Mummers and Drag Queens

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel so overwhelmed by work you want to just curl up into a ball in a dark room? Well I have! So rather than face reality just now, I decided to write a blog post composed mainly of funny pictures I found online!

I actually had a very fun task on my plate today. I'm gearing up to start the final paintings for my next book, and today was a research day. Ladybug has a few costume changes throughout the book, and I felt some of her outfits weren't quite fabulous enough yet.

When I googled "Broadway costumes", by and large I was underwhelmed by the image results. Where were the feathers? The sequins? The top hats? In short: where were the Mummers?

If you are not familiar with the Mummers Parade, you are probably not from Philadelphia. It's a parade held on New Year's Day, with people wearing outrageous outfits and carrying umbrellas, playing banjos & accordians.

Not going to be celebrating the new year in Philadelphia? Fear not! There is also a Mummers Museum! I discovered this gem while looking for a place to hold our wedding reception a few years ago. Imagine the photo opportunities!!

And because I am hiding from reality right now, I will also share some pictures of our runner-up wedding reception location: The Mutter Museum. We could have cut the cake next to The Big Colon!

Expressed our new union next to the conjoined twins!

And we could have given everyone cute plush toys from the gift shop as wedding favors.

Anyway, between the Mummers and the drag queen community, I was able to get some pretty awesome inspiration for Ladybug's costume changes.

Olympic Celebrity!!!!

Remember how in my last post I said I don't keep it cool when I meet celebrities? Well, OMG YOU GUYS, I JUST MET MICHELLE KWAN!!!!!!!

I am right now adding this picture to the "Olympic Figure Skaters I Have Met" page in my scrapbook. Which, until today, was limited to this picture:

(BTW, in the middle is Sarah Cloots, former editor at Greenwillow. She is now a freelance editor- if you're in need of a professional eye before you submit your dummy to an agent or publisher, or self publish, check out her services on her website.)

Maybe I'll have an "Olympic Celebrities" page on the website I'm building for OLYMPIG, who knows. I was thinking about bringing an advanced copy of OLYMPIG for Ms. Kwan to sign (and by "advanced copy", I mean "one I printed out from my computer at home"), but I didn't want her to get any ideas. After all, goodness knows the last thing I need is for another Olympic figure skater to write a book about athletic pigs.

My only other near-Olympic encounter was in 2004, when Michael Phelps was rumored to have made a reservation at the restaurant where I worked in New York (Ruby Foo's in Times Square), but "his people" cancelled at the last minute.

Do YOU have any great Olympian stories?!? I'd love to hear them!

Celebrity Guest Speaker Round-up!

I'm not going to lie- I don't play it cool when I see celebrities. I cried when I saw Julie Andrews in the lobby of my office building back in New York. My husband (equally un-cool) saluted Conan O'Brien when we passed him on the street. So imagine how un-cool I was during my week-long intensive course at PNCA! Celebrity Guest Speakers every day of the week!

On day one we had an embarrassment of riches and welcomed TWO Celebrity Guest Speakers. Celebrity #1 was Carolyn Conahan, author and illustrator of the recent release, THE BIG WISH...

... and illustrator of Bubble Homes and Fish Farts.

I love, love, love this illustration:

In the afternoon, we were visited by Ward Jenkins, who unfortunately did not arrive dressed like a chicken.

He did, however, DRAW some chickens.

... some surprisingly scientifically composed chickens.

These chickens are, of course, the stars of his wildly successful new book, CHICKS RUN WILD.

Both Carolyn and Ward were extremely generous in sharing their working procedures and dummy-making habits with us. Ward also generally blew everyone away with his mad Photoshop skillz, not to mention the pile of vintage books he uses for inspiration.

On Tuesday we welcomed Deborah Hopkinson, author of approximately 2 billion books.

It was tremendously interesting hearing things from an author's point of view. For example, when asked if she was ever surprised or disappointed by the choice of illustrator for her books, she replied, No. She saw her books almost like children... you may have hopes and dreams and plans for your children, but eventually, they grow up and they are what they are.

Our last Celebrity Guest Speaker was the tremendously talented David Hohn, pictured here with a few of his titles.

(oh, and I apologize for only photographing 50% of our speakers. I had my camera... I just... forgot.)

David was kind enough to share his promotional postcards- two of which I've posted below. He had the very smart idea to create a series of 6 mailers that, when seen together, tell a complete story. Verrrry clever.

A big Thank You to all of our speakers. It's so helpful to hear how other illustrators work, and to see that even wildly successful authors and illustrators go through the same frustrations and worries as everyone else. Hopefully, more Celebrity Guest Speaker features to come in the fall, when my classes at PNCA start up again!

Jacket art sneak peek!

I know you're all anxiously awaiting the Celebrity Guest Speaker Roundup I promised in my last post- and you will get it! My week-long intensive course at Pacific Northwest College of Art was spectacular. 4 days. 4 Celebrity Guest Speakers. 1 dummy. (That was the goal by the end of the intensive- to have completed a working picture book dummy). I'm happy to report that everybody in the class had a really great start on their dummy- and some really fantastic story ideas were discussed that week. A big thank you to all of the participants and to our Celebrity Guest Speakers!

Luckily, I had a fun project waiting for me when the week was over- Olympig jacket art! I've always loved hand-lettered book jackets, but this is the first time I've attempted it myself...

It requires a steady hand, but with a little yogic breathing I was able to get through it. Luckily I did not get the yogic giggles, which have been plaguing me at yoga class recently.

And, that's the sneak peek! More on the jacket art to come...

Lots going on!

So, I was reprimanded by one of my new teammates for not updating my blog with new and current information... Remember my last blog post about my excitement over the roller derby draft? Yup, that's me below- I was drafted by the Break Neck Betties! And I got to play in our season Championship bout!

( Here I am receiving a gentle reminder from my teammate Scrappy to stick with her.)

(thanks to Masonite Burn Photography and Continuum Photography for the pictures)

AND, WE WON!!! Break Neck Betties are the Season 6 Champions! Pretty crazy for my first-ever bout. I have a lot to learn and a lot of work to do during our off-season. To remind myself of the ferociousness I want to show on the track, I did some illustration visualization:

I will look at this illustration whilst doing my biceps curls and drinking my protein shakes.

In other news, today I did something fun: I volunteered at the Oregon Special Olympics! It may come as a surprise to you, but I am a big fan of the Olympics.

Since I am not a bajilionaire and may never achieve my dream of attending an Olympic Opening Ceremony* (*although, dreams DO come true- see paragraph 1)-- I figured the next best thing would be to volunteer at my local Special Olympics!

I have a special knack for making exciting things look boring in photographs. But above is the nail-biting bocce competition. My job, however, was keeping score in the softball competition. I got to update the big electronic scoreboard! I bet you're jealous.

The summer state games take place in July- I'm hoping to go back! And if you're looking for a fun volunteer experience, I highly recommend.

Lastly, my week-long children's book intensive course starts tomorrow at Pacific Northwest College of Art! I have been busily preparing my notes:

This week should be a lot of fun. We're having highly acclaimed guest speakers each day... Who??? you ask? Check back later this week for my Guest Speaker Roundup!

Draft Day!

Why yes, it is time again for another roller derby post! For those of you keeping tabs, my derby career is coming along. I've talked about my failed tryout attempts in the past- and finally, in January I made the Fresh Meat team! The beauty of derby, however, is there's always a new goal to reach. Next goal: get drafted to a home team. And guess what- today is draft day!

I think these pieces adequately express my feelings about this! I am doggedly determined to get drafted tonight...

... all the while knowing it's a pretty slim chance. I can't talk enough about the benefits derby has given me. It has been great having something really hard & scary to strive for that is completely non-career related. And the lessons of getting knocked down a billion times, and still getting up- and of facing bitter rejection, only to shake it off and try again... there may be SOME VERY SMALL similarities to making a living as a children's book illustrator.

And if you haven't done so already, check out your local roller derby league to see a bout! Chances are there's a team near you- it's the fastest growing sport in the nation!

Ok, and here's a picture of me on the track. That's me, Winnie the Pow!

(Photo courtesy of Timothy Murray. See some more of his Fresh Meat action shots here!)

Basketball diaries

I do a spot of work from time to time for the fantastic New York Road Runners Foundation. They support running programs in schools across the country-- and they're super fun to work with. I can credit NYRRF for getting me interested in running again- I used to volunteer as a race-day "running buddy", and I HAD to train so my 6th grade buddy wouldn't run me into the ground.

(click for a larger view)

Anyhooo, here's a quick drawing I did for their latest newsletter. Funny, I've always hated basketball, both watching (those squeaky shoes!) and playing (hey, how about getting out of my grill, other team?). And yet I overcame these objections to do this illustration, because I am a true professional.

Ramona dooooodles

My good pal Martha came to Portland this week to speak at the Oregon SCBWI conference. You can tell we are booky because the highlights of our tour included Klickitat Street, the Ramona, Ribsy & Henry statues in Grant Park, Powell's, and the central library. Martha will show you some nice pictures if you head over to the Greenwillow blog. Anyway, our journey into The World of Beverly Cleary inspired some Ramona scribblins!

(that's Picky-picky, the cat. BTW, "Picky-picky" was the answer to one of the questions at the Children's Book Council Trivia Night a few years back. Unfortunately, that answer was not enough to win me a coveted Golden Bunny award).