Victoria Jamieson Illustration

The 2012 Season Begins!

2012-01-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight's the night! Saturday, January 21st, 5:45 pm PST! Check this link for more information if you're in Portland. And if you DON'T live in Portland, fear not- you can watch the action online here!

NOT a roller derby post!

2012-01-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

As you may have noticed, I've been posting a lot of derby comics recently but I haven't really been talking about my current picture book project. I've struggled over the past few years with trying to update my illustration blog on a regular basis, while not sharing too much about projects that haven't been published yet. One side of my split personality thinks that sharing works in progress will help create interest in the books once they're finally published. The other side of me wonders how wise it is to overshare. For my current project, I've gone the route of undersharing... but rest assured, I've been working! And on Monday, the art goes off to my publisher!

Another reason I've been posting so many comics is that I am going through my normal, "OH MY GOSH THIS PROJECT IS ALMOST DONE WHAT AM I GOING TO DO NEXT I'M FREAKING OUT" stage. It is a time of great creativity and sleeplessness. While it's not always pleasant, I greatly prefer it to the stage directly after the project is entirely done and sent off, which involves mild postpartum depression and naps. Any other illustrators go through these stages? Anybody? Anybodeeeee?

Anyway, the weekly comics have been a great way to keep my blog updated, to practice a new art form, to generate new ideas, and to insure that I'll keep myself busy once my lil' bugs are on their way to New York (*sniff*).

It's about to begin!

2012-01-06T00:40:00.000-08:00

If you live in Portland and want to witness history in the making, c'mon down to our season opener on January 21st! I can even hook you up with some tickets! More information can be found here.

2011-12-31T00:45:00.000-08:00

I have been super excited to do these derby comics every week... like, SUPER excited. I'm looking forward to a 2012 filled with more! Happy New Year!

Dear Diary

2011-12-28T23:23:00.000-08:00

As a little exercise for myself, I'm going to illustrate some excerpts from my childhood diaries (oh, and I had many). Here's the first page of my 1989 diary...

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-23T00:42:00.000-08:00

Nobody Puts Bunny in a Corner

2011-12-16T02:03:00.000-08:00

Post-bout wrap-up!

2011-12-09T01:36:00.000-08:00

Pre-bout derby comic!

2011-12-02T00:52:00.000-08:00

Wish me luck on Saturday! Even better, if you're in Portland c'mon out and watch!

Punky Brewster

2011-11-29T12:35:00.000-08:00

Just because.

Round two!

2011-11-25T09:16:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for a husband who cooked a wonderful meal yesterday while I got to sit around and draw.

...

2011-11-21T22:39:00.000-08:00

I usually have no fears about showing my work to others, but I'll admit it... I'm a little nervous about sharing this! It's something new for me, and new can be scary.

(click for larger view)

My goal is to do little practice strips each week. About, yes, roller derby- because I am obsessed.

I love my job!

2011-11-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

Every minute of every day, I love my job. And not just because jeggings are appropriate work attire. No, I love my job because I get to explore questions like, "What type of advertisements would appear in the program of a Broadway musical produced by insects?"

On Vegetables and Soup

2011-10-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, in my last post I mentioned a phrase that I heard at a panel at the Wordstock festival here in Portland, and the phrase was this:

"Take other people's vegetables, but make your own soup."

Now, ever since I posted that, the internet has been abuzz.* What does this phrase actually mean? (*note: this is a lie. The internet, as far as I can tell, is still abuzz about cute cat photos. In which case, may I present to you):

Anyway, the internet maybe did not care, but I sure cared about this new catchphrase of mine. Ask anyone in my current children's book illustration class at PNCA- I used this phrase A LOT in recent critiques. "Nice vegetables in this one." "Why not take some onions from this painting here and add it to your crockpot of ideas?" "Is anyone else hungry? It's 9 o'clock!" Since I'm so smitten with this analogy, I thought I'd break it down a bit to demonstrate what it means to me.

I am a veritable Peter Rabbit when it comes to stealing vegetables to use in my soup. One of my favorite gardens from which to harvest is, appropriately enough, THE CURIOUS GARDEN by Peter Brown (DO YOU SEE WHAT A WONDERFUL ANALOGY THIS IS?!?!)

If you haven't seen this book, I highly recommend checking it out at your local library, or- more likely- buying your own copy, because you may want to refer to it again. And again. And again.

I am absolutely in love with the color in this book, and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I call this book a masterpiece. Now, I myself would like to be a Master of Color, and when I was charged with painting a mural last summer at the Portland Children's Museum, I prepared by packing up my paints, an iPod, and a big ol' bunch of vegetables from the garden of Mr. Peter Brown.

In this color sketch I did for the mural, I took the greens and the red-oranges from Peter Brown to put in my soup. As in, when I was mixing my paints, I literally would put dabs of my paint in my copy of THE CURIOUS GARDEN to see that the colors matched.

I brought my copy of the book with me on-site (see it there in the bottom right-hand side?)

Add a pinch of salt and a sore back after two weeks of work, and...

Voila! My own soup. I honestly don't think anyone would EVER confuse our paintings, and I don't think Peter Brown would have a legal leg to stand on if he took me to court (go ahead, try me, Mr. Brown. My brother's a lawyer). I think there's a big difference between ripping someone off, and taking things you admire from another artist and incorporating those things into your work.

Similarly, I am currently harvesting the vegetables of another artist for my current book:

Edgar Degas, I'll see you in court, too, sir.

I met another celebrity!!!!!

2011-10-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

... MORE exciting than Michelle Kwan? I think the answer is YES!

Yup, right there in the middle is Illustration Icon Marla Frazee! And she is flanked by Julie Paschkis and Nancy Tillman! (moderated by Portland illustrator Brie Spangler, sitting in the fancy chair).

This meeting took place at Wordstock, a fabulous literary festival held each fall in Portland. I LOVE this festival- last year David Shannon and David Wiesner spoke TOGETHER. ON STAGE. FOR AN HOUR. It was like the best hour of 2010 for me. Anyway, this was another hour high on the list- these 3 illustrators spoke about their work and answered questions. I asked Marla what her favorite assignment to give to her students is... soon to be an assignment in my class at PNCA! I also got this little bon mot out of the hour:

"Take other people's vegetables, but make your own soup".

This is a better way of saying what I often say in class: "Steal from other people. Just change it enough so they won't sue you". But I think the vegetable saying is closer to the truth- take elements you admire from others, but be sure to make the work your own.

I was so happy I got to hear Marla speak- I missed her first talk of the day, as I was leading a workshop at the same time. A workshop about writing children's books, dur.

I opened with this photograph and a simple 4-minute writing exercise called, simply, "I Remember". One of the most important steps for me in becoming a children's book author and illustrator has been to get back into the midset of being a kid.

Something that helps me with this is to really, honesty remember what it was like to be a kid. Not through the rose-colored glasses of "adulthood", but the real worries and frustrations I felt. A good way to tap into those memories is through old photographs. You can try this at home- find a photograph of yourself as a kid, and write down as many honest memories as you can of that moment.

For example, I remember precisely when the above photograph was taken. I was in my room, busy doing something important, when my mom came in & told me to put on my overalls and come outside for a picture. First of all, I was annoyed at being interrupted- I was DOING something. Second of all, these were Strawberry Shortcake overalls, which I was too old to be wearing. Third of all, I had outgrown these overalls, so I had to sort of hunch over so I could even fit my torso inside them. My overall feelings at the time of this picture were that I was being unfairly forced to do a bunch of things I didn't want to, because I was a kid and she was my mom (I know, what a cruel mother). (I love you, Mom!)

Anyway, my point is, childhood is not a carefree time for ANYbody, and it's important to remember your worries, concerns, and joys in order to relate to your kid readers.

Boomer Makes His Debut

2011-09-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

No matter how old I get, I always feel like September brings a subtle air of "Get Back to Work". My last days of summer were filled with visitors, quasi-camping, and Twilight re-enactments (perhaps I will post pictures in celebration of the cinematic release of Part 4, Act I). However, it's September now. I am knee-deep in illustrations for my next book, and my Children's Book Portfolio class at Pacific Northwest College of Art begins in two days.

But for now, step back into the golden days of Early September with me, back when the sun set at 8pm & we all wore t-shirts...

On Labor Day, I had the pleasure of visiting the Portland Children's Museum for an Advanced Sneak Peek reading of my next book, Olympig! The book doesn't come out until next summer, so this was kind of a practice run for me. I am planning all sorts of Olympic-themed storytimes for next summer to coincide with the book's publication, so I wanted to see what worked and what didn't.

For the record, Wild & Crazy Interpretive Dance competition: WORKED.

Jumping jacks: WORKED!

I really wanted to incorporate some physical activity into the reading, and my mom suggested tying some movements into the story. So, when Boomer runs in a race, we all ran in place (side note- coach's whistle to indicate end of activity: WORKED). When he does the long jump, we jumped. When he dove, we did some pretend swimming. And the Grand Finale was when the Wild & Crazy Interpretive Dancing came into play.

I also brought in a few "mistake" paintings (since the original art is with my publisher) so the kids could see and touch the original illustrations.

We ended with an Olympic Closing Ceremony parade throughout the museum! (Note: next time, bring music. Loud humming of Olympic theme: FAIL.)

It was lots and lots of fun, and I am looking forward to more events next summer! Thanks to Mom & Dad for the crafty help and the photographs, and to everyone who came out that day!

Mummers and Drag Queens

2011-08-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Expressed our new union next to the conjoined twins!

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

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

Olympic Celebrity!!!!

2011-08-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Celebrity Guest Speaker Round-up!

2011-08-02T17:28:00.001-07:00

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

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

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

I love, love, love this illustration:

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

He did, however, DRAW some chickens.

... some surprisingly scientifically composed chickens.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jacket art sneak peek!

2011-07-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

Lots going on!

2011-06-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Draft Day!

2011-06-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Basketball diaries

2011-05-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

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

(click for a larger view)

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

Ramona dooooodles

2011-05-16T22:47:00.000-07:00

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

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

Second Helping of Scribblins

2011-04-28T09:13:00.001-07:00

More scribblins? Yes please!

Maybe it's obvious, since I'm an illustrator and all- but I am a very visual learner. What this means when I'm developing a story is that I often don't understand something until I draw it. For example, I didn't really know what my character's apartment building was like, until I drew it.

The very act of drawing opens up her world to me. My mind wanders as I'm doodling- who are her upstairs neighbors? Who lives next door? Where is the laundry room? Will the neighbors mind if she roller skates in the house? Maybe writers do this sort of exercise in a "writey" sort of way. Me, I can look at this doodle & remember the feelings I was having and the world I'm trying to create.

Similarly, drawing her (ex) best friend helped illuminate her character to me. I knew she was very pretty, a little bit plump and a lot bit vulnerable... but drawing her makes me feel her character more than writing those things.

(click for a larger view)

In my picture book classes at Pacific Northwest College of Art, we often talk about what comes first, the pictures or the words. From interviews I've heard, Maurice Sendak wrote his text before illustrating anything. I tend to come at it the opposite way- I think in pictures first, and add the text to support what I've drawn. Maybe it's unwise to go against the ways of The Great One, but I think every author and illustrator needs to find the system that works for them.

Scribblins

2011-04-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

Doesn't "scribblins" sound like some sort of delicious meat by-product? Like a runner-up to scrapple, or something.

After attending a family wedding a few weeks ago, it was brought to my attention that some members of the dynasty read my blog (hi, Aunt Esther!) This made me feel double guilty for not updating in a timely manner these days. I'm in that weird twilight- no, dawn I guess- of working on a new project and not having much to show for it. I am very jealous of illustrators who manage to keep beautiful sketchbooks. My sketches- particularly at this stage of things- look like the ramblings of a lunatic.

It's also difficult to share things at this point... the project is so new, like a little baby puppy, and it needs those early weeks (months?) of incubation before I send it blinking into the harsh light of the world.

That's how I've been spending my time recently... What are YOU working on?

Bye Bye Boomer

2011-03-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

Well, the months of swine hibernation are over- Olympig is hoofing its way to New York as we speak!

Lots of people ask me how I deliver my art to my publisher. The answer is pretty easy- I pack it up, and I ship it! Well, I guess a LITTLE more goes into it. I cover each piece with tissue paper (as seen above), and if I have any comments for the art director I'll write those on a sticky note. I also make sure to number each page, to generally note where the crop marks are, and to write my name & contact info on the back of each page.

It seems crazy that this little stack of paper took up so much of my time and attention over the past few months!
As I am a nervous nellie who usually goes back inside at least once before leaving the house- to make sure the oven is turned off, the back door is locked, etc.- you can imagine that it is pretty hard for me to FINALLY admit that everything is done and it's time to wrap things up. Also as a nervous nellie, I wrapped the package in 3 layers of plastic (I DO live in Oregon- what if the package gets rained on?)- then some bubble wrap, and then in a final outer packaging.

One other thing you might notice in the picture above- I included a CD of digital images of all of the pieces. This isn't totally necessary- the publisher will send the original art to China (most likely) to be scanned. However, before doing so the book designer will usually create low-resolution scans (called "fpo"- "for placement only" scans) to make a working copy of the book (called a mechanical) to use in-house for text editing, etc. Since I had already scanned all of the pieces for my own use, I decided to send those files along- to save my publisher some time. And I know it takes a long time, because at Greenwillow I was often the one who created all of the fpo scans for our picture books.

Then a cute little envelope drawing...

... a hefty chunk of change dropped at FedEx, and he's on his way. *Sigh*. I'll admit to feeling some pangs of postpartum depression- my studio looks so empty now. In the coming months I'll talk about what happens between now and the book's actual publication date... but for now, I think I'll sit for a while, staring at the empty walls and remembering The Way Things Were.

100 Words for Sad

2011-03-03T00:32:00.001-08:00

Guess what? Wikipedia just told me that Inuit languages DO NOT, in fact, have 100 words for snow! This is a shame, as I've always liked the idea that you could know something so well that you have 100 words to describe it. Well, I'm still going to use this idea for my blog post, because one shouldn't let truth get in the way of a good story (which, according to Wikipedia, is not a quote from Mark Twain).

It turns out, one of the very hardest paintings in Olympig ended up being this one:

I was kind of surprised when my first- and then a second- attempt at the painting ended up looking awful! I had been excited to paint this one, and I thought it would be pretty easy. After all, I find pictures of people crying to be generally amusing.

But something wasn't working in the paintings. He looked TOO sad, and it wasn't coming across as funny at all. My art director, and some participants in my PNCA class liked his hands up closer to his eyes, so I mucked around with that a bit:

But it just wasn't working. So I sat back to think for a bit. What KIND of crying did I want to portray? With his hands up near his eyes, it suggests Boomer is kind of ashamed of his crying, wants to hide himself a bit- that he's kind of in control of himself. This is not the kind of crying I wanted. I wanted the kind of crying where you're so miserable you don't care who sees it- your arms go limp, your head goes back, and there's nothing to do but cry.

Once I brought a different body language to the sketch, I immediately liked it better.

This ended up being the sketch I used for the final painting. I tried to use every detail I could- his ears, his nostrils, his lips, his chin(s), his shoulders- to portray the quivering, wretched mess he is at this moment.

When you're working in a medium that relies so heavily on pictures to tell the story, it can take a lot of work to be sure you've captured the subtle and nuanced shade of emotion you want to get across. Just as writers labor over choosing exactly the right word, illustrators have to be sure they've chosen exactly the right expression.

Marla Frazee is a master at this. In the illustration below, from her book ROLLER COASTER, she manages to portray every character as excited- but a slightly different kind of excited, depending on the character. The little girl is excited, but still not quite sure if she likes the ride. Her dad is excited, but also nervous about how his daughter is feeling. The elderly couple have been on this ride before (or one like it), and they're having a grand old time. The two macho guys are excited, but have realized the roller coaster is scarier than they anticipated... and so on. Subtle, subtle nuances in their expressions that tell a complete story- despite the very sparse text.

Big Hot Mess paintings

2011-02-11T21:29:00.001-08:00

... and why I think they're a good thing!

So, as I'm nearing the end of my Olympig painting journey, I've realized something. I've been painting the book pretty much in sequence, and guess what- all of the hard pages are at the end!! I've had ample time to ponder this. I believe it's because Boomer's story starts out pretty simply- he thinks he just needs to practice hard & he will win a medal- and the paintings are pretty simple to reflect this. As he becomes more frustrated, confused and dramatic, the paintings also become more frustrated, confused and dramatic until they culminate in a Big Hot Mess.

It's kind of scary, and pretty challenging to me to paint these Big Hot Mess paintings. They're not neat and tidy. For much of the process they do just look like a BIG MESS and I get nervous when I remember they actually have to go into a book!

But you know what? When I finally finish these tricky paintings, the messy ones are the ones I like the best. They may not be as slick as some of the cleaner, simpler paintings, but I feel like going through that messy journey gave them some heart.

As you may recall, I also teach children's book illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art, and we're about halfway through the current course. This past week we talked about one of my favorite subjects: character. I feel like many picture books are written under the pretense that the characters must be "nice" or "good" because they're in a book for children. But really, the characters I love the most are the ones that we're allowed to see at their very worst. The authors and illustrators were not afraid to show us these characters at their messy, pathetic, rock-bottom WORST. Some examples:

Pigeon losing it. Not too classy, Pigeon.

Lilly's mean picture of Mr. Slinger. We've been told how very much Lilly loves Mr. Slinger, and so this picture, and the anger behind it, really does show Lilly at a low point.

Kitten's not necessarily mean or losing her temper here, but she is at a pretty pathetic low point. All she wanted was a bowl of milk- and now she is wet and sad and tired and hungry.

I love these characters- especially Pigeon and Lilly- precisely because we're allowed to follow them into their rabbit holes of bad behavior. They're not perfect because they're in a book for kids. Instead, they have messy, embarrassing, cringe-worthy pathetic breakdowns because they're supposed to be like REAL KIDS. What is WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, one of the most beloved books of all time, but a deep exploration of Max's bad behavior? And the fact that these characters emerge intact on the other side- and still loved by their parents- makes them all the more comforting and lovable to us.

My point? I guess it would be- Long live Big Hot Messes!

The Man. The Music. The Muse.

2011-01-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

I was perusing my favorite news source this morning (Facebook), and learned an astonishing fact.

FACT: Today is Neil Diamond's 70th birthday!

I found this highly serendipitous, as I have been wanting to write a Neil Diamond post forever! AND, JUST LAST NIGHT my husband suggested I dress as Neil next Halloween! (this was coupled with his brainstorm of a movie idea: The Prince and the Lauper, starring Prince and Cyndi Lauper. This is the kind of quality news item you'll see if you're friends with ME on Facebook).

What does this have to do with children's books, you ask?? PLENTY. You see, Neil Diamond is- in a tradition reaching back to the very beginnings of human creation- my muse.

As I was plotting out the climactic event in Olympig, I knew I wanted the illustrations for those scenes to be big. Show-stopping. There would be spotlights. There would be drama. There would be sequins- oh, there would be sequins. And who better to look to for inspiration than Neil Diamond?

Which leads me into an actual, real topic worthy of a blog post on an illustration site: using photo references for inspiration. I love gathering me some reference photos- in this case, to get ideas about dramatic lighting.

Besides Neil, an obvious source of inspiration for me was the Beijing opening ceremonies. I've mentioned before that color is something that I have to work at. Working from the photos on my (as Martha Stewart might call it) "Inspiration Wall", I can borrow color schemes I like.

Besides lots and lots of photo references, I also keep physical references around when I can. I've mentioned before how I make clay models of my characters.

For Olympig, since he wears a sequined outfit in his grand finale, I thought it important to have some sequins on hand to see how they look in various lights. So I bought a pair of sequin shorts purely for the purposes of artistic study. Solely for that reason and for no other reason whatsoever.

The end result? This is the color study I came up with for the next-to-grand-finale page.

I'm showing the color study and not the final piece here, because it's at an awkward stage just at the moment. More like a bad Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper than the Majesty of Neil Diamond.

But you know what? I'm not worried. With Neil by my side, everything will turn out alright in the end. Happy Birthday, Neil!

Painting's Progress

2011-01-15T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well, my Winter Swine Hibernation is beginning to thaw, I can feel it. I have a handful of paintings left to finish- the Grand Finale climactic scene is next, and that one will be a whopper. Even so, I am starting to feel the itchings of spring. Like, subtle urges to have coffee with friends, for example, or the odd desire to put on some real clothes. I am also being forcibly outed from my winter cave, as my new children's book illustration class at Pacific Northwest College of Art starts on Tuesday! (see a description here). It will be nice to be out and about again (one day a week), and to give my PJs a rest.

Anyhoo, I took some photos of the last painting I did to document the process. I had my sketch & color study done, so I transferred that to my final paper. Those orange scribbles on the back are my transfer method, made using an orange Prismacolor colored pencil (NOT "yellowed orange", but "orange", as my poor beleaguered husband found out the hard way. I felt like a real diva that day- "Are these RED M&Ms I see?!? I SAID NO RED M&Ms!!!!"). Anyway, I take that pencil and cross-hatch all over the back. Then I flip it over, place it on my good paper, & trace the front.

(you can click on all of the pictures for a larger view)

The transfer is pretty good, but I usually add a bit more pencil detail with both the orange Prismacolor & a good old #2.

For this book, I've been outlining most of the illustrations first with a fine brush.

Then, I start blocking in the color! This part usually goes pretty quickly, and tricks me into thinking I'm almost done.

Then it's layers, layers, layers. I keep my paint pretty thin- I tend to lose control of my line work & things get too chunky if I lay the paint on thick. It's a longer process, I think, but it works for me.

The stage from the painting above to the painting below always seems to take the longest. I always find more details that I need to add in! The polka dots on Mama's dress, the stripes on Mr. Hamstring's sportscoat, the flags above the stadium, etc. I'll tell you one thing I've been LOVING to paint- the crowd in the stadium! I'm being for realsies about this, too. Especially as the story progresses towards nighttime- it's been really fun painting the camera flashes & twinkly lights in the stadium. AND... the sequins are about to come out! YES!

And now, back to work!

Merry Christmas/Slash/Bah Humbug!

2010-12-25T13:59:00.001-08:00

No no, I am definitely in the "Merry Christmas" camp, not the "Bah Humbug" camp... EXCEPT when I'm under a tight deadline!! Then I fall into what I call my Bob Cratchit/Uncle Scrooge complex, wherein the two sides of my personality fight for supremacy.

(not shown: the Peruvian blanket on my lap, because like Scrooge I am stingy with the central heating)

My inner dialogue has gone something like this:

U.S.: "I expect you'll want the entire day of Christmas off!"

B.C.: "It's only one day a year, sir."

U.S.: "A fine excuse for robbing a man's pocket every 25th of December! Besides, you have a deadline to meet!"

B.C.: "But sir... it's Christmas!"

My split personality has found a compromise with itself, wherein I let myself work (including writing this) until the afternoon when my wonderful husband is done cooking dinner. Then, it's rest and relaxation!

One of the hardest parts of working for myself has been drawing those boundaries. Working at home, it's easy for me to work work work all the time. But it's important to carve out time for life, like the few days Herm and I took to visit the family in Florida a few weeks ago.

(my beautiful and talented niece- future figure skater and/or star roller derby player!)

Because part of the joy of this lifestyle is supposed to be the opportunity to relax and enjoy life more, right?! So, my best wishes to everyone in this holiday season. May you find time to relax and spend quality time with your loved ones.

And I'll expect you at work all the earlier the next morning! Ha ha.

Athletics and Me: A History

2010-12-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Guess what time it is?

Roller Derby tryouts time! For those of you keeping track, this will be my third time trying out (once in New York, once in Portland), as chronicled here and here.

It strikes me as funny sometimes that I am involved in something so physical, and also that I'm currently writing and illustrating a book about athletics, since I was anything but athletic as a kid.

I was always gangly & uncoordinated, and just as kids pigeonhole themselves early on as "bad at math" or "bad at art", I always thought I was "bad at sports". I always came in last in the 50-yard dash, and I had a mean PE teacher who clearly favored the boys & naturally athletic girls. No big deal, I thought- I was good at reading and drawing, I did not have to be good at sports.

Appropriately enough, it may very well have been the Olympics that kept me somewhat interested in the world of sports. My mom is a highly creative woman (as evidenced by my homemade costume above), and she was very involved in giving me and my two brothers creative and unique experiences as kids. This includes, but is not limited to, the famed 1984 Block Party Olympics organized by my mother and her best friend, Mrs. C. I wish I had some pictures from this extraordinary event! Staged during our street's summer block party, all of the neighborhood kids competed in events like the marathon (run around the entire block), gymnastics, and a dress-up relay race. We also copied world flags from the encyclopedia with construction paper & staged an Opening and Closing Ceremony parade. The Gymnastics Controversy of 1984 is a story for another day, but I will say this experience influenced me for life. I may not have been naturally gifted at sports, but an athletic competition where we could make flags and have a parade? This was the sporting event for me!

I hope with Olympig (and the accompanying website & additional resources I have planned) that I can help introduce a love of sport to those kids who might not come by it naturally. I know I would be missing a lot by not being involved with roller derby now. Several times a week, I get to hang out with a group of inspirational, strong women- many of whom also never thought of themselves as athletes. Long live sports for the un-athletic!

Oh, and wish me luck at tryouts tonight!!

Long Time, No Write!

2010-12-04T01:05:00.000-08:00

Well hey there! Guess what I've been doing besides not writing on my blog? I'll give you one hint:

PAINTING PIGS.

When you're a children's book author/illustrator, I'll admit it: there are days when my job is prett-ty laid back. I'll watch "Fame" for inspiration, do a little doodling, take a nap & call it a day. And don't get me wrong, I AM working on those days- I fully believe you need to daydream and doodle and spend quality time with your characters.

THEN there is the other part of my job. The dummy is done, art is due in 2 months, and I am painting. ALL. THE. TIME. It's quite different from the sketching in the park part of my job, but you know what? I really like this part, too. It's comforting to know what I'll be doing tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. The irony in all of this is that with all these hours spent at my drawing board, I have plenty of time to think up new blog topics, but no time to write them! Here are some recent topics I've thought of in my piggy solitude:

* Top 10 Things about Working From Home (I got as far as "Leggings" and "Glee" before deciding this might be too damaging to my image)

* A Salute To Creative Parents

* My Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde Complex: or more appropriately, Mr. Scrooge/Bob Cratchett Complex

* My Imaginary Interview with Ellen (DeGeneres. Wherein I talk about how I am COMPLETELY taken aback by the runaway success of Olympig, and how my good friend JK is helping me deal with the sudden fame. C'mon, hasn't every author had this dream?!?)

So, look forward to some of these topics in the future! Yes, I WILL find the time to write them, because talking to myself on a blog seems less creepy than just normal talking to myself. Have I mentioned I've been spending a LOT of time alone lately??

On to today's topic:

*Finally using images I took for class like 2 months ago!

So, I always like to know how other illustrators work. Here, for example, is how I set prepare my paper for my illustrations. It takes a while, but I enjoy the process- I like to imagine I'm one of Michelangelo's little helpers. Preparing my paper with care always feels very artisan to me.

I use acrylics on paper, and the first thing I do with my paper is wet it. Wet it good!

Then I flatten out the paper on a nice thick board. I have several of these boards so I can do a few pages at the same time.

Then, with the paper as flat as I can get it, I take out Bessie the Staple Gun and staple all around the edges.

Since the fibers of the paper are nice and wet you can literally stretch the paper, and that's what I do as I go around the edges. When it dries, I want it to be tight as a drum.

Then I take out my gesso.

It's taken me a while to find just the balance that I like, but I've found that a thin layer of gesso with a spongy brush,

followed by a smoothing with the flat smoothy thing I found in the hardware store

... generally does the trick. I let it dry, sand it down, and repeat the process twice more.

Two things to beware of:

1) Sometimes after wetting & stapling, the paper still looks warped!

Don't panic! I've found it usually smoothes out overnight.

2) Beware of angry cats trying to sabotage your career:

And the last thing about my process that I'll talk about tonight is mixing paint. I'm trying a new thing, which I am really loving- mixing all my colors in advance! It is a wonder! Illustrator extraordinaire Johanna Wright spoke to my illustration class at PNCA this summer, and she said this is how she works, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. And it has changed my life!

So I made color copies of the color studies I did, and mixed my paints to match the colors I already liked. My big question was, How do I know how much color to mix?! My answer: Who knows? For colors I knew I'd use frequently (like "Pig"), I went with "A lot".

I now have tupperware containers labeled "Pig Skin" around my studio, which adds a level of Hannibal Lecter creepiness to my existing "talking to myself" creepiness.

Goodnight, everybody!

Happily Ever After?

2010-10-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

TWO blog posts in ONE week?! Hey, it's a full moon tonight, anything can happen!

Actually, I was quite eager to post this week's Illustration Correspondence Course, as several people had to miss class on Tuesday night. So without further ado, here's...

Happily Ever... After?!?

In which we talked about the fine line between having a "moral" in your story, and having a "meaning" in your story. I feel like some picture books (*ahem* celebrity books, *ahem*) are conceived with the notion that you have to teach kids a lesson in books. Going to the dentist is not scary, reading is fun, etc. I also feel like kids know when they're being preached to. Take "Where the Wild Things Are", for example. If written by, say, Joy Behar (no offense), maybe Max would have been so scared by the monsters that he realizes he shouldn't be a Wild Thing, and he runs home and apologizes to his mother and is never naughty again. First of all, that is wholly unrealistic, because OF COURSE kids are going to be naughty. Instead of beating us over the head with the moral "Don't be wicked to your mother", we're left with a deeper meaning: All kids are naughty, and you are okay. Even if you're naughty, your mother will still love you. Even this last bit is understated: Max does not run home to a weepy apology scene with his mother- she doesn't even appear, she just leaves his supper waiting for him.

I feel that only recently did I really GET this concept: that the best picture books don't necessarily end with Happily Ever After. I think that good picture books end with a deeply satisfying resolution, but NOT the most obvious or predictable solution. For an example, I brought in my first dummy and my revised dummy for my book Olympig. Let's take a gander...

So I thought my first dummy for Olympig was pretty good. I liked the character of Boomer (a pig who wants to compete in the Olympics). He has a struggle (he's a terrible athlete), and I thought I had a good "hook" (the Olympics). And yet, I got turned down from several agents because my story was too predictable (their words). For example, when Boomer loses another event, and his temper...

... the other animals LITERALLY say, "Being an Olympic champion means more than winning gold medals, you know!" Talk about beating over the head with a moral! In the end, Boomer realizes that being nice is more important than winning, and he helps his fellow athletes out of a big mud pit & they all win gold medals. The End.

Luckily, my agent Paul Rodeen took the time to give me very wise feedback when I queried him, and I had my eureka moment. My main character does not have to get what he wants in order to have a happy ending! Besides, how many times did I ever give up winning something to help someone else out? (zero times= not very realistic). On the other hand, how many times did I try really really hard to win something, and I still lost? (about a bajillion times= more realistic). If I want to have a deeper meaning in my story, perhaps the "lesson" that you're not going to win everything you try is a more important one to teach.

It was, of course, more challenging to have Boomer lose and yet still create a satisfying ending to the story. Ultimately, though, I feel it's a much stronger, and strangely, more satisfying story now.

I recently read the climax of a story referred to as the "reversal", and I like that. It's the point when things that have been going in one direction suddenly do a 360, and you have to deal with the consequences. It turns out Pigeon CAN'T drive the bus- what now? Kitten CAN'T reach that bowl of milk in the sky- what now? David doesn't WANT to be bad any more- what now?

Lastly, we discussed the "mother of all page turns"- page 32, the final page in a picture book. I referenced the website of Darcy Pattison in outlining these possibilities for page 32:

1) Begin the cycle again (pigeon can't drive the bus... but maybe a truck!)

2) Fulfillment

3) Emotional connection

4) Unexpected twist

It's fun to go through books looking specifically at page 32. So many great books end with exactly the opposite message as the rest of the book! In No, David! we hear the word "No" about a million times... until the last page, when we read "YES, David... I love you". Unexpected twist & emotional connection. In Kitten's First Full Moon, we read "Poor Kitten, Poor Kitten" over and over again... until the last page, when we read, "Lucky Kitten". She has a family who loves her- unexpected twist & emotional connection.

And that, my friends, is THE END.

Character Development

2010-10-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

So before I jump right into Week 2 (3 weeks later) of Illustration Correspondence Course, I'd like to speak to you for a few minutes about Amway. Okay, that's not even really my joke- I stole it from my first fire-eating crush, Broon (made famous, of course, at the Largo, Florida Renaissance Festival).

My point is, I have some good news to share! I have a new picture book deal, yahooooooo! BUG MUSICAL is going to be published by Dial Books for Young Readers! They're also my publisher for Olympig, and I am really really excited to continue working with them! And I'm excited to continue watching Glee guilt-free, as it is now legit research.

Ok, moving on...

I am not going to repeat everything from my first Character Development post from last spring- you can see that here. But, I do have some fun new insights to add, thanks largely to the spectacular Wordstock festival held here in Portland last weekend! The highlight? A presentation by

David Wiesner

and

David Shannon!!!

Believe it! It was amazing to hear both of them, of course, and it was great to hear their insights into creating the characters in their picture books. David Shannon, for example, did a "learn how to draw David" exercise, and explained his reasoning behind each and every facial feature David has. It was fantastic to hear how much thought he put into such a seemingly simply drawn character. So. In case you don't know, this is David:

He went through his facial features thusly:

Nose: slightly lumpy & off-kilter, because David Shannon himself has broken his nose 5 times (the last time due to an errant sliding glass door).

Teeth: David Shannon (ok, let's call him D.S.) knew a kid when he was growing up who had greenish teeth that had grown into sharp little fangs... before he got his adult teeth.

Eyes: one is slightly higher than the other. This is because D.S. himself has mismatched eyes. He did a funny & lengthy demonstration of his lopsided eyes that consisted of 2 words: "Eyes. Ears. Eyes. Ears. Eyes. Ears." It was hilarious. Maybe you had to be there.

Ears: (speak of the devil)- no holes, because David doesn't listen.

Nostrils: Left is bigger than right, because David is left-handed & thus frequents his left nostril more than his right.

Haircut: commonly called the "pig shave" when D.S. was a lad.

Eyebrows: Both say different things. One is the "evil" eyebrow:

One is the "innocent" eyebrow:

Crazy, right? And an excellent example, I think, of how much thought and care goes into creating seemingly simple and childlike characters.

David Wiesner spoke about his new book Art & Max, and talked about how he developed their characters. His website has terrific visuals- I highly recommend. If you click on the thumbnails, you'll find his notes describing each step of the process. What a terrific gift- allowing us to see his working process! I was pleased to see that he also creates models of his characters- although his aren't quite the stuff of nightmares like Motha is...

His website also has pictures of his models- a look through his sketches is time well spent, believe you me!

Illustration AND Writing Correspondence Course!

2010-10-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

Leaves are changing, there's a nip in the air, which means...

Illustration Correspondence Course is back in session! Continuing Ed classes at PNCA started last week, and this fall I'm teaching an 8-week class on writing & illustrating children's books. Similar to the summer intensive I taught in July, but minus the "intensive". Although, let's face it, 8 weeks is a short time to discuss all things picture books.

So, let's jump right in! One of the first things we talked about last week was how to go about planning your picture book.

A good step 1:

Thumbnail pages! I draw so many of these little rectangles in my sketchbooks. Most picture books have 32 pages, so that's a good place to start. I use thumbnail pages to keep track of what's happening when, where the climax happens, etc. But we'll get into all that in a bit.

Thumbnail pages are great for your own personal use, especially in the very beginning stages. Once you have things sussed out and pretty much in the right place, a great Step 2 is this:

THE DUMMY BOOK! A dummy is a great way to make sure your thumbnail pages actually work as a book. I've seen dummies range from the very loose and sketchy, to very detailed, nearly finished books. It's a tool for YOU to use, so it's up to you how detailed you want to get. Some advantages of dummies:

1) It's exciting to see your ideas in book format! In a profession that takes some self-motivation to keep goin' when the goin' gets tough, a dummy book can be a great motivator.

2) It's a good way to see how your story flows as a real book. Page turns are very important in picture books; this helps you experience them as a reader would.

3) They're portable! When I made the first dummies for Bea Rocks the Flock, I'd hand them out to friends & colleagues with post-it notes & ask for their feedback. Some feedback was helpful, some was not... but if everyone has trouble understanding what's going on on page 14, for example, you might want to take another look at that! And a note about feedback- most of your friends will- if not prompted- give you feedback like, "This is soooooo great!!!!!!" Make sure you let them know you're looking for critical feedback!

4) Last but not least, dummies are perfectly suitable to send in to publishers and/or agents for consideration. While many dummies are sent electronically these days, good ol' fashioned paper & tape dummies are usually acceptable, often preferred.

SO! With the basic ideas of thumbnails & dummies out of the way, we next went into studying some classic & contemporary picture books. I decided to emphasize 3 Golden Rules of Picture Books while doing so:

1) (I'm very into lists today, apparently!): The Narrative Arc. Making sure your story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. More specifically, making sure your story has some sort of buildup, an emotional climax, and a resolution.

2) Show, Don't Tell

and 3) Emotional Nugget.

So, Number 1: Back in my day, when I used to get picture book submissions at HarperCollins, I'd often get submissions that lacked a plot. Say, Judy gets up and goes to the zoo. She sees some monkeys, some tigers, some polar bears, and then she goes home. The end. While it has some beginning, middle, and end... it's not the most riveting of stories.

Think of the Three Little Pigs. While it's kind of repetitive, there is still a slight buildup. The first house is straw (easy), the second house is sticks (harder) and the third is brick (very hard). The action builds to a climax, rather than staying flat the whole time.

A classic example of a story building to a climax is (as I've talked about on this blog before) Where the Wild Things Are. Max starts out making trouble, and the illustrations get bigger and bigger as we reach the emotional climax of the story.

When the Wild Rumpus begins, we get 3 spreads of full-bleed illustrations, with no words at all. Beautiful.

If you look at the structure of WTWTA, it looks something like this:

The climax happens around pages 26-31, leaving a few more spreads at the end for the "cool down" and resolution. For next week, I asked class participants to take one of their favorite books and to do a breakdown of the pages (complete with sketches). I find that taking a favorite book and breaking it down and studying it helps to de-mystify the process.

Another example I used to show the narrative arc was "No, David", by David Shannon. This book SEEMS like it might not have a narrative arc: it's a list of David doing bad things, and being told "No". And yet. There comes a time when David pushes things too far:

I read this book frequently at story time at the Children's Museum, and you would almost hear an intake of air from the 3-year-olds at this point. Everyone knows that feeling of pushing your parent- pushing, pushing, pushing ...until you go too far, and you're in real trouble. So it's a narrative arc, and one that kids really can relate to.

Ok, moving on to #2: Show, Don't Tell. I've used this example on my blog before- the wonderful George and Martha. The text on this page reads:

"On the way to George's house, Martha played a tricky game of hopscotch."

The words DON'T say, "On the way to George's house, Martha's present fell out of her basket." There's a sort of game that goes on between the words and the pictures. The words can tell one story, the pictures another.

Another good example of this game is "The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash", one of my favorites as a kid. The kid narrator is so deadpan, and says that her class trip to the farm was "boring... kind of dull...", even though all these crazy things keep happening in the illustrations.

Another fun thing is, while she's talking to her mother she's putting on this astronaut-looking outfit, which is NEVER MENTIONED in the text. It's another, totally different story we're being told simply through the pictures.

As the mother concludes that it sounds like it actually WAS an exciting trip to the farm, the girl answers, "Yeah, I suppose, if you're the kind of kid who likes class trips to the farm."

... and then, of course, wordlessly gets into a soap box derby car with a pig, allowing us to imagine her further adventures.

Last, but not least, I talked about having an emotional nugget to your story, and one that kids can relate to. I used the example of "Do Not Build a Frankenstein" by Neil Numberman. I use this example because it seems like a simple, funny story about a kid building a monster and the trouble that ensues. And yet, I clearly remember sitting in a meeting at Greenwillow Books when we were publishing this book. The book's editor Martha (who has a wonderful blog!) was talking about the story, and said something along the lines of, "This is actually a book about getting frustrated with a younger sibling." And that blew my mind! It's hidden well, but it is totally a book about putting up with a sometimes fun, often frustrating younger sibling you can't get rid of.

"At first, having a Frankenstein may be fun. But after a while...

"it can become pretty annoying."

... And that's it for week 1! Next week we're discussing developing characters, so stay tuned!

You know you're a writer when...

2010-09-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

... you suffer a grave disappointment and you console yourself by thinking, "Well, at least I can use this in my book." What was this grave disappointment? Well. If you are a regular reader of this blog (Dad), you will know that I am involved in a deep and abiding love affair with roller derby. You may remember this post from 2008, when I first tried out for the New York team, or this one when I was trying to come up with a kid-lit themed name.

My grave disappointment came in the form of the Fresh Meat tryouts for Rose City Rollers a few weeks ago, alas. Despite the athletic prowess you see below, I did not make the team.

Seriously though- it DID make me feel better to think, "Well, now I have a better understanding of my character and how HE feels when he loses one Olympic event after another... and another... and another." And really, how many times as adults do we get the chance to experience the excitement and and anticipation of trying out for something, and the disappointment or elation that follows? Besides job interviews, which frankly, I do NOT consider fun.

And here is the part that tickles me... You know how authors always say there is a bit of themselves in the characters they create? Just as Boomer is sure he's going to win his next competition, there is a part of me that is just as sure that at the next tryouts, I am going to ROCK IT.

How Did I Live Without You?

2010-08-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

...Color Studies??? For real! At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, I must say that color studies have changed my life. They've made painting FUN again! Do you struggle with your final illustrations, wondering if you picked just the right color for that background? Well, wonder no more! With the amazing Color Study, you can try out MANY color palettes in minutes, WITHOUT ruining a nice sheet of expensive paper! Don't believe me? Check out this demonstration!

(*editor's note: I did these color studies by bringing my scanned drawings into Photoshop. I'd put in a color and mess with the hue, saturation, lightness, etc., until it worked. I'll be doing the final illustrations the ol' fashioned way- acrylics- when the time comes.)

So there's an emotionally charged scene in Olympig wherein Boomer is gearing up for a very important dive. I really want to convey a sense of Boomer's fierce determination in the illustration, but HOW to use color to my advantage? I tried a straightforward approach:

... or maybe a little red for drama:

... Or maybe a more monochromatic, dramatic color palette! Yes, I like this one much better.

Another fun thing in this process has been using photo references for inspiration. In the grand finale, I wanted Boomer's gymnastics performance to have some (more) high drama and pageantry. What better source of inspiration than the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremonies?

(BTW, can I say I've watched those opening ceremonies about 10 times and I never get tired of them? Yes, even the Parade of Nations- that's my favorite part! Athletes from all over the world coming together, a sense that anything is possible... Gosh, I love the Olympics!! And don't even get me started on kd lang's musical performance at the Vancouver opening ceremonies).

I also got this great book out from the library: Cinderella, with art from the film's conceptual designer, Mary Blair. Simply beautiful color. I loved the moody atmospheres she created with blues and greens in this piece...

... and I experimented with a similar color palette for Boomer's emotional low point.

(and here are two more pages from that book. So lovely)

Final art for Olympig is due in February, and while part of me is anxious to jump in and start the paintings, I'm going to take the time now to plan out the color for the entire book. Then when I'm finally ready to start I can really concentrate on the drawing aspect- my favorite part- since the color's already been worked out. For the most part!

Children's Book Intensive

2010-07-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

Wow. That is just about all I can say. Wow.

A stellar week at Pacific Northwest College of Art! I had the privilege of leading a four-day, non-stop, action-packed CHILDREN'S BOOK INTENSIVE! Can you handle it??! It was a dream come true for me- a week of talking, walking, thinking & sharing picture books with a wonderful group of talented authors and illustrators.

The focus of the course was writing and illustrating your own picture book. Oh, we packed a lot into those four days: character development, narrative structure, design, pacing, and how to market yourself to publishers. The goal was to have a rough dummy by the end of the week- a lot to ask for in 4 days!- but I think everyone made great strides in that short span of time.

Much of our discussions dealt with the peculiar marriage of words and pictures in children's books, and I found two wonderful ambassadors to help demonstrate some of the possibilities:

It's been a fair amount of time since I've read any George and Martha stories, and let me tell you- they are GENIUS in the way the pictures tell one story and the words tell another. Most (all?) of the George & Martha books are split up into short "vignettes", or a series of short- sometimes very short- stories. I will now relay to you in its entirety Story Number Three from this book (George and Martha: Tons of Fun).

Story Number Three: The Photograph

One day Martha stepped into a photography booth.

"I love to have my picture taken," she said.

"Click," went the camera.

When Martha saw her photograph, she was thrilled.

"I've never looked prettier," she said.

Hee, hee! That picture makes me giggle EVERY TIME! It's so perfect. The words say one thing, ie, "This is a beautiful photograph", while the kids can see from the illustration that it is in fact a very weird photograph. With just a few short sentences we're given a sense of Martha's personality- and a REALLY funny story.

Story Number Five (The Last Story: The Special Gift) is a good example of not spelling everything out in your text. The text on this page reads:

On the way to George's house, Martha played a tricky game of hopscotch.

NOWHERE does it say that the present fell out of the basket! The text doesn't NEED to say it; kids will see it & yell "Hey, the present fell out of the basket!" It's that kind of interactivity & reader involvement that mark the best picture books, I think.

Whew, I'm getting all riled again. I do love talking about picture books. So, one of the BEST things about this week was that I got to invite SPECIAL GUEST STARS!!! And Portland is home to a dazzling array of children's book talent.

On Monday the extremely prolific author Deborah Hopkinson came to speak. You may know her from the 40-odd books she's written- mainly historical fiction and non-fiction works for kids.

We were lucky enough to have the amazingly talented Johanna Wright speak on Tuesday and Wednesday, and she offered insights into her dummy-making process as well as how she develops her characters.

We rounded out the week with illustrator extraordinaire Lee White on Thursday. His paintings blew me away... and then he casually mentioned he painted one of his books with napkins. NAPKINS! He is an illustrator who is constantly innovating and pushing his boundaries, which makes for very exciting work.

Thank you to all of the class participants and speakers- I had such a great time. Thanks to PNCA, too... and if you missed this class, I'll have two more in the fall and winter. Next is an 8-week writing & illustrating class, and a children's book portfolio class will follow that one. The Continuing Ed catalog can be found here!

Get 'er done: Mural Edition

2010-06-27T22:15:00.001-07:00

Scratch that one off the bucket list. Large-scale mural in public setting: CHECK. Dear readers, since we're good friends, I will tell you a secret. When the Portland Children's Museum asked me to paint a mural in their new Pet Hospital exhibit, at first I was afraid. I was petrified. I wondered how I'd ever paint a picture at that size. I had never a) painted such a large mural before in such a b) heavily-trafficked area, in c) the place where I work part-time and thus would have to face my co-workers and an ugly mural every day in the event that it sucked.

Dear readers, I will tell you another secret: I am really quite pleased with how it turned out.

That's the finished mural above- and here's how it all went down.

It started with a sketch, obviously. The new exhibit is a play veterinary clinic with stuffed animals the kids can take care of. The exhibit planners wanted a mural for the dog park section.

I then drew a pretty lenient grid on the sketch for transferring to the Big Screen.

I learned a lot from doing this mural that I think will be muy helpful in my book illustrations. For one thing, the joy and pleasure that having a color sketch brings to me. Yes, YES, I know that painters have been making color sketches for CENTURIES, and I am a little late to this realization. That seems to be the story of my life: I am currently watching season 2 of Mad Men, and read my first Diary of a Wimpy Kid on the bus today. (*Side note: both totally amazing! FYI!)

Anyhoo, that part was easy peasy. Now on to the Uncharted Territory:

Luckily, I had The Grid to help me chart it. It really did help, but I used that grid fairly flexibly towards the end there. And YES, sharp-eyed readers, that IS a copy of The Curious Garden by Peter Brown for color reference!

All drawn in. Then on to COLOR! Just as in my normal illustrations I used acrylics, and I tried to get in all of the colors first before building up any one section.

I painted...
...and painted...
... and painted. It took a good two weeks, and frankly, it got so I dreamed about painting flower pots, and I didn't even want to look at a dog on the sidewalk.

And then it was done.

Some details:

Take that, Jack Nicholson/Morgan Freeman.

Get 'er done

2010-06-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

It IS graduation season, so how appropriate that I delayed the final installment of Illustration Correspondence Course until now! HA. Like I am that organized. But I figured I should wrap things up, because I gots pictures from Book Expo America to share, I gots a mural I'm working on to share...

SO! Our final virtual class! I'll try not to get teary-eyed. This subject is always a crowd-pleaser, because it's the stuff that everyone REALLY wants to know... HOW TO GET YOUR STUFF PUBLISHED. I used to give this talk quite frequently at SCBWI conferences, and it's a talk I like to call:

I know as well as the next person that it is important to have a good ice breaker with these types of things. This is my ice breaker (note: I will likely use this ice breaker in my summer course in July- spoiler alert!). I've also showed these pictures on my blog before, but they're JUST SO GOOD I never get tired of them.

So, these are some scenes from the very short-lived television show The Something Something of Jezebel James, wherein Parker Posey played an editor at HarperCollins Children's Books. These offices look a lot more swank than my "office" when I worked at HarperCollins:
No window, and no frilly blouse for me, I can assure you.

Anyhoo, it was my job as the NKOTB in the design department to sort through the postcards we received from illustrators. I still recommend postcards to participants in my class- they're a relatively cheap way to promote yourself, and no one is annoyed by receiving a postcard.

I highlighted some of the postcards that I discarded immediately:
Now, I don't think any of these illustrations are "bad", per se. In a clockwise manner, starting at the top left, I rejected these because they were a) too editorial, b) too "mass market", c) too editorial again (maybe for Money magazine, not for children's books), d) too sci-fi, e) too weird, and f) not telling a narrative story.

In the Yes bin went these postcards. First off, they all show KIDS (or kid-friendly subjects). Big plus! And besides being well-executed, I feel like all of these postcards tell a story, or evoke a narrative. I love the little girl hugging her grandpa, for example- it's such a simple, sweet, and universal moment and feeling. And those birds on a wire! How I love them! I like that many of the birds are angry. Children are often angry (as I can tell you from working at a children's museum), and it's nice to get a hint that this illustrator can represent a wide range of emotions.
Getting yourself in the "yes" bin does not mean you're going to get an illustration job, however. Oh, not by a long shot. After I pulled out some good postcards, the first thing I did was go to the illustrator's website or blog. No online portfolio= postcard goes into the recycling bin. It sounds harsh, but it really makes it so, so much easier to share your work with the publishing team if you have an online presence.

If the illustrator had a website with lots of cute illustrations appropriate for children's books, I'd print a few of my favorites and put them in a filing folder. If I REALLY liked the illustrator, I'd send a link around to some of the editorial & art deptartment members.

Matching illustrators from these files to projects at hand could be a very difficult process, and a decision that most definitely was not left up to me. It was a decision reached by editorial, art, the publisher, and in some cases, sales, marketing, & the author. As a new illustrator, sometimes the cards are stacked against you. If the manuscript at hand is by a new author, the publisher likely won't pick a new illustrator to go with it. Either one or the other usually has some sort of track record & following. That's why I say- and I'm sticking to it!!- that it MAY be easier to get published if you write and illustrate your own books! I've heard others say different things... but I know that I saw many, many talented illustrators that I LOVED, and the chances of finding exactly the right manuscript at the right time, with the right subject matter and approved by the right people... well, it's a lot of hoops to jump through to become "the one".

And on that note! Well, that sounded like a real downer of an ending. I totally didn't mean it that way, and what's more, I don't think illustration in general has a downer of an ending! Sure, it can take a really, really, really, REALLY long time to get published, but it CAN and DOES happen! All the time. I cannot recommend highly enough the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). They are an international organization and real-life resource to learn the ins and outs of writing, illustrating, and publishing.

Whew! Thanks for sticking around for the end of class! At my dad's great suggestion, I have a little something for you for completing this course:

I'm framing mine- it's going right next to the "Mousters" degree I earned from working at Disney World one summer. I chose not to pursue my Ducktorate that year.

Interview with Yours Truly

2010-05-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

Illustrator Jane Heinrichs was kind enough to invite me over to her blog for an interview! Click here to read all the juicy, lurid details!

And in other exciting news, I am jetting to New York City tomorrow! A fun-filled week of meeting with my editor and attending Book Expo America! And uh, lots of Magnolia Bakery and Shake Shack visits. Although I am notoriously bad at taking photos (you would have already known this if you read my juicy interview!), I will do my best to document the excitement of BEA.

Until next week!

Illustration Correspondence Course: Narrative Structure!

2010-05-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

I'm back! And I'm really rollin' this week! New dummy is finished & sent off! ICC is back on track. Library book pile:

... Dwindling! One thing I'll miss about haunting many library branches several times a week is the fun of stumbling upon old childhood favorites. I was a BIG Tomie dePaola fan as a kid. I found his drawings so appealing, and I remember really liking the bittersweet stories of this book, and that perennial tear-jerker, Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs.

One of my VERY favorite books as a kid was this one:

... and a few years ago I realized that this book MAY have been a subliminal inspiration for Bea Rocks the Flock:

In the story, Mariana May gets in trouble for continually getting her white dress all dirty, so Nursey dyes her dresses different colors for different occasions.

And oh, I WANTED THAT RAINBOW DRESS. If it had rainbows/unicorns, I WORE IT.

Moving on, week... what are we on, 6? Anyway, this week's correspondence course is called Narrative Structure, and Yes, Picture Books Have Them! A common mistake in submitted picture book manuscripts is a lack of plot. When I reviewed a lot of submissions back in the day, I'd see a lot of dummies where a kid goes to the zoo (for example), sees this and this and this, and then goes home. Frankly, not the most the most thrilling of stories. I'm not saying you need to write a 32-page John Grisham novel, but SOMEthing needs to happen. There are lots and lots and lots of way to structure your story, but here are two things I try to keep in mind:

1) I took this formula from Darcy Pattinson. Step 1) You create a character. Step 2) You figure out what she wants most in this world (or, fears most in this world). Step 3) You throw some complications at your character that get in the way of their heart's desire (or, heightens the thing they are afraid of) until Step 4) Climax! And Step 5) resolution.

2) This one sounds so very basic, but sometimes the basic things are the easiest to ignore! Make sure your story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Or more specifically, make sure you introduce your character & their problem, have the problem build to a climax, and resolve the problem in a satisfying way.

The example I often use for point number one is Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Willems. Our character is Pigeon. What does he want most in the world?

To drive the bus, obviously! The complications that get in his way: we won't let him! His frustration builds and builds and builds until we reach a narrative, and visual, climax:

Resolution and special twist ending: Pigeon does NOT get to drive the bus, but he moves on to a new dream...

Even if you're an illustrator only, not an author/illustrator, it's important to think about narrative structure because your illustrations should mimic the narrative arc. Your illustrations add to the climax just as much as the words do. Where the Wild Things are is a terrific example of this. If you scroll down through these spreads, you'll notice that the illustrations get bigger and bigger and bigger...

... until the Wild Rumpus climax, when we get three whole spreads of full-bleed art, no words at all. The beauty of the structure constantly staggers me.

As Max returns home, the illustrations shrink back down, easing out of the narrative arc.

One of the most difficult things in writing a picture book, in my opinion, is creating a satisfying, yet unexpected, ending. My vote for one of the most satisfying endings of all time?

What I liked best about this ending as a kid was that we were never told outright that (spoiler alert) Miss Nelson IS Viola Swamp. I still remember the deliciously creepy, satisfying feeling of putting together the pieces myself- it totally blew my mind. "Wait, there's the black dress and, why... hold on... a wig box... so that must mean... O. M. G."

And I REALLY liked page 32, the final page- the adult detective is not smart enough to figure out what I, a kid, realized the page before.

A close second in my personal Most Satisfying Story Endings of All Time goes to this Reading Rainbow gem:

In this book, Bea (another subliminal inspiration for Bea Rocks the Flock?!?) is sick of kindergarten, and her dad is sick of his office job, so they switch places. Hilarity ensues as each experiences life in the other's shoes. Here's where you think, "Well, it was all good fun, but now they're going to realize that they should really go back to where they belong."

Wrong! I think the delightful thing about this ending is that is precisely what does NOT happen! Mr. Jones stays in kindergarten as the star pupil,

... and Bea goes on to have high-powered executive lunches.

What could have been a fairly run-of-the-mill morality tale turns into a springboard for the imagination. After all, books for the young are meant to encourage creativity, not squash it, right?

Hi ho, hi ho

2010-04-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

I really will finish Illustration Correspondence Course, I promise!! However, a side effect of teaching this course was to put me in a fever about finishing my own current project. I have two whole glorious days ahead of me with no obligations, and I WILL finish rewriting my dummy by the end of the day Wednesday!

Here are two sketches from the work in progress. Now back to work, yippee!!

Illustration Inspiration

2010-04-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

I know ya'll're just itching for the next installment of Illustration Correspondence Course, but let's take a moment and recharge our creative batteries. (Also, I had a busy week & needed a little break from ICC). (Yes, that's what people are calling it now).

So, here's a BRAND NEW segment on Victoria Jamieson Illustration:

Illustration! Inspiration!

Our first batch of inspiration comes from Jane Yolen, who gave a terrific lecture on Monday night. As you can tell from my notes,

- the quotes I'm about to attribute to Jane Yolen are completely, 100% inaccurate.

Now, I had the great idea (while half-asleep in bed this morning), to accompany Illustration Inspiration quotes with some inspirational photographs. My first thought, of course, was kittens climbing trees. But then I thought that copyrights might be an issue, so I looked through my albums and found my own inspirational photographs. This way, once the calendar people start calling me there will be noooooo copyright violations. Just lawsuits from people I misquote.

So here we go:

Illustration! Inspiration!

"I love the poem by Emily Dickinson called Tell all the Truth but tell it slant. I lie all the time."

-Jane Yolen

"Truth in art that is boring is not true"

-Jane Yolen, quoting somebody else

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant

Emily Dickinson

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant---
Success in Cirrcuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightening to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind---

(those are all of my notes. But I love the very inspirational blog of Amy Baskin,

and her interview the inspirational illustrator Lee White revealed these nuggets):

"Truthfully, the trick (to making an illustration or painting) is showing up at your drawing table and doing the work in a focused way. Turning off Facebook and email, and all the other little distractions is essential to getting the work done. [...] While other people play Farmville, I write or draw."

-Lee White

" I try to block my time in hourly increments and really stick to that. In a typical day I like to have 3 hours to dedicate to writing/sketching for upcoming projects, 3 hours for new paintings, and then 3 hours for business and correspondence. This takes a lot of work, some days I’m better at it than others. It helps if you turn off your TV."

-Lee White

I hope everyone is now inspired. I didn't even plan to pair Lee White's first quote about Farmville with that picture of a goat. Inspiration and divine intervention at work.

I did something else fun this week- I did a book signing and meet-and-greet at the Portland Children's Museum!

Once the kids were properly calmed down and under control by feeding them donuts, I did a little writing and drawing workshop. I had that nice long piece of paper, so together we constructed a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end- all on one sheet.

I started by drawing Bea The Sheep, and asked the kids what kind of animal Bea should have for a best friend in this story. Next, the kids came up with a scenario (jump roping), and an interesting plot twist that might complicate things (Elephant is so big he falls through the floor).
Luckily, the kids were ready with the solution- a fireman comes to pull Elephant out of the hole, and then they all ride bicycles together.

A pretty fine story! Here's the beginning:

the middle...

...and the end!

The kids then made their own books to take home. Two of my favorites include The Donut Story and The Story About A Rock Falling Into a Pond. Thanks, PCM, for having me!

Monday Night in Portland!

2010-04-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

Jane Yolen will be giving a lecture downtown tomorrow night (April 12th) at 7 pm.

"The Hans Christian Anderson of America", according to Newsweek! Here's the ticket information.

And another reminder to participants in my PNCA class: don't forget to bring ALL of your work to class on Tuesday if you'd like to get digital files!

Week 3: Character!

2010-04-07T23:53:00.001-07:00

Ok, before we get started I just have to say- Portland's public libraries are waaayyyyyy too lenient with their lending policies. People like me take advantage. Or as my hubby says, there must be lots of kids out there wondering where all the books have gone...

I am returning some this week, I promise!! I also have to say... the cliches are true- I feel like I've learned so much from teaching this class. I was pleased with the color in this lil' sketch I did yesterday:

(click for a larger view)

I've wanted to make an "Anne of Green Stables" mailer for a while. Hopefully, soon!!

Ok, let's get down to brass tacks:

Week 3, Character!

So, I began this class in a most annoying fashion, by saying, "I can't actually teach you how to create great characters." Annoying, but true- if I knew the secret to creating classic, beloved characters that will be adored the world over, I wouldn't be here- I'd be rolling around in my vault of money like Scrooge McDuck. BUT! Something I can say with some certainty is this-

If you want to create great characters, you have to REALLY know them!

Inside and out, front to back. I think that many of the beloved characters in children's literature: Ramona, Anne of Green Gables, Olivia, Lilly, - are beloved because they are fully realized, three-dimensional characters. They have good qualities and bad. They generally go through a spectrum of emotions over the course of their story. So my first point was: before you set pencil to paper to create your illustration, you should know your character.

I read somewhere that some authors* (*precise footnoting skills) suggest taking magazine quizzes as if they are answering for their characters. I handed out a Character Personality Test in class (if you didn't get it, let me know- I can email it to you). It's just a simple checklist that can act as a starting point to getting to know your character. What is his or her favorite meal? Sport? Subject in school? Game? Is she shy, or outgoing? These things may seem irrelevant, but your character's personality affects absolutely everything they do. If you're drawing your character raising her hand in class, if she's shy she may shrink back in her chair, her hand barely above the level of the desk. If she's outgoing, maybe she's practically falling out of her chair in her eagerness. Carrying his or her personality throughout the book is essential to creating a believable character.

The second point I talked about was to think about how your character's personality would manifest itself not just in their person, but in their clothes, their hair, their room, their backpack. Essentially, every inch of your paper can contribute to expressing their personality!

Some Examples! Finally! I am much more of a visual learner.

First up, I certainly appreciate the detail and care Robin Preiss Glasser goes to in developing her characters.

Every single detail in this illustration tells us that Ruby is a klutzy tomboy who still wants to play dress-up; an interesting conflict already. The tablecloth is stuck in her soccer cleat, the cupcakes are falling, the tea is spilling, the lid's falling off the teapot, her hair's a mess, her tiara is askance. Even the doll is sitting in an odd angle in her chair.

Preiss Glasser never takes the easy way out- Ruby is not sitting cross-legged on the floor, she's sprawled across the stool. The dad is not some stock character dad returning from work in a suit- he's got his keys in his mouth, the grocery bags are overflowing. Small details that make us believe this is an actual family, and we're in their world.

A character's bedroom is a great way to show their personality- continuing the soccer theme, there's the ball, and trophies on her shelf. And again, Ruby has a very distinct, expressive pose.

Unexpected.

Comparing Ruby's bedroom to her grandmother's fussy cottage is pretty fascinating. Preiss Glasser even has distinct books on the coffee table, for crying out loud (Victorian Times and Palaces of St. Petersburg are two, in case you were wondering).

Moving on... Ah, Olivia. One of my favorites. She is one of those rare characters who can pull off a book that doesn't really have much of a plot. It's enough just to watch her go about her day. The endpapers already tell us something about her personality, and we don't even see her...

The copyright page...

And the beginning of the story. I love the discarded walkman. The story hasn't even STARTED yet and we have a sense of her character.

One thing I love love love is when an illustrator can capture just how small children are in a world built for grownups. I love how Olivia is just peeking out of the tub and over the dinner table. I think these perspectives are things kids can relate to.

Mo Willems is also great at seeing thing from a kid's point of view. Right from the cover of the book, we're taken down to Trixie's eye level. I think kids look at a lot of belt buckles.

(this book is also the inspiration for my preferred roller derby name, Knuckle Bunny - number, Too- in case you were wondering).
Another thing to consider when illustrating your book is: How are you going to distinguish your character in a classroom of other kids? Mo Willems chose to give Trixie big saucer eyes (all of the other kids just have little dots). She's also got a very detailed outfit on, whereas the other kids are wearing pretty plain outfits. I say, when in doubt, let your character's personality determine the features you highlight.

Mr. Willems isn't afraid to cut kids off at awkward spots. I love Trixie's head just peeking up from the stairs.

He also takes the kids-eye-view thing to heart. I once heard Brian Lies (of Bats at the Beach fame) give a talk at an SCBWI conference, and he said that everything changed for him when he started drawing everything standing on his knees. The world looks different when you're 3 feet tall, and that's your target audience.

Lilly! Oh, Lilly! Have you noticed that Olivia and Lilly are both very popular names now? Coincidence?!? Anyway, even though all of the mice in Kevin Henkes' books look essentially the same, we have no problem picking out Lilly. Not only because of the happy lines around her head, but because of her signature red boots! And kids do get fixated on articles of clothing. I had a sweater with rainbow Scotties that I think I wore every day for the entire second grade.

Kevin Henkes is also great at bringing little telling details into the background- the calendar, Lilly's drawings on the wall, the hippie dad's Peace shirt. He also brings the same level of detail to the writing- Lilly's dad makes No-Frills Cheese Balls, the students do their creative thinking in the Lightbulb Lab, and Mr. Slinger wears artistic shirts and is sharp as a tack. Just as in Tea for Ruby, these are little details that ring true and keep us believing in Lilly's world.

Thusly, lastly- Calvin has always been one of my very favorite characters. And his expressions are always fantastic.

And I loved this cat's personality right off the bat. Mr. Pusskins unfortunately turns pleasant by the end of the book, but I'll just pretend in my heart that he keeps on being rotten.

C'est tout! Next week: narrative structure!

Illustration Correspondence Course, Week 2!

2010-03-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

Tippy says put on your virtual thinking caps- it's time for Week 2 of the Victoria Jamieson Correspondence School of Illustration! This week's lesson: Color. Or as I like to say...

COLOR!!*

(*I am saying this in a Jerry Seinfeld "NEWMAN!!" voice if that wasn't apparent)

Some people are natural colorists and have an innate sense of color balance and composition. Some people also maintain a size 2 dress size while eating whatever they want and not exercising. To those people I say: something not suitable for a children's book blog. For the rest of us I say: There is hope! There are certain rules of color that can make the transition from black and white drawing to full-color paintings a little easier.

So, in class I discussed some of these rules:

1) warm vs. cool colors

2) complementary colors

3) tertiary colors, or as I like to call them, "those weird no-name neutral colors that make up most of the natural world".

First up, warm vs. cool. Warm colors are generally thought of as reds, yellows, & oranges. Cools are greens, blues, purples.

Easy enough. But guess what, there are more sub-categories. There are warm reds and cool reds, for instance. Personally, I primarily (ha!) paint with 6 colors: a warm & cool red, a warm & cool yellow, and a warm & cool blue. Why, speak of the devil, here they are!

The cool red (alizarin crimson) looks a little more purply than the warm red (cadmium red). The warm blue (cerulean), on the other hand, is a little more yellow-green than the cool, purplish Ultramarine blue.

I did a little Bob Ross-type demo in class (a lifelong dream fulfilled) demonstrating why black is not necessarily the best way to add shadows to a color. Black can dull down shadow colors- there's usually a more interesting color choice to make for shadows if you experiment a bit. For instance, adding a cooler alizarin shadow to the warm cadmium dot. Or, adding some alizarin to the shadows of ultramarine.

I also don't buy tubes of brown. You can make your own browns by combining the 3 primary colors- and this way you can control how warm or cool your browns are.

Next up: Complementary colors! Basically, they're opposite one another on the color wheel. They are:

Blue & orange, red & green, purple & yellow. You'll see these colors a lot in packaging & advertising- complements placed next to one another are visually striking and tend to jump out at us. It's no coincidence that red & green are "the colors" of Christmas, purple & yellow the colors of Easter, blue & orange the colors of the University of Florida (Go Gators! Actually, I'm more of a 'Noles fan- family ties, and all).

Here's something fun that complementary colors do:

Do those two small squares look different to you? SYKE! They're actually the same color, but the background changes how we perceive them. Purples tend to make other colors look more yellow, whereas a strong yellow can make colors look more purple.

And last rule: tertiary colors. Most things in this world are not pure red, pure blue, etc. That's part of the reason that red poppies or yellow sunflowers are so attractive to us- they're bright colors in a sea of a more neutral background. That may sound discouraging to an illustrator- the prospect of painting a largely neutral painting- but it can actually help in using selective bright colors to draw our attention to something.

Now, some practical examples. How do these rules of color translate to actual children's books?

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson, illustrated by Tiffany Beeke, is such a beautiful book, and a great example of the effect color palettes have on us. Most of the pages in Fletcher are a warm, rosy, comforting Warm Palette, like the one above.

Check out the difference in mood to the spread above. Now, the colors are much cooler- primarily shades of blue and green. Look at the difference in the color of the grass, for example. Here, we get the sense of a storm, something slightly menacing.

Cool colors don't necessarily mean gloom and doom, however. Above is the final spread in Fletcher, and the cool palette this time creates something mystical, mysterious, and glittering. Especially in comparison to the warm palette of the rest of the book.

I found this beautiful rendition of Hansel and Gretel at the library, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Jen Corace. Yes, the Jen Corace of Little Pea and Little Hoot. Whoo whoo whoo knew? I love how the entire page is made up of subtle variations of beige, brown, earthy greens-- very neutral colors. This allows the blue of Gretel's coat to stand out like a jewel. It's both a beautiful way to compose a picture, and a way to draw our attention to the important part of the scene.
David Small is another illustrator who is a fan of selective color. In this scene from The Gardener (written by Sarah Stewart), he's using a few of the tricks we've seen before. The figures in the back have the glowing orb/white halo thing going on to set them off from the background. The lines of the table, floor, window & ceiling all lead us back to those figures. And now, with color, Mr. Small draws our attention to the bouquet of flowers, as they're the most colorful things in the very neutral page. As the book goes on and more and more flowers are introduced (it is called The Gardener, after all), more and more color is also introduced. It's a really beautiful progression.

"Ok", you say (I can hear you). "But don't kids like books with bright, bold colors?" Good question. I took the brightest, boldest book that came to mind:

Look, there's that green/red combo going on! It's fun to look for those complementary colors, once you're thinking about it. But even with that bright green and red combination, we're not overwhelmed, because of all the subtle variations going on within those greens and reds. It's not like he took some sheets of construction paper and glued them down- that would be every art project I completed in 1st grade. His paper has those beautiful nuances that balance out the bright hues and bold shapes.

Last but not least, I expounded upon my firm belief in the practice of drawing from children's books. There was much pounding of tables & shaking of fists. Artists go to the museum and draw from paintings- illustrators can do the same thing, drawing from great books. I decided to put my money where my mouth is and try this exercise at home. I took out one of my very favorite books, Oh, What A Busy Day, by Gyo Fujikawa, and set out to copy this illustration.

The point isn't to worry about getting an exact replica. Rather, it's a good way to really look at an illustration. I know of no better way to really look at something than to draw it.

I've been having a problem with my dark colors getting too saturated and heavy- and copying someone else's work lets you play around a little bit, and not get so concerned about screwing up your own piece. After all, if you ruin it, who cares- it's not your illustration, anyway.

Oh, I could go on and on-- I do love to talk about this stuff. But I'll end it there. Later this week I'll post the notes from last night's class- Character! Get the inside scoop on Olivia! Lilly! Skippyjohn Jones! And all your faves!

Until next time!

Illustration Correspondence Course

2010-03-22T21:48:00.000-07:00

Can you draw this turtle?

That is my oh-so-clever introduction to a new segment on Victoria Jamieson Illustration that I'm calling:

Illustration Correspondence Course

Regular followers of my blog (Dad) will know that I am teaching a Continuing Ed class at PNCA in children's book illustration. I thought I'd do some posts on what's going down in the classroom! I hope to get some feedback on what folks out there would find useful in such a class- and also to have a place for participants who miss a class to see what we talked about.

So, week 2 tackled the weighty subject of composition in illustration. I started with an old ditty you might recognize:

I said, and I'm sticking to it, that The Old Masters were illustrators in a way, as their paintings had to convey stories from the Bible to make them accessible to the illiterate masses. Therefore, it was important to be able to tell those stories visually. In this case, it has to be clear to the viewer who is the most important figure in this painting- who the story is revolving around. I talked about 2 ways DaVinci did this:

1) With contrast of dark and light (Jesus is the darkest dark, and the window is the lightest light, so your eye goes there first). We learned in one of my painting classes at RISD to look for contrast in a painting using what I like to call The Squinty Eye Test. You squint your eyes until you can't see colors anymore, just the contrast.

2) And two, with lines. Nearly every line in this painting points, literally, at Jesus' (s?) head.

Contrast is an important thing in establishing importance in a painting, and if it's not there, you can make it up. Using The Squinty Eye test, I see this:

Seurat practically drew a halo around this kid, and I'll bet my granny's eyeteeth that the model did not have a glowing orb around him in real life.
Moving on, I tried to demonstrate how The Olde and Newe Masters of illustration pull the same tricks! And how the rules of composition can translate into the children's book realm.

Quentin Blake pulls that old Glowing Orb trick A LOT!
And perhaps more subtly, the lines and the 2 blocks of dark draw attention to the relationship between Sophie and the BFG.

Tasha Tudor don't play around with subtlety...

she shines a frickin' spotlight on what she wants you to look at in a painting.

I don't think it's an accident that Max's suit is white- he stands in high contrast against the dark skies throughout the book. Also, take a look at the goat guy- he is also white, but not quite as bright as Max. This tells us, visually, that Max is the key figure in this scene- basically, a "Hey, look at me!" move.
Marla Frazee, you daredevil, you!

She adds so much drama and movement with the simple yet daring act of tilting the earth just so.

I love this piece by Shadra Strickland. And it demonstrates so well the ways that composition can work to tell a story in an illustration.

Next week (aka, tomorrow night), we'll be taking a look at my old nemesis, Color. I'll post my Cliff's Notes later in the week!

For all you Portland illustrators & authors

2010-03-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

This one's going out to the illustrators in my class at PNCA, if'n anyone has stumbled upon this blog. I wish I had known about this yesterday, I would have mentioned it in class! Anyway, GALA EVENT this Saturday, March 13th at the Barnes & Noble at Clackamas Town Center. Sixteen local authors & illustrators will be speaking & signing from 3-6. A nice way to meet some of the local illustratin' community!

Here are the details!

Millions of Pigs

2010-03-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

Dear readers, I will tell you a secret: I am not 100% completely satisfied with my usual painting techniques. As I've been preparing for the continuing ed class I'm teaching (2nd class last night! I will talk more about this in other posts, because it has been SO fun and such a great experience). Where was I? Oh yes, so I've been thinking a lot about what I learned in art school. One of my favorite teachers at RISD was Ellie Hollinshead. She was truly interested in what her students were trying to say, she was passionate & inspirational, and her classes really got me fired up about narrative painting- which eventually brought me to illustration.

Anyhoo, in one class I remember her coming up beside me & saying, "You know, one of the hardest criticisms I ever received was when someone told me my drawings were a lot more alive then my paintings." And I think I said, "Wow, that is way harsh! You must have felt terrible!" It took me months- years, maybe?- to realize, "Wait. SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT ME!" Because I have felt, in recent years, that my drawings have a vitality that seems to greatly diminish in my final paintings.

So this is something I've been struggling with. I tend to think of drawing as fun and free, while doing the completed paintings is more serious and laborious. So I'd like this to change. The first thing I decided to do was to NOT transfer or trace my sketches when I'm getting ready to do the final pieces. The drawing process- the scratchy lines & the sussing out of where everything goes- is a big factor in creating some vitality in my sketches, I think. When I trace my sketches, something already looks stilted & not quite right.

So I decided to have some fun in the studio these past few days- just to experiment & to try to have as much fun painting as I have drawing. I decided to try a page from Olympig- this is the sketch in my dummy:

I just played around with different materials. Acrylics, pens, colored pencil. I also experimented on papers. I usually work on a gessoed surface, which makes the paint kind of "sit up" from the surface of the paper. I did some experimenting with un-gessoed paper, and I like how the paint "sinks in" and allows the original drawing so show through a little more.

I wasn't exactly happy with any of the results I was getting, so I moved on to just a regular ol' glamour shot of Boomer:

This last one ended up being the painting I was most pleased with. I tried using watercolors and then acrylics on un-gessoed watercolor paper, and I liked both the process and the results. It's closer to the blend of drawing & painting I was trying to achieve.

More experimentation to come!

Inspiration

2010-02-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

Well, my revisions are off to my editor! I am using this little break to recharge my creative batteries, and what timing. As you may know, my new book is about the Olympics, and this year has not been short on inspiration:

Simply spectacular.

I am a big big fan of the photo reference, probably due in part to RISD's fantastic image library. Now I do most of my photo reference searches online. I use them both for, say, figuring out how to draw an elephant- but sometimes, also for plain old inspiration. Besides the Olympics, these photos have been lighting my fire recently:

Neil Diamond- my first crush.

Enjoy the Olympics, everyone- and GO FOR THE GOLD!

Bea is a feminist!

2010-02-10T10:29:00.000-08:00

Look how excited she is!

I recently learned that Bea Rocks the Flock is on the 2010 Amelia Bloomer list of feminist books for young readers. Yay! Ewe power! Although frankly, I think it may be due to this chica here:

Thanks to the Amelia Bloomer Project for including Bea- and check out the whole list here!

Revision time

2010-02-02T20:06:00.000-08:00

So, I have some revisions due next week for my new picture book. Would you like to know what the revision process looks like for me? Well, it looks a little something like this:

Dummies galore. Those were the major dummies for Bea Rocks the Flock- countless minor text and art changes notwithstanding. So those dummies took a year or two to add up. I'm in my first round of revisions for Olympig! (publication date 2012), so I thought I'd take you on a magical romp through my revision process!

My first dummy:

So, after my editor acquired the book, she sat down and wrote a long and detailed editorial letter. This letter details specific problem areas, sections that are unclear, etc, etc. Lots of people have asked me, "Vicki, do you resent taking direction from an editor in your own book?" The answer is NO, I don't. I thought of this analogy last night, and I'm quite proud of it:

Working with an editor is like going shopping with a friend with excellent taste who knows you and your style well. Well, maybe "shopping friend" isn't exactly what I mean- I mean like Tim Gunn, or someone who REALLY knows their game. When I go shopping (usually 2 times per year, max), I tend to reach for the same items over and over again. That is how I happen to own 4 gray sweaters at the moment. But when you shop with your Tim Gunn-esque friend, she may point you in the direction of a sparkly fuschia top that you never, ever in a million years would have thought to try on. And guess what- you try on that shirt and you LOVE it! Likewise, when I come across a stumbling block in a story, I'll often revert to a tired old solution I've used a million times before- but the clear vision of a skilled editor can point me to solutions that are so much better. Sometimes the suggestions don't work, but all in all, it is so, so helpful to have a skilled opinion there with you in the fitting room. And at the end of the day, to take or to not take that advice- and how you pull off the look- is up to you.

There! I thought that was a pretty good analogy! So my editor's main advice was that my text was too hard to read. I had lots of word balloons that I thought were fun- but would make it hard to read aloud and follow the story. This is my old page 8- and it's important, because it's the first time we "meet" Boomer the Porcine Athlete:

Some important points get lost up there in those bubbles. Here's the revision I did- I still think it's a little wordy, but hopefully I can work on that:

An editor also has a keen eye for detail. I failed to really think about the fact that I used a gorilla for two separate events, and she thought (and I agree) that it would be better to mix it up. So I kept Gorilla in the wrestling scene, but he got cut from weightlifting:

Anyhoo, that's what I'm up to now! It's a fun part of the process for me, because I get excited when I realize how much better the story is getting!

Call Me McGonagall

2010-01-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

... cause I'm a professor! Well, kinda! I taught my first workshop at Pacific Northwest College of Art today, and I think it went pretty well! Children's book folk are such kind people, though, it could be kind of hard to tell. Here is a picture of the PNCA building, in the uber-trendy Pearl district:

Just hanging out in that area makes me feel all hip and trendy- and for me, that is saying something. The workshop today was a 2 1/2 hour deal called "Children's Book Publishing 101". I built upon two talks that I have given before at SCBWI conferences & modified them to fit the program. The first half of the class included a breakdown of the different genres (mass market, middle grade, teen, picture book, etc), and a brief rundown on terminology (gutter, f&gs, bleed, etc). Then on to my beloved Powerpoint!

The first bit was about molding your idea for a picture book into an actual, real-life book, from early dummy stage through publication. Included a heartfelt reading of "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!", and many tellings of rejection letters.

After a 15-minute breather, on to part 2:
Wherein I described how, back in my days as a high-flying, high-rolling designer at Greenwillow (think Don Draper from Mad Men) we would choose illustrators for different projects. I dove right in to the basket of promotional postcards we'd receive daily:

and I outlined which postcards I'd set aside, on this particular day, as keepers.

I think I know what question is burning on your brain at this moment: "Vicki, tell me, on your first day as a 'college professor'... whatever did you wear?!?!?"

Good question! I mulled this one over for a while, too! I wanted to strike the important balance of mature, but still artsy, but not too young, but still stylish and bestowing an air of knowledge and know-how. This is what I came up with:

Wait, it looks less frumpy in the "after" picture:

"After" because, I felt like I deserved a new haircut after my exciting day. Sharon can't believe it's really me, despite the fact that- as a friend once observed- my hair is much like Kirsten Dunst's (sp?) in that vampire movie, when no matter how she cuts her curly locks, they always grow back the same. I had a heckuva time finding a new stylist to replace my Louisa, but I really liked Marina right off the bat. And I'd say the salon is even as cute as the old Beehive in Brooklyn!

Transformations

Beehive

After a few months of sporadic postings, look at me now- I can't shut myself up! But if you're still hanging with me... Any suggestions for topics you wish you could see covered in a children's book course??!? My 8-week class in Children's Book Illustration begins in March!

Messy Sketchy

2010-01-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

I fielded some complaints from loyal readers (read: friends and family) on my recent goodwill tour to Florida about my lack of posting on my blog. Friends and family, rejoice!! Although I am not a fan of the New Year's Resolution (I like to make resolutions all year 'round- in that way I am a real "resolutionary"), I hereby resolve to revert back to my frequent-posting days. And just in time- there's LOTS in store for Victoria Jamieson Illustration... 2010!! A sampling of what you'll see:

1) Olympig! Fever!

Text (& some sketch) revisions are due at the end of the month for my next book. Walk with me as I lead you on a journey through the creation of my new book!

2) The Student is Now the Teacher

I am proud to say that I will be teaching some Continuing Education courses in children's book illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art this semester! Why, as a matter of fact, I am teaching a 2-hour seminar this very Saturday! I'll give you the skinny on what's going down in the classroom.

3) My first reading!

I'll be doing a reading on February 20th at Green Bean Books (on NE Alberta, for you Portlanders!) Yes, my very first, and I'm very excited.

4) Messy Sketchy

A new feature (not really- this is actually the usual running feature) on Victoria Jamieson Illustration: random recent sketches if I have nothing else to add as a visual.

I'll leave you with your first installment of Messy Sketchy for 2010- and I'll be seeing you soon!

Adventures in 3-D

2009-12-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

You may remember that a few months ago, I mentioned my attempts to see one of my characters in The Third Dimension:

You may be surprised, therefore, that I decided to attempt it again! One of the perks of working at the children's museum, besides getting to hang out with kids all day, is occasionally getting to hang out in the clay studio all day. I've really been thinking a lot about my musical-themed book and have been trying to get to know my characters better. It turns out that modeling them in 3-D really helped! I think the process lulled me into a trance of sorts, where I was free to imagine and explore the characters better. Trying to figure out just how Ladybug's hair would fall gave me new insights into her fastidiousness...

And likewise into Fly's rambunctiousness (also, I think she's a girl now?) Not that these models are perfect, or even what I eventually want to characters to look like... it was just a nice process to think about them in a different way.

And since I had some extra time on my hands:

I hope to use this little piggy statue more as a drawing model. He's the star of my next book, and revisions are due soon!

And, just a kid that I made up. Again, I'm trying to understand kids' anatomy better, and modeling really seems to help in that respect, too.

Long time, no post!

2009-11-30T10:06:00.000-08:00

No excuse, really! Just an incubation period, I guess. Do you ever go through such periods, o fellow creatives? Well, I've been enjoying some new creative outlets recently, and one of those creative outlets is a new part-time job at the Portland Children's Museum! A great institution, and I highly recommend it as a fun afternoon for you 2-4 year-old readers out there. Anyway, it is a REALLY fun job for me, because it allows me lots of time to interact with kids, something I have never really done consistently before. I know that lots of children's book authors never had kids, but for me it's been really helpful to spend some time around my target audience, and observe them as they're playing. I come home every night inspired to draw...

I've never really felt as comfortable drawing kids as I am drawing animals. And that notion (that I'm better at animals than kids) was something I was never comfortable with, either! After all, I love figure drawing. But figure drawing was always adults, never kids- and their anatomy is so different from adults. Those huge heads! So it's been enormously helpful for me to be able to hang out with kids on a daily basis.

Santa Photoshop SCANDAL!!!

2009-10-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

As a woman, I am very strongly opposed to the photoshopping of already too-thin models that takes place every day in our fashion magazines. AND YET! I am now part of that industry as well! (the photoshopping, not the modeling. Mr. Lagerfeld, PLEASE stop knocking down my door). BEHOLD, my latest work:

(click all pictures for larger views)

I did this illustration for the fantastic New York Road Runners Foundation, which supports after-school running programs in NYC and around the country (they're a blast to volunteer for, if you like to run & live in the NYC area). BUT! Santa was deemed too hefty, so I pretended I was working for Ralph Lauren and slimmed him down:

SCANDAL!! Just imagine the conflicted feelings of young Santas everywhere, not reaching for that extra cookie... Ha, ha- I kid, of course- I can totally see the problems with a corpulent running Santa. Where are the rewards for all of that healthy excercise? I also realized that I haven't drawn Santa Claus in 18-odd years?!? I used to draw him and Rudolph A LOT. And unicorns.

Here's one more I did:

Fun! Oh, and in case you haven't seen it, re: my last post about Roller Derby names, Betsy Bird at Fuse #8 has a list of names going and THEY. ARE. AWESOME. I'm into the ALL CAPS tonight.

It's that time of year!

2009-10-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

...when the air is brisk, the leaves are changing, and a girl's thoughts turn to Roller Derby. You may remember this post and this one from year past, in which I talked about my love of roller derby and my ill-fated attempt to try out for the Gotham Girls. WELL, just imagine this- Portland has a recreational (wreck-reational) league! And I have gone to two practices and have not broken a bone! And what's more- recreational players get to choose a roller derby name! That means- yes- for real this time... I need a kid's book-themed roller derby name!! Please help! Let me know which one you like, or if you have other suggestions! Here's what I came up with so far:

Anne Surly

Marilla Cutthroat

Violent Baudelaire

Kat Hiss Everdeen

Mo Pain Willems

Knuckle Bunny

Scout Flinch

Boo Boo Radley

Edward Sullen

Greenwillow Category:

Ida B Sting

Chrysanthemaim

The following excellent suggestions are all courtesy of my friend Julia and her boyfriend Tristan:

Encyclopedia Frown

Green Eggs and Wham

Splat the Bunny

Pippi Longstalking

Madeleine M'Angle

Sarah, Pain and Brawl

Ramona the Grave

Nancy Screw (and the mystery of the missing tooth?)

Rohald Doll

Judy Doom

Makillda

***MORE suggestions!

Goodnight Goon (a twofer- thanks, Nina!)

And these great ideas from Betsy Bird over at Fuse #8:

The Skivving Tree

Millions of Cuts

Blue Bruises for Sal

Kicka Kicka Boom Boom

Olivida

Strega Paina

What do you think???

Done!

2009-09-25T16:04:00.001-07:00

My flying trapeze spider illustration is DONE!

(click for larger view)

*Whew*!! That took longer than I'm used to, but I really wanted to create a lush yet detailed environment. And now it's DONE! To reward myself for all of my hard work, I am planning on relaxing this weekend with Xanadu (rented from the library), re-reading CATCHING FIRE (bought from Powell's because I got tired of waiting for my copy from the library. TEAM GALE!), and by finally making the bird furniture for my birdcage like I've wanted to do forever. Hey, I work hard- I deserve it!

Happy weekend!

Inside the Illustrator's Studio

2009-09-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

When last we spoke about current work-related things, I was busy working on my new dummy. Well, I'm happy to say that part is all wrapped up. For now. Next step? I wanted to do a finished piece from the dummy. Which piece to choose? Well, the vote was unanimous:

This was a vote that quite frankly, I wished to contest, because... this is the hardest illustration in my dummy. I feel a bit unprofessional saying that one piece is "harder" than another- I mean, did Michelangelo shy away from, say, painting horses because they were too "hard"? Then again, Michelangelo never painted trapeze-swinging spiders, did he? But all in all, the tricky perspective, the lighting I wanted, the X-treme close-up of the spider... This was going to take some time.

First up, I got out my spider references. Maybe you thought spiders were ugly? Well, take a look at this mug:

AWWWWW! A little too cute, actually. I used this spider as my actual reference:

Then, I fiddled around with my black & white sketch in Photoshop to test out different lighting & color scenarios. Truth be told, I was a little worried about the X-treme contrast (dark to light) that I wanted to achieve in the painting, and printing out this little color study will (I hope) help me overcome any wimpiness I run into.

So, I printed it out:
...and transferred it to my waiting paper (gessoed and stapled to a board).

First round of color...

second round...

and third round.

(click for an X-treme close-up of the x-treme close-up)

With many more rounds yet to come. One of the (many) things I thought about while painting today was this: I think that one of my main attributes that led me to be an illustrator is being able to do something for hours & hours on end without getting bored (this was while I was painting the teeny tiny floorboards). When we were kids, my brothers & I had this wooden duck marionette puppet, and every time you turned around, its fishing line strings were jumbled up in a giant tumbleweed knot. For some reason, I really enjoyed sitting down- for an hour, or two- and untangling all of the knots. Even at the time, as a kid, I would think, "This is really boring, and yet I'm enjoying it!" I'd say painting is more fun than untangling a bunch of fishing line, but still. The other thing I thought about today was, "How did I possibly listen to the High School Musical soundtrack 3 times in a row WITHOUT EVEN NOTICING?!?, and will this cause some sort of psychological damage?" I guess I just had my Head In the Game*. Will I be painting again tomorrow? Bet On It!**

*Zac Efron, HSM

**Yes, that's right, sharp readers! "Bet On It" is actually from High School Musical 2! I have both soundtracks! Not #3, though- I wasn't a big fan.

Cure for the Common Cold

2009-09-11T22:20:00.000-07:00

What can cure an illustrator of her last-days-of-summer, I've-got-a-cold-that's-a-bummer, sneezy, wheezy blues? (I'll blame those cold meds tomorrow for making me write those terrible rhymes!)

Well, I'll answer that riddle: A lovely email from my editor at Bloomsbury, sharing this with me!

(click for a larger view)

I can't tell you what a thrill it is to realize that people whom I've never even met are reading and enjoying my book! I am honored. And on the same page as Matt Phelan, one of my favorite illustrators, to boot!

100th Post!

2009-09-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've been putting off writing this post, because I was a little daunted by the big anniversary. 100 Posts! What to do to commemorate? I finally settled on a "Family Ties" type episode- the ones where they didn't feel like writing a new story so they just reminisced on times gone by. I HATED those episodes!

Anyhoo- wow, more than a year and a half since I started this blog! Here are some pictures from that first post, my ole painting studio in Brooklyn:

Oh, how I hated that apartment. Here's the comparison to my new Portland studio:

Old view...

New view.

And though times they are a changing: since that first post, I've gotten married, moved across the country, had my first book published, landed an agent, sold a second book... It's reassuring to see that some things remain the same. Remember this doozy of a sign from my old apartment building? (from one of my favorite old posts):

I thought I had left all such signs behind me when we left New York. Imagine my delight in finding this sign outside a building just a few blocks away:

Just shows to go you. everywhere you go, peoples is peoples, and peoples make stinks. Here's to the next 100 posts!

Quick Sketch

2009-08-20T21:35:00.001-07:00

This butterfly is a side character in the story I'm working on. It's funny, I can think and think about a character, but sometimes it's not until I draw them that I understand what they're really like. Maybe it's just the act of doodling- messing around and sketching different scenarios allows my mind to wander, and sometimes something just clicks. I read something interesting about Leonardo & his viewpoints on doodling recently... of course I couldn't find the book I read it in just now, but by googling "Leonardo da Vinci doodles" I tracked this down (from a website called Archimedes' Droodles):

When Leonardo da Vinci needed to get his creative juices flowing, he sat and stared at clouds or rocks... "If you look upon an old wall covered with dirt or the odd appearance of some streaked stones", he once wrote, "you may discover several things like landscapes, battles, clouds, uncommon attitudes, humorous faces, draperies...". Da Vinci heartily recommended this 'new method' of invention as a practical technique for "opening the mind and putting it upon the scent of new

thoughts". The abstract, organic forms embedded in crumbling walls and hunks of stone, he believed, could be put to work as "terrestrial batteries for jump-starting the imagination

Inneresting, no?

Ok, and late add... After I posted this entry, I scanned a bunch of my first-draft sketches so I can put together a dummy. I'd like to really concentrate on composition & light in this book, so I did some photoshop mock-ups of lighting situations... Here's one. Like I said, I was getting kinda itchy 'cause I couldn't share what I was thinking for a while (like, physically couldn't share), so -- this is what I'm thinking!

Look What I Found in the Park the Other Day

2009-08-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hey, look what I found in the park the other day:

A fairy flute! No unicorns have been summoned yet by playing it.

In other news, work on my latest project is going well!

Doesn't that picture look creepy? Like I'm looking at my sketchbook with those weird "Silence of the Lambs" night goggles?

Anyway, I am at the frustrating yet enjoyable stage of being excited by how things are going, but completely unable to share this excitement with anyone. I can't show anyone my drawings- they all look like the scribbles you see above. I can't really talk about the story... "And then the fly says- get this, he says, 'It doesn't help'. Believe me, it's a GAS." No, it's all in my head for now. I think that's why I feel a sense of urgency at this point- in my head it's a good story with lush and interesting illustrations, but it won't do anyone any good until I get it down on paper. And, what if the things I put down on paper don't match up with what's playing in my noggin?

Another interesting thing about working on this project has been this: This is the first project I've worked on as a real, honest-to-goodness full-time illustrator. My other two books I developed while I had a full-time job. I worked on them at night, during my free time- my hours to do with as I pleased. Now, I get to work on this during regular work-a-day hours. Like, instead of heading to a meeting at 10 am, I'm in my PJs watching "Fame" and calling it research (and it most assuredly was). Believe me, I am not complaining about watching musicals in the mid-morning; it's just an adjustment in thinking from "This is something I am doing in my hours of leisure" to "Holy shnikeys, this is like, my JOB". Which means, I am also a leeeetle bit more worried about how it will be received ("Will my agent like it?" "Is this a good idea, or have I been wasting my time?" "Can I please please PLEASE keep doing this full-time and not have to get another day job?").

The only thing I can do is to try & push those concerns out of my head as much as possible, and throw myself into the project whole-heartedly... and hope for the best!

Daytime Ravings of a Possible Lunatic

2009-08-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

Friends- I do not like to hide anything from you. And thus, I am presenting a glimpse into my creative process for my current project, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure it will make me look like a raging lunatic. Like, in movies when a sexy investigative team breaks into the apartment of the suspected killer and they find all sorts of crazy newspaper clippings papering the walls, the floor covered with photos of eyeballs cut from fashion magazines, and books with every 43rd word circled in red.

First up, when the saucy female investigator looks through the pictures on my camera, she'll find that I like to photograph scenes from movies that I watch on my computer:

(ahh, the incomparable Julie Andrews! Did I ever tell you the story about when I saw her in the lobby of HarperCollins- she looked like an angel- and when I went upstairs & told my boss, I started to cry? Remind me to tell you sometime- it's a classic.)

As the detective-ess is trying to puzzle out the connection between Julie Andrews, A Chorus Line, and random photos from Broadway documentaries, her thoughts are interrupted by the deep rumble of her partner's voice.

"Suzie", he growls, "You'd better come take a look at this".

"Pages and pages of insect drawings... notebooks filled with incomprehensible scribblings... and most troubling of all, this toy stage and creepy make-shift bug models. We're either dealing with a highly unstable character, or..."

... and then they'll turn around to see that I'm actually sitting in the living room, since I don't like to leave the apartment all that much when I'm at this stage. They'll take one look at my funny headband, my shabby housecoat & the bowl of cereal clutched in my hand, and they'll high-tail it out of there... and leave me to my musings.

So This is Love

2009-08-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

I am a happily married woman... but I think I may be in love.

And love, thy name is... Chicken Dance.

This is no puppy love, either. Sure, it's everything I'm initially attracted to on a surface level... Funny, check. Heart and gumption, check. Generally pleasing appearance, check. But what really moves this book beyond the level of mere infatuation for me is this:

Much like a good relationship, this book makes me want to up my game.

The characters and books I write tend to (attempt to be) funny. Dan Santat's illustrations are that, and more... he also manages to make each page beautiful. And strikingly composed. With interesting & engaging light sources. And a real sense of setting and atmosphere for this story. In short, he didn't stop at making each picture simply funny- he made each one a pretty stunning work of art. And oddly enough, the fact that the illustrations are beautiful only seem to make them even MORE FUNNY.

These images are screen shots from Dan Santat's Flickr portfolio. Or see his website here.

As an illustrator, I am usually drawn to the artwork in a picture book first. But Tammi Sauer's text is top-notch. I may be biased, though, because I love nothing more than a good pun, and her text is full of them. When the chickens run out of time & have to "wing it" at the talent show... well, consider me chuffed.

Oh, and there's even a website! Besides being a fantastic book, Chicken Dance is a fantastic example of a thoroughly modern picture book. By that I mean, it reaches beyond the rectangular corners of the book form. The book has a website. The website has music videos & dance lessons. The author photos take the form of CD covers, complete with playlists. For authors & illustrators looking for publicity venues for their books, Chicken Dance is a great source of inspiration in thinking outside the coop.

Alright, my love-fest is over. Time to hit the hay and dream of Elvis Poultry...

Week in RE-view!

2009-07-31T10:09:00.001-07:00

WHEW! Well, our whirlwind trip to the Big Apple is over and done with, and the heat has finally let up enough for me to do something other than whine about how hot it is- so here it is, the week in review!

First up, here's a photo of my agent and editor at our "Getting to Know You" lunch:

And here's a picture from that evening, when my agent and several of his extremely talented, all-around awesome & friendly illustrators got together for drinks:

What, you would like to see those pictures? Well, I would, too! Unfortunately, I am THE WORST when it comes to remembering to pull out the ol' camera when fun times are afoot. That's why I was fired from my high school position as Historian of the Keyettes club.

Some things I DID manage to document:

So, I agonized for several days about what to wear when meeting my agent & editor for the first time. I had to strike that all-important balance of classy, yet creative, but not CRAZY creative, but still sophisticated, and something that wouldn't show sweat stains on a summer day in New York. Not easy, when one's wardrobe is limited, to say the least. This is what I came up with. See, Mom- I think it's dressy enough.

Oddly enough, I also remembered to take some pictures at the wedding we were in town for! Aren't they a beautiful couple? Congrats, Max & Sophia!

It seemed like every time I turned around, I saw the Statue of Liberty. I don't remember seeing it that often when I lived in New York. When we were kids, my mom had us sell lemonade, and then we sent the proceeds to the Statue of Liberty (I guess they were refinishing it sometime in the 1980s?)- and I still feel a special kinship, like I have a tiny bit of ownership. Like, 75 cents worth. BTW, I thought of a great idea this morning- Statue of Liberty-shaped toothbrush! Fame and fortune, here I come!

Oh, and these are some paintings I did last week, as a wedding present to our dear friends Nicole & Keith. No, not the couple who got married this weekend- N & K actually got married a year ago. I like to make people sweat it out for their wedding gifts. Anyway, I finally gave them their pressies this week: (click for larger view)

Portraits of their dogs, Otto & Gilda Rednor. I think Otto came out much better, but I guess it's not like Gilda will really see the difference. Here they are in their framed glory:

And there you have it! A fun week of friends old and new- but I'm happy to be back in PDX, nose to the ol' drawing board.

Tuesday supplement

2009-07-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

Extra! Extra!

A nice review of BEA ROCKS THE FLOCK from the lovely & funny Three Silly Chicks. Wing on over to their coop & "chick" it out!

Week in Preview!

2009-07-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

The hubsters and I are heading out of town this week for a cosmopolitan & chic trip to NYC! Since I don't want to leave anyone in a lurch ("Lordy, don't leave your lady in a lurch!") (Strangers With Candy fans, anyone?... Anyone?)- and since I don't know how to do this "remote-auto pilot-blog publishing" thing (do I look like Steve Jobs to you?) here is what I'm going to do. I'm going to break this post into Daily Doses, and it's up to you to restrain yourselves & only read a post a day. It's a Daily Dose, not a Daily Double! Then you won't have to go without for the week!

MONDAY:

Big news today folks, BIG NEWS! Big, FANTASTIC news!

I have a new book deal!!! My new picture book will be published by Dial! Oh, happy, happy day! I am over the moon with excitement, as I have always loved Dial's picture books. My trip to New York couldn't come at a better time, as I'll get to meet both my agent and my editor for the first time! Plus, how chic does that sound?!? I'm jetting to New York to meet with my agent and editor. Shopping at Bergdorfs? Dahling, I would LOVE to, but I do have to dash to lunch with my agent and editor. More to come on this news, for sure!!!

TUESDAY:

Um, yesterday was kind of a big news day for Victoria Jamieson Illustration. I think it should count for 2 days. I mean, my last 2 posts were about 1) my US Weekly subscription, and 2) the books I took out of the library.

WEDNESDAY:

Funny story about the word "Wednesday"- I never misspell it now. I consider myself a fairly good speller, but for some reason I used to think it was spelled "Wednsday". So sure was I that I spelled it that way in my "thank you" email following my interview at HarperCollins many years ago. Boy, was I kicking myself all weekend, thinking I really blew my chances at my dream job! Luckily, I guess they didn't consider spelling to be all that important for a design job. *WEWH* (*see, I tried to misspell "whew" there).

THURSDAY:

Do you live in the greater Tampa/St. Petersburg area? Are you looking for a fun, imaginative party for your child? Look no further!

Joanne is a dear family friend, and I did these illustrations for her new business brochure. Storytelling at its finest!

FRIDAY:

Boy, this week just took forever, didn't it!

Well, even though I have one new picture book in the bag, so to speak, this is not a profession wherein one can rest on their laurels. I am working up ideas for my new NEW picture book as we speak. I'm in the "inspiration" stage, and am reaching such new levels of nerdliness in my research that even I feel uncomfortable talking about it. Like, REALLLLY nerdy. Here are some of the tools of my current inspiration:

What in the WORLD? (Remember that feature from WORLD magazine?) Well, I'll won't spill the geek beans now, but later for sure.

SATURDAY:

This is exhausting. Why not watch this video starring a pug and my new city of Portland, Oregon? (Of course I don't know how to imbed videos into my blog! Do I look like Bill Gates to you?)

SUNDAY:

I think we've all earned ourselves a rest. I know it's my "I don't have to run day". See ya'll next Manic Monday!

Read All About It!

2009-07-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a tip-off from a friend and former colleague, I've added a "Subscribe" button over there yonder to the right of my blog. Not nearly as exciting as the year I had a subscription to US Weekly, but still. That was a really great year.

BTW, this "friend and former colleague", Chad Beckerman, is a highly talented book designer and art director- yet another of those colleagues that made me re-think my vocation! Check out his blog for a nice insight into the daily life of an art director.

My Weekend in Library Books

2009-07-12T23:30:00.000-07:00

You know you're a nerd if... You return home at 11 am on a Saturday with 3 library books, a DVD about insects & a package of Red Vines and think to yourself, "This weekend is going to be AWESOME". Oh, and it was. Here's what I got:

a) This is the first book in a long while that got me right from the cover. I dunno, it just tickled me! Besides the clever yearbook format, I like that the model has a funny expression, and that she's pretty but not in an overly model-y kind of way.

b) Back when I worked at Greenwillow, it was open season when a new Last Apprentice manuscript came in. The ol' Xerox machine worked overtime those days, with everyone wanting their own copy. And I should know, my "office" was right next to the Xerox machines.

Anyhoo, somehow I missed this ms, but now I get to read it with illustrations! A rare treat.

But I haven't read either of those books yet, because I was too excited about this:

I LOVE THESE BOOKS. They are poetic, beautifully written, and fantastic adventure stories. If you attended Herm's & my engagement party, by any chance, you'll know from our Newlyweds-type quiz show that I want to name our first daughter Sapphire because of these books. Then you probably shouted at me, "That's a stripper name!", because that's what everyone seems to say. Well guess what, "Vicki" doesn't exactly scream "classy" at first blush either, but I made it work for me.

Moving on, I was first attracted to this series by the cover for Book 1:

This is a HarperCollins title, and I remember discussing this jacket back before it was a book (before my days at Greenwillow, too). By "discussing", I mean, OTHER people were discussing, while I was taking horribly unorganized "notes". This jacket was designed by Chris Stengel (now at Scholastic), and it struck me then that some people are passable and can function in their role as book designer (me), and some people elevate the profession into a true calling and an art (Chris). (and others). (too numerous to mention).

Oh, and here's book 2. Also, the second book in the series is just as good (if not better?) than the first. I've been almost scared to read book 3, I love the first two so... but so far, so good!

Anyway, that was my weekend, in a nerdshell. How was yours?

Weekend Edition Sketch

2009-07-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

(click for larger view)

I've been ever-so-slightly obsessed with insects recently. They're just so WEIRD! For example, on my aforementioned roadtrip with the 'rents, my mom & I exited the car at one point to take some pictures of Mt. Hood. Whilst hangin' on the roadside, my mom poked her finger at something that looked to be fuzzy, but turned out to be wet & slimy. We both thought it looked like trucker spit, but it was far too abundant to be the work of just one trucker, however talented. After conducting some research I now know the truth: it was a spittle bug. At first I was relieved to learn it was not human spit we touched, but not for long. The spittle bug gets its name from the bubbly foam surrounding it, which is not saliva, but urine & other bodily secretions which it whips into a foam with its legs and abdomen. Apparently it's a defense mechanism, because even other bugs don't want to go pawing through that stuff. See what I mean? You can't make this stuff up.

The Art of Self Promotion, otherwise known as Ugghghhhh

2009-06-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, I'll admit it: I have been avoiding self-promotion like the plague. Now, Bloomsbury has a top-notch marketing team and they've done a terrific job so far. However, most authors I know put in a lot of legwork on their own, too. So far, I've left the extracurricular marketing to my personal PR team, aka, Mom and Dad. (BTW, Mom, did Oprah's people ever call back?) I KNOW that one has to be brave and present oneself to local bookstores and libraries- but I've been putting it off... and off... and off. Until I realized what was holding me back:

Lack of a good crutch! I'll just do what I always do in times of trouble- let my drawings do the talking! Somehow I feel much more at ease with something I can hand out to folks as I meet them. Plus, why not put those graphic design skills to good use?!

This is the week, I can feel it! I'll print these puppies out, and then I head... Into the Wild.

Website Update!

2009-06-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

Check eet out here! Or, I can save you the trouble and just show you the new images I put up on my website:

Switching out the images in my portfolio is about all my limited web skills allow me to handle. I am currently taking a Flash class so that I'll be able to really jazz up my website in the future. Of course, last week in class I barely managed to animate a bouncing ball, so it may be a while before I add the funk to Vee Jay Dot Com.

This is TOO about children's literature!

2009-06-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

So guess where I just so happened to stop on my road trip with the parentals last week?

You got it... (fictional) Forks! Aka, St. Helens, Oregon.

Here's me intruding on someone's private property. Oh, don't worry- there was a sign saying it was OK to take pictures. I am doing the "Bella Scowl", in case you are wondering.

Was this where they bought their prom dresses? Hard to tell, with the magic of Hollywood. I am doing the Bella Scowl again.

And inexplicably, recreating the famous "alleyway scene" is the one where I'm laughing! Keep this one for the blooper reel!

My husband is now legally bound to take silly photos with me.

And just to prove I'm not a literary snob:

One-eyed Willie! Or, I guess I could still be a fictional character (Where's Waldo).

I can tell it was a good vacation, because now I am a-itchin' to get back to sketching & painting!