Running Commentary

I recently heard about the blog Read Write Believe, and I was instantly hooked with this interesting series on The Excercise of Writing. (This is only one entry in a week full of interesting entries). I was hooked because I, too, am a runner, and get extremely grouchy and unfocused in my artwork when I don't go running. One is very definitely linked to the other, in my case. And, this theme seemed especially apropos this weekend, as I ran a 4-mile race in Central Park on Sunday, and took the opportunity to take some reference photos for Bea Rocks the Flock. With a limited time schedule, I find I am always looking for ways to kill 2 birds with one stone.

Here's a photo I took of Sheep Meadow...



. . . in order to update (actually, re-do) this scene from Bea Rocks the Flock. Sheep Meadow-- get it?!




I don't think I'll be able to exactly mimic Sheep Meadow as it is- as you can see, there's no path running through the real meadow- but I'd like to include some of the same buildings.

Setting Up

It's been a frustrating few evenings for me at Studio Jamieson. I am changing my mode of operation, from painting on illustration board to painting on paper. Here is the reason why. I work for a large publishing company, and many artists send in illustrations on illustration board, which is not a problem for us, because we have our own camera room in-house where we can shoot these pieces for final production. Works done on paper are usually sent overseas (usually China), where they are wrapped around a drum scanner for high-quality scans. It has only embarrassingly recently come to my attention that oh, most publishers (especially smaller houses) do NOT have their own camera room at the ready! Things are much, much simpler if the art is on a flexible background.

So, as my mantra as an illustrator is "Make things easy for the publisher", I've decided to make the switch to painting on paper. I thought I remembered the basics of paper preparation from school, but it turns out I needed a little refresher course.


First I made a trip to Home Depot, and bought a composite board that can be stapled into. Homasote is best, but since the Manhattan Home Depot is not a "regular Home Depot" (as an associate told me), they don't sell homasote. Also as it is not a "regular Home Depot", they couldn't cut the board for me at the store, which made for an interesting subway ride home.


Luckily, my wonderful boyfriend was able to cut the board in our bathroom/slash/woodworking studio. Ah, how I daydream of having a garage.

I took the watercolor paper I had bought during lunch that day, and stapled that puppy to the board with my trusty staple gun. I got out my gesso, and put down the first layer. Almost immediately, things started to go awry....

Warping. After working on board for so long, I had forgotten how fickle paper can be. Rrrrrrh. I turned to my next course of action: Phone a Friend. Luckily, I have many talented and generous friends who were willing to share their paper expertise with me (in this case, the talented Theresa Bloise and Amy Ryan).

So I listened to their words of wisdom, and hightailed it to New York Central art supply the next day over lunch (If you're ever in the mood for service with amusing hipster attitude, this is the place to go!). But they have a great paper selection, and I bought a heavier stock of paper (300 lb, as opposed to the 140 lb I was using earlier). I did some experimentation when I got home, and with a little pre-wetting and a litttle patience, I achieved this beauty:


Smooth as can be, and ready to go! I cannot wait to start painting!!

A Note About the Future

I enjoy having plans. The latest plan I have hatched up is this: Soon, I am starting the paintings for my next picture book, Bea Rocks the Flock. I'd like to document my progress on this blog- from preparing my paper, (hopefully, tonight), to sending off the final pieces in June. I'd like to do this mostly because I am always starting & losing journals, and I'd like to have some sort of record of this time to look back on in my golden years. But I also really enjoy reading the blogs of other artists. Hearing about their process is really inspirational to me-- so I'd like to add my two cents to the artistic "Take a Penny" pot out there.

So, starting soon... the Life and Times of Bea Rocks the Flock!

All Together Now!

I've been a reader of the Blue Rose Girls blog for a while now, and I always really enjoy when member Anna Alter posts a collective photo of all of her paintings for a recently completed book (like this posting here). And I thought, By Golly, I'm going to do that when I am done with my book! And so I did.


It's so fun to see all of your work together! And rewarding. As someone who writes things on her to-do list that I've ALREADY DONE, just to have the satisfaction of crossing them off, seeing my work all together pleases me.


Someone who is NOT pleased, obviously, is Sharon. Look at that she-devil glow in her eye! Just because her own career as a concert pianist fizzled out (it's a long story), she is intent on sabotaging my career. Just how does she think I pay for her precious Kibbles?!?


My drawing table in its "haven't seen signs of a Windex bottle in months" state, to...


...shiny, clean, and ready to start the next project! And Sharon, apparently, is ready for her closeup.

The Final Two!

Yes, I know that I said the last one was the final piece, but these really, really are the LAST paintings I had to do for this book! The nighttime scene is the first page of the book (title page). The daytime scene is the last page (copyright and dedication). My, such wild times must have taken place in the interim!

I finished up these paintings at about 4:30 in the afternoon yesterday, and let me tell you, I am NOT used to leisure time! I was going a little bonkers with nothing to do! What am I going to do when my next project is over?!?! If last night is any indication, I'll do a lot of puttering around the apartment & make lots of chocolate chip cookies.

The Last Piece

This is the last spread for "Grandpa, What's That Sound in the Middle of the Night?". I put off doing this one until the end because frankly, the task of painting a scene of characters in a river at night was a little technically daunting! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, though.

It's funny- although I'm pretty pleased with my work for this book, there are about a million things I would have done differently now! More white space and more character close-ups, for starters. I thought I knew my picture book stuff pretty well- what with designing them all day & whatnot- but I think there are some things you can only actually learn by DOING the illustrations.

My inner Beverly Cleary

I love, love, love Beverly Cleary. I re-read the Ramona books in the school library until the librarian told me I really should branch out and read other things. So it was with great pleasure that I recently read her autobiography. Many of the details from the Ramona books had links to Ms. Cleary's own life-- for example, I loved the detail that Ramona named her doll Chevrolet and was mocked for it- and this is something the author herself did as a child.


I re-read a few Ramona books several months ago, after a trip to Portland, Oregon (now I sound like a stalker, but I did NOT go to stake out Ms. Cleary's homestead!). And, as is my fashion, when reading something inspiring, I did a few sketches while reading. AND, (here's the crux of this post), months later, when I read the memoir, I realized that one of my Ramona skeches was eerily similar to a picture of the author as a young child!






The photo's a little small, but you get the idea.

Tomek Bogacki

I belong to a great illustrator's group that meets every other month somewhere around the city (CBIG- you can see the website here). Actually, I am currently serving as co-prez, which tickles me, because the last time I held any sort of "office" was as Historian for the Keyette club in high school, a position I was quickly fired from. Not to worry, I do not see history repeating itself for this gig! The other co-prez is a fellow Bloomsbury author, Manya Tessler- her book Yuki's Ride Home released this past week! You can check out her adorable website here.

Anyway, so in these meetings, we usually have a guest speaker, usually an editor, art director, author, or illustrator. I cannot tell you how helpful these meetings have been for my career. I met my first Bloomsbury editor at one of the CBIG-sponsored portfolio reviews. I showed her my book dummy, and within a week or two, I received that wonderful call that they wanted to publish my book. I've met several great editors and art directors through this group, and while obviously not every single one wants to publish my work, I feel like I have an extra connection with a few people now, and I feel like making a one-on-one connection is so important in children's publishing. Not essential, but definitely helpful.


Tomek was really engaging, and it's always inspiring to see another illustrator's work processes. He began his career in Poland, which made my current work struggles seem a little insignificant (really, who knew children's books could be censored?!?!?) I think my favorite book of his is "I Hate You! I Like You!" It's very simple, yet touching and full of character. His work is beautiful, and taught me there's a lot I can simplify in my own work.

In with the old, Out with the old

The "in" with the old refers to me- I'm old today. The big 3-0!!

The "out" with the old refers to my first picture book! I am working on the very last spread- all those months of work are almost at an end. You know, I am a lot sadder than I thought I 'd be! I've spent so much time on it, it's like the passing of an era. Like my 20s.

At least I have a project all lined up and ready for me to work on next. More like, an all-encompassing project that will dominate my time for the next four months. The artwork for my book, Bea Rocks the Flock, is due in June!!!

Reviews and Whatnot!

I think I will become a real nutjob when my own books are sent out for reviews. I didn't think it would bother me- after all, I've sat through my share of scathing critiques at RISD. And yet, when I saw that a review of The Gollywhopper Games had come out, I got all sorts of jittery. Luckily, the review mentions my illustrations positively; the Booklist review says the book has "appealing pencil illustrations". !!! They are not really pencil, but hey, I will not complain! I'm very happy with my first official review. I have a few of the illustrations on my website, but here are 2 others that I didn't put up...

These are twin bullies, not a trippy "looking at oneself" illustration.

And cake, because I do love cake.

There was also a mention of a book jacket I designed in a review for Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra. The Book Review said, "The title and cover are fun; put the book on display and it's likely to circulate." Well, this review also made me feel better, as the jacket I designed was actually changed for the paperback. Here's the hardcover...


And here's the paperback. Also designed by me, actually. More girly, less math-y. And you'll notice that "Do the Math " has been removed from the front cover. Funny, the changes we are asked to make sometimes! By the way, I highly recommend this book, and its sequel, The Writing on the Wall. Really engaging, and a very likeable main character. Even for a math-a-phobe like myself.