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Wow I did not get a lot of blogging done in 2015.
Instead I got a lot done everywhere else.
Like here:
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| The cover illustration of KOOKY CRUMBS in progress |
and here:
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With a posse of illustrators at the Midsouth
SCBWI Picture Book Dummy Retreat at Pickwick Landing State Park |
and here:
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Meeting Dan Santat and Michelle Knudson
at the National SCBWI conference in LA |
and especially here
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My launch for THE LITTLE KIDS' TABLE !! On September 11th, the day
after my 43rd birthday. This is probably my favorite picture from all of 2015.
All the ladies in this picture are accomplished artists as well as amazing friends. |
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| Dulce Desserts provided this amazing cake! |
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Reading my book at Parnassus during the launch.
I was so happy I didn't have to use a microphone. |
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And this is the my other favorite picture from 2015.
After the party was over the very last picture
was taken with me, Jim Dear, Fry and Sprout |
There were also some pretty awesome vacations in the mix:
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Then two weeks after that we boarded the Disney Wonder
for some much needed relaxation from Vancouver to San Diego. |
as well as some very awesome book parties for many of my talented friends:
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| Launching POPPY'S BEST PAPER by Susan Eaddy |
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Launching DUNCAN THE STORY DRAGON by Amanda Driscoll. Also
pictured is Jessica Young who launched SPY GUY and FINLEY FLOWERS |
So while a tiny little part of me missed writing in my blog the truth is the time has come for me to realize that the time I spend blogging is time I could be spending doing a lot of other things. Which leads me to my personal goal for 2016: CRAFT
Illustrating and writing require a constant, lifelong commitment to get better. Over the course of my blog I've posted my weekly sketches. I've posted about critiques and workshops and conferences. These are all important to do and to attend but now I plan to spend the better part of 2016 focusing all my creative energy on my craft. Writing and rewriting, drawing, and redrawing. The time that I could be spending putting together a blog post is now going to be spent doing the work that improves my craft. And when I'm not doing THAT
I'll be continuing to keep my resolutions from 2015. Or hanging out with Jim Dear, The Fry, and Sprout who are growing up at a much more rapid rate than they have a right to.
Not that I won't ever post as Fabulous Illustrator again but Facebook and Twitter give me the opportunity to natter about ordinary life. I do have some other posts planned but for 2016 I'll save my blog for really special occasions…. like this:
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| KOOKY CRUMBS arrived on my doorstep on January 11th, 2016! |
Happy 2016 patient readers
…. I should know, I've had a September birthday my whole life;)
So when I learned that The Little Kids' Table's official publication date would be September 1st I was just tickled pink. And now it's here! "Publication date" means the book is in the warehouse of the distributor ready to be sent to bookstores, libraries, and laps full of bedtime reading material. I received my contributor copies a few weeks ago but waited to post these pictures until the actual publication date.
I once heard a friend of mine answer the question "what surprised you the most about being published?" At the time I had no idea how I would answer the question. Now I do. What surprised me the most about getting those boxes of books was being unsettled that I couldn't go back and change bits and pieces of the illustrations. Over this eighteen month process I've had many chances to tweak, to re-do, to think "oh I'll just fix that here and here." Now for better or worse, those images are DONE. Who knew that paper and ink could feel the same as being carved in stone?!
So to all my Virgo sisters and brothers, we have a new sibling full of carefully orchestrated details and organized chaos. HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY LITTLE KIDS' TABLE!
Our fat black feline, Moses, spends more time on his back than on his feet.
A few days ago I pondered the possibility that the reason Jim Dear and I feel like the summer has flown by is because through some twist of cat magic Moses actually pulled all the ambient relaxation out of the atmosphere around us. Then he sucked it into his skin and stored it up like a bear stores berries in winter. Therefore we get to spend all summer feeling like we are working hard, chasing kids and yard projects and Moses gets to open one eye and watch us once in a while.
Here's a few slices of work in progress:
...the flowers are not far behind. A quick sketch of the day lily's tiny sprouts around my mailbox amongst the weeds I'll chase all summer.
This is the 8th New Year's post I've written since starting my blog to chronicle my publishing journey. Coincidently five years ago I also skipped posting in the month of January and wrote my traditional New Year post on February 2nd, 2010. Know why I was late that year? I'd spent the previous twelve months being a mom to TWO kids, a situation previously undeveloped in my first two years on the blog. Somehow January just slipped through my fingers.
Also coincidently I'm late this year for practically the same reason. While the two children in question are of the paper, watercolor, and imagination variety they demand almost as much time, although they don't argue in the back of the car as much. And when I say two children, that's almost a misnomer for The Little Kid's Table which encompasses a whopping 13 characters. I like to think of The Little Kid's Table as being the Type A overachiever child - so many things to say, so many things to do, so many things to be right about. Kooky Crumbs, whose detailed sketches were just approved last week, is the quieter, artsier child. Right now it stands in the shadow of The Little Kid's Table on the drawing board, but as that one's deadline draws near Kooky Crumbs will get its time to shine.
Here are a few random pics that I snapped during the first year of raising The Little Kid's Table:
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| Character sketches and initial thumbnail layouts |
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| close up of my initial thumbnail layout. Some of these stayed the same, some changed |
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| My stack of discarded sketches |
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| One of my favorite spreads |
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| The line up. I kept several illos taped over my drawing table for character reference. |
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This one and the one above were some of the first illos I did.
I was trying to get the kids characters developed. |
Finally let's have a look at my resolutions for 2015. I really struggled with these for the first year ever. Usually my resolutions revolve around professional goals but 2014 saw many years of professional resolutions bear fruit. After several weeks of letting resolution ideas soak in my brain I realized I kept coming back to work/life balance. I need to remember that just because I'm not dragging a pencil or paintbrush across the paper doesn't mean I'm not developing as an artist. So here's what I resolve for 2015:
1) stop thinking of chatting with friends on social media as "wasting time." Many of those same friends are illustrators or writers just like me, blessed with an abundance of ideas and projects, cursed with a lack of time and working in solitude constantly. Chatting helps.
2) In that same vein, stop thinking of sitting in my idea chair with a cup of coffee and a good book as wasting time. Reading good books is what gives me good ideas.
Ditto on reading good books to my kids.3) Make time to have coffee with friends that I haven't in a while, even if I'm on a deadline. A couple of times recently I've seen the theme of having an interesting life outside of the studio as being essential to being a great artist. All work and no play dulls the pencil. Seems like the universe is trying to tell me that I can't always rest on the excuse of "I'm on a deadline, I don't have time."
4) this one is the real kicker - don't feel guilty about keeping these resolutions.
If I go back to
this resolution to listen to more music maybe I've been trying to do the art/life balance for a while. Here's to a year of letting the fulcrum tilt back horizontal.
Last week I was tagged by the terrific illustrator and equally nice person, Alison Lyne, in the Meet My Character Blog Hop. Now that I'm IT let me tell you about big, white, fluffy ball of trouble. She's not the main character but she does make the story more interesting:
What is the name of your character?
Daisy. She's a rambunctious labradoodle that loves Grandpa, Little Brother and broccoli casserole.
When and where is the story set?In Grandma Mable's house, around a large, formal family dinner.
What should we know about the character?She loves broccoli casserole…. and doesn't like being kept away from the family excitement. Also her tail juuuusst skims the table….
What messes with her life?The gate behind which Grandma and Grandpa put her is a frustration. Fortunately an obliging child comes along to let her out…. so that she can get closer to the broccoli casserole
What is the personal goal of the character?Get more broccoli casserole. Also stand on hind legs and lick Grandpa.
Where can we read more about the character?Daisy appears
with her entire family in
The Little Kids Table written by Mary Ann McCabe Riehle, available Fall 2015 from Sleeping Bear Press!
Here's a couple of her illustrations in progress:
Next week I'll tag the lovely and talented Meridth Gimbel.
Meridth earned a BFA in illustration from BYU where she had the great good fortune to intern with Brad Holland and Brett Helquist. Currently an SCBWI member in Southern California Meridth loves anything art related, story infused, and chocolate covered. You can check out Meridth's portfolio
here and her blog
here.
Last week I visited Ms. Davis and Ms. Hill's 3rd grade classes at Granbery Elementary to talk about what an illustrator does. I'm just tickled pink that 3rd graders have this as part of their curriculum. I'm equally happy that the book they read,
What Do Illustrators Do by Eileen Christelow, does not cover how much caffeine illustrators consume. They'll find that out sometime in art school.
So while we didn't talk about coffee and Mountain Dew, we DID talk about how illustrators are special because they tell stories with pictures. I showed them how I use expression and point of view to do this. Then they got to work on their own illustrations from
Jack and the Beanstalk.
First they wrote down what details stood out to them in the story and then they sketched out the scene. They were VERY involved in their drawings! This is my favorite part of school visits. I walked around and watched 36 separate illustrations of the same scene emerge. At the end all the kids wanted to share their scene and they very generously let me take their drawings to share on my blog. Here they all are laid out on the floor of my studio:
When I had a chance to look at all the pieces together I noticed that there were similar themes in approach. Some of the kids went whole-hog for showing the entire huge Giant:
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| I just love these giant Giants and their word balloons. |
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| Check out the fantastic minimalist leaves on the bean stalk. |
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This illustrator doubled down - not only a huge Giant
but also giant sized furniture. |
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| Great detail and styling on this Giant. |
Others chose to imply the Giant's size by showing only his feet or legs:
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I actually love the expressions on this one -
zoom in to see Jack's completely freaked out face,
which is in great contrast to the uber happy sun. |
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| This hairy warty foot screams Giant. |
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It took me a second of staring at the fascinating geometric patterns
in this Giant's lair before I realized the point of view is actually overhead!
Here the Giant enters from the top and Jack runs away toward the viewer. |
Still others focused on the relationship between Jack and the beanstalk itself:
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With this one we talked about how the action in a picture book
usually proceeds from left to right. UNLESS you want to stop
the action and get the reader's attention….
like say when a giant is chasing the main character. |
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Jack truly looks outmatched in this piece with both the giant
and the beanstalk towering over him.
I can just hear him squeaking out "help!" |
In the end I told them there's no wrong way to illustrate the scene… one of the great things about being an illustrator is that you are never wrong! It's all about your own interpretation of the story.
My complete recap of the 2014 Conference is over at Once Upon A Sketch. The conference also got some great coverage in Publishers Weekly and of course there's the conference blog.
Instead of rewriting my notes here (when you can find those fabulous details at the places above,) I'm just going to show off some character sketches for a work-in-progress I did while listening to the speakers.
Also I
won a little award again. At this point saying I was honored with the top illustration prize two years in a row feels a little like bragging. But it's my blog so I'm gonna;) This year the conference gave an honorable mention as well to my friend and fellow Nashville illustrator,
Cat York.
Wow summer is almost done and it seems I've been everywhere but on my blog. To start here's a few guest posts and interviews I did over the summer:
I was profiled on Kid Lit 411. Ya'll this is a terrific site for readers, creators, and lovers of children's literature. I was interviewed by the talented Sylvia Liu, who curates the illustrator's sections.
In May and June I contributed my regular columns to Once Upon A Sketch.com and Word Disco.com:
Both Once Upon a Sketch columns focused on best practices for illustrators. In May I discussed how to deal with a difficult client. In June I wrote about the difference between sampling for a client or working on spec. These are both issues that aspiring illustrators will encounter.
While Once Upon A Sketch is about hardcore, practical advise for illustrators, Word Disco is my fun dance floor. In July I wrote about my summer reading list.
Finally last week, I kicked off Telaina Muir's DOT Drawing Challenge with this post about art, love and fear.
So go catch up on reading and come back when you want to see my characters for The Little Kid's Table….
What's that? Let's see them now? Ok you twisted my arm… BUT I'm going to introduce them in batches. First here's the family portrait:
The family members are Grandma Mable, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bob, Uncle Fred, cousins, Little Brother, Daisy the dog and MC (main character.) Whew, this is a lot of people to keep up with but I decided to create my own backstories for all of them. And because most modern families are colorful these days,
The Little Kid's Table has a lot of diversity around it. Here's some more family groups.
Grandma Mable is bringing out the pie… and the real fun is going to start
This is a proposed page layout for one of the final spreads:
Kind of like casting for a movie, determining who each character is as a person helped me illustrate how they would react in a different scene. In this book most of the action takes place in one area - the dining room at Grandma Mable's house. The drama had to be heightened through the characters' personalities. Next week I'll post about building their individual personalities and backstories.
Thanks Renee Gian over Word Disco who tagged me in this blog hop about My Writing Process. Here's my answers:
What am I working on now?
I'm working on a few different story ideas, three of which involve the relationships between kids and their pets. I didn't actually set out to write about kids and animals but I've started to see the child/pet relationship as a wonderful microcosm of every relationship a child has… and is therefore chock full of funny stuff. This may have everything to do with our family's recent acquisition of a fat back cat.
In my illustrating life I'm working on character sketches for my first trade picture book, The Little Kid's Table, written by Mary Ann McCabe Reihle published by Sleeping Bear Press. It's wacky rhyming book about a family dinner and, interestingly enough, has both of my favorite things to write about - family relationships and pets!
How does my work differ from others in its genre?
I like to this it differs due to my voice. I love to show children and their animal counterparts as obstinate, imaginative, selfish creatures - in a funny way. I think children are underestimated when adults only think of them as sweet or innocent.
Why do I write what I do?
If it feels like I can make something funny or generate pathos then I try to write it down. I don't have any high ideals about teaching kids anything, I'd just like to be able to make the reader see a little bit of themselves in the characters and have that vision make them smile.
How does my writing process work?
I'll hit upon an idea and gnaw over it in my brain for several days to months. Then I write a first draft in long hand in my idea notebook. I do edit as I go. Often the writing exercise itself causes the idea to form better. I don't erase, I just scratch out lines I don't like. When I get a good longhand version then I type it out to read out loud. I make adjustments from there depending on how the language flows. If illustration notes are necessary I'll add them. After a few rounds of this I send it to my critique partners. I don't regularly read out loud to my family but I will occasionally read something just to see how my kids react to a particular line or bit of language. One thing I've started doing while I'm in the early revision process is try to write a single sentence that describes the story arc. This has really helped me focus on the essential elements in the story.
Because I'm usually fitting writing around illustration projects and family activities I keep project folders made up for every active idea. My project folders have a typed or handwritten draft, pencils, erasers and notes from my critique group if I have them. Then when I know I've got 45 minutes waiting on a gymnastics lesson or 15 minutes in the school pick up line I make sure to grab some project folders on the way out the door. I always try to write at night in bed as usually that's the one time I'm not bombarded by a million other thoughts. I'm a big believer in the subconscious mind solving problems so if I'm trying to wrestle down a plot point I'll usually think about it as I'm driving or falling asleep. Many times within a few days of doing this a solution will pop into my head!
Now for the next two players in My Writing Process I'm going to tag two extremely talented writers, illustrators and friends, Amanda Driscoll and Meridth Gimbel! Check out their answers and their fabulous work on their blogs by May 12th!
Amanda Driscoll is a graphic designer who, after having children, rediscovered her love of picture books and found her true passion. From her home near Louisville, Kentucky, she writes, illustrates, designs, and dreams up book ideas while walking her dogs. She is represented by Rosemary Stimola of Stimola Literary Studio. Her debut picture book, DUNCAN THE STORY DRAGON, will be released in Spring 2015 from Knopf.
Meridth Gimbel earned a BFA in illustration from BYU where she had the great good fortune to intern with Brad Holland and Brett Helquist. Currently an SCBWI member in Southern California Meridth love anything art related, story infused, and chocolate covered. See her work on her blog at
meridthgimbel.blogspot.com 
On the afternoon of March 20th I was sitting in traffic happily planning my packing strategy for the beach vacation we were leaving for the next day. Out of the blue, I got the urge to check my email. I hardly ever check email behind the wheel but this time I did. As I scrolled through the list of senders one name stood out. I looked at it and thought, "mmm how do I know that name?" Then I read the first line of the email: "Dear Ms. Uhles, I am the senior designer for Sleeping Bear Press and we have a manuscript we think your work would be perfect for…."
My ears started ringing. Everything else faded to stillness except for the phone in my hand. Traffic started to inch forward. I clicked on the email. Somehow I managed not to drive into a guardrail as I skimmed the message.
There it was, my first offer to illustrate a trade picture book.
Behind that moment lies a patchwork of years of learning and hours of work, all of it held together by one tiny thread of faith that eventually my art, my vision, my characters, my imagination would be seen as trade quality. For this post I considered writing more about starting over and over again after rejections to numerous to count*. But that gets pretty maudlin. Let's just say for the record it's been a long and winding road as I wrote here, here and especially here.
Instead let's talk about the fun stuff!
The name of the book is The Little Kid's Table, by Mary Ann McCabe Reihle. In this wacky rhyming story when the family gathers for a big celebratory meal, those sitting at the kid's table may not eat a lot of broccoli casserole but they do have the best ideas about what to do with spoons and a Labradoodle. As is usual with trade publishing I'm working with the editors and art directors and will have little contact with the author.
Why am I excited about trade when I've already illustrated books for educational and religious publishers? Well for starters I didn't dream about doing art for those books when I was kid. I dreamed about making books like the ones in my mom's library. And this time its my vision that gets to bring the story to life, not a preordained set of curriculum. Plus I get almost a whole year to work on it! I get to make up what I think the characters should look like! I get to put into practice all the stuff I've learned about about story-telling over 32 pages. I'll introduce the characters little by little on the blog as they are approved. For now I'll leave you with a photo of something that makes me very happy. Yes that IS my name in purple ink:
*ps. also for the record, I
did keep that maudlin blog about the years of rejection. I hope this book will be the beginning of many trade books to come and I never, ever, want to take it for granted. If someday off in the future I'm whining about some tiny problem related to, oh say, my 10th trade book I plan to keep that blog around for some long term perspective. No matter what problems may arise, I'm very very very lucky to make my living this way.
Last month I was invited to read Beyond The Grave during Book'em's Read Me Day at Cockrill Elementary, in conjunction with the Nashville Rotary Club. Book'em is an organization that promotes literacy through big and small efforts such as giving books to kids, schools and libraries as well as organizing readers to visit lower income schools to share their love of reading.
It was the first time I've ever been part of an event like that and, wow, was it a fancy affair. I had a great time. It was Book'em's 25th anniversary and the Rotary Club's 100th Anniversary so there were over 70 different readers on hand to spend the morning sharing books with Cockrill's 500 students. Plus I actually got to meet a REAL ballerina, the ONLY female marine in the state of Tennessee and even the mayor! (though note, when I told the Fry and Sprout about this they were only impressed with the fact that there was also birthday cake.)
Before we got down to the nitty gritty of reading there was a big assembly in the gym. I managed to snag a seat almost directly behind the podium and thus had a terrific view of the kid's responses to all the speakers. One of the things I love about kids, and one of the reasons I create books for them, is that they are so often not impressed with grown-ups that they are supposed to be impressed by. So it was quite amusing to watch the front row scrabble over a paper Cat in the Hat hat instead of applaud admiringly at The First Lady of Tennessee's speech. As a whole though they were a very well behaved audience and my particular class room was politely riveted as I read some scary parts of Beyond The Grave and explained how I it was illustrated.
I've posted the first of my two part interview with Susan Eaddy, clay illustrator and the Illustration Coordinator for the SCBWI Midsouth region. Susan is always generous with her time and advice. Her videos are just fun to watch and make me want to have a go at iMovie. Go check it out.
Also from my continued reading assignment for 2014 here's my fave picture books from the past month:Sometimes I Forget You're A Robot by Sam Brown - very sweet story about getting what you want. I especially loved the plaintive "beep beeps" of the Robot as he tries to show the main character what he CAN do.
The Twins' Blanket by Hyewon Yum - A great story about learning to share. I especially love how Hyewon Yum manages to capture the different personalities of each twin in very little text.
The Block Mess Monster by Betsy Howie, illustrated by C.B. Decker - the illustrations really knock this story out of the park as Becker shows extravagant expression on the part of the child, the mom, and the blocks who don't want to be put away.
I'm ecstatic to announce that one of my illustrations (and the header of my blog no less;) is a finalist for the 2014 SCBWI Illustration Gallery at the Bologna Book Fair in Bologna, Italy at the end of this month.
Here's the piece, it was created for the illustrator's intensive class at the 2013 Midsouth Conference. When I went to Kinkos to get a print made for the regional PAL showcase the guy behind the counter made an off-hand comment that it reminded him of Where the Wild Things Are.
WHAT! did that guy just compare my work to Maurice Sendak?!?
Alright let's settle down and keep things in perspective here….
At the Book Fair, a winner and four runners-up will be chosen. To be honest, that'd be great but to me the real value is being nominated as a finalist at all. My work will be displayed at one of the most prestigious event in the world for children's books.
Making this whole announcement even better is the fact that FOUR other Midsouth illustrators, and good friends of mine, are also finalists! Tennessee and Kentucky are growin' a mighty fine crop o' illustrators down here in the Midsouth! I share congratulations with
Susan Eaddy,
Kris Sexton, and Cheryl Mendenhall. Here's a look at the finalist round-up, click through to see all their fabulous artwork.
… there's a kid at College Grove Elementary that's right there with you.
Last week I was quite honored to be invited to speak at College Grove Elementary about illustrating and books. It was during the school's Read-a-thon and my SCBWI friend, Kristin Tubb, explained it would just a few minutes in the morning in front of the entire school.
ulp, the entire school?
Actually it went wonderfully well and 250 kids turned out to not be as intimidating as I'd imagined. Fortunately another SCBWI friend Stephen Shashkan advised me to prep the teachers that the kids could ask questions, that way they'd have time to think up some good ones. And it worked! The kids all asked incredibly great questions including my favorite from a kid who wanted to know if I could explain to him how to make his picture of a 1969 Dodge Charger look shiny. When I responded that I could tell he'd really been putting effort into his picture he said "yes ma'am if you need to know how to draw a 1969 Dodge Charger I can tell you all about it." So there if you have it, 1969 Dodge Charger fans - your reference guru is in the 4th grade at College Grove Elementary.
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| Here I am talking about the illustrations in Beyond The Grave |
True to my New year's Resolution in this post, I've been reading 5 books a week, rating them, and researching the agents who represent. Here are some of my favs so far:
The Santa Trap - Jonathan Emmet and Poly Bernatene, really funny with a satisfying ending
Tornado Slim and The Magic Cowboy Hat - Bryan Langdo, great illustrations
Crankenstein - Samantha Berger and Dan Santat, really funny illustrations that go with snappy story
Carnivores - Aaron Reynolds and Dan Santat, this book is funniest book I've read in a while. Great story and great illustrations.
Also over on Word Disco this week I discuss what happens when a sketch for a good idea leads to an existential crisis. It's all part of the job. Read that post here.
uh lessee… what can we say about 2014 so far…. IT'S COLD!
Apparently right at the moment the entire North American continent right down to Miami is suffering from a polar vortex that causes terror not unlike this:
It causes weather apps to look like this:
All that being said, instead of my traditional blog about a New Year's Resolution I've been paging through beach house listings… palm trees…. baked oysters… ooooo aaaaaahhhh - Ouch my fingers just froze to the keyboard!
(fingers gripping coffee for warmth) Back to resolutions….a few months ago I read how a particular agent I admire reads five picture books a day no matter what. That struck me as a particularly good goal to have. But five a day is pretty tall order. I know that sounds crazy since I have two small children and we read books all the time but I pretty sure that agent didn't mean she reads the SAME 5 picture books every day. And I'm pretty sure they are not all about princesses and airplanes. So to make this resolution workable I'm reading 5 new picture books a week, preferably published in the last 3 years. For at least 15 years I've been flipping open the cover of every book I see to read who published it. Because of that I have a built in knowledge of which publishers I'd love to work with but connecting projects to agents takes a little more research. So on top of five new books every week, I've decided to create a rating system - ones I love, ones maybe I can learn from, and ones that -ah-
don't fall into the first two categories. With the help of this system and Publishers Marketplace I can track which agents work on projects that I admire.
Five books a week, seems pretty easy.
Kind of like resolving to listen to more music. But one thing I learned from my
2011 resolution to draw every day is that in order to fit one's dreams into a schedule full of kid work, school work, client work, house work, family time, and taking the occasional shower the dreams need to be bite-sized. Five books a day is definitely chewable.
And I'll start it right after I wrap up in five sleeping bags, de-ice the door, chisel out the car and skate the minivan to the library.
I'm happy to begin 2014 writing on the renewed
Once Upon A Sketch blog with my fellow contributors:
Donald WuChris JonesNorm GrockJennifer ZivoinJannie Ho.
Each of us bring a different perspective on creating art, especially for children. Check out our first collaborative post,
What We Wish We Knew.
In case anyone wonders why we didn't manage to get Christmas cards in the mail…. here's what we were doing:
On the FIRST day of Christmas my cars gave to me a transmission crunching badly...
On the 2nd day of Christmas my cars gave to me
TWO pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the 3rd day of Christmas my cars gave to me
THREE trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the 4th day of Christmas my cars gave to me
FOUR different rental cars
three trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the 5th day of Christmas my cars gave to me
FIVE problem codes
four different rental cars
three trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the 6th day of Christmas my cars gave to me
SIX cranking no starts
five problem codes
four different rental cars
three trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the 7th day of Christmas my cars gave to me
SEVEN more radiator puddles
six cranking no starts
five problem codes
four different rental cars
three trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the 8th day of Christmas my cars gave to me
EIGHT wheels sitting useless
seven more radiator puddles
six cranking no starts
five problem codes
four different rental cars
three trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the 9th day of Christmas my cars gave to me
NINE mechanics busy
eight wheels sitting useless
seven more radiator puddles
six cranking no starts
five problem codes
four different rental cars
three trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the 10th day of Christmas my cars gave to me
TEN miles in a tow truck
nine mechanics busy
eight wheels sitting useless
seven more radiator puddles
six cranking no starts
five problem codes
four different rental cars
three trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the 11th day of Christmas my cars gave to me
ELEVEN charges on VISA
ten miles in a tow truck
nine mechanics busy
eight wheels sitting useless
seven more radiator puddles
six cranking no starts
five problem codes
four different rental cars
three trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission crunching badly
On the12th day of Christmas my cars gave to me
ZERO cars a working
eleven new charges on VISA
ten miles in a tow truck
nine mechanics busy
eight wheels sitting useless
seven more radiator puddles
six cranking no starts
five problem codes
four different rental cars
three trips to the dealership
two pink dribbles
and a transmission CRUNCHING BAAAAAAADLYYYYYYY
The Sprout has a habit of making up and mashing up words to best express just exactly how beautiful something should be. Usually that something is a version of a princess/fairy/ballerina/bride or anything that might be frothy, flowing, bouncy or decorated. This past week her new word for that was glitteramous, as in:
"Mommy, I don't like that cake. It's not glitteramous"
"Mommy, I want Santa to bring me a bride dress - one that is GLITTERAMOUS!"
(exasperated sigh) "Mommy why can't I wear ALL THE DRESS UPS to the doctor?! You know I like to be glitteramous!"
However glitteramous makes me think of something that is both glittery and enormous.
Like a ballerina hippopotamus.
Is this glitteramous enough for you Sprout?
I promised myself I would write a post about my trip to the Rutgers Council On Children's Literature Conference for one very simple reason: While researching for the conference I never read a blog written by an illustrator who had applied without a manuscript. Was there anything special to know if all your mentor sees are your illustrations? I can't tell you how many times I typed that question in various forms into Google. Turns out I did get some answers to that question and on the plane home from New Jersey I started scripting out this blog post.
Then while standing in Baggage I got a text asking if I was available for a couple of new illustrations projects with a tight deadline. As should be very obvious by now, illustrators are like Ado Annie from OKLAHOMA….
we CAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNN'T SAAAAAYYY NO.
Two months and two projects later here's that blog from that flight home, dusted off for punctuation:
One Intense DayMy mentor was Doris Ettlinger, an illustrator who's watercolors are simply stunning. Here's a cover from her new book, releasing in January from Sleeping Bear Press:
Beautiful right? This is a no brainer purchase for Fabulous Illustrator - I love the beach and now I've met the illustrator. One of the things Doris suggested that I've been really trying to push is using a complete overhead view at least once somewhere in the sequence of illustrations. Here are a couple of examples she showed me:
I've always loved angles in my work but these are extreme! I'm looking forward to "tipping over the edge" and looking straight down on my characters.
The keynote speaker was, Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Her speech was inspiring, except for when she showed Nashville's embarrassing Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in her presentation.
Everyone sitting near me swiveled around to ask "is that really IN Nashville?" Yes, shudder, it is.
Lunch with the editors was the beehive of networking I expected it to be though everyone I met was surprisingly open and even expressed interested in seeing more work after the conference.
So from one heck of an intense day here's my top 5 take-aways for anyone planning to apply or doing the legwork after being accepted:
Number 5: Make sure there's a picture of each person in your research. Shortly after the morning introductions, the curtain separating the two rooms of mentors and mentees rolls back. Seeing a room full of NY editors and agents suddenly appear before your eyes can be... ah... daunting. But we illustrators are visual people and being able to recognize faces made it easier. I was pleasantly surprised how many people looked like their Linked In profile.
Number 4: Check the list twice, or 15 times. The list that Rutgers publishes of the mentors changes several times before the conference, even the night before. I also recommend starting your research even before knowing that you are accepted. It doesn't go to waste and it makes for much less cramming in September.
Number 3: Remember how way back in May you didn't feel you had a dummy worth sending and you only sent in the 5 illustration samples? I feel you, but realize that your mentor only sees your work that morning. So take your portfolio! Otherwise all they have to give you feedback on are the 5 copies sent months ago. The wireless signal in the building is not great so don't count on getting online... its best to schlep the hardcopy with you. The schlepping is worth it because I was able to show it to industry folks beyond my mentor and 5 on 5 Group.
Number 2: Leave early from the panel discussion right before lunch and stalk your lunch table. I was surprised by how many people didn't do this. While the panel discussion was interesting, if you've attended years of SCBWI conferences then I bet you've heard the same info before. The mentors are seated for lunch at the same tables they sit in the 5 on 5 groups. Its easy enough to look at the table groupings and figure out your best lunch dates, park your portfolio bag, and guarantee some networking.
Number 1: This is possibly the biggest take-away…. if I had to do it over again I would apply with a dummy. While I brought mine with me, my mentor wasn't expecting to give feedback on it. Even if its not the sterling document that you want it to be, send it in so that your mentor can be prepared. My work changed a lot from the time I applied to when I actually attended the conference. You can always bring an updated dummy with you.
Finally what I learned from the weekend was keep working.
That means in your hotel room that night.
The conference ends at 4 pm. I returned to my hotel and worked for the next 6 hours on an adrenaline high. Don't miss the chance to use the conference as an artist's retreat because when better to work than after a day of consultation and inspiration.
As a shout out thank you to Doris Ettlinger for letting me post her work on this blog check out where she lives online:
Illustrations © Doris Ettlinger
I'm happy to be working again with Reading A-Z on another classroom reader. The Fort is about 3 friends who turn their living room into something other than a place with boring sofas. My kids make forts all the time in the playroom so I had plenty of inspiration for these sketches
Over the weekend Music City hosted the Midsouth Conference for SCBWI. This was my first year on the Conference Committee. I always say that you should get at least one good story out of every event. This time I got two. Here they are:
I was slated to pick up one of the faculty from the airport at 9:54, Friday morning. As anyone who knows the Fabulous Illustrator well enough can attest that I'm an extremely thorough and organized person who likes to make a plan and stick to it. Friday morning was going according to my plan until I (very responsibly I might add) decided to sit down and check the flight schedule for said faculty member's flight.
This was at about 8:45 and I was standing in my studio in a T-shirt and shorts. Remember that her flight was supposed to land more than an hour later at 9:54?
The Internet said it was landing in 7 minutes.
So much for an organized morning.
There was nothing else to do but race around throwing clothes and artwork into suitcases and portfolios then throw it all in the back of the car. Then I texted the faculty member to let her know I was aware of the early arrival. Now's probably a good time to reveal that this person was Bonnie Bader, Editor in Chief at Penguin Young Readers Group/Grosset & Dunlap. I don't know about any of the rest of you but I just couldn't fire off a missive to an editor I've never met in freakin' text speak. Somehow "R u early?" didn't seem professional enough. So I sent a very polite, and long, text asking if she'd arrived and explaining that I was on my way. To which she replied and asked about the best way to meet. I was working on this plan en route. The problem was now I was having to drive and text at stoplights which I never do…. sadly my texts were devolving into "r u n baggage?" and "c u in 10."
So much for professional communication.
Finally, as I pulled into the airport I thought: good grief, if I park and walk in it's going to be
another 10 minutes… yet, is it proper to essentially do a
drive by pick-up of a faculty member?! My grandmother would be horrified. Efficiency trumped manners this time and drive by pick-up it was. Fortunately Bonnie was very cool about it and probably glad to get out of the airport. We had an interesting conversation on the way to the conference hotel. By great lucky coincidence I discovered she's a regular visitor to Rutgers where I'll be attending the RUCCL's One on One Conference next month so she was able to give me some good travel tips on getting to and from the campus without having to drive.
My only remaining disappointment was that I didn't get stand in the airport with a sign like you see in the movies! I did make one though, and took a picture just for posterity:
The rest of the day unfolded with much less drama. I attended sessions with Josh Adams of Adams Literary and Lorainne Joyner the art director at Peachtree Publishers. Later, as a conference coordinator, I would get the chance to talk with them one on one. Josh has a wonderfully rich, measured voice. I want to work him just so I can hear him talk about revision notes. Loraine was an absolute joy to meet. A real Southern lady, she was friendly and encouraging in her comments on our work. Here's my piece from the intensive:
Rounding out the rest of our "imported" faculty were Lisa Cheng, editor at Running Press; Michael Bourret, agent with Dystel & Goderich; Jordon Brown, editor at Waldon Pond Press and Balzer + Bray; Stephanie Fretwell-Hill, editor with Peachtree Publishers; Jay Asher, author of Thirteen Reasons Why and The Future of Us; and Kristi Valiant, who recently debuted as an author/illustrator with Penguin Cha-Cha. All were funny and engaging in their sessions and sitting around various lunch and dinner tables over the weekend. I was particular fond of Lisa's bold move to go for the baby crab claws at Friday's dinner because they were delicious. At that same dinner Stephanie told us about her tricked-out suburban that she and her husband lived in while making their way to Atlanta from London. Made me wonder if I could do something similar with our van and go camping with Sprout and Fry.
My favorite Saturday morning event was Michael Bourret's session on the 10 Secrets of Agents revealed. The best of the ten was the reminder that, even with an agent, you are your own best advocate for your book. He admonished us that if we're afraid of our agent something is wrong.
About mid-afternoon on Saturday, the winners of the year's contests were announced. There was much hootin' and hollering as it turned out to be a great year for some long time members of the region with
David Arnold, Kurt Hampe, and Patsi Trollinger winning in the genres for YA, Middle Grade, and Picture Book respectively. Finally it came time to announce the Illustrator winner. I had entered the contest but had already seen Amanda Driscoll's great piece
Charlie The Ranch Dog and figured it was a shoo-in. The Midsouth's Illustrator Coordinator, Susan Eaddy took the podium and I was poised to holler "yayy Amanda!" when it dawned on me that the name Susan was saying was not the name I was about to holler.
Instead it was my name.
Winning was great. Winning was spectacular to be honest because I've been entering unsuccessfully for years. But even better than that was getting the congrats and hugs from my friends and fellow illustrators in the Midsouth, including Amanda and Susan and all the rest
who are named in this Facebook post. This wonderful group of artists inspire and encourage me, a few years ago they critiqued the sketch of the piece that won. It's my face in the picture but the award might as well have all of our names.
 |
Everyone got Mardi Gras beads for Saturday night's
Kid Lit Creator's dinner! Sprout helped me stuff beads
into folders for all the attendees. |
The rest of the conference passed in a bit of a blur, I received congrats from all the faculty which was very sweet of them. I did get a chance to thank Lorianne Joyner personally for giving it high honors. Amazingly right after the announcement my overwhelming worry was that I would be late to my First Pages session where each of our picture book first pages were being critiqued. Fortunately I wasn't that late and I didn't have to send any unprofessional texts.
By Sunday I'd received some great constructive feedback on restructuring my latest work-in-progress from Bonnie Bader, gotten positive reviews of some new illustrations and promos from Lorainne Joyner and Lisa Cheng, and eaten way to much Monell's fried chicken and mashed potatoes at the faculty goodbye dinner.
This year instead of being breathlessly focused on schmoozing and angling for an opportunity to submit work, I was focused on keeping up with the rest of the Conference Committee who were controlling a million little details with precision and humor behind the scenes. By the end of the weekend the people whom I normally would have worried about schmoozing were just regular people. Maybe we'll work together on a book one day. I hope so. But at the very least I hope I have some new friends that I can eat baby crab claws with at another conference.
For additional inspiration check out this post reprinted from the
Midsouth Conference Blog by
Meridth Gimbel (click her name to see her awesome piece for the intensive):
1. Every page in your dummy picture book needs to have an action in it, whether it's subtle or dramatic.
-Loraine Joyner (Senior Art Director at Peachtree Publishers)  |
Talented YA writers plus the Friday night Dessert Party
equals a cool music circle |
2. "Never give up. You'll come across something that only you can write."
-Jay Asher (Author of Thirteen Reasons Why)  |
| Jay Asher 'splains how he came to be a Vanilla Ice fan |
3. A distinct, authentic, relatable voice is probably the most important element to writing a good children's picture book.
-Lisa Cheng (Editor for Running Press Kids)
4. “This is not the music business, there are not high stakes, we don’t make that much money, and someone already has your idea."
-Micheal Bourett (Agent of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management) in response to a question from the audience asking if we need to worry about others stealing our ideas or stories.
5. “I’ve had your postcard on my bulletin for 1.5 years and have been waiting to hire you."
-An Art Director told Ms. Susan Eaddy (freelance illustrator)  |
| Author and Illustrator panel tells how they handle the cycle of writing |
6. It takes chocolate, fast food, vodka, friends, and an unwanted dog.
-Answers from the artist/writer panelists to the question, "How do you buoy yourself when you are at the bottom of the cycle of despair?"  |
| Catching up with longtime Midsouth members |
7. Orient all the pictures in your portfolio the same way.
-Bonnie Bader (Editor & Chief at Grosset & Dunlap) and Loraine Joyner (Senior Art Director At Peachtree Publishers) 8. A wrong agent is worse than no agent.
-Micheal Bourett (Agent of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management)
9. "Please do not info dump."
-Lisa Cheng (Editor for Running Press Kids) on telling your audience too much when introducing a new character.
10. Be consistent when you send out your mailers.
-Loraine Joyner (Senior Art Director At Peachtree Publishers) & Lisa Cheng (Editor for Running Press Kids)
11. Read, read, read.
-Jordan Brown (Editor at Walden Pond Press and Balzer + Bray) on what you can do to advance your career
 |
Amanda Driscoll shows off the Mad Libs
made just for the Kid Lit Creators Dinner |
 |
At the very end I came home to a cake!
And a note of congrats signed by my two biggest fans;) |
During my SCBWI LA super fast paced yet insightful portfolio critique, artist agent Mela Bolinao correctly observed that I get a little fussy and overwrought with my line-work. "You are trying to make it work too well," she said.
Sigh... this is the story of my line life.
I agreed with her and joked that it was because I'm a Virgo. She surprised me by laughing and saying that as a Virgo herself, she totally understood. That doesn't surprised me, every Virgo I've ever met shares the keen sense of the master puppeteer. We control every strand, no matter how small a part it is attached to. For me personally, this is why I never miss deadlines. Ever.
It's also probably why I've struggled for years to keep the energy of my sketches in my finished pieces. Bolinao said "Loosen up! Let the line go the wrong way! Don't fix it and erase it, just try it." So when I came home from LA I decided to practice on the kid illustrations cavorting across my drawing table for the Lifeway's Agency D3's series. Here are some of my favorites:
I do like how these guys look. Admittedly loosening up the line was easier with little spots because a) they're spots and b) I was a super tight deadline. I continue to experiment on this thank you card illo I created for people I met at the conference. Here was harder because I had time to be careful:
I need to think more like Taurus or Aquarius, just brashly crashing the pencil around the page. Would the Bull or Water Bearer be better with lines?
Maybe, but not deadlines. I bet Virgo's are still the best at those.
During my SCBWI LA super fast paced yet insightful portfolio critique, artist agent Mela Bolinao correctly observed that I get a little fussy and overwrought with my line-work. "You are trying to make it work too well," she said.
Sigh... this is the story of my line life.
I agreed with her and joked that it was because I'm a Virgo. She surprised me by laughing and saying that as a Virgo herself, she totally understood. That doesn't surprised me, every Virgo I've ever met shares the keen sense of the master puppeteer. We control every strand, no matter how small a part it is attached to. For me personally, this is why I never miss deadlines. Ever.
It's also probably why I've struggled for years to keep the energy of my sketches in my finished pieces. Bolinao said "Loosen up! Let the line go the wrong way! Don't fix it and erase it, just try it." So when I came home from LA I decided to practice on the kid illustrations cavorting across my drawing table for the Lifeway's Agency D3's series. Here are some of my favorites:
I do like how these guys look. Admittedly loosening up the line was easier with little spots because a) they're spots and b) I was a super tight deadline. I continue to experiment on this thank you card illo I created for people I met at the conference. Here was harder because I had time to be careful:
I need to think more like Taurus or Aquarius, just brashly crashing the pencil around the page. Would the Bull or Water Bearer be better with lines?
Maybe, but not deadlines. I bet Virgo's are still the best at those.
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Even tho' I'm not a virgo.....I still struggle with this topic big time! I really like your sketches.....they look entergetic and "loose". I really liked the Merci spot when you posted it on FB. I think that was a delightful way to put your "thanks".
Thanks Alison.... I think French is so beautiful.... Wish I could speak it LOL