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By:
Roberta Baird,
on 5/29/2013
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A Mouse in the House
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Speaking of books, nice segue huh?
It’s going to be beautiful when it’s done. I’m really proud of what it’s shaping up to be, but sometimes you just have to take a break and sketch a bunny.
A bunny with a floral head dress. Because…. well she’s what popped out of my pencil!
Yesterday I had a vivid, cinematic dream in which I was more viewer than participant.
It began with a montage of old sepia toned film clips-- one of which featured a lion tamer on stilts in a darkened circus ring. The tamer has his back to the lioness. He loses his balance and begins stumbling backwards towards the lion, sitting calmly on her pedestal. In a flash the lioness lashes out her paws, swiftly and effortlessly snapping the tamer's neck before he even realizes he's fallen within her grasp.
The montage stops. A new scene opens on a wide expanse of green field. I am outside, it is warm and bright under the midday sun. In the distance, I see a lion in the field. Slowly, the camera pulls out, revealing a tall chain link fence enclosing this field. The camera pans along the fence perimeter. A figure is standing on the outside of the enclosure. It is an aged (but not ancient) buddhist monk, clad in saffron robes. He is expressionless, yet somehow comforting. The camera pans to his left, and I see that directly in front of where he is standing, the chain link fence is broken in a four-foot gap of twisted metal. I gasp. Instantly I realize there is NOTHING separating the lion in the field and this solitary monk. I scream inside my head: "RUN! RUN! GET AWAY FROM THERE!" In my mind I envision the distant lion bounding towards the man. I panic. Can't he see the fence is compromised Why isn't he running away??? Yet the monk stares back at me, unconcerned.
Calmly and slowly he walks away from the fence towards some grass nearby. I'm overwhelmed with anticipation that any second that lion will emerge and there will be nothing to stop what may come. But the monk carries on, seemingly oblivious to the impending danger.
He takes out a deep blue blanket and lays it on the grass.
The final scene of the dream is in the form of an illustration, as if from a book.
White background. Birds eye view of the blue blanket and the peacefully sleeping monk. Curled up beside him is the sleeping lion (which has become a tiger). Together they are Yin and Yang.
______________________________________
I awake, the image lingering in my mind's eye.
This dream is so odd. So abstract and yet specific. I can't shake the feeling that it is trying to tell me something-- that encoded within the imagery and loose narrative is a message I need to hear.
The message I have found is this:
The monk was not unafraid. He knew the natural danger and threat presented by the lion and the faulty fence. But he also knew he could not control what may or may not happen to him. He acknowledges the existence of his fear, but behaves despite it. In so doing, he has mastered his fear and attained inner peace.
Only by accepting the existence of lions (or tigers) in our world can we find peace within it, and within ourselves.
I had to sketch this. Hoping to turn it into a polished piece.
By:
Roberta Baird,
on 5/1/2013
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Oh, how I would love to work in YA novels. I hope one day to get the chance.
But until then, I’ll keep practicing. Here’s a sketch, I started while waiting in the car for my daughter. Such fun inspiration to draw… and those tween kids are rich in expression!
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By: Joy Chu,
on 4/29/2013
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got story countdown
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Exercise your art chops!
Summer Solstice! What could be better after a full day’s work (or surfing), or sight-seeing around San Diego, than hunkering down, and drawing pictures with other passionate story-tellers?
We’ll work on hand-on drawing-and-sharing, in class, in person. Examine the latest picture books, plus a few timeless classics. And address aspects of the current children’s book market.
Join us!
Class: Children’s Book Illustration – ART-40011
Dates: June 26 – August 21 (9 meetings)
Day: Wednesdays
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: Extension, Room 128
Required books:
Don’t delay, sign up today!
You may purchase textbooks via the UCSD Bookstore.
extension.ucsd.edu. Register now. Ask about ART 40011
Fee: $250 / $275 after 6/10/13
By: janac7,
on 4/22/2013
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drawrings
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I needed to take a short break from the books that I’m illustrating. And
inspired by seeing some illustrations by of one of my favorite artists, Garth Williams, at the Eric Carle Picture Book Museum thought it would be fun to practice my penwork. Aaaand of course, my mind wanders to chickens.
 |
| Spiders |
Right now I'm working on a book of my adult short stories called,
Short Stories and Other Imaginings For The Reading Spot. Some pictures will be sketching and some in shades of gray, (not fifty shades!) This one is for a story called Spiders, a short short, about two paragraphs long. In the story the woman is working an apple press while she thinks about the things that are happening in her life.
 |
sketch for Janoose & The Fall feather Fair
|
Another project I'm doing sketches for is a sequel for my children's book, Janoose The Goose called,
Janoose & The Fall Feather Fair. The Fox returns to Free Range Farm and he wants something from Janoose!
This book I co-wrote with my grandson. It's in the sketching stage as you can see by the picture. Hope you will come back to see how these two projects progress.
Thanks, JD
As a child, I was completely captivated by the John Sayles film The Secret of Roan Inish. It was somber, moody, atmospheric, mysterious, moving, charming, and oh-so-very IRISH. It was beautiful in both its mythic fable-like story, as well as its muted, lustrous cinematography. Essentially everything I loved in a story then and even more so now. As an adult I discovered the book upon which it is based, the Scotland-set The Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry. The story concerns a young girl, Fiona McConville, who returns from the city to live with her grandparents on the coast of Scotland. All of her family had been living on the nearby small rocky island of Ron Mor for generations until they all evacuated four years prior. On that day, Fiona's baby brother Jamie was tragically swept out to sea in his little cradle boat, never to be seen again. But Fiona believes her brother may still be on Ron Mor, and begins to suspect he's been protected by the seals that inhabit the island.
Originally published in 1950s, it has been out of print for a long time, apart from the straggling copies of the 1993 movie-tie in book, which is what I have. But this version of the book has always bothered me. It's the exact same text as the original Ron Mor, but just its title on the cover has been changed to Roan Inish. The original book also featured lovely black and white line illustrations by the author herself. For such a magical story, my lackluster printed copy simply won't do.
For several years (ever since I tracked down my own copy of the book via Ebay), I've wanted to revisit the story with my own images. 20 years after seeing the film, I'm finally doing it! I've begun here with the cover and would like to continue on with creating black and white chapter illustrations as well. I plan to play direct homage to Rosalie Fry's original vignettes in addition to adding some of my own imaginings.
But for now, here is the cover in process form.
1. Quick color/compositional sketch.2. Black and white drawing.
3. Refining color sketch to align with drawing.
4. Black and white rendering.5. Color version. 6. Final color version, adjusting placement of elements and position of figures.
7. Overlay of book jacket elements.
In honor of Illustration Friday's theme, Glasses I wanted to post some sketches to finals of Beyond the Grave, the book I worked on for Magic Wagon Press. The two main (living) characters who crash the graveyard are Dylan and Michael. Dylan is the brash commander of the operation who gets the team into trouble, Michael is the timid unlikely sort-of hero. The only notes on characterizations I got from the art director were that Dylan should have hair in his eyes and Michael should have glasses. I started by doing several sketches of them. Since I knew they would mostly have conniving or terrified looks on their faces I didn't worry much about making them smile or look happy in my sketches. Not sure how this inspired the sketches, but I settled on my final designs while watching Tangled with the kids over Christmas. Maybe Dylan has a bit of Flynn Rider in him?
Then I worked on the page sketches. In this first illustration from the book, we see Dylan and Michael together in Dylan's room. I felt like this image really needed to set the tone for what was to come. You see Dylan's cemetery hobby taped all over the walls and Michaels hesitance to come into the room. Their body language tells the reader what to expect of these characters as the story unfolds.
In this second illustration from the book, the two boys hatch a plot to do Something Really Dangerous In A Graveyard. I felt like the lighting was everything in this piece. The glow from the laptop underlines the spooky subject the boys are investigating and Dylan looks more determined and sneaky.
Here are the finals fore these two pieces. Even though these appear sequentially in the book I didn't actually work on them one after the other. I have a habit of skipping all around page order when doing finals since I think it helps make the characters more uniform over the pages. More on that in the next post!
I was contacted by
TBWA/RAAD to design and illustrate characters to appear
on a series of advertisements for
Cartoon Network's Animation Academy. The characters are in three separate groups (humans, monsters and superheroes)
and all are in unfinished states, bored and waiting to be completed by animators at the school.
Character development and exploration below the ads.
By: Linda S. Wingerter,
on 2/26/2013
Blog:
Blue Rose Girls
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Today I'm having good fun developing developing some new picture book ideas. One involves drawing people, something I haven't done in a long, long time! Here is a sneak peek:
By: Erik Brooks,
on 2/24/2013
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E is for Erik
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Although I haven't posted any in a while, I'm still hanging in there with a daily (or almost) sketch routine that seems to be doing the trick. So many story ideas spring from these generally spontaneous drawings. And the surprise factor is always nice -- be it ninja raccoons or something more subtle like an arm curled around a favorite pal. Enjoy!
By:
nicole,
on 2/22/2013
Blog:
the enchanted easel
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This week I'm ahead of the game...or at least on time.
whisper:
inspired by this doodle found in the bottom of a first grader backpack:
 |
by Nora
|
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By:
andrea joseph,
on 2/22/2013
Blog:
andrea joseph's sketchblog
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It seems wrong talking about Christmas at this time of year. Quite frankly, I don't want to even think about it until next December, (December the 24th to be precise), but due to all my recent technology issues I never got to post the drawings from our Sketchcrawl Christmas lunch/get-together. We met on a Saturday afternoon at the
Harland Cafe in Sheffield. What a great little place. And, so cheap. I can't remember the last time I had a meal, dessert and a couple of drinks for less than a tenner. Plus, I had an extra portion of chips - which were amazing. But, this is what's known as going off on a tangent (it's the sort of thing I remember, though; good chips). Here are just a few sketches I made. I came home with absolutely tonnes of drawings. Some days are like that, though, right? Some days you're just unstoppable.
Anyway, I'd like to introduce you to a couple of our group;.
Harry has been drawing with
Sketchcrawl North for longer than me. Despite being one of our youngest members he is a veteran. I think he'd been scribbling away since about the age of ten (ish). His work is great now, so I can only imagine what it'll be like in a few years time if he continues at this rate.
Now, I can't pretend I know this baby. He, or she, was sat on a table close by. On these sketchcrawl outings I try to take a few tools that I wouldn't normally use, to change things up a bit. I made this baby sketch with one of my lovely old calligraphy pens. I really must use them more. I pinched a blue pencil, from one of the group, to create his, or her, rosy cheeks.
And, finally, another of our regulars Jane, in her lovely jumper. It's so nice I drew it twice. Here and in the top drawing.
Thanks for all the recent response about resizing vs watermarking images, etc. As you might be able to tell, from this post, I still don't have a bloody clue what I'm doing.
Happy Christmas!
By:
Roberta Baird,
on 2/16/2013
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A Mouse in the House
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Ethel was always a little bit different than the other sheep.
 |
| A little quick painting to celebrate the season! |
And of course a little Ultimate Sinister concept painting showing the heartbreak of jilting...
 |
| Life can be full of disappointment in the world of The Ultimate Sinister,,, |
By:
Heidi MacDonald,
on 2/8/2013
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PW -The Beat
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TweetHello and welcome! We are starting a weekly art thingy and have -rather thoughtfully- set it for Friday, that interminable day where the weekend is within touching distance and yet you still have to be at work. Hence, pretty and cool stuff that will help tide you over- forget words, just feast your eyes. This [...]
Day one of my new creative schedule was a success. By that I mean I attempted the preconceived schedule and made progress on the project I was working on. Check and double check!
For several years I've had it in the back of my mind to create a new 3-dimensional layered book (
Jane Ray's Snow White is a great example) and I last
made some while at RISD some seven plus years ago. This project is the first time I've attempted fully rendered illustrations in my style in this format. My other books were more graphic with simple drawings, so this is a bit of an interesting challenge.
The book will be composed of six separate spreads, each featuring a beautiful mythological creature in their natural habitat. The overall concept is to feel as though you (as the viewer) have inconspicuously stumbled upon them while they're just...hanging out...doing whatever it is a mythological creature would do...
Narrowing my creatures down to the top six most common AND most beautiful was tough. Dragon, unicorn, griffin, and phoenix were obvious enough and at first I wanted to avoid humanoid creatures. But pretty much everything else (like cerberus, hydra, etc) are just too aggressive or scary to fit with the vibe I'm going for. So instead I picked two humanoids, a male and female (centaur and mermaid) which I think round out the top six most common creatures pretty well anyway.
Here are the color, light, and composition thumbnails for each spread:
The book order will be Unicorn, Mermaid, Griffin, Dragon, Centaur, Phoenix.
Now that I've captured the basic idea of each spread, I can move into the second planning phase: breaking each spread into three separate layers. Each layer will need to be completely painted, whether or not you can see the entire image behind the others. Figuring out how all three will work together to create the illusion of deep space is a lot of fun. After that will come the drawing revision phase where I really nail down each creature's appearance. 
By:
Roberta Baird,
on 12/21/2012
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If you’re just now joining us on Iron Chef Vermin… Strawberry Challenge, you’ll note on the challenger’s side, Ronaldo Rodent, Executive Chef of the ever popular Hole in the Wall restaurant unfolding a nice pate brisee over a sugared strawberry filling….
I'm so thrilled to announce the release of my Bird Art App for the iPad. It's available from the App Store now - and it's FREE (for a limited time)!
It is a collection of some of my favourite sketches, drawings and paintings, including some of the rough original sketches made prior to the finished artwork. I've been passionate about painting and drawing birds for over 20 years, and this is such an exciting way for me to share some of my pieces with you.
I hope you enjoy taking a look at this other side of my creative life - this app has been a pet project of mine for the past year, made possible by the clever folks at daydreemin, who compiled the images into this lovely format.
This is not my traditional New Year's post. I'll do that along with some sketches of two new book projects I'm excited to be working on later in the week. For the moment this is sharing some new sketches from the last few days of 2012. We spent some time with the Fabulous Illustrator's brother and family and I did these sketches for the nieces while watching one of the MANY kid's movies floating around as gifts this year.
First, the princess/fairy loving one: I have a lot of experience with what makes little princess girls happy since I have one of those regularly underfoot - specifically lots of ruffles, lots of hair, lots of frills and at least one wand:
Second the dragon loving one: I have some experience with this kind of little girl as well since I was a dragon lover much more than a princess fan. In my memory big gnarly fierce dragons were the best and we liked to be able to boss them around:
Finally the preteen. Eleven year olds are much more cool these days than I ever was. Preteen Niece appears to have attained the same level of coolness at 11 that I reached at about 19 so I couldn't draw pictures of dragons and horses for her. Instead I noticed she spent a lot of time with the pets at Grandmama's house. I do remember being caught in the age between relating to little kids and relating to grown-ups. During that time, when there were no other in-betweens around, the company of animals was preferred:
I've had every intention of blogging more. I planned a big year in review post, a resolutions post, & lots of in progress posts. The best laid plans, you know. Truth is I thoroughly enjoyed the holidays and took full advantage of the break. Now I'm neck deep in deadlines and promo.
I've had kangaroos on my mind for awhile. I don't know why, but I don't mess with my muse. If she wants me to draw kangaroos, then I will. Good things happen when I listen.
I have a plan for these guys. Hopefully, I can squeeze them into my already tight schedule.
The penguins just keep on coming around here. It helps that the boys continue to make penguin requests.
I've been posting a lot of sketches on Instagram (laurazarrrin) You can see yesterday's penguin blog post
here.
Yesterday morning the kid literati world was all a-twitter as the ALA made its announcment of this year's outstanding books for young people. They always start with the Newbury, but since this is an illustrator blog I'm starting with the Caldecott winners:
Winning the gold was Jon Klassen's This Is Not My Hat
Honorees were Peter Brown's
Creepy Carrots (we have a signed copy, proving in fact that our family is cooler than yours), Jon Klassen's
Extra Yarn, David Small for
One Cool Friend, Laura Seeger for
Green, and Pamela Zagarenski for
Sleep Like a Tiger.
The Newbery Award went to
The One and Only Ivan written by Katherine Applegate
Three Newbery Honor Books also were named:
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz,
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin, and
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.
Thanks to the miracle of social media I got to send messages of congratulations to many of the winners. I have to say it was pretty weird to type "congrats on the caldecott"... made it seem a little more within reach.
Finally I'll post a couple of sketches from one of the three projects I'm currently super busy with. I picked these to go with the theme of smart-alecky fish and carrots with mind twisting skills:
By:
Roberta Baird,
on 2/1/2013
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View Next 25 Posts
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By: Courtney Autumn Martin,
on 5/9/2013
inspired by seeing some illustrations by of one of my favorite artists, Garth Williams, at the Eric Carle Picture Book Museum thought it would be fun to practice my penwork. Aaaand of course, my mind wanders to chickens.
By: JD Holiday,
on 4/14/2013
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By: Aaron Blecha,
on 3/7/2013
By: Tatjana Mai-Wyss,
on 2/22/2013
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By: Christina Wald,
on 2/14/2013
By: Tina Burke,
on 12/26/2012
By: Laura Zarrin,
on 1/13/2013
I love the vivid imagery of dreams, and you did such a great job describing yours that I feel tempted to illustrate a few of the descriptions myself!!!
But dreams are also great when they might have significance. Honestly as I read the description of your dream I couldn't stop thinking about your last post and thought the situation might relate!
Totally. I think there's a definite connection between the two. I need to tackle many fears in order to have the career (and life) I want!