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| ©patriciakeeler |
Most author/illustrator groups
will critique your manuscript once you've got it as finished as possible, but
are there groups that help develop a seed of an idea into a first draft?
In a large room with two walls of
floor to ceiling windows, about 20 graphic designers, theater people, art
teachers and others, gather to develop portfolios and create children's books.
They make up Monica Wellington's Monday (and Wednesday) night class, Children's Book Illustration, at the
School of Visual Arts in New York City on 21st Street.
Monica's class is different from
other classes I've taken. In the past I haven't presented a picture book idea
to a group until I had at least a rough draft. In this class, we begin by drawing
a sample illustration of a picture book concept that we are thinking about. We post our images on the wall.
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| ©patriciakeeler |
Sometimes Monica introduces a
story prompt. In one class we wrote down jobs that our extended families have
had. I was thinking of my brother-in-law who is a chef, so developed the idea
of a witch who was a chef. (Think Oily Snail Soup and Crispy Spider Legs.)
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| ©patriciakeeler |
For each new story idea, we create
an illustration. Monica asks each artist how their artwork relates to their
story idea. The class critiques the artwork, and discusses the possibilities of
the related story concept.
We are entering the second half of
the semester, and the class has introduced a lot of new art and ideas for
picture books. We now choose one story and are asked to create a thumbnail
dummy with the story written under the pictures.
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| ©patriciakeeler |
From here our art will expand in
size and detail as the story line evolves.
My classmates have a unique,
insightful and sometimes funny takes on the work. They are kind and sharing,
and bring a wide variety of illustration styles and techniques.
For me, Monica Wellington's
approach to creating a picture book from one sketch feels like tiptoeing up to a sleeping
tiger. It's a smoother, easier method than sitting down at a keyboard facing
the open jaws of a blank screen. And artwork that doesn't develop into a
picture book, works as a portfolio piece.
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| ©patriciakeeler |
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| ©patriciakeeler |
As a visual thinker, I appreciate Monica
Wellington's unique approach to creating children's books. It's wonderful to have support from a terrific teacher and classmates when you're going from the fragile, uncertain beginnings of an idea, across that wide abyss to a picture book dummy.
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| Helpful comments from Sophia Dookh, Estella Morgan and Monica Wellington. ©patriciakeeler |
Facebook: PatriciaKeelerBooks
Twitter: @patriciakeeler
Instagram: @patriciakeelerbooks
