Lynne Avril and Jean Ekman Adams at the Tucson Fesitval of Books

A youthful Lynne Avril riding her horse and some of her childhood sketches

This past weekend was the Fourth Tucson Festival of Books. It was a wonderful event and I spent most of my time there listening to the presentations of the many authors and illustrators that where there. I was able to hear my good friend Lynne Avril give her presentation and give a painting demonstration. She presented together with Jean Ekman Adams who is an author illustrator.

The most wonderful Lynne Avril

Lynne has illustrated over 70 books and has several more currently lined up. She is illustrating the new "Amelia Bedelia" series published by Greenwillow Books. I have known Lynne now for several years but I never realized that she grew up with horses. I was horse crazy myself and used to have a horse back in Australia, but I never knew we had that in common. Of course in Lynne's case, it makes complete sense, seeing that she is from Montana. During her presentation Lynne shared some of her childhood sketches and explained that her dad, who was also a very talented artist, was always very critical and urged her to make sure she draw things accurately. Lynne credits her dad for teaching her how to look at things which is what makes her the incredible artist that she is today. Lynne talks about her dad often and says that to this day, in his 90's, he still critiques her work and likes to point out when something doesn't quite appear the way he things it should. :)

Jean Ekman Adams talks about her working process

Jean Ekman Adams also has a father that was an artist. She thinks of herself as someone who draws rather than paints. She loves adding more and more detail to each of her illustrations and as a result does a lot of erasing which working on her roughs. When she thinks of her stories she writes for herself rather than an audience. I can relate to her working process, because when working on her own books she comes up with the drawings first and then writes to words afterwards. This is something, she chuckles, that at times can frustrate her editor. I do understand this though, because as artists we are visual people and so think and work visually. When exploring her characters she tries to come up with as many character traits as possible. She asks herself:

What does he like to eat?

What does he hate to eat?

What is he scared of?

Where is he going"

etc.

All these questions allow her to really get to know her character, which ultimately make telling his story easier.

She likes to draw donkeys wearing socks, because their legs are so difficult to draw. I got a real chuckle out of that one.

I'll be posting more write ups about the presentations I attended soon.

Happy drawing,

T.

Tucson Festival of Books this weekend

In case you don't already know, the Tucson Festival of Books ( http://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/ )will be this weekend. It will be held at the University of Arizona Campus from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday March 10th, and Sunday March 11th. If you have any time at all, swing on down to Tucson and enjoy the festivities. Each year it has grown and grown and this year promises to be as much fun as ever.

Not only can you expect LOTS of books and fun activities for the whole family, you can also listen to some amazing authors and illustrators talk about their craft and inspirations. It is also a great opportunity to learn about what is going on in publishing right now. Here are just a few of the amazing presenters you will be able to look forward to:

Kadir Nelson
James Owen
R.L. Stine
David Diaz
Jack Gantos
Jon Sciescka
Mac Barnett
Adam Rex

How often do we get the opportunity here in Arizona so see so many amazing authors and illustrators all in one place in our own backyard? I an so looking forward to heading down to Tucson this weekend. I'll be listening to several of the panels and will also be at the SCBWI-AZ booth throughout the weekend. Come on by and say hi!

Happy Drawing to all.
T.

Hugo

A big huge “Congratulations” to the movie “Hugo” for not only receiving several Oscar nods but also for winning the esteemed statue for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects. However, long before “Hugo” enthralled movie goers with its visual splendor, it was the wonderfully illustrated novel “The invention of Hugo Cabret” (http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/ ) written and illustrated by Brian Selznick.

This of course is not new news especially considering that the book won the “Caldecott Medal ” in 2008. You can imagine how excited I am that I have a signed first edition of the book. In February of 2007 I was very lucky to attend the SCBWI National Conference In New York. Brian Selznick was the morning keynote speaker that Sunday and he took his captivated audience through his inspiration and creative process of the book. I am a copious note taker so with all this Oscar excitement I thought that I would revisit my notes from his keynote address. Here are some of the little pearls of wisdom that Mr. Selznick shared about “Hugo.”

• “Struggle and fear are part of the process.” Hearing this from someone of the caliber of Brian Selznick was rather reassuraning. Self doubt and fear of rejection is a big part of being an artists and something that I face quite often. To know that Mr. Selznick experiences similar anxieties is very comforting.

• “Fortunately,” written and illustrated by Remy Charlip, was one of Mr. Selznick’s favorite picture books when he was young. If you are not familiar with this little gem, make sure you look it up in the library or even better find one for your collection. It is well worth the read and will leaving you smiling for the rest of the day.

• “Hugo” was the name of one of Brian’s childhood toys.

• Brian Selznick was very interested in kids that are obsessed with something. Hugo’s fascination with the automaton allowed Mr. Selznick to explore both the fixation of the boy but also explore the amazingly intricate machines themselves.

• Page turns are an integral part of the reading experience and a great tool that he used in the creation of the book. Mr. Selznick’s purpose was to create a movie-like reading experience for “Hugo” readers. The repetition of similar scenes page after page allowed him to zoom in, much like in a movie.

• He would create lots of mini dummies of his book and the sequences in order to test his page turns.

• The final artwork was created at one quarter of the book size. This meant when the artwork was scanned and blown up, the grain would be amplified, thus simulating the graininess of an old movie.

• This last one is my favorite. Throughout the creation process, Mr. Selznick would continually cut our portions of text and replace it with a list of drawings. We would go back to his editor and let them know that the page number of the book were adding up. Luckily, Scholastic believed in his vision and allowed his creativity to soar. It was well worth it in the end.

Happy Creating to you all. T.

Jackson Pollock and Second Graders

I am so lucky that I am able to present Art Masterpiece to my daughter Izzy second grade class every few weeks. I teach them about an artist, we talk about and look closely at his or her work, tie it into what they are currently learning and then create a project in the style of the artist. A wonderful opportunity for me to share my love for art and for the kids to gain exposure to art.

We just completed a group canvas in the style of Jackson Pollock. All the kids got to experience his dribble/splatter technique and they enjoyed it tremendously. Even Ms O'Brien participated and loved it.

The one thing that I am always amazed about when I teach Art Masterpiece, is how fascinated the kids get when I teach them about the artist and show them his/her work. We spend on average between 45 minutes to a hour, just looking and discussing the artwork itself. We look at composition, the choice of palette and try to analyze the motivation of the artists. Yes, these are second graders! I am so impressed with them. It becomes so apparent that art is important not just for the of the fun project, but more so for the understanding that is gained by the kids that they are able to express their feelings and frustrations through art. In trying to learn about the artist they can learn about themselves.

I love what I do.

Happy Creating.

T.

Stevie's travels revealed

Here's a painting I finished a week or two ago. I like where this is going and the process I'm using plus it's a fun surface to work on. The painting was done with Acrylic Gouache over a crackle paste base. Many, many layers but worth it in the end. What do you think?

Happy creating,
T.