Trophies by Jason Kirschner

I know this isn’t kidlit related at the start but stick with it.  I’ll bring it back around. I promise.

So, a few months ago I was nominated for an Emmy. 

Well... a Daytime Emmy.  Same trophy -- I swear.  Best Art Direction.  It was my first nomination and I was really excited.  I got out my tux.  I found the moth holes.  Bought another tux (and some moth repellent.)  I got on a plane and flew out to California for the awards.  It was really exciting.  Me and my show friends got all dressed up and took pics. Pat Sajak was there!  There was a buffet and everything. We took our seats for the awards and about 4 minutes into the show they announced my category.  My heart was racing and my hands grew sweaty. And the nominees for Best Art Direction are…blah blah blah.  And then…

I lost. No trophy.

Ugh.  Sad.  It’s awful to lose. And it’s especially awful to lose on the third category of the evening.  It was a long show.  It threw me into a funk (No relation to Josh) for a few weeks.  A bunch of people correctly reminded me that it’s an honor to be nominated — which it is and I am honored.  I also took a look back at the work I did this past year and I’m really proud of what me and my small department were able to do under time and budget constraints.  The work was strong.

I’m feeling happier again but there’s something about writing these blogs that makes me contemplative.  So here's what I've come up with.  I’m sure I’ve written something to this effect before, but it’s really important to take a step back and look at what you've accomplished— especially in a creative field like television …or writing/illustrating for kids.  (I did it! I brought it back to kidlit.  I told you I would.  Ugh. I can’t believe you doubted me.) 

I think sometimes we’re so busy with our heads down, doing the work and singularly focused on the goal at hand, that we don’t stop to look around to see what we’ve accomplished.  I didn’t win the award, but the nomination was amazing.  And even more importantly, the work was strong.  I’m sure any of you could relate.  When we are putting in the effort and working daily on a project, a sketch, a manuscript, a dummy; it can be hard to see the growth and achievement.  I promise you it’s there.  So take a few minutes and pat yourselves on the back for the growth you’ve had as an artist in the past few days/months/year.  Congratulate yourself on your accomplishments big and small.  And make yourself a trophy out of cheese.  You deserve it.  That’s what I did at the Emmys and no one looked at me funny at all.  I promise.


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 twitter @jason_kirschner. 

Create everywhere, anywhere, and anytime! - By Barbara DiLorenzo

I've just had a baby. A real baby (book babies are coming out later this year).

Prior to this wonderful addition to my family, I was sluggishly productive in the last months of pregnancy. But I still managed to create final artwork for two picture books–RENATO AND THE LION in the first trimester, and QUINCY in the end of the second trimester. 

But with a newborn that requires a lot of holding throughout the day, I find myself sitting on the opposite side of the room from my drafting table, unable to draw or paint or respond to emails. At first, I told myself to just breathe and get through those first sleep-deprived weeks. Not drawing to me is akin to not going to the gym for normal folks. A few days without exercise doesn't phase me much, but I've seen friends unravel slightly when this happens to them. Similarly, a few days without drawing, and I feel off. At this point with over a month of no new artwork produced, I'm starting to panic.

With lots of time to think, I now realize my difficulty in creating new work is partly due to how I approach art making. Thanks to years without holding a newborn morning, noon and night, I had time to create as I pleased. Hours of uninterrupted work time while listening to NPR or documentaries on Netflix, sipping coffee and playing with different mediums was normal to me. But today, I have a new normal that requires urgency - grabbing every opportunity to make a mark. I have a sketchbook by the table where I sit, but without my hands free, it has sat lonely and unused for weeks because I was waiting for that stretch of time that I used to enjoy. My new goal is to make a mark at every moment the baby falls asleep. This is humbling, as the marks aren't that appealing–especially as my sleep-deprived brain is also affecting my drawing agility. But the point is not to create a masterpiece, but to keep moving forward. Even typing this blog post required sneaking out of bed at 4am to write, all in an effort to keep moving forward. 

So here is the first mark I have made since the baby was born. No time for shading. No time for detail. Not even finished because the baby fussed just 5 minutes into my sketch. This is just a raw sketch of my current state. Now that I look at it more closely, I appreciate the honesty. No flourishes or well-designed composition. Just a tired mom and her newborn. I have a feeling that if I can make more of these, I will start to regain my footing. In the process, I will retrain myself in the skill of drawing everywhere, anywhere and at any time. Though I don't have the luxury of other options, I am happy to go back to basics again–and learn how to draw with urgency and honesty, and not solely to please an audience. 

www.barbaradilorenzo.com
Represented by Rachel Orr of the Prospect Agency.
Co-President of the Children's Book Illustrators Group (CBIG).
Instructor & Outreach Program Coordinator for the Arts Council of Princeton.

Coming soon!RENATO AND THE LIONWritten and illustrated by Barbara DiLorenzo
Published by Viking Children's Books
Release date: June 20, 2017

QUINCY
Written and illustrated by Barbara DiLorenzo
Published by Little Bee Books
Release date: February 8, 2018

DIANA DELOSH WINNER SKY PONY MANUSCRIPT REVIEW

Congratulations Diana Delosh in winning the Sky Pony Manuscript Review! 

Sky Pony editors will be critiquing Diana's wonderful and whimsical picture book dummy, 

THIS STINKS, with color samples.

So excited for Diana!

Sketch-play/Character development- By Deborah Cuneo

Dog Characters-Development Sketches

 
While I love all aspects of being an illustrator, my most favorite part is creating visual characters. And for me, because I tend to be my most creative while I'm multitasking, character development always starts with a lot of  random "note taking" and short bursts of sketch-play. 

As soon as I get a project, I immediately commit the list of potential characters to my brain, so I'll remain subliminally mindful of that list at all times. Inspiration for the characters often strikes in fits and spurts and always at the most random, inopportune time, so I've gotten used to recording my reference information quickly. Sometimes, in the form of an artistic shorthand, usually on assorted pieces of loose papers, a couple of random notes in a notepad I keep in my purse or I'll snap a quick photo or two for reference. 
 

Met a New Friend at the Pet Store!

Later on, as I have little blocks of time, I gather up everything and do a little sketch-play based on my notes, which is simply allowing myself total freedom to draw "whatever", be silly and not worry if it's pretty or not.  It's the artistic equivalent of taking really sloppy, fast notes. This way, I build on all the bits and bobs of inspiration while the sparks are still fresh in my mind.

Sketch-Play

After a while of this sporadic, freestyle, sketchy-note taking, the character starts to reveal him or herself to me and I have my starting point.

Small dog character coming to life - Early stages

St Bernard dog character coming to life - Early stages

Doing it this way is not for everybody, but it fits my sometimes chaotic, creative state and gets the job done in spite of it! I'm really looking forward to getting to know these new "friends"!!

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

Twitter: @debcuneoart 

 Instagram: @ataleof2studios

Hand Lettering Process Post by Diana Ting Delosh

A BEAST IN THE WOODS © Diana Ting Delosh.
Page 5 - Title page. A sneak peek from my Picture Book Dummy.
Hand lettering: Ink, old wide brush on watercolor paper. Bold, san serif, untamed, caps. Colored by bringing into PS making the black ink lettering clear and placing over a watercolor swatch of purple ink. 

My process for hand lettering begins with questions. Does the words/phrase evoke an image, a mood? Sure you can hand letter anything but some words or phrases beg for special treatment. Take the word  BUNNY, what comes to mind? Sweet. Cute. How about BEAST? Something rough, primal, maybe even old monster movie-ish. The word Flourish: a verb or a noun, very organic, something herbaceous.

1: FLOURISH Sketch. I want it to feel organic, flow, vines floral, herbaceous - a script

Next I decide what type style. Does it feel like a serif, or san serif?   Caps or upper and lower case?  Is it a script font??? Bold or light? Formal or casual? Is there an attitude? Do the letters themselves suggest images that relate to the meaning? Is there room for decorative flourishes? Sketching & Doodling commence. I like to make the form of the letters follow the meaning of the words or story.

2. FLOURISH line art © Diana Ting Delosh. Inked with fine tip Radiograph Pen on bristol paper. 

On to inking. Maybe with a fine tip pen or markers or brush - in black sometimes on watercolor paper, sometimes on vellum or bristol. It all depends on what I plan for it. The words dictate the style. Depending on the final usage I may do this a bit oversized. However I do prefer working to size whenever possible. I scan my inks as bitmap art (Black and white art or Black & White Document setting) minimum 600 dpi. Depending on the piece I may just save the scan for in case I screw up  when painting in the lettering or I may bring it into Photoshop to color.

3. FLOURISH finished colored art © Diana Ting Delosh. Painted the original line art on bristol paper with water-soluble transparent colored inks. 

Finally the coloring. Sometimes I hand paint my line work with transparent colored inks, watercolors than scan the finished colored art and clean up. Easy peasy. Sometimes I bring my line art into Photoshop and digitally color it. First I change the mode to RGB or CMYK. Usually I work in  RGB. I can change the color of my lines with the Magic Wand tool. Uncheck contiguous, so every speck of black gets selected, and click on the black than select a color with the eyedropper tool and fill the outlines with the new color. I can then fill in the outlines with the paintbrush tool and multiply so my line art remains. Or I can select the line art with the magic wand tool, make it clear, like a stencil, and layer it over a watercolor wash. Sometimes it's almost all created in PS. So many ways to go...just have some fun with it. Below are more samples of my hand lettering.

Peace to ALL © Diana Ting Delosh.
One of my favorite sentiments. My design for my personal 2016 Christmas Card.
Available at greetingcarduniverse.com/dianascards
Hand lettering: Black marker on vellum. Peace: formal script made from olive branches. Creatures: Serif, U&LC with a swan for an"S" to represent feathered creatures. Big: Caps, sight flared serif with a reptilian flare for the "G" to represent scaled creatures. Small: sans serif, fuzzy, Caps with a little critter for the "A" to represent furred creatures. Scanned the inked lettering and would've painted them per my usual BUT my scanner crapped out. SO, rather than wait for the new scanner I took the line art into PS changed the black line to an Ochre and digitally colored them. 

OLLIE ALONE © Diana Ting Delosh.
Title page from my Picture Book Dummy.
In the story, Ollie is distracted by fireflies. I decided that the title would be made up of glowing fireflies.
Hand lettering: Inked fireflies to form the title with a fine point pen. Bold, san serif, blobby, upper & lowercase. Colored by Painting in PS with a brush so the edges are fuzzy, like firefly glow.

Some Fun News: My Hand Lettering, FLOURISH is on page 19 in the Gallery pages of the book,
Hand Lettering Creative Alphabets for Any Occasion by Thy Doan Graves published by Quarto, UK and St Martin's Griffin, US and Canada.

Web: dianadelosh.com

Art Blog: dtdelosh.blogspot.com

Product Blog: arthareswares.blogspot.com

Twitter: dtdelosh

Check out: 
The BIG ThumbNailer
ThumbNailer

WIN A SKY PONY EDITOR CRITIQUE!

 Purchase a copy of LIZZIE and LOU SEAL 

and

email Sky Pony Press at wsparkles@skyhorsepublishing.com to let them know.

Now you are in the running for Sky Pony to see your picture book dummy or manuscript!

Looking Inside Sky Pony Press 

with Assistant Editor, Kylie Brien

“Good morning Sky Pony,” my editor says.

She reads at the coffee nook.

She reads at her desk,

In her thinking cap.

too cool                                                   too hot                                                    just right

My editor reads when she walks at lunch,

And with the people standing in line.

“Hmm, smells delicious!”

She reads with publicity

Ming Liu and Kylie Brien

and other editors.

“I like it a lot!”

Rachel Stark and Kylie Brien

She reads in the subway—

All the way home.

"Good night sweet writers and readers!"

Meet Sky Pony author/illustrator Patricia Keeler at Book Expo America 2017, Booth AM34, May 31 - June 2! She will sketch you as a picture book character!

 Facebook:  PatriciaKeelerBooks

Twitter: @patriciakeeler
Instagram: @patriciakeeler

represented by Liza Royce Agency www.lizaroyce.com