I've been actually, physically painting today (Wednesday) - a Little Library. Its for an auction to be held during the Decatur Book Festival. And oh man, is it kicking my... tush. My typical illustration method is pencil sketches - scanned - collated and rendered in my computer. I do the whole thing in a cumfy chair with my feet up. Not so with painting!
I'm on a little stool - back straight - trying to navigate this large white box sitting vertically in front of me. I'm trying to mix colors, and get clean lines with a hand that is nowhere near as steady with a paint brush as it is a mouse.
All said - what an interesting experience! Despite years of art lessons, I never developed a comfort level with paints - and it's what I'm having to do now - under pressure. And if you can't tell from what I've written - I'm having a blast! :)
Here's the Little Library so far - very much of a work in progress!
Today we honor our fallen heroes. Here's a coloring page to help you do it:
There's also one for soldiers in other countries - our friends and allies. Color the flag to fit your nation. Let's remember those who fought for our freedom today.
At first I thought - this would make such a great picture book! But then I realized, no it wouldn't.
Why? Because so much of what is cute about this story is the pecking of the woodpecker - and that wouldn't translate as well into print.
When I do critiques at conferences, I often get stories with the same problem. In motion, the gags would be hilarious. But in print, they just don't translate.
Have you ever written a story like that? (I know I have!) Thanks to The Kid Should See This for the heads up.
Ingenuity + time + simple tools. I think these are the three elements of truly moving art. Like this "Reverse of Volume" by Yasuaki Onishi. It's just stunning!
The winner of a NOOK READER and an original piece of art by Sally Wern Comport is Maggie Swanson - CONGRATULATIONS!!! And thanks to everybody for stopping by. We got 57 comments - that may be a record. Obviously there is a lot of excitement over HANGING OFF JEFFERSON'S NOSE!
HANGING OFF JEFFERSON'S NOSE is the little known story of how Mount Rushmore came to be and the integral part one young boy played in its creation. It's written by Tina Nichols Coury and illustrated by the illustrious Sally Wern Comport. I hope you check it out!
Click the covers to learn about my two bilingual titles, SOAP, SOAP, SOAP ~ JABON, JABON, JABON and PACO AND THE GIANT CHILE PLANT ~ PACO Y LA PLANTA DE CHILE GIGANTE!
I'm thrilled to let you know about this great new book written by Don Tate and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. It's getting incredible praise and has already received a New Voices Honor Award!
This is what happens when you make strange promises to kids - you have to go through with them. Adam Rex (of our recent "Dirty Cowboy" scandal) promised a class of 6th graders that if his book, Smekday, made it to the Final 4 our their March Madness reading campaign, he would pour chocolate sauce over his head....
HANGING OFF JEFFERSON'S NOSE is the little known story of how Mount Rushmore came to be and the integral part one young boy played in its creation. It's written by Tina Nichols Coury and illustrated by the illustrious Sally Wern Comport. I have the great honor of asking her some questions about this latest creations...
Q. Sally - I've been a great admirer of your work for some time and am so glad to have you visit! Were you excited to take on this monumental project to illustrate Mount Rushmore? A. Throughout my career as an artist, I have always responded to other artist’s work and have been drawn to express in my own works, the working- moving figure. In particular the artists from the 1930’s and 40’s who were social realists and muralists. This book was exactly that expression that was called for, so I was very excited to participate.
Q. Were there any elements of this story that were particularly challenging? (Like the monumental proportions!) A. I have also been involved in many large scale projects in producing public art displays. When I was working on the illustrations, I was completing a 3-year project that involved installations of artwork- some at 3 or 4 stories high on building exteriors. Exaggerated scale and proportion has always been my fascination as an artist so I am comfortable portraying it. In fact, I started an art business 10 years ago called Art at Large Inc.
Q. I love the light you portray in your illustrations - how do you approach that? A. It is a very good question, and a compliment that you point it out. Light plays a great function in defining the shape of something in space. What better thing to be defining than a monumental sculpture that is all one color. A picture can also be made much more dramatic in the way it uses shadow and light to compose it to draw the viewer’s attention.
Q. Am I seeing some collage in HANGING OFF JEFFERSON'S NOSE? How do you usually work and what was different in this project? A. This project is a bit more heavily painted in acrylic for the final stage. My work always begins with black and white drawings made on layers and layers of drawing tissue done without the aid of reference pictures. That way I can build the gestures and compositions without the influence of someone else’s vision. Then, the first final drawing is done in charcoal from very researched pictures. The drawing then becomes a hybrid of working back and forth from traditional mediums to print mediums to digital mediums to add most of the texture and circle around again to traditional painting to do the final scans for print.
Q. You don't only illustrate children's books. Can you share some of your other venues and passions? A. I have been making pictures commercially since I was 16 for advertisements in the newspaper. I continued to make drawings called “storyboards” for TV commercials that were like animation frames throughout my early career which kept my drawing skills sharp. I have always thought drawing is what keeps us thinking from our core strength as individual artists.
I have also mentioned large scale projects and these continue to fuel my imagination as new advances in materials in digital printing technology, and LED light make possible the ability to put pictures outside, inside on all types of surfaces and for all types of purposes including exhibit design and public art. (All the more that Mt. Rushmore was a fitting story for me to help tell.) I have done many projects recently that are not solely my artwork but the work of many different artists. I have worked with inmates at a correctional institute, home displaced folks, developmentally delayed adults, and underserved youth as well as youth with English as a second language that speak the universal language of pictures. Digital capture and printing allow for storytelling in a big world of possibilities for artists of all methods and capabilities.
Q. I have several budding illustrators that follow dulemba.com. Can you give them a brief summary of how you became and illustrator and perhaps share some advice on making a living at it? A. I have always been an artist and fortunately knew it from an early age. My father started an advertising agency in the 60’s as a commercial artist and I grew up around his drawing board always planted squarely in the middle of our living room.
But Art and commerce have always had a tough time getting along. I have found that it’s necessary to be as creative ABOUT your career as you are creative IN your art. Find some tangential paths that lead you to projects as close to your core strengths and interests as you can. Primarily, Art is Work and it’s never finished.
Thanks so much for stopping by! I wish you much continued drawing happiness!
GIVEAWAY!!!! (It's a BIGGIE this time!) A NOOK READER!!!!!!
AND
A PIECE OF ORIGINAL ART FROM THE BOOK! Tina Nichols Coury is generously giving away lots of good stuff in celebration of her new book. To enter, just leave a comment on this blog. Be sure to include your email addy (written out is fine) - if I can't get in touch with you, you won't win! You must live in the continental US to win. A random drawing will be done on May 15th with the winner announced on the 16th.
And there's not just a Nook! Tina will be giving away cool stuff all week! You can only leave one comment per blog stop, but look at what you might win...
Blog Tour schedule: Monday, May 7th - Book Trailers Debut on Darcy Patterson's Blog.
Comment raffle prize: The creation of one free book trailer from Tina's Trailers. Tuesday, May 8th - Interview with Tina Nichols Coury at Barbara Bietz's blog.
Comment raffle prize: A Kindle! Wednesday, May 9th -Interview with Tina's agent Mark McVeigh at Greg Pincus blog.
Comment raffle prize: a 15 minute phone critique on 10 pages of a manuscript with Mark! Thursday, May 10th - Illustrator Sally Wern Comport Interview at Elizabeth Dulemba's Blog
Comment raffle prize: a Nook and original art from the book!!! Friday, May 11th - Interview with Dutton Editor Steve Meltzer and Tina at Cnythia Leitich Smith's blog
Comment raffle prize: First pages critiques by Steve (5 of them.) Dang, I wish I could enter!
And check out the awesome book trailer Tina created for HANGING OFF JEFFERSON'S NOSE:
Also, there was a cool tribute site to Maurice's work created about a year or two ago called "Terrible Yellow Eyes." It's Sendak-inspired work by other artists and is very groovy.
Click the covers to learn about my two bilingual titles, SOAP, SOAP, SOAP ~ JABON, JABON, JABON and PACO AND THE GIANT CHILE PLANT ~ PACO Y LA PLANTA DE CHILE GIGANTE!
A year ago I couldn't walk without a cane. (Severe and chronic plantar fasciitis.) Each step felt like walking on broken glass and I was convinced I would never be truly mobile again. For two years it grew progressively worse. I was in and out of a stylish 'boot,' doing physical therapy several times a week and living a handicapped lifestyle - car sign and everything. Grocery stores were torture and the idea of ever walking the streets of Paris again was a dream kissed good-bye.
Like Arthur, I couldn't exercise - or at least not the walking like I used to do. And I also gained weight. My mood was low, low, low and I crawled into my shell, pulling away from my normally social world.
But between foot surgery last October, swimming for an hour every other day, cutting out dairy and gluten from my diet, I'm getting it back. I'm getting ME back. My transformation hasn't been as dramatic as Arthur's, but boy, can I relate.
There is so much we take for granted when we're healthy. Things that I'm so grateful for and don't take for granted now. Hubbie and I WALKED the Inman Park Festival for our anniversary this year - something I couldn't do last year. I'm up to WALKING 1 1/2 miles with my dog on the weekends - something I couldn't do at all for a VERY long time.
And while my feet aren't perfect or 100% pain-free, I'll take this over where I was any day. I'm so grateful for where I am now, and the improvement I continue to show. I'm even dreaming of Paris again.
So, like Arthur says, "Never, Ever Give UP!" (Please watch his inspirational story below.) Go Arthur!!!
Two fun packages arrived in the mail Friday. The first was my prize package for ROBOT ZOMBIE FRANKENSTEIN by Annette Simon. (Won at Cynsations!) At first I didn't understand why my prize package included a pirate hat, hook and eye-patch. Or a chef's hat and apron. But when you read the book, you'll know why. It's a very simple, very funny, very true-to-age (very young) story of one-upmanship and friendship. And I do indeed recommend it.
The second was a book I agreed to review called THE HIGH-SKIES ADVENTURES OF BLUE JAY THE PIRATE by Scott Nash. I do some reviews here at dulemba.com, so I'm on the PR mailing list for publishing houses. When I agree to accept a book for review, I always warn them that I don't do bad reviews and that if I don't like it, I won't say a word about it. But this one looked promising.
I haven't read BLUE JAY yet, so can't vouch for it. (I'll write again if I can.) But I love the packaging and extras it arrived with. There's a brochure about the book, a pack of blue jay notecards, and this groovy bag to hold it all. I usually just receive a book, so this certainly caught my attention. Good job Candlewick!
Oh, how I wish I'd thought of this! It's by Filthy Luker and there are plenty more where this came from. Check out his website! Thanks to Daily Dawdle for the heads up.
I sometimes get requests from beginning authors and illustrators for manuscript and/or portfolio critiques. While I'm flattered, on a private level, I don't do this (except for my critique group). Nothing personal. However, on a professional level, I do sometimes give critiques - but only under certain circumstances...
For instance, at SCBWI conferences. If I am a speaker (on the faculty), I am oftentimes one of the professional critiquers made available to attendees for an additional fee (for writers and/or illustrators). You can sign up for these when you register for the conference. Professional critiques with industry professionals are usually available at every conference, so it's a great place to seek feedback - not just from me.
During our SCBWI Southern Breeze Illustrators' Day, along with the quick portfolio critiques by our visiting speakers, I will often give quick feedback to those who pull me aside. (Although I'm usually running around crazy, so it can be hard to get a moment.) I offer portfolio critiques through ZaPow! for a fee.
Also, when I teach "Creating Picture Books" at the John C. Campbell Folk School, or upcoming in October at Binders in Atlanta, it's all about critiquing! You can sign up for my newsletter where I'll announce these opportunities.
So, if you'd like my feedback, there are ways to get it. But if I'm not available to you, you can always turn to your local SCBWI chapter. That's the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators - the largest international organization of its kind and the umbrella that holds all us children's book creators together. Every region has a critique group liaison who can hook you up with other creators who are willing and available to do critiques.
There are also many former editors from major publishing houses whose jobs fell victim to the recession. Many now offer professional critique services via freelance. Again, the SCBWI is a great place to get contact information.
Everybody on this children's publishing journey goes through this process, and I wish you the very best!
I recently learned of a case of outrageous censorship occurring in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. THE DIRTY COWBOY, written by Amy Timberlake and illustrated by Adam Rex, has been pulled from the school library shelves because TWO parents complained about it. The school board then banned it in an 8 to 0 vote. They called the book a gateway to pornography. Ummmm...
The book is about a cowboy who needs a bath. The official description is:
"After he finds a tumbleweed in his chaps and the numerous bugs buzzing around him affect his hearing, the cowboy decides it’s time to head to the river. Once there, he peels off all his clothes and tells his trusty old dog to guard them against strangers. He takes a refreshing bath and emerges clean as corn – but so fresh-smelling that his dog doesn’t recognize him! Negotiations over the return of the clothes prove fruitless. A wrestling match ensues in a tale that grows taller by the sentence, climaxing in a fabric-speckled dust devil."
Just to be clear - there is NO unacceptable nudity in the book. Adam cleverly concealed anything that anybody might find offensive. In fact, that's part of the fun of the book - how creative he got with hiding the cowboy's nakedness. Many a Norman Rockwell magazine cover showed more nudity than this book does!
Luckily, there has been some push-back from the Lebanon community. A local math teacher did a reading at a "Celebration of Reading" event. (You can see him reading it HERE - with commentary on the censorship and the entire reading.) Amy has been interviewed twice. (You can read her original write-up on the controversy at HER BLOG and a FOLLOW-UP POST HERE.) And of course she's getting lots of support from our very tight creative community.
Here was the book trailer she did way back when...
You can actually hear Amy's grandfather ("Papa") telling the story HERE. And there was even an adaptation made about it for musical theater for kids! Want to take action against censorship and especially the censorship of this wonderful book? Go buy a copy! Show your support.
Oh, and support the author! Amy has a new book coming out this January called ONE CAME HOME.
A huge CONGRATULATIONS goes out to my friend Vicky Alvear Shecter who won the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award for the Southern Breeze region (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi) with her book CLEOPATRA'S MOON. This is an award given by popular vote - so directly from her peers. What a huge honor indeed, and what a deserving book! CLICK HERE to read the interview I did with Vicky back when CLEOPATRA'S MOON first came out.
Click the covers to learn about my two bilingual titles, SOAP, SOAP, SOAP ~ JABON, JABON, JABON and PACO AND THE GIANT CHILE PLANT ~ PACO Y LA PLANTA DE CHILE GIGANTE!
The New York Times did a lovely tribute: "
Want to take action against censorship and especially the censorship of this wonderful book? Go buy a copy! Show your support.
A huge CONGRATULATIONS goes out to my friend 
