and a happy new year to you. i'm going to try and do something that i used to do way back when, showcase a painting in progress from start to end.

to paraphrase a line from last year's movie, prometheus- "big things start from small beginnings." 

i had an idea for an image

i wanted to play with the notion of water as the color of the paper and have a few lines showing the ripples in a pond with some bits of reeds sticking up from it. 

from there i was trying to figure out what the narrative could be. i had an image of a fish tipping his hat to a girl or a princess. so i worked on that for a while.

it was all right, but i'd done some princess-y stuff in the past and wanted a new story.

one day i was reading a comic whose story was set in japan and the idea of cherry blossoms falling on water with a girl in a kimono stuck in my head. so with a quick change and adjustment, i began work on this idea.

i was liking this direction. after transferring the image to paper, i began with painting the fish.

next, the girl.

then filling in the rest of the background. at some point, i abandoned the idea of making the water the paper color because it would mean i should paint in the sky to differentiate the two. i dropped in some blue but made it washy.

then back to the top for the finished image. 

in hindsight, i could have broken down the steps further. maybe by layers of paint in one instance. if i try a post like this again, i'll do better. i've always enjoyed seeing how elements develop whether in paint or model making or movie special effects. (yeah, i like watch the behind the scenes stuff on DVDs) so i thought i'd try my hand at some behind the scenes action. 

today is my niece's birthday (and my mom for that matter- happy birthday, mom!) and i'm planning a trip up to SF to go visit her this weekend. so, being the "cheap" uncle that i am (he said tongue in cheek), i decided to do a little picture of her. i thought it came out well, so i decided to post it here. i hope she'll like it and i hope she doesn't happen to drop by this site before i see her. (she is a rather precocious 7 year old afterall... :)

today is tuesday, one day after wrapping up another 4 day children's book conference. tired, yes, and a little tough going back to work and dealing with 'the real world', but one has to do what one has to do. it was another great, beautiful conference and i do so enjoy hanging out with friends and a community that i am proud to be a part of. i came away with some good thoughts, some good vibes and a belly full of beer. (we won't get into that last point.)

 but, here are my takeaways from this year.

1) my favorite workshop was by melissa sweet. she gave such good, practical advice both about composition/layout and technique. and did i mention she had handouts? and she gave us a color copy of her color pallette and wheel- of how she mixes colors including a nice tip on how she comes up with her shadow tones. i hadn't thought of it in those terms. this was a good workshop filled with useful information. 

2) (which goes hand in hand with #1 above) the need to sketch more. melissa explains how she does these exercises of drawing in a 3x3 square of just any random objects from life. just something quick. sometimes in color, but just a sketch. in one instance, she did a 3x3 drawing each day for one year. it was pretty amazing and cool to see just a sampling of those drawings laid out one next to another. i've never been much for sketching or doodling. i only did so when i was working on a projecct or a painting for myself. my problem when i sketch, is that i tend to draw in a realistic manner; as i see it. there's nothing wrong with that, but i just don't want to do that. i want to break the rules (of what i see), i want to enlongate, exaggerate and just draw dots for eyes. but since melissa's workshop, i just feel the need to express myself more. so i'm gonna try and sketch something on most days if i can get into the habit. even if it's just in a little 3x3 square. btw- here is a sampling of what i started doing at the conference after taking in melissa's workshop. these are some of the speakers and panelists:

3) how i adopted a pet rock. this little fella comes courtesy of tammi sauer. he (or she, i haven't checked) is part of her promotional campaign for one of her recent books, me want pet. tammi is one of my favorite authors and people in general that i've met thru SCBWI and she has great promotional instincts. cheers to you tam! now excuse me while i take this guy out for a walk. 

4) meeting new people and fostering recent acquaintances (and seeing old friends who have moved out of town) always amazed at the breadth of work that i come across from the new people i meet. but best of all, they're all such nice folks. here's a sampling with links:

bethanie "palisades" murguia, melinda "new mexico" beavers, emily ecton, brian bowes, kat yeh (sorry i threw that balled up napkin at you :), jennifer "trickster" meyer, carter higgins, katy betz (come back from florida) and mike jung. (i met mike at ALA this year. our circle of friends seem to overlap, so it was really nice to grab a moment to chat and talk all things from the lakers to movies and the virtues of emma stone. mike has his debut novel coming out in october, so go look for it. i just started reading my ARC and it's pretty darn good.

 5) we miss you pat. pat cantor is a lovely woman and person. i miss her. she passed away just a few short weeks ago. it's a bit sad to think that i won't get to visit with her at these summer conference. the year i took 2nd place in the portfolio showcase, she took 1st place. since then, i've always felt a link or connection or association to her. she created beautiful pastel art and it's sad to think we won't get to see what she would make next. i hope she is painting a nice mural up in heaven. 

6) three cheers for my friend karyn raz. karyn won one of the coveted mentorship spots, wherein she will work with professionals in the children's book field to help guide her in breaking into the market. so happy for her and i know great things will come from this opportunity.

7) it's all about the ideas. THE IDEA, in all it's forms. from those that are informative to inspirational, but also ideas for stories that are percolating and imagery that are floating around in my head. and even the game plan that i am beginning to formulate as i plot the next step in my artistic journey. 

now, if you'll excuse me, i have some things to do.

4 simple words: ALA was a blast.

and 2 more: librarians rock!

last weekend i attended my first ALA conference.

here are some bulletpoints from the weekend.

• you know it's going to be a good time when you run into lisa yee in the parking garage on the first day. she's like a good luck charm (except when it comes to electronic equipments, she's crashed the internet on several occasions. it's true. just ask her. :)
• my immediate impression of ALA? it's "comic-con" for librarians. (if you know comic-con, then you know what i'm talking about :)
• took in a graphic novel panel featuring some good buddies of mine- dan santat, bob boyle, james burks and tom warburton. the panel was insightful and funny. next time you see dan, ask him the story about the 8 lb. burrito. 
• was especially thrilled to meet betsy bird. she is the librarian/blogger at the NYC public library. it was also nice to have a chance to thank her for the lovely review she wrote for the 'roti' book.
• i even met my picture book illustration idol- william joyce. i thought, "do i tell him he's my idol?" i didn't want to sound like some gushing teenager, but, well, what the hey, right? so i did. even told him that i referenced him in my acceptance speech at the APALA ceremony. how one of his books, "george shrinks", changed my life and inspired me to want to illustrate for the children's market. he was such a nice guy, too. told me that the book that inspired him to illustrating was, "where the wild things are". we definitely had a nice chat.
• speaking of speeches, i think the APALA award ceremony went over well. at least a trap door didn't open up below me cause i blathered on or went long. no one from the wing had a long, hooked cane to drag me off stage. i think it went fine. no one threw tomatoes at me. so i count that as a win.
• met the creative duo behind the book- "reed gunther". chris and shane are really fine fellows and you really should read their book. it's great fun!!! (extra exclamation points for added emphasis)
• another fun aspect was seeing some local friends, who i started out on this road to illustrating children's books, also participate in some book signings. it's nice to see us all moving forward in our careers, doing books and making progress, and hopefully onto even more opportunities.
• but i guess the best aspect of the weekend- meeting up with some old friends and making new ones. it's such an open and loving community of people and publishers. i'm glad i get to be a part of it.

 thanks for a lovely weekend.

oh, yeah- my book has a sticker on it now!

this coming weekend is the ALA (American Library Association) Conference. this will be my first time attending it. this year it is in anaheim right next door to disneyland, (the original). 

the book i worked on that came out last year, "hot, hot roti for dada-ji", received the honor title from the APALA and thus, i will be giving a little acceptance speech on behalf of the publisher, lee & low books, and the creative team. (i drew the short straw since i live locally. go figure) 

if you are coming out for it and feel like throwing tomatoes at me, i'll be talking at 8am sunday morning (june 24th) in room 207C.(yeah, i know, it's early. but they're serving breakfast!)

i'll also be doing a signing at the lee & low booth (#2436) from 2:30-3:30 later that day.

i'm looking forward to seeing what goes on at an ALA conference, not so much the speaking part- my stomach is already doing cartwheels- so hope to see some of you there. 

drop me a line if you plan on attending. either here or on facebook. i'd love to see who is going.

and if i'm a smart boy, i'll take pictures and actually do another post...

this week i learned that the picture book i illustrated, "hot, hot roti for dada-ji" took home the honor title in the picture book category from the APALA (asian/pacific american librarians association) 

the 'honor' title is generally considered the runner up status or recognizing a work of merit. 

in fact, for the children's publishing industry, monday was their 'oscars' in that ALA (american librarians association) handed out a slew of awards to celebrate the works of many authors and illustrators in a number of categories.

so to be given this title is a very humbling and flattering thing.

but let's not think this award mine alone, it acknowledges both the literary as well as the artistic achievement. it very much is a team collaboration. and, of course, that starts with the lyrical words of author f. zia, who conceived this charming story to give to her grandchildren. my editor jennifer fox whose guiding hand brought this project together and a tip of the hat to art director scott myles. they were so terrific to work with and i especially enjoyed hanging out with scott talking about the book and going over the designs and layouts over lunch at bob's big boy restaurant here in LA. (get the chili spaghetti- thems good eatin')

also want to say thank you to lee & low books for taking a chance on a couple of newbies to the field. 

 i raise a glass and toast you all.

been pretty busy late, but i thought i would post a few pieces i did recently.

over the weekend i went out to the LA times 'festival of books'. it's an annual book fair, which this year was held on the campus of USC. (go trojans! fight on!) it's a great show of author panels and tents full of book sellers. while wandering the many booths, i came across this little book in one of their bins.

yeah, baby! tuck in there next to madeline and some other books in japanese was hot, hot roti for dada-ji. dude, i was not expecting that. a nice surprise, indeed.

i also came across a booth selling t-shirts like this one.

if you know your classics, that shirt represents the great gatsby, my favorite book by my favorite author. the shirt is styled after a baseball jersey and when i saw it, i had to pick one up. 

the 'festival of books' is always a fun way to spend the afternoon- browsing through book stalls, meeting and listening to authors and this year, getting some free ben & jerry's ice cream.

perfect.

before i sign off, i thought i'd mention a couple of blog where i participated in some Q&A action. the first comes from the lee & low publisher site called 'book talk'. the author of hot, hot roti for dada-ji- f. zia and i- talk about our experiences working on the book and other interesting matters. read it here at this link.

i also did a little interview with my good friend, paula yoo (writer of good enough and shining star: the anna may wong story), who this week is putting on her annual NaPiBoWriWee (national picture book writing week) in conjunction with this event and our Q&A, we're also giving away a signed copy of hot, hot roti for dada-ji. so read our talk and leave a comment. you could win that book! :)

read it here.

yakkity-yak. i didn't realize this 'ken min' guy was so talkative. if you ask his friends, when in company, he's rather quiet and docile. now, here he is with another post/blog talking about that 1 book that inspired him to reach for a career in illustrating. 

if you want to know what that 1 book is, head on over to the site 'teach mama' via this link.

also, you can win a copy of my book, Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji signed by me and the author. (shoot, even i don't have a signed copy from the author. so you'll be one up on me!)

and thanks to amy, of the teach mama website for letting me ramble on about one of my favorite books. :)

who is a bit of a hermit? who thinks 'salty snacks' is one of the major food groups? who can't seem to throw out his VCR? who thinks "calvin & hobbes" is the coolest thing since sliced cheese, and who has an inordinate number of books in his home library? (well, after lisa yee that is :)

recently i took part in an interview series/blog from jennifer bertman who likes to take a peek into the "creative spaces" of various authors and illustrators. i was flattered to be asked to participate cause i'm really kind of a boring guy...who works in a room...by himself...for hours on end. so an opportunity to open up and interact with someone (albeit across the interweb) was kind of a fun.

so if you want to take a look and see some of what makes me tick, read the post here.

i hope i didn't overshare or reveal too much of myself; like any sort of dark secrets. at least i didn't mention my penguin fetish...oops.

found out through friends and the publisher, lee & low, that the picture book i worked on is out there in the universe. the original release date was May 1, but i was told that it's release was bumped up and came out last week. (which was actually a nice bit of news to receive just before my b-day)

the book has already gotten some nice notices (see previous posts) and a starred review in kirkus review (a well regarded site reviewing new publications.) here's a link to that review.

so look for it in your local book store. if they don't have it on hand, ask for it. special order it. i went into my local barnes and nobles to see if they would carry it and another favorite local children's book store- Children's Book World- (the best here in LA) to carry it as well.

the book is also available from amazon.com at this link. 

if you feel so incline to order it, consider doing so with Children's Book World. it's good to support independent book sellers and i'd be willing to jog down there and sign the book (if you happen to want my messy scribblings in your fine book :) ask for my friend, Anthony- he'll know what to do.  

also, i make this offer, if you are on facebook, post a picture of yourself with the book on my wall or post it and tag me and i'll send you a pseudo book plate with a doodle on it. if we're not already FB friends, send me a friend request. the more the merrier. 

i hope you enjoy reading the book. i certainly had a kick out of doing it. and eating lots of roti. :)

i have a piece in today's sunday comic section of the LA times accompanying a story called, "whirling dervish"

if you don't subscribe or pick up the newsprint edition of the paper (and why not? i myself love the feel of printer's ink on my fingers while perusing the paper. seriously. i'm old school :) you can find a link to the story and image here.

or, i suppose, you might have noticed the image up top. (man, i have to work on my skills to tease a story and tantalize the reader... *sigh*)

the picture book i illustrated, "hot, hot roti for dada-ji" just received a starred review from kirkus book review, a well regarded publication in the book publishing industry. the actual review itself won't be out till march 15th, but i got the early word from my publisher lee & low books today.

we also received a very nice write up from elizabeth bird of the influential blog- fuse 8 earlier in february. here's a link to that review.

i can't describe how pleased we are here in the roti camp, especially the west coast contingent. everyone involved from the author, art director, editor and staff put in a lot of work into this project and it's nice to know people are responding to it.

"hot, hot roti for dada-ji" will debut in May.

went to the mail box today, minding my own business and i see there is key in the box. what this means is that there is a package in a separate utility box for oversized parcels. i had no idea what it could be because i wasn't expecting anything in the mail. well this is what i found inside.

an early, advance copy of the picture book i worked on last year. all bound with a shiny cover to boot. if i wasn't so stoic, i would say there was maybe a tear of joy in my eye or perhaps a smirk of happiness and contentment, but i'm pretty stoic so you'll just have to read between the lines. :)

it's certainly a handsome book to look at and made me quite proud to have this as my first, official picture book.

i hope you will look for it come May 2011.

happy holidays everyone!

was monkeying around over the weekend and thought i'd type the name of the PB i worked on into amazon.com and low and behold, it was listed. granted, without a cover image (which i've provided here without text. :) apparently the book retails for $17.95 and you can pre-order it. and i have an ISBN number. that makes it official. cool!

i found it amusing to click on my name under the heading which takes you to a list of other titles by "ken min". the first title that came up for me was "empowering asian mindsets through coaching", then my title and third was "the national collegiate judo handbook". i find that third one funny because i know, by 'googling' my name, that there is a tae kwon do master who teaches at berekley by the name of 'ken min'. yes, i'm not the first 'ken min' (shock and surprise!) and if you type in kenmin.com, it takes you to a chinese restaurant in japan. (btw- no, i'm not heir to the food dynasty and no, i can't get you a free meal, so don't ask)

speaking of the berkeley 'ken min', i've always wanted to meet him and i probably missed my opportunity because i had numerous friends who went to cal back in the 90's. i guess i snoozed and losed, uh, lost.

he's also the reason i use my middle initial 'W', to differentiate us and so no one comes up to me and asked me to "bust a move" karate-wise.

see the amazon listing here: Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-Ji

look for it may 2011.

yesterday illustrator's day (see previous post), an event i helped coordinate, came...and went.

it turned out to be a lot of fun and i was really happy with how everything played out. and if you know me, i'm my own harshest critic, so there's always something to bug me, even if it's some small detail that no one else would really pick up, but i can't say there was anything glaring yesterday...well, o.k. i wince every time i think about how i too quickly turned off the lights in the auditorium on brian floca's slide presentation. should have done it one light switch at a time, drop the lights gradually. sorry brian.

so i hope that everyone who attended came away with some good info, a touch of inspiration and a smile.

i also want to thank my tag team partner, milla, for co-conceiving the day with me and to my "volunteer army" for all their best efforts behind the scenes.

tho, i think the best part for me was getting to meet and know such bright, creative folks in the children's publishing world. my hat's off to brian floca, jen rofé, rich deas, abigail samoun and the irascible dan santat.

maybe we can all do it again sometime.

i suppose i could have written about this sooner, considering it takes place this saturday, but well, ha ha.

illustrator's day is coming. this is an event that i co-organized and i think we have a pretty spiffy line-up. we have author/illustrator/ dan santat, tricycle press editor abigail samoun, sr. creative director at macmillan rich deas, author/illustrator brian floca and literary agent jennifer rofé (accent on the 'e')

my partner and i have been plotting, planning, moving huge boulders and making back room deals to get this event put together and, frankly, i can't wait to see it unfold. i think we've got a little something for everyone. interested in how a picture book is conceived? you'll find out here from brian floca. want a mix of craft and industry talk plus what an editor thinks when acquiring a book? abigail samoun will tell all. what goes into cover designing? listen to rich deas. you've got a book to promote? jennifer rofé will tell you how (and she'll clean your fridge. what do i mean by that? come to illustrator's day and i'll tell you. :)

i don't know what dan santat is planning. he keeps saying he'll get around to preparing his talk. one of these days. that's why i've developed an ulcer and a nervous tick.

i think the curiousity of what dan is presenting- that alone is worth the price of admission. 

plus we'll have raffle give-aways, books for sale, contest prizes, and a secret something that we won't spoil here.

find all the details below:

http://www.scbwisocal.org/events/la_illustrators_day.html

so come on out and see what all is going on. it will be a blast!

it's the middle of summer which means it's time for the SCBWI national conference. the conference takes place july 30th - august 2nd at the hyatt here in century city, ca. i always enjoy getting together with old friends and making new ones while rubbing elbows with...well, whoever will rub elbows with me.

they always have a nice roster of talent speaking and discussing the business of children's literature, but here's my list of things that i'm looking forward to this year:

-that "first day of school" feeling the morning the conference begins. i still get a touch of the butterflies in my stomach. but it's always nice to see how people are doing and what's new with everyone.

-wondering what the ratio of writers to illustrators will be this year, cause you know, we illustrators are the 'black sheep' of the group. *baaaaa*

-hazing the obvious newbies who are here for their first conference. like giving them the wrong directions, making them carry my pack, letting them push pennies across the lobby of the hotel with their nose and having them wear their clothes inside out and backwards for the first day of the conference. be forewarned 'scrubs', find a good place to hide!

-wondering what take-out food author lisa yee will forget about and leave under the seat of her car to fester and 'mutate' and ripen by the time of the conference; like an unwanted science experiment. last year she had a bevy of little creatures come alive to sprout, amuse and entertain her. that is until she took her vehicle to get it cleaned out. this year, i'm guessing the food of choice will be a nice half eaten burrito. and could you please leave your car parked out on the street under the hot sun to ensure maximum results?

-seeing writer tammi sauer model the latest in l.a. laker fashion wear. ms. sauer and i made a little sports wager back when my lakers were playing the oklahoma city thunder in a basketball playoff series. loser has to wear a shirt with the logo of the winning team. gee, i wonder who lost that fight? now it's just a matter of which day is best for her to wear that stunning, sparkly, shiny shirt i picked out for her...

-drinks in the lobby. if you know what i mean, just touch the side of your nose and nod your head once.

-the sugary snack we get on monday afternoon. some years it's ice cream. sometimes it's cookies. and some days it's cupcakes. at heart, we're all little kids looking for a treat at the end of a fun, busy and informative conference.

looking forward to a good time.

and i plan to be sporting a moustache!

finished up the SCBWI summer conference over the weekend and i definitely had a blast. lots of good speakers. lots of great workshops and to me, the best thing of all, was hanging with a lot of wonderful people.

but the one thing i wanted to specifically follow up on was the bet i made with one tammi sauer. ms. sauer hails from oklahoma and i, of course, live in LA so we made a friendly basketball sports wager on the outcome of the LA lakers/OKC thunder match up. if the lakers lost, i would pony up original art. if the thunder lost, i get an advanced, signed copy of tammi's new book. but best of all, loser has to wear a t-shirt of the winning ball club during one day at the SCBWI summer children's book conference.

guess who won?

yup, tammi is sporting the purple and gold of the NBA champion lakers.

and here's my booty from the bet.

with it's rather curious dedication

tammi was an incredibly good sport and to show you all that i'm not the cad you might think i am for making possibly one-sided bets, i presented her with some art based on her most recent book "chicken dance" (illustrated by my buddy dan santat)

so, please, a round of applause for tammi sauer and go out there and read her books. they are terrific.

visit tammi's website at:

'mostly monsterly' comes out august 31st in fine book stores near you. get a copy!

on another note, i noticed there was this rather curious mustachio'd gentleman wandering about the conference flirting with all the ladies. i think his name is something like enrique suave (accent on the 'e') and apparently he is something of a lothario at large. beware ladies, beware!

a friend is putting on a charity art auction to benefit a very worthy cause- 826LA. here is what they are about:

826LA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

when asked to pitch in, i was more than happy to contribute art for the auction. in fact, it was a blast to do my rendition of characters from the book OH NO! (OR HOW MY SCIENCE PROJECT DESTROYED THE WORLD)

that's the theme of the auction. 30 artists portray scenes from the book or moments inspired by the action. it's that simple and that fun.

the auction will be held in 2 parts beginning august 23- 27 and then august 30- september 3 across Ebay.

here are the details. just follow the links:

the auction website: http://theeyewitnessreports.com/EYEWITNESS_REPORTS/JUNE_1,_2010.html

the video trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5orTOKFxFyw

a gallery show will take place of all the pieces at gallery nucleus on august 14 so you can see them up close and personal:

http://www.gallerynucleus.com/gallery/exhibition/259

if you're in the LA area, i plan on being there and maybe, just maybe, i'll be wearing my fake mustache! that's worth the price of admission right there! :)

btw, here's my piece:

 so everybody, get the word out there. pass along these links or this blog post and lets support a worthwhile cause!!

the 826LA charity art auction rolls on into week 2 and my piece goes up on the auction block. you know you want to support a good cause and pick it up. look at it, it's got a toad and a robot duking it out across a city skyline. it's got action. it's got adventure.

it's got romance. look in the window of the building on the left and go down the hall where you'll find a 70 year old man stuck in an elevator with a 68 year old woman. at this moment, they realize they were neighbors as kids until one moved away. but they never forgot one another and now, in a moment of serendipity, they meet for the first time in 61 years. buy this piece for their love story.

or look around at all the art that is up for sale. there's lots of good stuff here. check out that piece by bob boyle. it may be my favorite one here. or look at the works of erin kono or catia chien or scott magoon. lots of good stuff, people, from lots of talented folks.

so run, don't walk, to the ebay link here and support 826LA:

http://shop.ebay.com/dsantat75/m.html?_nkw&_armrs=1&_from&_ipg&_trksid=p3686

for more info about 826LA  and the auction website see here:

http://theeyewitnessreports.com/EYEWITNESS_REPORTS/JUNE_1,_2010.html

yesterday i went to the mission viejo reader festival. i lent a hand to my friends at studio 5 who had a booth and were there drawing pictures for the kids. since one of their main cogs is bob singer, character designer at hanna barbera, much of the requests i fielded were for drawings of scooby doo, yogi bear and tom & jerry. but little did i know that  i would be the receipient of some cool artwork.

this self portrait drawing is by a girl named savannah.

as you can see, she has yellow/blonde hair and large bright eyes. we made a trade of pictures. i'm not sure who got the better of this deal. (i think i did) it was also her birthday this weekend. i think she turned 4. happy birthday to you savannah!

this drawing is by a girl who i reckon is around 11 or 12. at the bottom of the page she left me her web address. she has her own website!!! how crazy and how freaking cool is that?!? if you want to see more of her work, go here: http://puzzle-tan.deviantart.com/

it was a fun afternoon drawing pictures for kids. it's for this audience that i do what i do. seeing their shiny, happy faces, makes it all feel worthwhile.

just, please, no requests for drawings of scooby doo for a while. every time i blink my eyes, i see his after image in my mind. :)

a friend passed on this little tidbit to me this evening.

read on Publisher's Weekly site...