Coloring Page Tuesday - Happy New Years 2020!

     HAPPY NEW YEARS! I thought we'd bring in this year with cuteness - a puppy! I hope the new year is filled with good things and happiness for you and yours! CLICK HERE for more coloring pages.
     Remember, I create my coloring pages to draw your attention to my books! For instance, I'm celebrating the new illustrated (by me) edition of A BIRD ON WATER STREET! My debut novel won me "Georgia Author of the Year!"
Booklist said it's "A book deserving of a wide readership, recommended for all libraries."
If my news and images add value to your life, won't you please
patron
Just love this one image? Consider a one-time donation...

     I create my coloring pages for teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents to enjoy for free with their children, but you can also purchase rights to an image for commercial use, please contact me. If you have questions about usage, please visit my Angel Policy page.

Eliza Wheeler's Process for HOME IN THE WOODS

I shared this link in last Friday's Links List, but it really is too wonderful for you to miss. Here's an inspiring video about Eliza Wheeler's process for her latest picture book, HOME IN THE WOODS. Click the image to watch on her website:

1911 - A Trip Through New York City

What a trip - this is video shot around New York City in 1911 as people just go about their ordinary lives. It's brought to us from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. Fascinating. Click the image to watch on YouTube:

Friday Links List and Illustrators' Treehouse News


From Chronicle Vitae: What to Say and What NOT to Say in Query Letters to Book Editors

From Randy Ribay: CRITICAL LIT THEORY AS PREPARATION FOR THE WORLD (2019 ALAN WORKSHOP SPEECH)

From The Independent: How can we talk to children about the climate crisis without painting it all black? (Book recommendations)

OFF-TOPIC, BUT INTERESTING
From Bloomberg: Warren Buffett Hates It. AOC Is for It. A Beginner’s Guide to Modern Monetary Theory

From CBSoriginals: "It's like parenting on steroids": Raising boys in the #MeToo era



THE ILLUSTRATORS' TREEHOUSE NEWS
From The New York Times: Design That's Got Users in Mind

From Fantasy at Glasgow: Susan Cooper's The Shortest Day with an illustration by Charles Vess

From The Guardian: Me, Mum and Dogger: the return of a children’s classic Shirley Hughes has a new book coming out!

From The Chive: Forget all the bad news, here are the best facts from 2019 (36 Photos)

Great graphics from The Happy Broadcast!

From Comm Arts: The Shoebox Project Spot - animated public awareness campaign; also Boulder Guide Book: This amusing, yet handy pocket guide not only introduces Boulder, Colorado to tourists, but also is the first to use algae offset ink.

From Muddy Colors: This month in covers (November) and To See or Not to See (on sculpture) and Introducing Julia Lundman


From The Art Room Plant: Este Macleod

and artwork from Carson Ellis' The Shortest Day

Dave Barrow's THE BEST KIND OF BEAR

"When Nelly asks Bear what kind of bear he is, he isn't entirely sure how to answer. So off he goes to find out. But none of the different bears he meets on his travels are like him. Grizzly bears don’t have stitching; polar bears don’t have tags attached to their bottoms; spectacled bears are not as soft and bouncy as Bear is; and sun bears never wear bow ties. Disheartened, he returns to Nelly . . . only to discover what kind of bear he is — her own special bear!" Dave Barrow stopped by to talk about his newest picture book today. Kirkus says, "This heartwarming tale can be enjoyed as a simple story or used to talk about identity, relationships, and belonging. Thoughtfully layered and simply sweet."
e: Hi Dave, welcome! What was your creative process/medium for The Best Kind of Bear, can you walk us through it?
Dave:
Everything starts with a drawing. Lots of drawings in fact. Then I tend to throw any available medium I have to hand at an image. Ink, watercolour, gouache, pencils, pastels, the kitchen sink. Whatever medium that suits the ethos of the illustration. It can get pretty messy. I have to have some element of physical mark-making involved. It's almost an extension of your handwriting.
I then compose all of these textures and shapes and scribbles and splats digitally. This allows me wrangle and control all of the chaos I've created!
e: What was your path to publication?
Dave:
After leaving school, I studied Graphic Design at university. On completion of my degree I vowed never to do Graphic Design ever again. It wasn't for me. For years I worked in the hustle and bustle of commercial print, avoiding being creative in any way shape or form. When I was inevitably made redundant, I found myself at a bit of a loss. I had no idea what I wanted to do next. I decided to go back to university and this time study something I was actually interested in. I was lucky enough to get onto the world-renowned MA Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. I didn't know it was world-renowned at the time which probably explained my flippancy during the interview.
      Being on the course was revelatory. It opened up a whole new world of children's books and how I could actually have career drawing! The MA has great relationships with many worldwide publishers and I was lucky enough to have two of my projects picked up by publishers whilst on the course. I was able to hit the ground running.
e: Is there a unique or funny story behind the creation of this story?
Dave:
When I was shown Greg (Gormley)'s text for The Best Kind of Bear by Nosy Crow with the possibility of me illustrating it, it was a lovely surprise as I was, unbeknownst to the publishers, already friends with Greg. We'd actually met at a Nosy Crow (UK publisher of Best Kind of Bear) party. Luckily, I loved the story. It could've been embarrassing if I'd have not liked it. Imagine the awkwardness of going for a drink with him afterwards. Although, saying no was very unlikely, Greg's a fab writer.
e: What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art" - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again? I'm looking for your definition of "Heart Art." (This is for a potential book - I may quote you!)
Dave:
I feel that illustration is all about integrity. I try not to create images that pander to a perceived audience. I make images that I believe in. Images that I enjoy. Hopefully, these images subsequently find an audience and people get some sort of enjoyment out of them. Sometimes it doesn't work out but I think it's obvious when an illustrator has put their heart and soul into an image, rather than made choices based on what's currently fashionable or popular. I think people appreciate and recognise integrity. (Phew, that was pretty heavy!)
e: How do you advertise yourself?
Dave:
I'm atrocious at all things social media related and consequently I'm appalling at any form of self-promotion. I have an Instagram account which I got excited about for about 5 minutes, but then I found it weird and embarrassing talking about myself so that died a death. I will endeavor to rectify this though. It's my New Year's resolution (and has been for the last 3 years).
      However, I am pretty good at going into schools and libraries. Meeting and interacting with your audience is truly inspirational. Kids have great ideas (obviously I steal them all 😉).
e: What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a creator?
Dave:
I always equate picture book making to running a marathon; it takes loads of preparation and training, the process is long and hard and involves lots of blood, sweat and tears (mainly tears). But when you cross the finish line, when you have the final printed product in your hand, it is the most satisfying and rewarding feeling ever.
      I think the misconception is that making a picturebook is somewhat easy, probably because it doesn't have many words! But a picturebook is a sophisticated beast! You have to convince an audience of your story, create engaging and emotive characters, and give the reader reason to want to return, all in about 32 pages!
e: Is there something in particular about this story you hope readers will take away with them, perhaps something that isn't immediately obvious?
Dave:
I think Greg has created a beautiful story about belonging and self-discovery. And I got to draw loads of cool bears.
      Also, we'd like to emphasise the fact that all good adventures begin in libraries!

e: What are you working on next or what would be your dream project?
Dave:
Weirdly, I'd love to illustrate gothic fiction such as Dracula or Frankenstein, bit of a departure from picturebooks I know.

e: That would be cool!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Christmas Balloon

     Sometimes Santa doesn't want to take the sleigh and takes the balloon instead! CLICK HERE for more Christmas-themed coloring pages.
     Remember, I create my coloring pages to draw your attention to my books! For instance, I'm celebrating the new illustrated (by me) edition of A BIRD ON WATER STREET! My debut novel won me "Georgia Author of the Year!"
Booklist said it's "A book deserving of a wide readership, recommended for all libraries."
If my news and images add value to your life, won't you please
patron
Just love this one image? Consider a one-time donation...

     I create my coloring pages for teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents to enjoy for free with their children, but you can also purchase rights to an image for commercial use, please contact me. If you have questions about usage, please visit my Angel Policy page.

Happy Holidays!

Whatever you celebrate during this holiday season, I hope it's a wonderful and relaxing time for you, filled with peace and love.
     Looking back, it's hard to believe all the changes that have happened in our lives over the last year. We moved to a different continent, again! I started my dream job at Winthrop University. And we're settling in to this sweet little town of Rock Hill, making new friends, while missing our old ones. I'm spending this holiday writing the first draft of my PhD, all the way through. That's 80,000 words of introspective thinking - no small task! So, it's quiet around the Dulemba household this year in our new home in South Carolina. And while we're loving this new chapter in our lives, I have to admit, nobody could do a Christmas tree like The Dome in Edinburgh (below).
     To all of our friends all over the world, from Scotland, England, Germany, France, and Spain to all around the US, I wish you all a very happy new year filled with positive happenings, and lots of joy!

Neil Gaiman reads A Christmas Carol

Brought to you by the New York Public Library, Neil Gaiman reads Charles Dickens' classic tale "A Christmas Carol." I sense a new annual tradition coming on! Click the image to go listen on the library website.

Coloring Page Tuesday - Hannukah Dreidel

     Here's a bonus coloring page - Happy Hannukah! CLICK HERE for more Hannukkah-themed coloring pages.
     Remember, I create my coloring pages to draw your attention to my books! For instance, I'm celebrating the new illustrated (by me) edition of A BIRD ON WATER STREET! My debut novel won me "Georgia Author of the Year!"
Booklist said it's "A book deserving of a wide readership, recommended for all libraries."
If my news and images add value to your life, won't you please
patron
Just love this one image? Consider a one-time donation...

     I create my coloring pages for teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents to enjoy for free with their children, but you can also purchase rights to an image for commercial use, please contact me. If you have questions about usage, please visit my Angel Policy page.

Friday Links List and Illustrators' Treehouse News


From ShelfAwareness: Bookseller's Query Brings Children's Classic Back Into Print

From Entertainment: The 10 Best YA Books of the Year

From Slate: The Decade in Young Adult Fiction (Interesting!)

From Eerdlings: 16 Beautiful Picture Books with Poems for Kids

The Paper I Quoted in my TEDx Talk: A wonderful life: experiential consumption and the pursuit of happiness by Thomas Gilovich

From PW: Publishers Brace for California Labor Law Changes (One of my publishers is quoted.)

From NPR: Kids' Books To Read Again, And Again, And Again, And Again, And Again, And ...

From The Guardian: 'Ridiculously hard': how Neil Gaiman wrote a poem for refugees from 1,000 tweets

From ChronicleVitae: Do You Truly Grasp Why That Student Keeps Missing Class?

From Claudia Mills' An Hour a Day: Waiting for a Plot Twist in My Life - worth the read!

From Writer Unboxed: Notes on Writer Dreams, Gratitude, and the Anxiety of Authenticity

From SLJ: Reshaping the African American Narrative, from Picture Books to YA | Great Books

Slightly off-topic, but interesting nonetheless!
From The Guardian: What could the US afford if it raised billionaires' taxes? We do the math

From The Good News Network: Top 10 Most Exciting Environmental Stories From 2019 Raise Hope for An Eco-Friendly Year Ahead

From Brightly: Our Favorite Books of the Decade and The Best Children’s and YA Books of December 2019



THE ILLUSTRATORS' TREEHOUSE NEWS
Communication Arts is holding their 2020 Illustration Competition (deadline for entries is in January!)

From ICON: Illustration Academy Call for Entries for Scholarships

From World Illustration Awards: Call for Entries (February deadline)

From Pip Illustration: Ben the Illustrator is holding his annual Illustration Survey - I did it, will you?

From Eye on Design: We’ve been blown away by the responses to our open call inviting designers to anonymously share their salary via the Graphic Design Salary Transparency spreadsheet. CLICK HERE to see it!

From the #BookMarkProject: Authors and Illustrators we would love you to doodle us a bookmark for the 2020 #BookmarkProject auction for Katiyo Primary School in Zimbabwe.

From The Art Room Plant: Einar Nerman


From HOW: HOW Design Live - registration now open!

From Eliza Wheeler: ‘Home In The Woods’ book video—PROCESS

From Myth and Moor: Stories Lean on Stories With artwork by my colleague and golden-age illustrator, Ruth Sanderson

Check out Jennifer M. Potter's website for great ideas of how to present categories via her agent Lilla Rogers

From GoodNewsNetwork: This City billboard Has Been Designed to Purify the Surrounding Air By Eating Up Smog

From Muddy Colors: A Studio Visit (Robert Hunt's Oil-painting studio - worth your time!)

From CommArts: For those who worked on the collage project... Turner Classic Movies animations


Matt Tavares' DASHER

Hi Matt! Readers may remember when I interviewed you for RED & LULU (https://dulemba.blogspot.com/2017/12/matt-tavaris-red-lulu.html). I’m thrilled to have you back for yet another lovely Christmas book, DASHER.
e: What was your creative process/medium for DASHER, can you walk us through it?
Matt:
Thanks, Elizabeth! Happy to be back. The illustrations for Dasher were done using watercolor, gouache, ink, graphite, and some black and white colored pencils here and there. Oh and I used pastels in one or two of the pictures. So… a little bit of everything! As for the creative process, I hit this weird rut when I was about halfway through the illustrations, where I basically forgot how to paint night skies. The paint just wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do! It was very stressful. That’s one reason I ended up using lots of different materials, and playing around with what worked best. I eventually got back in the groove and I like how it all turned out.
e: It’s unusual for a creator to specialize in holiday books - two in a row! How has that come about?
Matt:
After I finished Red & Lulu, my editor, Katie Cunningham, told me that she felt like that story brought out something new in my work, and she thought I should keep going in that direction. She suggested I try to come up with another holiday-themed story, and maybe even one with animal characters. So I started brainstorming, and eventually landed on the idea of an origin story about Santa’s reindeer.
      I tend to get stuck on a topic and stay there a while. Earlier in my career I kept thinking of baseball stories. Then I did a bunch of picture book biographies. I guess I’ve been in Christmas mode lately!
e: Ha! I guess so! Is there a unique or funny story behind the creation of DASHER?
Matt:
Hmm, unique stories… there was one day when I was working on my Dasher sketches, thinking about how I could really use a good model for Santa Claus, when I took a break from work to go watch my daughter’s chorus performance. They were performing at a holiday event at a restaurant in town during the school day. And as it turned out, Santa Claus was there too! So I told him about the book I was working on, and he happily agreed to stop by my studio right after the event, and I got to have a great photo session with him, which helped quite a bit. I’ve shown some of these pictures during my school visits, and kids often ask it it’s the real Santa. All I can say is he looked real to me!
e: Maybe he was Santa! What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art” - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again?
Matt:
There is a scrap of watercolor paper taped to my drawing table with the words "Everything matters” and “Make me care” written on it.
      “Everything matters” is there to remind me that every square inch of an illustration is important. If I’m showing a house in the background of a scene, I don’t want to get lazy and just make some generic house because it’s not the main focus of the scene. I want to think about who lives in that house, what kind of stuff they might have in their yard, what kind of car is in their driveway. I want all those little background details to ring just as true as the more central aspects of the picture.
      “Make me care” is there to remind myself that if I don’t care about the picture I’m working on, or the story I’m writing, then other people probably aren’t going to care either. But if I pour my heart into it and create something that really means something to me, then hopefully my story or my illustration will connect with readers in a real way. I guess that’s my definition of “heart art”.
e: I love that! How do you advertise yourself (or do you anymore)?
Matt:
For Dasher, I’ve been traveling all over the place, reading, drawing and signing books at bookstores, schools, and book festivals around the country. And I keep up with social media, and update my website on a semi-regular basis.
e: What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a creator?
Matt:
My favorite part is just sitting here in my studio working on a book. I feel very fortunate to be able to spend my days doing something I love to do.
e: Is there something in particular about Dasher you hope readers will take away with them, perhaps something that isn’t immediately obvious?
Matt:
There are a couple little things in Dasher that people might not notice, unless I point them out...
      Everything that happens in the story is because of Dasher’s wishes. I wanted to leave a couple hints in the illustrations that reinforce the idea that maybe Santa was hearing Dasher’s wishes all along. First, on the title page, we see Dasher and her family in their pen at J.P. Finnegan’s Traveling Circus and Menagerie, surrounded by a crowd of people. Santa is in the crowd.
      Later, when Dasher and Santa meet for the first time, if you look closely you can see that Dasher’s harness is hanging out of Santa’s bag. I wanted to show that Santa and Dasher didn’t just run into each other accidentally.
      One other fun little detail- Red & Lulu make a cameo in Dasher. There is a scene where Santa and his team are flying over a neighborhood. I put my house in the neighborhood, and Red and Lulu and in my yard, at a bird feeder.
e: Fantastic! What are you working on next or what would be your dream project?
Matt:
My next book is called A Ben of All Trades: The Most Inventive Boyhood of Benjamin Franklin, written by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by me. It comes out in March, 2020. And I’m currently working on illustrating a picture book about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is slated for Spring, 2021.
e: Wowsa! Working with Michael Rosen is no small thing - CONGRATULATIONS! I hope you get to do some book tour visits in the UK as a result! Hope to have you back to celebrate that one too!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Reindeer

     Here's a pretty reindeer for the holiday season. CLICK HERE for more Christmas-themed coloring pages.
     Remember, I create my coloring pages to draw your attention to my books! For instance, I'm celebrating the new illustrated (by me) edition of A BIRD ON WATER STREET! My debut novel won me "Georgia Author of the Year!"
Booklist said it's "A book deserving of a wide readership, recommended for all libraries."
If my news and images add value to your life, won't you please
patron
Just love this one image? Consider a one-time donation...

     I create my coloring pages for teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents to enjoy for free with their children, but you can also purchase rights to an image for commercial use, please contact me. If you have questions about usage, please visit my Angel Policy page.

Winter Graduation Ceremony

And my first at Winthrop University! I don't have my official robes yet, as I'm waiting to buy a nice set-up when I finish my PhD. But here I am with Meg, who has been the lead on seeing us new faculty learn the ropes on campus. These are her official robes - stripes and squishy hat and all - they signify her PhD.
The main theater for ceremonies is still going through construction after a fire, so the ceremony was held in the coliseum. We needed the space - check out all these graduates!
The winter graduation ceremony included the Master's Graduates as well as the BFAs. Their walk across stage included a donning of their official velvet collar. I wonder if they did that at my MFA (I missed it as I was teaching overseas).
Several nice things happened at this graduation that I don't think would have happened at a larger institution. For instance, a student sadly passed away just before finishing his classes. Being close enough to have fulfilled his requirements, the university presented his framed degree to his parents. Wow. Their son had been working towards the degree for years, taking classes as he was able. So, he had a lot of friends on campus. There wasn't a dry eye in the place.
     There was also the graduate with her service/support dog - who also wore a cap and formal-wear.
And then there was the tradition of faculty lining up in the exit-way so that all the graduates passed through to shouts of 'CONGRATULATIONS!' and hugs and high-fives. Here were my two illustration graduates, Kai and Lilly.
This was my first graduation ceremony at Winthrop, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved all the whooping and cheering from the families as their kids were announced on stage. I loved the smiles and cheers of the students as they moved their tassels from one side of their caps to the other. I loved checking out the shoes graduates chose to wear for their big day. I loved the honor of sitting among esteemed faculty in official robes. And I loved the commencement speech given by Dr. Gloria Jones. Oh - and I actually have the alma mater memorized already as they play it on the bells almost every day right outside my office. So, I was able to happily sing along. Overall, I couldn't stop smiling and look forward to experiencing these again and again.