Bloggy Face Lift

It's my birthday today, and in honor of that, I am going to spiff up my blog a little. Check back now and then for more changes, little and big. Trying to learn to be my own IT department! 

P.S. This is a work-in progress, starting today!

More Neighborhood Birds Enjoying the Season

It's been a mild December here, and the birds have been so song-ful. It must be their joy, when the weather is fine.

Here are a few tiny portraits of some of those who loiter in the yard or linger in the neighborhood. They are all characters-some more transparent than others. Miss Quail doesn't really live around here. But she insisted on a portrait in any case.

Sing out a little joy yourselves during this celebrating season. It's good to be alive! It's good to welcome the sun whenever it may shine!

Happy holidays all.

Neighborhood Birds

The wildlife that my dog and I see in the neighborhood Marina is unusually entertaining: sea otters with boundary issues, seagulls who really will swallow a large starfish in a single gulp, great (huge) blue herons with terrible posture and impossible patience.

Overseeing it all is the Belted Kingfisher, a theatrical dandy among birds, so well dressed in his high collared shirt. Undaunted by cold November water, he hovers, plunges, zips back with wiggling prey, all the while announcing his presence with a sharp rattling cry. He seems to prefer to fish in the morning fog, through which we watched his funny antics this morning.

(Note: I modified this painting after initially posting, and what you see now is the modified version. I think he is much more handsome now!)

How to Memorize the Declaration of Independence

I just had to share this image. These are the visual notes that my eighth grade daughter drew for herself in order to memorize a good size chunk of the opening of the Declaration of Independence. She had it memorized by the time she drew the last character. She uses this technique a lot--a true visual thinker. Can you decipher the code? I can't, but here's what it says, if you are curious (of course you already have this memorized, don't you?):

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

And not entirely unrelated, here are some visual reminders that backyard farming is fun, and fruitful. I thought for sure that we would not harvest much at all from our teeny garden because our summer was so cool and wet. But September rallied and the sun warmed everything up just enough. These are images of what we have been enjoying these weeks. Yum!

And finally, a funny picture of our funny puppy Lottie, now six months old. She chews up my sketches and gleefully terrorizes the cats, but we love her.

My nose is to the grindstone and I love it! Life is busy and rich and messy and good.

Exciting News!

I wish I could have posted this when the news was an eentsy bit fresher, but the news broke at just about the instant that I was leaving for a week of camping, an adventure that did not include a computer or other device for creating blog posts. The camping, and swimming and hiking, was excellent, and I did not miss my computer one bit. But now there is much to catch up on!

In any case, the exciting news is: I SOLD A PICTURE BOOK THAT I HAVE WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED!!!

The book, tentatively titled TWO SPECKLED EGGS, has been acquired by Candlewick Press, in a mini auction presided over by my agent, Holly McGhee at Pippin Properties. I am over-the-moon happy, this being my very first book as author and illustrator, and Candlewick press being one of my very most favorite children's book publishers. A dream-come-true, really.

I am also in the process of illustrating TURKEY TOT, a picture book written by George Shannon which will be illustrated by me, and published by Holiday House. I feel so very honored to be working on this project with such a wonderful publishing house, and for such a gifted and lettered children's author as George Shannon.

It feels like my career as a children's book author and illustrator might finally be kicking off! I have wanted this for a long time, and I have had to be patient and dedicated, a little far-sighted, a lot under-employed, and very very full of faith. Maybe some of that single-mindedness (and a degree of self-centeredness) has finally paid off.

I'll keep you posted, and I hope you will buy my book when it finally comes out (sometime in 2013 most likely)!

Pink, Green, Elephants on Parade!

I don't know what it is about elephants for me, but I can't stop drawing, painting, printing them.
They might be filling in for whales until I can wrap my head around just how to fit a whale on a page.
Or they might just be in my head because they are!
A peek into the symbolism of elephants reveals that the elephant stands for patience, determination, longevity, and good luck.
Ah, maybe that's it.
Anyway, there will be even more elephants to come. I hope you don't mind.

Experiments

Just trying out some new stuff.

Giraffes ARE cute.

Giraffes are cute no matter what. But a sleeping baby giraffe---pretty damn cute.
Unrelated to anything I am currently working on, this was just a sketch book diversion.
I had an urge to draw a giraffe.
The elephant made me do it.

Elephants and Pears

My fingers have been going fast and furiously lately: lots of writing, lots of drawing, lots of learning to use Photshop more deeply. I love deadlines! (I really truly do!) And I love steep learning curves! And I love having the occasional break from all of that!

So, to give my artist brain a little out-breath (I do tend to hold my breath when I am working hard...anyone else do that?), I go to a friend's printmaking studio about three times a month, and make prints. It's a lovely place, and I'm telling you, there is some kind of magic in the air there--from the minute I arrive till the last smear of ink has been washed from my face, I am in full, giddy, delirious, (messy) creative mode. Maybe it's that it's not my own space. Maybe it's that all of the tools and supplies are available, functional, clean and well organized. Maybe it's that I have a very defined amount of time in which to make what I have to make. Whatever it is, I like it!

Anyway, I have been making small prints of nothing but pears and elephants lately. Hundreds of pears, and soon hundreds of elephants. And I thought I'd share some of each with you here. I think the elephant may have a tale to tell. And I think the pears are jaunty.

Frontloaders and Blogs

This Frontloader is a little something I dug out of my archives recently. Sometimes it's good to look back at the roots of our endeavors! I like this painting a lot...maybe I need to get back to my roots.

Now then, it's been quite a while since I updated my side bar blog roll! And though I am not a voracious blog reader/commenter/poster (how do people manage that along with everything else?) I do periodically dive a little deeper into the blogosphere and come up with a netful of sparkly new (to me) blogs to look at. I have been especially happy to find several blogs showing beautiful illustrations that I have never seen before. (You know how I like those european illustrators.) And some good reading. And some good laughing out loud.

So rather than quietly slip them into the never-ending sidebar, I thought I would first highlight a few of them here, for your reading and viewing pleasure.

Bookie Woogie Three Kids and their Dad talk about Books. Check out their other link ChickenNuggetLemonTooty, too. Lot's of great stuff.
Animalarium Animals as an endless source of creative inspiration.
The Apple and the Egg Wonderful wonderful mostly european picture books.
La Figure dei Libri An italian site, of more wonderful mostly european picture books.
The Tea Box More mostly European picture books
Words and Eggs Mostly vintage graphic design. Beautifully curated.
36 Pages The story on picture books. Whole entire picture books to browse at your leisure.
And of course The Pippin Insider, my agency's deeply inspiring new blog. Every post gives me tingles.

Now this last one may not be for everyone. If you abhor cussing, don't bother clicking on the link. But here at FU Penguin the judicious use of foul language is truly, cathartically, hilariously well done. Not so active these days, but the archives are priceless

Inspiration! Edification! Hopefully this won't just contribute to your many reasons why you can't get your drawings done, or your manuscript written, or your laundry sorted, or your taxes completed, or your thank you notes written. But if it does, at least it your time will have been well spent.

Enjoy!

Illustration Friday-Chicken!

This chicken portrait is tiny! Just a little bigger than 1" x 1".
Her name is Alice and she lays beautiful white eggs.

Bird brain.

Happy New Year!
Here are some of my miniature paintings of wild birds. Some flew south, some flew east, and some roosted right here at home. All of these miniature paintings are 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" or smaller!

More Advent calendar mini portraits of our hens: Speckles, Brad, and Thimble.

And Alice, looking...pretty?

Portrait of a Cat or Two, plus A Birdhouse

These are postage-stamp-sized portraits of two of our beloved beasts, Pippin and Frances. I made these to fit in the pockets of an old cloth advent calendar for my children. I think they are the smallest paintings I have ever made. My kids have outgrown the cushiony christmasy velcroed shapes that used to live in the pockets, and so this year I am filling each day's pocket with a tiny treasure. Who doesn't love a tiny thing, especially a tiny hand made thing? I've been thinking about making an advent calendar for years, and this one has got me thinking...

And, speaking of making things, here is the birdhouse I painted for Madrona School's Annual Fundraising Auction--truly a house of birds.



This year's birdhouse was purchased by friends who are avid gardeners, and appreciators of small wild things, like children and birds. I am so glad to know it will grace their lovely home.

Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Picture Books I Learned in Architecture School (well,.....)

Tuesday evening I delivered a talk at SCBWI/Western Washington, titled Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Picture Books I Learned in Architecture School. Okay, so, that title isn't even close to true, but it sounds good, right?

It happened to be the same evening that Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, was speaking elsewhere in Seattle (with Sherman Alexie as inquisator). Even I was tempted to skip out on my talk! But fortunately for me, plenty of children's book people either forgot to buy tickets to see Handler before the show sold out, or were curious to see how an architect could possibly know anything about picture books. And I'm grateful for it.

Anyway, phew! I am quite sure the time I spent preparing my first Power Point Presentation ever is completely disproportionate to the time I spent delivering it. But it was hugely fun to do, and my horizons have been greatly broadened. Just using a microphone in front of a sizable audience is education enough.

For those who could not be there, I'll tell you a little of what I really talked about. If you want to know more just let me know.



When I want to get to know a good book really really well, I sketch the entire picture book on one page of my sketchbook. I do a graphic analysis, which is something I really did learn in architecture school. I use figure/ground studies (also an architecture school tool), in tiny little thumbnail storyboards, to study how a book is designed and composed, both visually and in terms of the overall story arc. Stick figures, dark blobs, a couple of key context lines. It's quick and dirty, and very illuminating. I look at how the composition of the spread dramatizes the text. I dissect the structure of the story arc in terms of the overall composition of the book. For each spread, I look at what is figure (characters and objects), and what is ground (white space). I'm not looking at style or color or medium--just composition. It's a super-simplification of the book. And if it sounds a little analytical, well, it is, in a messy, intuitive sort of way.


So for my SCBWI presentation, I walked in detail through my graphic analysis of The Amazing Book Eating Boy, by Oliver Jeffers--such a favorite of mine! (I shared the overall thumbnail view of that here, a while back.) I went into a lot of detail, and it was excellent for me to have to articulate what I look for, and how it influences my own writing and illustrating. I explained what I learned about the importance of white space, of thinking like a movie director, of allowing the composition to amplify the rhythm and pace of the story. This is a great way, even for non-drawers, to see the relationship between text and image--anyone can draw a rectangle representing a page, and stick figures or blobs representing the primary compositional elements!! And if you want to really get inside the head of the creator of your favorite books, you almost have to imagine yourself in their process, and it helps to do that on paper. I know it helps me a lot. Plus it's something to do when you're stuck, and need to push a pencil to avoid becoming permanently lodged.

When all was said and done, what I realized is that I did in fact gain a lot of tools in architecture school that I really do apply to my picture book work. But really, everything I ever needed to know about picture books, I learned from picture books. There is so much to learn from the masters. It's just a matter of learning how to look.

Spooky Scumbling

A change of pace...literally.

For last week's Illustration Friday topic "Spooky," I thought I would switch gears. I have to slow way down to work this way, change my pace, plan the details, use small hand movements, an eraser, strong light, a very sharp pencil. It takes time, but it's calming, meditative, pure pleasure. I love the feeling of control that I have with this technique, so different from my usual ways of making images, which rely on spontaneity and serendipity for richness and energy.

I'm giving a talk at the Western Washington chapter of SCBWI next month, called Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Picture Books I Learned in Architecture School. And while that title isn't quite the truth, I have in fact carried many lessons with me from my architectural education to what I am doing now. Including this style of rendering, which Professor Gary Moye called 'scumbling'. The very first thing I rendered using this technique was a section view of a Norwegian stave church. It took me many many hours, and in the end it was an evocative and moody view of a beautifully ornate and complicated wooden structure. Probably my favorite piece from my grad school days. If I can ever find an image of it, I will post it here.

The word scumble typically refers to a technique in painting of softening the tones of a painting by overlaying a thin glaze of color. Ingrid Law writes of scumbling in her middle grade novel Savvy, where her uniquely gifted characters blend the sharp edges of their sometimes overwhelming special strengths, so that their gifts are almost imperceivable by ordinary observers. In this spooky drawing of mine, scumbling is a technique of using layer upon layer of small pencil marks to create atmosphere, mood, volume, form, and light (or dark).

It's important to allow a change of pace from time to time. Settles the agitated brain. Does the heart good. Reminds one of all of the myriad ways to be. And do. And scumbling can help to soften the rough edges.

Resolve.

First-Day-of-School is a better New Year for me than January first. It feels more like a fresh start than any other day of the year. Even if you don’t have kids in school, can’t you feel the shift that occurs in the fall? Things demand a little shaking up this time of year.

So, I am starting the “new year” with resolutions. I have sorted my many resolutions into prioritized piles. Into the lower tiers I have shuffled those tasks or actions that can wait, or won’t make my life longer or better (like reorganizing the closets, or washing the windows). These are things that probably belong on to-do lists, not resolution lists.

Into the top tier go the resolutions that have been squawking at me the loudest and longest while I go about my other very important business. These are the ones I will focus on this fall, because the others may not really matter, or will happen anyway, without special effort. And I am pretty sure that I can manage just one or two resolutions!

So this year I have boiled it down to two top tier resolutions:

• I will exercise regularly. Exercise that requires effort, sweat, and occasional sore muscles.

• I will be an artist, actively, everyday. Fortunately for me my definition of artist is quite broad, but this is mostly about visual art and writing.

You might say those seem like pretty easy resolutions. And I would agree if we were talking about someone other than me. Because I am amazed every day how easily I can allow those two essential ingredients of a long and happy life to be trampled and buried by all of the things that happen no matter what.

So although these two resolutions transcend ordinary to-do lists, I am going to put them on my to-do lists. I even downloaded a little free app to keep my list on my desktop. And if I get to the end of the day and haven’t checked my resolutions off, well, a little late night sweating or sketching never hurt anyone, did it?

What are yours Fall resolutions, and how will you sustain your resolve?

( A little postscript. I wrote most of this post in the wee hours before my household was awake. And realized that if I was going to write this and publish it, I better follow through. So, once I got my kids off to school, I went to the pool and swam 40 laps! Next time I’ll bike there.)

A Day in the Life of a Mom

As I limber up my blogging fingers again (it's been a while, hasn't it?) I'll admit this was not the subject about which I was planning to blog. But today I was the recipient of this irresistible bit of love from one of my kids, and I just had to share.

I was expressing (complaining?) to my 12 year-old daughter that it is hard to find time in the day to do all the things that are important to me, especially during the schedule-free summer days. The things that I attend to most are the things that have the loudest voices, which are my children, 99% of the time. So my beautiful daughter said, "Well, Mom, let me make you a schedule," and she set herself about that task.

This is the wondrous result:

I love the generous amount of time she has allotted to things like waking up...a half-hour to wake up!! And another half-hour for those twenty sit-ups I keep meaning to do. I especially love that I get an hour to "deal with the kids,"and an hour and forty five to "do something fun with the kids." (Why does this whole thing make me laugh and cry and swell with love all at the same time?) I get three generous hours to work on my book! She even included time when the kids and I tidy up--that is magical thinking! And the rest is free time or time for me to choose what I want to do. The list of things I want to do is quite long, so I am grateful for this gift of free will.

What a glorious, perfect day in the life of a mom, wouldn't you say?

Now if only my kids would hold me to this schedule.

(Meanwhile, I am working on my book, but not working on my sit-ups; also working on being a taxi driver, household organizer, IT gal, vegetable and egg harvester, blueberry eater, chief cook, bottle washer, laundress, garden sprinkler-coordinator. Looking for a little more painting time.)

I am pretty clear about just how good I've got it, and here are a few pictures just to show you too.

Canoeing on Orcas with friends

The generous contribution of our flock of happy hens.

A scrumptious sample from our tiny vegetable garden.

How is your summer going?

I Heart Books

I recently had to pack my bedside book stack into boxes so my husband and I could perform the magic trick of converting our not-so-big bedroom into two really small bedrooms, for our growing children.We have moved ourselves into the room that our kids have shared for nine years, and it looks pretty and tidy and like someone else’s house--nothing like moving to get things cleaned up! Fortunately all we had to do was move rooms, not our entire house. (Not much painting and drawing happening while turning the house inside out.)

So while packing, I marveled at my bedside book stack (those recently read or in progress). Every book went in the “KEEP!!” box. I cannot imagine parting with any of them. Snippets of each of them play in my imagination at the oddest times of the day or night, and every single one has moved me, even caused me to weep. (Well, except maybe Indesign for Dummies. That one seems to move right through me. But maybe it has caused me to weep, come to think of it.)

Many of these books are considered children’s books (middle grade or young adult) but are remarkably deep and powerful, often troubling, always poetic—not for the faint of heart. Two of the books about whales are non-fiction. I am usually an escapist, and prefer fiction, but whales are magical, and there is plenty of escapism there. And two of the books are illustrated memoir (David Small’s and John Burningham’s) but by author/illustrator’s with phenomenal imaginations, so plenty of escapism.

So with no attempt at summary or synopsis, but with only the highest recommendation, I present to you My Bedside Book Stack:

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation Volumes I and II, by M.T. Anderson (YA)

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (MG)

John Burningham by John Burningham (Memoir)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (YA)

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (YA)

Heartbeat by Sharon Creech (YA)

Love that Dog by Sharon Creech (MG)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (MG)

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (YA)

Stitches by David Small (Illustrated Memoir)

Maniac McGee by Jerry Spinelli (MG)

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (YA)

The Book Thief by Martin Zusak (YA)

Moby Dick by Herman Mellville (you know what this is)

The Whale by Philip Hoare (Non-Fiction)

Thousand Mile Song: Whale Music in a Sea of Sound by David Rothenburg (Non-fiction)

Indesign for Dummies by Galen Gruman (Self-help)

I hope you get a chance to read one or two of these. And if you have, tell me what you think.

Hooray!

I know it's been a little quiet in this corner of the blogosphere, but that is because I've been working! Working hard to finish brilliant-agent-suggested-revisions to my picture book dummy. Working hard on mastering perfect imperfection. Working hard to re-imagine (and then re-draw) a character who has had one and only one (frightening) form in my imagination for a very long long time. And it's all awesome. Truly awesome.

But here is an occasion worth interrupting the quiet and hard work:

***I learned today that I have been selected as the recipient of the SCBWI 2010 Don Freeman Memorial Grant in Aid!!***

I applied for this grant back in January, and then kind of forgot about it because I didn't think there was much chance of getting it. This is a grant offered internationally by SCBWI to unpublished illustrators who intend to make picture books the focus of their career.

It's really a very great feeling to get a phone call completely out of the blue telling you you've won something that you never thought you would win. I can totally relate to those Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes winners (and can dream about how it might feel to get that very special call from an award-bearing librarian....). To be recognized among that gazillion other so very talented illustrators striving to do just what I am doing. That is a real thrill. Big huge happy thanks to SCBWI for giving me lots of reasons to keep working hard.

Now, back to work!

Happy Spring!

Planting Peas

It's pea planting time in the Northwest people! I've planted some, and I think those darned squirrels have eaten every last seed!

But scavenging squirrels won't discourage me! I'm planting other seeds: I have been offered representation by the best children's book literary agency I can imagine! I have joined the formidable list of wondrous authors and illustrators represented by the amazing Pippin Properties Inc. You’ll just have to look at their list of authors and illustrators to see why I am so proud and amazed (and a little scared) to have been chosen by them.

Happy Spring, and here’s to a great growing season!

Snow White and the SCBWI 2010 Winter Conference

One more quick thing from the SCBWI 2010 Winter Conference.

For the Illustrator's Intensive illustrator/author Lisa Desimini gave us an assignment in advance. We were to make a sketch of a scene in which Snow White is enjoying a birthday party with the Seven Dwarves. Then we were to expand on that original sketch, and make a finished illustration that really ssstttrrreeettched our perspective (open to interpretation) and took us beyond our comfort zone. Well, this is my final drawing, all in pencil which I rarely do, very close up, which I never do, very detailed, which I never do, of Snow White experiencing the mighty sneeze of Sneezy, as she carries a birthday cake to the table. Gusty!

I found that I love working this way! It's meditative to make all those little pencil marks. And it challenged me to slow down, look more closely, be more precise, and really sculpt the image with tiny soft pencil marks. And it is a really different style for me. I will definitely be doing more of this.

And here is the original idea sketch.