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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!

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.

 

went to the zoo today to draw the animals. as beautiful a day as it was, it was probably a little too hot for the critters. most of them looking for shade or staying out of sight in back where they could just be away from the sun. ended up with very few animals to draw.
except for this turtle (picture 1) who says turtles are slow? in the time i drew this, he was sprinting out of his home across the compound, ate some vittles, read a stephen king book, talked to the park ranger and ran back home- all in the span of 5 minutes!
and those meerkats, what a bunch of hams! they were constantly posing like they were hollywood stars on the red carpet. i guess that's what happens when one of their own stars in a disney feature and the rest of them are looking for their own 3 picture deal with 10% of the back end.

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

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!