Hey, gang, this has been quite a busy day. I can't be too long today, so I'll post cyber kid 303's new comment:
Old Man's Cave By Jeff Smith is a good book because it is an action packed book about Fone Bone, Smiley Bone, & Phoney Bone who accidently go to a new city and there are many adventures. This is the sixth book in the series and this one is all about the war between the Flat Landers and the Rat Creatures.
I really liked Old Man's Cave, but then, I like all the Bone graphic novels. By the way, cyber kid came here today for a program about Norman Rockwell. Here's a photo:
Cyber kid and Will are neck-and-neck in the free T-shirt contest but I'll have to post the standings tomorrow. We're going to have some fun at the Heroes fest next Tuesday from 2-4. We'll have Guitar Hero, a place to get your body traced and design your own hero (or villain), a portable basketball goal to be a Basketball Hero, a knights vs dragons balloon sword area, and more fun stuff. Be sure to come!
Carl
PS--Darth Bill is back! I thought he was sick but I was wrong! Just wait until you hear his amazing story!
It's fun to eavesdrop on kids. My daughter recently commented that if Norman Rockwell was still alive, he and Shel Silverstein could have teamed up. She's a big fan of Silverstein, and was flipping through a book of Rockwell's illustrations.
It would have been a rare combination.
Just about all of the skin has grown back on my finger and it's just covered with a regular band-aid now. Welcome back, friend! You never know how much work your left pinky does until you can't use it.
I've been making it work overtime this past few days trying to catch up so I can get my web site live this week. I'm appearing on a panel at the Printers Row Book Fair on June 9 and since my book won't be published until fall, I don't have anything to sign. So I'm trying to get a handout together that will include my web address. By the way, the panel is on writing for children, featuring first-time authors and will be hosted by the great Esther Hershenhorn. Check out the awesome fair if you're around Chicago: http://www.chicagotribune.com/about/custom/events/printersrow/
We just had a wonderful program for our Illinois SCBWI chapter on web sites for writers. Lisa Firke (www.hitthosekeys.com) presented and did a marvelous job in showing me all of the things I didn't know about web design. If I win the lottery any time soon, I will have Lisa design a site for me. But since I am poor right now, I opted to DIY via one of the web hosting companies. Once I get this thing live I will post the addy.
A Day in the Life of a Little Girl by Norman RockwellI am drawing these days. It seems like I’ve only been slinging paint for months trying to finish off some big projects and during that time I’ve gotten rusty – both the hand and the mind. I’ve been digging through the books on my shelves again looking for inspiration. My table is surrounded in a sea of open books right now and I’ve discovered that I have three books of Norman Rockwell paintings right up on top.
In college I developed a distain for Rockwell. I guess it was peer pressure and at the time I had absolutely no intention of doing sissy children’s illustration. We were too cool for that. Nothing but Rolling Stone covers for us, man. The majority of Rockwell’s work was owned at that time by the Columbus Museum of Art adjacent to campus. I am ashamed to say I never saw the collection, even when it was sold and the museum had a “last chance to see these original Rockwells” show. He traced – ya know? Tracing was as low as it got.
Now when my well is low I pull out those Rockwell books and I am overwhelmed by his gift. Maybe he traced, maybe not, but what he did was to absolutely tell a tale, in great detail, in his pictures. The viewer becomes a part of the scene. Every figure in his paintings is a character brought to life. You can feel what they feel, know who they are. I am so ashamed I ever thought poorly of him. I bring a tiny piece of his genius into my most successful work. My characters become more dimensional, the environment more real, the tale is more fully told. This is the most rewarding part of doing illustration for children’s publications for me – to be able to create something that is more than just a picture, but a window into a place I have captured, populated by characters I created. I guess it is the same for writers when they get it right.
This paragraph about Rockwell from America’s Great Illustrators by Susan Meyer caught my eye this morning. I thought I was the only one that had this emotional path during the painting process. Maybe it is universal.
“It’s always like this,” he said about his painting. “I start a picture believing it will be a masterpiece. When I’m about half finished I decide it’s no good, I’ll have to start it over or, better yet, give up. Then I discipline myself and paint it. Toward the end it improves. But it never quite fulfills the high hopes with which I began it.”
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Karen I loved this post. It was honest and heart warming. Love that.
I can so relate to what Susan said too. I am going through that right now on a private commission I am working on. I talk myself through every painting I do. Telling myself I can do this and that I have painted many dogs before or a children before and I can paint these also. . .and in the end I think. . ."Whew!okay it's done!" I am thankful I like most of my work when it's done. It's just working through the doubts that's tough
Sherry
I think if you had ever seen those paintings your opinion might have changed sooner. His original works were HUGE (so much bigger than I would have imagined), skillfully executed with beautiful brushwork, and absolutely blew me away. At the size he worked, they are much looser and more painterly than they appear in reproductions. Most of his characters were "pushed" well beyond the original reference. When he traced, it was for expedience, not because he couldn't draw.
Interesting Karen. I too wasn't much of a fan in college. I guess his work just wasn't cool enough for us when we were young!
Seems like it slowly grew on me. Then a few years ago I got to see his traveling exhibit in person. I was blown away! Even more blown away by the fact that as a Graphic Designer I hadn't related to his work before then.
Now, I seem to see his influence on my style (I hope!). I refer to his work a lot. And there is so much to pick from!
Great quote BTW-really sums up the mental process.
gail
P.S. Even with tracing you still need to know how to draw. Just ask a non-artist to trace something and turn it into a drawing!
I thought I would send you a little encouragement note to let you know how much I have enjoyed looking at your work. I stumbled upon your work through the Picture-Bookies Showcase. I'm one of the Picture-Bookies blog ring members. Your work is fun, well drawn and well thought out. I'm sure you will stay busy in the kids book field.