Ingo

It's been a long time since I've done an Illustration Friday assignment! If you're not familiar, Illustration Friday is a website that gives a weekly assignment (this week's is "Ocean")- and illustrators then submit their solutions. Since I turned in the first draft of my graphic novel on Tuesday (WHAT??! More on that later!)- I had a little extra time on my hands this week & gave it a go:

I based the illustration on a series of books I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE: The Ingo books, by Helen Dunmore. 

I first learned of these books when I was working at HarperCollins, and I was instantly taken by the jacket designed by Christopher Stengel (now with Scholastic. I couldn't find a website for him, but you can read an interview with him here.) Anyway, they are lovely books about a girl named Sapphire and her brother Conor, and their adventures under the sea with the Mer people. That's a lame summary, but they're really good books. I've read them countless times by now- when I find myself in the position of having finished all of my books from the library (the horror!), I'll reach for this one. Sapphire is a fiesty character, and if I could I'd name my first daughter after her. Unfortunately, this has already been nixed by my husband (and pretty much everyone else I know), saying that Sapphire is a stripper name. Whatever. I'll have to settle for naming my scooter Sapphire.

Sapphy and me

Etsy and me: a love/hate relationship

Every 6 months or so, I think to myself, "Vicki, you're poor. Why not try and make your millions on Etsy?" And this sounds like a great idea, and I start picking out the color of the Mini Cooper I will buy with my earnings. And then, eventually, I remember why all of my Etsy Get Rich Quick schemes fail: 1) I hate selling things, and 2) I hate the post office. 

My first Esty outing began with my Derby Dolls. They actually sold pretty well! But because of the aforementioned reasons, I never restocked my Etsy shop & still have a big pile in my closet.

Then, this holiday season I thought of a new Get Rich Quick scheme- custom portraits! I used to be a portrait artist on a cruise ship, after all. Since it was the holidays, I made a few portraits for my friends and family members:

Yes, my friends and family DO have exceedingly cute children! 

And now, the holidays are over, and there's no reason NOT to try the Etsy thing again... but the truth is, I love making things SO much more than I love selling things. Any of you other creatives struggle with this, too? How do you get around it?

New Year's Resolution!

You guessed it- it's to update my blog more often! I've been working working working, and so very thrilled about it. My first draft of my roller derby graphic novel is almost-kinda-sorta completed!!!

Maybe this will be news to you, but guess what? It turns out graphic novels are a TON OF WORK. Who knew? But I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work on a project so near & dear to my heart. I'll post progress reports as the year goes on, as I feel like I'm just making up a ton of stuff as I go. So please- join me in the year 2013- the year of the graphic novel! (for me).

And, just because... some bunnies on a Vespa.

Just a little derby drawing!

I'm still playing around with watercolors.

Posts have been few and far between around here lately. I read a list of writing tips by Sherman Alexie not too long ago, and #8 has kind of been my motto recently: 

Every word on your blog is a word not in your book. 

So basically, Sherman Alexie is telling me not to blog, and who am I to argue?

The truth is, I've been doing A LOT of writing recently- and not too much drawing. And me sitting around in my p.j.s creating Word documents does not make for exciting blog posts. 

However, I DO have a few visual things to share! I've also been teaching a new illustration class this fall at Pacific Northwest College of Art. Teaching is a challenge, I will say that. I am challenged each week to prepare lesson plans for extremely talented students, and to keep learning myself. One of the (many) benefits of teaching is learning about artists I didn't know much about before. Check out these amazing postcards by Rudolf Kalvach, an artist working in Vienna in the early 1900s...

OMG, I am IN LOVE with that Leda and the Swan postcard. It makes me happy in my heart every time I look at it.

Along with this new BFA course, I am still teaching a Continuing Education class in children's books. And it's funny- the same topic has been coming up in both classes, and continues to come up in my own work. How do you keep the freshness & vitality of early sketches when you move into "final" illustrations? One thing I recommend to both classes is to copy (literally) the work of illustrators you admire. I liken it to how, when you're in art school, you spend many hours drawing and painting from masterpieces in museums. For children's books, the big difference is that you get to take these masterpieces home with you, and you can draw from them in the comfort of your p.j.s (p.j.s are a big thing with me, apparently).

This morning I took a little break from writing and decided to put my money where my mouth is. I've been a great admirer of illustrator Julia Denos for quite a while now- her watercolors are fresh and lively. And, I just so happened to have a copy of DOTTY out from the library. (It's a wonderful book- written by Erica S. Perl, one of my favorite authors. Do yourself a favor & read her novel, WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU OJ).

So anyway, I recently bought myself some new watercolors, and this morning I picked out two of my favorites from DOTTY, and copied them. (PS- my scanner does NOT do any favors to the original book. I implore you to check out the illustrator's website for better examples of her work!)

It's a totally fun exercise, and it frees you from worrying about "screwing up"- because it's not really YOUR artwork- who cares if you make a mistake? I always learn something when I do this exercise- in this case, how to be more free and loose when I put down color.

It's fun- give it a try!

I can't quit you, roller derby!

I still have to take a break for a while- but hopefully coaching and the occasional practice will get me through. Roller derby, you... complete... me!! (how many other movie cliches can I throw in here? "You had me at sweaty wrist guards!")

Art School Confidential is BACK!

Ah, September. The number of back-to-school photos on my friends' Facebook pages really drives home the fact: it's back-to-school time. Classes started this week at Pacific Northwest College of Art, where I am teaching an illustration course in the BFA program this fall. The class is called Design + Image, and it's a hybrid design/illustration class. Here are the "ice breaker" images I wanted to use on the first day, but my husband wouldn't let me because he said they were too jokey-jokey and unprofessional. So I shall put them here, on my "professional" blog for the whole world to see.

(THE SET-UP)

I was worried about teaching a design class because I generally define the word "designer" as "someone cooler than me". This is how I picture myself, a non-designer:

Sloppy, blurry- maybe not so fat and hairy, but on a day-to-day basis, I think "hot mess" is a fair description.

DESIGNERS, on the other hand, look like this:

Sleek haircut, sparse Nordic workspace, chunky glasses.

In this class, the point I want to make is this: Design is for ALL illustrators, not just those of us who have cool glasses & have our lives in order. To make the point about design playing a part in all illustrations, I showed the following images. I took the design principles from a book called PICTURE THIS, by Molly Bang- a fabulous book on composition that I highly recommend. 

For an example, here's a spread from the Caldecott-award-winning  A SICK DAY FOR AMOS McGEE, illustrated by Erin Stead. This book is a veritable  study in horizontal compositions. I think the  flat, steady, calming compositions are part of what makes this book feel instantly timeless and classic.

...whereas Marla Frazee adds a feeling of tension and motion, just by tilting that ground up. Gosh, I love her work.

(illustration by Oliver Jeffers)

(illustration by Lane Smith)

(Mike Yamada, in a concept piece for Dreamworks)

(illustration by Gracia Lam)

I'll keep posting some of the lessons I'm learning as I'm teaching the class. Or, you could always sign up for my children's book illustration class, offered through the Continuing Ed department- that one starts at the end of the month!

New sketches!

I'll admit to you, internet- I don't know how celebs do it. Two weeks of book signings and interviews, and I was pretty much SPENT. Don't get me wrong- it was great getting out and meeting new people, and I love book signings- and I am EXTREMELY appreciative of all of the positive response I've been getting for Olympig. But when push comes to shove- I am an introverted hermit at heart, and attention makes me sweaty. So I've spent the past few weeks hiding in my studio, working off my Olympics hangover, and drawing, drawing, drawing! I have a few exciting projects coming up that I'll share soon! But for now, a few sketches to ease my toes back into the public sphere...

More OLYMPIG! events!

I lived out one of my life-long dreams last weekend: I had a book event at the world-famous Powell's City of Books! 

We even had some international athletes! France AND Canada were among the nations competing that day. It was tons of fun, and as I said, a dream come true.

And Boomer made the window display!

Afterwards, just like a true athlete I celebrated my victory with an ice cream cone. Have you noticed how I reward myself with delicious treats, just like all the dieting books tell you to do? Anyway, this was no ordinary ice cream cone, but a cone full of salty caramel ice cream from Salt & Straw, my new obsession.

What's that? You'd like a closer look?

I also had a wonderful event yesterday at the ever-lovely Portland Children's Museum! Unfortunately, my personal photographer (my husband) was occupied that day, so I have no photos to share with you. As previously mentioned, I can't remember to take pictures of fun stuff for the life of me. BUT, I did get to take home this fabulous gold medal, bringing my current medal count up to three!

(What? How did my Rose City Rollers 2012 Season Champions medal make it into this picture?!)

No Red Vines in the Green Room

I had a very surreal experience yesterday! Sure, I may have daydreamed from time to time about being interviewed on TV about my books... but I never ACTUALLY thought I would be interviewed on TV about my books! You guessed it- that is exactly what happened yesterday! AM Northwest, a morning show here in Portland, invited me to come and speak about OLYMPIG! on the air! 

I got to sit in a greenroom! It was really green! No fruit salad, though.

I basically fretted and stressed over what ended up being a very pleasant, very easy, 5 or so minute conversation. It was actually really fun! Of course, what I fretted the most over was WHAT TO WEAR. I settled for the shirt I wore in my author photo, because hey- 1) go with what works, and 2) I don't have too many clothes (I think US Weekly would call me a "Recessionista") Soooo, without further ado, I give you...

(OK, I got a little tricky there- clicking on the photo above will take you to the KATU site.)

And the best part? The studio was right up the street from the little corner of heaven known as...

VOODOO DOUGHNUT!

I think I earned myself a little treat!

The sweet taste of success!