In the Mud by Jason Kirschner

I haven't posted on this group blog in a while. I've been off in the "dayjob" world and my fellow bloggers have been kind enough to deal me out of the rotation for a bit. (I mixed metaphors. I know. I'm ok with it.) But it's my turn today, and since we all know that I consider this blog the closest I get to therapy, I thought I'd share what's on my mind.

I have recently been taking a break. Not only from this blog but from creating kidlit altogether. Since the end of the summer, I haven't really written or drawn anything that could potentially end up as a book of any sort.  I was tired and I felt I was spinning my wheels but getting nowhere. I started a new season of tv at "dayjob world" and told myself I just didn't have the time but I think I was making excuses. I think I was just a bit burnt out. I doodled a bit here and there and wrote down random story ideas or plot points but nothing really constructive.

And then October rolled in. I forced myself to try Inktober as a way to start drawing daily again. Now I would consider myself a pencil guy. I draw with pencil on cheap paper and mostly color my stuff digitally. Ink doesn't really enter into my process. Plus, I've tried Inktober before and never gone further than 8 or 9 days. But it seemed like an escape ladder out of the small muddy pit of not-drawing I'd dig for myself. I don't know why it was muddy-- that's a mystery to me too.

SO...Inktober day 1, I posted something I wasn't entirely happy with but I felt an ounce of satisfaction at having completed something. I made a decision to do no erasing or digital doctoring.
"Don't be fussy," I found myself saying as a mantra.  Day 2, I started to try to explore the different things I could do with the few ink pens I found in my bucket o' art supplies. Maybe a teensy bit more satisfying.

Day 3.

On day 3, the prompt reminded me of a character I had written a picturebook manuscript about. It was the project I was spinning my wheels on earlier this summer. Day 3 was the turning point for me. On day 3,  I decided to make my Inktober about the bunnies in the book I wanted to finish. I christened it "Bunntober."

It started to be fun to visit the characters each day. And the ink became fun too. I got a few more markers and pens at my local art store. Now I could do grey washes with Copic wide markers and really teeny details with Micron pens. I still did my layouts in my very comfortable Prismacolor pencil #943 and then inked over it. The prompts gave me aspects of the characters to explore that I hadn't yet and the ink somehow made the drawing fun again because I got semi-finished sketches that did, but also didn't, resemble the work I was familiar with.

And people were commenting and liking my stuff. I wasn't an Inktober star like fellow D2PB'r Mike Ciccotello but I got a bunch of new followers and some really lovely comments. I know that's not why we make the art but encouragement is always lovely.  Most importantly, I think I've dug my way out of the pit and I'm ready to start my dummy. I've actually already started roughing out some pages and I think I might be finishing the finals in ink!

Day 24.

Day 31.

Day 25.

Day 27.

I guess this is a super duper, barely coherent, long winded way to say...if you're stuck in the mud, try something new.  A new medium, a new color scheme, heck...sometimes just a new sketch pad or a sharpened pencil might be the answer. It just might help you climb back out of the mud. Geez --there's the mud again. I'm going to go wash my hands.

Day 9.

BTW, if you haven't checked out the amazing work people have posted as part of Inktober, you really should. Superstar Mike Ciccotello is on Instagram @ciccotello and if you want to see more of my #bunntober experiment, you can find me on IG at @jkirsch118.  Our other D2PBrs are posting art on social media too...check out the links in their profiles.

By day, Jason is an emmy nominated set designer for television, with credits that include Harry, The Meredith Vieira Show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman. By night, Jason is an author and illustrator of children's books. You can find his debut picture book, Mr. Particular: The World's Choosiest Champion on shelves in bookstores everywhere. See Jason's work, both illustrations and set designs,  at www.jasonkirschner.com . Follow him on instagram @jkirsch118. 

Going Dark with Gouache - By Barbara DiLorenzo

Artists evolve their style. It's what we all do. We may intend to change the medium or application of paint. Or it may just happen organically, in ways we don't even notice until there is a body of work that looks slightly different than before. 

Last year I worked on two books, painted in watercolor with gouache touch-ups (RENATO AND THE LION (Viking Children's Books), and QUINCY: THE CHAMELEON WHO COULDN'T BLEND IN, little bee books). Normally, I don't use gouache much. But in the case of final art under deadline, I needed gouache to save me from having to redo pieces at the last minute. For those unfamiliar with gouache paint, it is a cousin to watercolor, but opaque and matte in final appearance. One can cover mistakes with this paint. It's not as bold as acrylic. Some genius invented acrylic-gouache, which behaves like a watercolor but then has the permanence/coverage of acrylic. But I can't figure out how to work with it. So gouache is the next best thing. 

The book experience emboldened me. I realized that I can push my watercolors darker, and bring them back with the opaque paint of gouache. I didn't realize how much this impacted my work until I recently completed three pieces for various projects. (Examples below–including a piece I showed preliminary sketches of in my previous blog post.)

While I'm not sure I have the color palettes down, there is something about the deeper range of values that I like. I've been boldly painting dark washes over the whole paper, then pulling out highlights afterwards. The one obstacle right now is using white gouache to mix with other colors in my palette. Perhaps I'll get a better effect from buying the specific gouache oranges, blues and greens. If anyone has gouache expertise, I'd love to know how you use them. 

As an artist, it is our job to embrace that inner tug to explore a new direction. We may not be entirely pleased with the outcome right away. But with time and practice, and a bit of bravery, we may find a whole new visual voice that outshines the previous portfolio. 

Challenge yourself to try something new until it works. That's what I plan to do with this new direction. Stay tuned to see where it goes!

RENATO AND THE LION (Viking Children's Books)

by Barbara DiLorenzo

Now booking author visits for 2017-2018!

QUINCY: THE CHAMELEON WHO COULDN'T BLEND IN (little bee books)

by Barbara DiLorenzo

To be released on April 3, 2018!

Barbara is represented by Rachel Orr of the Prospect Agency.

Twitter: @wavepaint

Facebook: @BarbaraWillcoxDiLorenzo

www.barbaradilorenzo.com

Beyond Submission REJECTION by Diana Ting Delosh

Unfortunately, rejection is a part of an illustrator/writer's life. If you're creating and submitting your work, you're going to face it at some point. Even when you know it's professional and not personal, it may still sting. The only way around it, is to not submit ever. Chicken. As a veteran of the submission game, here are a few of my strategies to lessen the sting in random order.

Summer Raccoon Girl © Diana Ting Delosh
Ink & Watercolor.

1 - Submit. Yup, sounds counterintuitive but this actually works. It doesn't have to be the same project - just submit something, ASAP. Every one of your submissions represents hope. If you have a lot of submissions out it's more likely that something will come back accepted. Don't put all your dreams into one project submitted to only one company.

2 - Work on a new idea - even better fall in love with your new project. Keep your mind focused on something positive and moving forward.

3. Focus on the process not the result.  Right now I'm challenging myself to submit something 4 times/month. It can be an art sample pack, promo postcards, website url, a Picture book dummy /manuscript proposal, whatever. The question, "Who am I submitting to and what" keeps me moving and the checking off  - "Yay, I did it" helps give me a mental boost.  It also makes me realize that I need to create more things. A challenge to try is: Submit 10 different things to 10 different places in 10 weeks. The closest I've ever come to meeting this challenge is 5 different things submitted to 10 different places in 10 weeks.

4. There's safety in numbers.  Nowadays most publishers accept multiple submissions, as long as you let them know. Research whom you think is a good fit for your project and submit. I do it in small batches in the hopes I won't hear NO from everyone on the same day. Now that could be depressing.

5.  Accept it when they say it doesn't suit their needs or they have too many hibernation stories at the moment. It's them not your project. Move on. Someone else may love it.

6. Wallow. When all else fails OD on the chocolates and hide under the blankets just set a limit. Allow yourself to feel sorry for yourself and your project, even shed a few tears - you're human - just remember to get back on track, ASAP.

7. Learn from your mistakes. Take a cold hard look at your project. Is there room for improvement?  Revise, edit as needed and send it to others.

8. Work on your craft. One day, you may be pleasantly horrified by some of your earlier projects and relieved that they were rejected.

9. Diversify. Learn new things. Your writing may be selling at the moment but your illustration may not, but at least something is getting a positive response. This also allows you to submit to different markets, maybe even discover a new source of income.

10. Adapt. There may be nothing wrong with your project. It could be something you can't help like the economy or the market. Be willing to repurpose your art. So the picture book market is down maybe adapt the story for an early reader or chapter book Or try working on art for an older market or something entirely new.

11. Try Semantics, for some reason, "they passed on my project," sounds a lot kinder to me than "they rejected my project." I keep a submission log and I find PASSED looks a lot nicer on paper then REJECTED.

12.  Celebrate the different levels of rejection. Give yourself a pat on the back if you get a personal letter from the editor vs the standard form rejection... or nothing. It should also be noted that in this day and age where most companies only respond when interested, a rejection is a concrete response. Thankfully, when E-submitting, some companies have an auto-reply so at least you know they received it.

FYI: This is an updated version of a post I originally published 10/15/10 on my Art blog. Hey it's summer. Here's the original post, if you're curious:  The Hare Illustratère: REJECTION! - A few Antidotes

Web: dianadelosh.com

Art Blog: dtdelosh.blogspot.com

Product Blog: arthareswares.blogspot.com

Twitter: dtdelosh

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When Good Eggplants Go Bad (...and other tales of technical woes) by Deborah Cuneo

I don't know about anyone else, but this last few months have been especially challenging. Between kids leaving the nest, family health issues and a reboot on my book, I've been operating at a higher stress level and pace than normal. Unfortunately, real life goes on no matter what disasters are happening around you and there didn't seem to be any relief in sight, so I did what all of us do...worked right through it, cause' we're all professionals, right? (flashback to David Wiesner at njscbwi).  And for a while, I was able to successfully juggle it all and bury my stress in my art.

Burying the Prize - Pencil Sketch

Part of my "therapy"  was working out the palette for the book and spending countless, grueling hours teaching myself how to use my new digital tools. I was now ready to bring my color vision to life for Little Dragon!

 I felt a tremendous sense of satisfaction from the accomplishment  and that had almost completely balanced out all the stress from my personal life... when somewhere between finishing the final sketches and right before turning in the final cover art, the Earth must have shifted its rotation, causing a permanent state of full moon. Out of nowhere, my cover art and almost all my new tools, completely disappeared from my computer.  The ones that remained, well, any time I would select them, they would shut down Photoshop and destroy the file I was working on. Did I mention that the cover art was due the following week?  <Insert stress here!>

MINE! - Pencil Sketch

My hubby, who never met a mechanical or technical device he wasn't able to fix, was more than a bit baffled and no quick fix was in sight.  Panic set in! So what do you do when months of developing digital tools have completely left the universe and the art is due in a few days?  You take a breath, regroup, say lots of prayers and recreate the tools......"old school!!!

Creating Textures

I have to say, it was quite therapeutic  to use all my organic art tools again, after a year of focusing on digital. I didn't realize just how much I missed them.   After a couple of days of work, I was able to recreate pretty close to what  was lost in the computer and  the act of doing so, put my mind back in balance. I also found another way to use the two media together , which made me very happy and I'm thinking that in the end,  the art for the book may be better for having the experience (maybe that was the master plan all along???). 

Life...or at least kid lit, book life, was all good again... and quite randomly, as mysteriously as the programs and the computer in general , stopped working... it all went back to normal and I made my deadline! < insert sun shining and angels singing here!> 

From the book: Little Dragon - Sky Pony Press 2017

 

So, how do eggplants work into all of this?  During one of the days that I was having a bit of an internal, meltdown over the situation, I decided to go to the local farm stand, get veggies for dinner and just try to clear my head. Starring at all the colors and textures of the produce that's out this time of year, is quite inspiring!

 I began to make my way through the little marketplace and I happened to notice all these beautiful eggplants to one side of the wooden bins. On the other side, two eggplants that were every bit as fresh (just a little weird looking) caught my eye. They were seemingly cast off to the other side, rejected, in favor of the new, shinier eggplants.

I decided against eggplant for dinner and started to walk away, but my heart went out to the two rejects. I wondered what would happen to those poor vegetables after being cast  aside like that. Do they start hanging out  with the wrong eggplants and turn to a life of eggplant crime?...what was their story? So, I created a little photo shoot ( yes, right in the middle of the crowded farm stand) to highlight the heartbreaking reality of what happens when good eggplants go bad.

("The Meeting") When Good Eggplants go Bad   By Deborah Cuneo

When Good Eggplants go Bad  By Deborah Cuneo

Website: www.deborahcuneoillustration.com
Blog: Creating Out Loud  deborahcuneo.blogspot.com
Facebook: Deborah Cuneo Illustration

Twitter: @debcuneoart 

 Instagram: @ataleof2studios

The value of time away from your work... by Barbara DiLorenzo

I love coming up with a book idea that feels solid. If it is strong enough, and I feel a real connection with the characters, I jump into the long process of building (or problem solving) a story using words and pictures. A brief outline of the plot comes first, followed by thumbnail sketches scrawled loosely on a micro storyboard. After this stage, I try out my idea on fellow artists, friends and family members. Sometimes glaring errors pop up and I realize it's time to revise heavily, or possibly rethink the idea. Was it as good as I had imagined? But sometimes folks seem to resonate with the concept, and I feel a green light to move forward. Usually my thumbnail drawings are hard to read, so sometimes the refined sketching stage flags new problems with the plot or the characters. The more I revise and work on a book dummy, the more I lose my perspective on whether certain moments work or not. If I am trying to pull a book together to submit to a contest, I will doggedly work on the drafts without a real break, in order to make the deadline. And that is usually when I run smack into a wall. I show the dummy to someone after weeks of hard work–expecting that their reaction will directly correspond to the huge amount of work I did. (I worked so, so, so hard=they will love it.) Only, normally, it doesn't happen this way. The person recognizes that the pile of pages is a labor of love. But for some reason, they don't love it. Why? Sometimes it's because they don't understand it, and I think, "How could they not understand it? It's so clear to me!"Of course it's clear to me. I'm immersed in the project. I don't know anything else as I sleep, eat and breathe my new book. I have no perspective.

This problem is the result of not stepping back from my work. If I paint a watercolor painting, I constantly work up close, then step back to check everything makes sense. I encourage my art students to take breaks and put their work up across the room from them to see it from a distance. Yet when making books, I sometimes neglect this crucial step. Every book on writing says some version of this. Step 1: Write the best book ever. Step 2: Put it in a drawer and forget about it. Step 3: Start a new book. Step 4: Eventually return to your first book after months away, and you will see it wasn't as amazing as you thought. Step 5: Revise like hell and listen to feedback that makes sense. Step 6: Rinse and repeat until the book doesn't stink. 

Recently I felt guilty about taking about a month away from a book project dear to my heart. I planned to tackle smaller projects and clear time for the big book project. But the small projects kept dragging on and on, and I finally used up the few weeks of free time I had planned to finish the big book project. I felt guilty and frustrated. But amazingly, the extended time away gave me what I never give to myself–perspective. Suddenly I saw the plot more clearly, and in no time I had thumbnails scrawled across most of the pages. Although I had waited longer to get started, I was actually working faster and with more clarity after the time away. 

I point this out only to help other bookmakers, struggling to hammer a manuscript or book dummy into shape. Sometimes all you need is a little time away, and then the work becomes clear. You can see exactly what needs help, as well as what is truly working well. 

Website: www.barbaradilorenzo.com

Illustration Blog: Paint & Paper
Follow me on Twitter: @wavepaint

The Art & Fear of Crit Groups - by Diana Ting Delosh

Moi at 9 - © Diana Ting Delosh

I've always thought of art and story making as solo activities and just shown when you were ready. As a student, you created your art and brought it in for a crit once it was done. Back in my school days, some of the crits were quite savage and not always constructive. Thankfully, the overall experience of being among other creatives striving towards similar goals was very inspiring and empowering.

Dragon Picnic - © Diana Ting Delosh.
Isn't it better to be told your dragon has two left feet before you see the big art director or editor?

Finding my crit group took awhile. Personally, I found the large online groups of over 100 members too impersonal. The groups that met in person (and I've been in four of them over the years) fell apart over time due to conflicting schedules. Currently, I'm in a small crit group that meets online via Dropbox and e-mail. Seems to work well for our deadline filled lives.

Whispering - © Diana Ting Delosh

 I'm learning to trust the crit group process. Learning that all suggestions have merit. But it's up to me to implement them or not. At the very least they point to where I have a clarity issue. Validates what you feel and makes you realize you're not crazy.  Whenever possible, I now try and show my sketches/story drafts to my group with enough time to allow for me to digest their comments and do something about them before my portfolio review, submission, grant application, etc. This hasn't  been easy.
  

Cheetah Stretches - © Diana Ting Delosh

One of the side benefits of being in a crit group is the inspiration that comes from some friendly competition. How can you not be pushed and stretched to create better/more when your buds are making amazing awesome art and juggling crazy busy lives.

Website: dianadelosh.com

Illustration Blog: dtdelosh.blogspot.com

Twitter: @dtdelosh

Creating Characters - by Deborah Cuneo

So, the theme on D2PB  this round was  various aspects of our process.  I thought a lot about the various aspects of my process...inspiration, sketching, concept, time management, taking art to finish...  and one part that stood out and was the most interesting to me, was the creation of characters. It's absolutely the best part of what I do!!  It's also the thing I think I spend the most time on whenever working on a project. I'm not sure about anyone else's approach, but this is how I do it.

I am a very visual thinker so when inspiration hits for a character, my idea usually comes in the form of a face in my head and I need to "get it down" using whatever resources are at hand,  before I lose it! 

Eraser Goat - self explanatory?

Then I can jot down some more sketches later, when I have more time...and a pencil!

More goat Heads - This time with the pencil!

 But the image I initially come up with is not necessarily the image I end up with. It really depends on what's appropriate for the feel of the story.

Beagle with Ribbon - First Round Sketch

Beagle with Ribbon - Second Round Sketch

Beagle with Ribbon - Final Art/ Acrylic and Colored Pencil

One of  the most important parts  for me ( and most fun!), is that my character be able to react to what's happening.  I try to envision him/her/it in different states of emotions.

Duck Character Sheet - Acrylic and Colored Pencil

The next part is the body and a basic idea of what it looks like. I've found that occasionally creating a model  is sometimes helpful,  but it's never an exact version, just some basic shapes and placement to help inform my sketching.

Duck Model - Air Dry Clay

Little Dragon Model - Air Dry Clay

After I get basic elements, I do a little research to help  refine the image.  If the character is something that doesn't really exist, it's more of a Frankenstein-inspired drawing.  In the case of LD, I looked to things like dogs, cats, dinosaurs , bats, lizards (to name a few),  and incorporated that into a small, age appropriate child. From there I draw the character in different views.

  "Little Dragon" - Sky Pony Press -  Character Sketches

Now I'm ready to move on to the story. My character will get a few more tweaks along the way in the final sketches, but by the time I get to this point, I have a pretty good idea of who the character is visually and I'm ready to get down to business!  

"Little Dragon" - Sky Pony Press - Sneak Peek...shhhhhhhhh.........

Website: www.deborahcuneoillustration.com
Blog: Creating Out Loud  deborahcuneo.blogspot.com
Facebook: Deborah Cuneo Illustration
Twitter: @debcuneoart