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Last Wednesday, I posted an interview with Toni Buzzeo and reviewed her new picture book, One Cool Friend. If you commented at the blog or on Facebook, I put your name in a hat for a chance to win One Cool Friend. And the winner is...

Agy Wilson!!! Agy, message me on Facebook with your snail mail address and I’ll send you a new book. Thanks to all who participated. Please keep reading and sharing links to the blog.

If you are going to the SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC, and you have a smart phone or iPad, do yourself a favor and download the Guidebook App. Once you get Guidebook, search “SCBWI” and tap on the SCBWI “Winter Conference.” 

The Guidebook app gives you schedules of each conference day and maps of the hotel, as well as the conference evaluation form, and faculty bios with great pictures. (Just the thing for networking.) 

If you are a social networking addict you’ll love Guidebook. It has an instant twitter link to #ny12scbwi so you can follow the conversation as well as a link to the SCBWI Facebook page. I’m especially fond of the “to-do” list feature. It is a great way to keep track of meetings on the fly, and sessions you must attend. In fact, if you browse the faculty and tap on their bio it gives you an instant “to-do” link so you can remember to go to their session or send them a manuscript/illustration sample. 

Speaking of things to do, make sure that you have your postcards (illustrators) and business cards ready to go. Pack business casual and bring layers. You never know if a workshop room is going to be hot or chilly. 

Once you get to NYC there are plenty of fun things to do. Take a look at the official SCBWI blog for three new fun social events added to the conference schedule.

Please say hello and introduce yourself at the conference. See you soon!

Disclamer: SCBWI information on their website www.scbwi.org  is accurate and true. Any opinions here are my own and not necessarily the opinions of SCBWI.

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The Oviraptor maquette on the left is sketched in plasticine modeling clay, with a marble stuck in for the eye. It took me less than an hour to sculpt. I set it up with a strong rim light and a weaker frontal light source.

You can see those two sources reflected in the eyeball, both in the maquette and the final painting.

I was looking for how the two sources would interact with the form. I didn't choose to follow the reference exactly -- I didn't bring the edge light as far into the form.

A maquette like this is not a keeper. The clay goes back into the primordial mud for next time.
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More on maquettes in Imaginative Realism. (Amazon) (signed from my store)
The painting is from Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara (Amazon) or (signed from my store)

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Last year we featured a book about the Canadian, designer, painter and educator Burton Kramer on grain edit. I’m excited to announce that the book’s editor, Greg Durrell, is set to release a full length film on Kramer’s work this spring.

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Also worth viewing:
Karel Martens
Swiss Graphic Design + Advertising Book
Rolf Harder

Not signed up for the Grain Edit RSS Feed yet? Give it a try. Its free and yummy.
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Grain Edit recommends: Alexander Girard by Todd Oldham + Kiera Coffee. Check it out here.

Congrats to Jude Landry, camillemcmorrow and BlockRod- our winners in the grain edit holiday giveaway bash!

©2011 Grain Edit - catch us on Facebook and twitter

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Hey Illustrators and Art Directors!

Today marks the official launch of Illo Confidential, a new site run by a collective of award-winning Illustrators who have joined forces to share their latest work with the world. They’ll be posting new illustrations there on a regular basis, so bookmark them to keep up with their latest creations. And while you’re at it, follow them on Facebook and Twitter, and help spread the word!

Go check out the Illo Confidential collective here.

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Finally, we woke up to snow- the whiteish reflection evident in the bedroom when the sun was coming up! None too soon, took a hike yesterday and were amazed at the bareness of the Blues in Utah and the San Juans, here in Colorado surounding us on the horizion!
Now, we can complain about all the incoviences snow brings with it, like, "ahhhhh, I wanted to go to town and now need to shovel off the car... and the roads!!!"

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Teaching Authors--6 Children's Authors Who Also Teach Writing: Book Giveaway and Guest Teaching Author Interview with Barney Saltzberg (who shares his favorite exercise for picture book writers~)

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The Brown Bookshelf  has just announced the authors and illustrators who will be spotlighted during their fifth annual 28 Days Later initiative, a celebration of veteran and emerging children’s authors of color. The event will take place during the month of February and coincides with Black History Month in Canada and the USA. For those interested in books by and about people of color, The Brown Bookshelf is a fabulous resource and you’ll want to check in daily during 28 Days Later to see the treats they have in store!

 

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Just before New Year, my lovely wife gave birth to this little bundle of joy.

Ted Sampson Levell
Needless to say, things may be a little quiet on the blogging front for a while...
Please do check in every once in a while though, as I do have some other exciting projects I will be working on this year and normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

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Prepared for a 3 hour meeting at school with pen and notepad. These are the notes I get trying to stay awake....

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Wow, it's been a while since I've posted...my apologies for the silence. I would say that I've made a New Year's resolution to blog more regularly, but it hasn't worked for me the last few years, so I've decided not to resolve that for once and will see if THAT works.

At any rate, regular readers of this blog and pretty much everyone who knows me (and even those who don't) know that I'm very much into making New Year's resolutions. Let's see how I did last year. My 2011 resolutions and results (in blue) were:

-Don't stay in the office past 9 pm, and if I do stay until 9, no more than twice a week
I believe I stayed past 9 pm 2 or 3 times last year, and not TOO much past 9, so all in all, I would say that I did well with this one.
-Have my work email inbox at 20 or under at the end of each day I'm in the office
I was an absolute FAILURE with this one. Was overwhelmed by my inbox last year.
-Achieve Inbox Zero at least once a month
Nope!
-Read an average of 1.5 published books per month
Yes! I read many more published books last year.
-Do more cultural activities (shows, museums, etc.)
Um, nope.
-get 4,000+ followers on Twitter (follow me! @planetalvina)
Yes! I surpassed 5,000 followers by the end of the year.
-post on bloomabilities at least once a month (I actually have a new post up now. And yes, I know I resolve this one every year and fail...but hey, it's a new year!)
Fail!
-clean my office (and apartment) a little bit once a week
I think I can safely say that I achieved this very modest goal. Love the "little bit" part.
-de-clutter my apt and office
I moved offices, and so completely decluttered at work. Not so much at home.
-focus on acquiring Middle Grade and picture books--acquire at least two projects in each genre

Here are a few pie-in-sky goals that I didn't have much (if any) control over:
-Have five of the books I've edited become NY Times bestsellers
No, but I had three! The paperback of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, You Will Be My Friend by Peter Brown, and the paperback of The Candymakers by Wendy Mass all hit the list.
-Have the books I edit collectively get at least 25 starred reviews
I believe my total was closer to 15 stars.
-Win an award for books I've edited in every category: picture book, early reader, MG, and YA
At ALA Midwinter last year, I achieved this for every category with the exception of MG. I never did end up winning a MG award--but hey, I can't complain!

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