Thumbnails

Sketches & cover ideas for Plank & Pancake I follow enough librarians on Twitter to know that it's really that book cover that wins a reader's attention. It's also interesting to know that the book COVER, (though the first taste to the overall book experience,) is usually the LAST bit designed to complete the story. It's the reader's first introduction - that first impression, so you want it to be a good one. As I work on my first picture book dummy, I am piecing together a cover to make my story feel polished. Then this morning I couldn't help but think what would Master Kidd do ? Chip Kidd is well respected as one of the "Kings of book coverings. Though the titles linked to his name are actually novels, his Ted presentation is an excellent example of how he deconstructs a book to build upon the story it encases.  All this can be applied to Picture Books as well. One just has to be consistent with the book's illustration style....

Zoom-Zoom, NYC - February, 2013. Pleased to be home from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Winter Conference, while still trying to recover from my busy weekend. This year's commute is brought to you via Greyhound bus service... not a sponsored post, but yes I was pleased with the commute. I both recommend the bus as a transporting system from Boston to NYC, and will be using them again in the future. Fingers crossed I can return soon. The light of Central Park upon leaving. I was little hesitant about the visit since I was both nervous and excited about attending the Writer's Roundtable this go-around. In short: It made my trip. I got a LOT of great feedback from fellow Roundtable guests. This was an experience to be had. I only wish I had the opportunity to indulge in both the Writer's Roundtable and Illustration Intensive activities! The story for my picture book is currently in "RE-Draft-Mode," thanks to the love...

In a couple days I'll be heading to New York City for the Annual Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Winter Conference, where my portfolio will be on display during the Friday evening showcase. I should be able to exhale at this point... or at least after I've collected my book and any remaining postcards. I feel confident approaching the SCBWI conference than I did last year. I'm not going to lie - it took a lot to get here. It's hard becoming a giraffe! At least it's hard to make one's portfolio into a giraffe, but here's how I did it: Step 1: I planted an Idea seed late in the year 2011. The seed was for marketing materials. Yes. Postcards. Step 2: The idea flourished into "Aww's" and other kudos and encouragements to "turn this  (postcard concept on right) into something. " Step 3: The "Something" became a story. Step 4: The story became a (mild) obsession.  Step 5:...

My job as a Graphic Designer is relatively faceless. I am the purveyor of cute craft projects, copy writer, photo re-toucher, and a package assembler. I make something - we agonize over the details - then it's off for print, manufacturing and sales. Next project. Luck would have it that I occasionally get to dabble into children's crafts, which are incredibly fun. Working with pom-poms, jumbo pipe cleaners, and wiggle eyes just entices nostalgia. It's also inspired  me to return to my interest in picture book illustration. Only in the past year have I re-activated my pursuit to become published. Though I met my publishing goal recently , I am trudging alone with my passion for the picture book audience. When the strain of trying to start-up (and get nowhere) has overwhelmed me, I have to remind myself of why I must to keep going. Until recently, my "why" is that I feel like I owe something to the community. Reading did not come easily to me. In fact, my s...

I'm starting my 2013 with a made up word. Portfolio-izing is the act of "accessorizing" or enhancing one's portfolio. By "one" I mean my own. As you can see in my snippet above, I've transformed my portfolio into a giraffe pelt. The WHOLE portfolio looks like a giraffe now. This is just a close-up of the finished patterning: Lately I've been playfully gussying up my portfolio for the Annual SCBWI NY Conference. I'm beside myself with giddiness to get back into the city to show off my collection. I'm spending my weekend deciding on the interior pages and assembling my dummy book. This is what it looks like for me to "plot" out my portfolio pagination: I've got a lot of work to do, but I'm confident with the pieces I have completed. I can hardly wait to have my completed giraffe portfolio. Some of the "interior" bits can be found in my online portfolio . A few more pages will be making their way into ...

I submitted my illustration for SCBWI's Tomie dePaola, with only 10 minutes to spare. I'm incredibly grateful the drop-dead time was in Pacific Time. I chose to illustrate the famous white washing scene. As you see above, the illustration was intended to be in black and white, but I found I could control the contrast better working in full color and then just "gray-scaling" the finished illustration. Also please ignore any and all "wonky" looking colors. Again, I was pushing for contrast. Fingers are crossed!

Left: Frida Kahlo's "Girl with Death Mask", 1938; right: Samantha Grenier's "Death with Girl Mask", 2005. I was just reading another blog post featuring the art of Stephen Mackey, and it triggered a little nostalgia. I don't know if it was in the lighting of his paintings, or maybe the tone, or my (slightly) morbid appeal, but something brought me back to a Halloween assignment from my graduate studies. My painting was not well received at the time. I think the assignment was something along the lines of making a Halloween or depict a horror scene. Trying to be clever, I created a nod to Frida Kahlo's painting " Niña con Mascara de Muerte". Since this was for an illustration class, something a little more "illustration-y" was probably expected. Probably. I didn't get it at the time, but sometimes it's difficult to separate the "artist" from the "illustrator".  I was always proud of my little...

Library Day tomorrow (if the Library is open... pretty sure it is!) This week's collection includes: Me... Jane , but Patrick McDonnell Ginger , by Charlotte Voake Katy Did It! by Lorianne Siomades The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-To-Be , by Mini Grey The Sticky Doll Trap , by Jessica Souhami Coco the Carrot , by Steven Salerno The King Who Wouldn't Sleep , by Debbie Singleton; illustrated by Holly Swain Sarah's Little Ghosts , by Thierry Robberecht; illustrated by Philippe Goossens First of all, loved   Me... Jane ! I choked up a touch at the end. I most certainly agree the Caldecott Honor is well deserved. I'm very happy that I happened upon The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-be , because I'm in the crosshairs of writing my own version of the "Princess and the Pea," and now I'm thinking I want to take my story into another direction. Happy Reading!

This past week I finally discovered how to check books out from the library with my Nook. Yes, it's tougher than it sounds, because Barnes and Nobles doesn't want to you engage in anything that's FREE. There is very little information on library checkouts, except for maybe the Kindle. I finally figured it out through the NH Downloadable Book Consortium  (via the New User blog page). Very helpful (if you're glued to NH library, that is.) My mother surprised me with my Nook for my birthday. (Make a note that my birthday was the end of March - it is now November and I've only had to re-charge the battery once !) I've purchased a few books through B&N, but I've been dying to dabble into the library's system for a cheaper alternative. It does require some extra software with the computer, but with a simple little USB hook-up, the Nook downloads are incredibly easy... and fast. My first library engaged Nook-Book checkout is The Adventures of Tom Sawye...

Last Saturday I attended the New England SCBWI Encore Writer's Workshop. I am 0 for 3 for successful navigations of Providence, but I am inspired and knowledgable from the experience, so I call it a win! There were a TON of key notes that all authors/writers can really benefit. The workshop had a Middle Grade-Young Adult edge to it, so there wasn't a lot of focus on the Picture Book writing, but I can see how I could apply the advice to my personal writings. Some of the key points addressed: Write, write, write, write and then write some more. READ! <-- Pretend that was shouted. Read everything you can get your hands on... specifically works from your genre. Read it, even if you think/have heard it's going to be crap. LEARN from that writer's mistakes. Uh, re-write... a lot. Critique groups are necessary; start one or one! You need someone other than your mother/friends/coworkers/etc. playing the editor's eyes and giving you concrete criticism. <-- Th...

I've updated my website ! I've changed the overall look of the site and swapped out a few pieces. In other news, I am planning to attend the SCBWI's Winter Conference again... you know if I can sign up. Just remember that 10am PDT = 1pm EST! I will be all over registration on Friday! Hope to meet some of you there! :-)

Early trip to the library! 9 picture books to flip through this fortnight: Ella Takes the Cake , by Carmela & Steven D'Amico Mitchell's License , by Hallie Durand, illustrated by Tony Fucile Augie to Zebra , by Kate Endle and Caspar Babypants When My Baby Dreams , by Adele Enersen, spot ills by Jennifer Rozbruch* Kitten's First Full Moon , by Kevin Henkes Dog in Charge, by K.L. Going, illustrated by Dan Santat The Man Who Walked Between The Towers , by Mordicai Gerstein 999 Tadpoles , by Ken Kimura, illustrated by Yasunari Murakami Mary Had a Little Lamp , by Jack Lechner, illustrated by Bob Staake * My goal as an illustrator is really to get a sense of other illustrators' styles, familiarize myself with classic and modern stories, and learn about the flow and composition of a book. For this, I typically gravitate towards illustrated picture books, of a "traditional media". I've included this in my picture book selection to get a gras...

So since JUNE (last post date,) what I have I been doing? I want to say I've been sitting at "one of those box-y things, with the four legs and writing/drawing" That's where I spend most of my time: the desk. 90% of my summer was eaten up by sitting and looking . And then I wonder why I'm so out of shape.... My concrete answer: I've been pushing around a heavy load at work-work, on top of the usual doodling and reading I preform at home. I've grown an addiction to the library which only becomes inconvenient when my "Lie-Berry" day lands on a Holiday or extended weekend. I think I can make it about 10 days before I throw my hands up into the air and cheer out "LIE-BERRY DAY!" I plan to share "Lie-Berry" day with the blog world, as I do with my other read'n blog : I want everyone to know what I'm reading/admiring. So what is "Lie-Berry" Day? This is the day I head over to the town library and pick out...

It's been a slow  start for me, but I do have a couple more pieces hoisted up on Scribed for downloading and printing. I've reconfigured my promotional postcards to make them accessible to everyone for personal use. Yes - simply for the enjoyment of cutting and pasting/assembling things. It would have been easier just popping the postcards on the website as they were, but I didn't want weirdos calling or stalking me, so I had to adjust the postcards a bit. I also had to scale them down a touch to fit for the every-day household printer. In the "Playground" the Printable Giraffe and Turtle are linked to my Scribed account for public downloading... or you can click the links here ;-) Have fun playing!

Participating in the Doedemee charity book cover project brought me back to my old book re-covering exercise from several years back. I've decided to pick the project back up again, and I've just begun taking my old sketches, and turning them into full-scaled finished pieces. By "full-scaled" I mean 12" x 18" posters. Other than the Scarlet Letter , you'll see my most recent conquest ( Moby Dick ,) which was one of the original classics from my old exercise. Hopefully to follow: The Great Gatsby , One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and Lolita. My "Recovering Project" is helping me ease back into my cut-paper methods. Moby Dick here is comprised of torn paper and digital media.

Been working here and there on a book (re-covered) project for the DoeDeMee cover project for illiteracy . Below are some of my sketches rendered as I read through my book choice, The Scarlet Letter . As of a few nights ago, I had my poster looking like so: ... But something was missing. I picked this novel for the sake of the story's message on identity. Upon looking at other covers throughout time, there were a couple recurrent themes: Hester & Child (Pearl) and the big red "A". These characters actually become what the "A" symbolizes and I wanted convey with the cover. I think I did this rather successfully transforming these two characters into an "A".  However, there's another character that's typically ignored for cover art, and I really wanted him to have at least a subliminal presence, because without him, there would be no Pearl and thusly no evidence for the need of that adulteress mark: Reverend Dimmsdale. He too...

THRILLED to have gone, but a little bummed I couldn't attend the entire weekend. With work, travel and a tight-tight budget (so that we can attend the LA conference,) I was only able to join for the Saturday workshops. Though I take away a lot from my single day on site, I still wish I could have stayed for the full conference. "C'est la vie!" To really get the most of the conference my advice to myself and other potential goers: 1. DO the poster contest (illustrators) 2. DO the portfolio/manuscript review, especially that quick-query. I didn't meet a single person who felt it was money wasted 3. Don't get the chicken (lunch) 4. Do the portfolio showcase (illustrators) - ALWAYS show that folio when an opportunity presents itself 5. Take more pictures for more visual interest when you go back to Blog about your experience so that you don't just end up hoisting your business card up on the site for recognition The only real negative I take away fr...

Butterfly Sketches - 2/2012 Not to come off as creepy or Damien Hirst-like, I am currently on the market for dead butterflies. I believe the official term is specimens , but from what I've been shopping, I'll be receiving dried corpses so... same difference! I'm hunting these little buggers down for my next personal illustration project, which has been inspired by my recent trip to RI SD's  Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab , for a live animal study session. Amongst the live animals were many not-so-live animals, including a couple cases of mounted butterflies. My illustration project is simple: I want to make faux mounted butterfly illustrations using my cut-paper technique. I want to make scientific renderings rather than generic forms, so I need to be able to study the real things. Since I am no butterfly expert, (though that does sound pretty sweet to me now!) I am plotting a trip to Cambridge to visit the Museum of Natural History . If they allow me to sketch, sket...

Well, I'm behind on what I would have thought to be a quick re-start to my "Thumbnails" blog. I've been trying to get the old illustration-y stuff going, but we've run into a minor issue: Sam (still) hasn't purchased a scanner yet {blush}! So how did I do this in the past, you ask? I do own a scanner... it's about |  -- yay --  | big. At nearly a decade old, its not exactly what I would call reliable in the fields of quality-scan and software. The software (probably) pre-dates Mac and PC compatibility, so I wouldn't even dream of looking for disk. Also, it's attached to an old laptop RIDDLED with viruses and malware, so to be blunt: it is dead to me. I think I could tolerate the scale of the flatbed, if it were at least able to scan over 500 dpi. Most recently, to finish my portfolio I scanned all my artwork in from work, of which I felt guilty through the whole process. Sam's big fat conscience doesn't want the "Day Job" and...

I'm currently in the starts to remodel my blog. Just to give you an idea as to what's going on, you'll see a collection of new PAGES, which will allow users to take a peek at the "happenings" in my illustration world. Some new big features will be added to the site. Some of these include: "Story Time" tab is "HOME" or the main Blog page. This will be my regular journal. I plan to allot at least one or two posts per week, but to start out with, I'll probably be posting quite a bit. "Sketchbook" is... yes a spot to show off some of my doodles. I promise I won't be as obsessive about this, as when I held the "Thumbnails Sketchbook" blog post. It's not a "Doodle-a-Day"; I plan to post to this page maybe once or twice a week, just to share what I'm working on. "Playground" is where I plan to have some Downloads for sharing. They're essentially paper cut-outs, toys and coloring sheets fo...