kids.

Inspiration and lots of sketches

Wow. It is a strange and wonderful experience to re-visit books I loved as a kid, but haven't seen in years and years. I had completely forgotten about these books, and inexplicably, the illustrations came flooding back to me while I was running through the park last week. Some frantic googling when I got home ("Japanese" "children's book illustrator" "highly detailed"- that was literally all I remembered about these books), plus one phone call to my mother, and the truth was revealed: Gyo Fujikawa.

How could I have forgotten? I pored over these books as a kid. I loved the details, and reading the story in the pictures. 

Those last two made a particular impression. I loved the kid sitting under the table, the girl sitting next to her kitten, looking at all the food on the table. The above illustration inspired me to pack my sketchbook & pencils, and go back to the park that afternoon:

Blatant rip-off, you say? No, in art it's called an "homage". (BTW, please excuse the crude reproductions of my sketches. The movers broke our scanner/slash/printer. AND our futon. But no bitterness).

The forest is real; all of the kids are imagined. I really enjoyed this excercise of drawing the setting first, and once I had the landscape in place, adding the kids. I hiked over to the playground this afternoon to repeat the process:

...and did the same thing in my kitchen. Yes, I actually set the table, like a sad pretend tea party for one.

...and just a random kid sketch. And I will only say this once, so that everyone doesn't hate me, but... It is SO NICE to not have a day job. In all sincerity, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to be able to, say, go to the playground in the middle of the day to draw. When I had a day job, I loved to come home and paint all evening, but it was... different. More focus on producing, I guess, and less time for rumination and letting my mind wander. This window of opportunity (no day job, no kids, etc etc) won't last forever, I know- so I am intent on utilizing (and loving) every minute of it.