Warning, this is a mighty long post, so if you feel like cuttin' to the chase, you can fast forward and leap to this great recap of the 10th Annual SF SCBWI Illustrator Day, by Sarah Baker.
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Hello dear bloggy friends, it's been far too long and I apologize for such a delay between posts.

Truth be told, I've been offline ever since I posted my last "100 day" sketch because after that, I prepared for a fantastic family vacation right before school started for my kids and then it was right back to school and two huge deadlines for work and I'm finally able to come up for air. It had been five years since our previous vacation, so I focused on really enjoying the time away with my family. I can't tell you how absolutely beautiful and calming the entire trip was and I highly recommend taking breaks from work to recharge and rest. :)

The beautiful views in Kauai - McBryde & Allerton Botanical Gardens, Polihale St. Park, Poipu, and more...

Once back from vacation, I have been frantically working on projects in order to make deadlines, and although I've loved the work, the pace has been in 6th gear. I haven't had a chance until this weekend to be able to share a proper post as one of my deadlines has a bit of a reprieve, for which I am grateful (thanks to my agent and editor...thank you!).

Two weeks ago, between projects, I was able to prepare very quickly, a printed booklet of the "100 day project" so that I could bring it to the 10th Annual SCBWI SF Illustrator's Day in San Francisco. I had a few hours Thursday night to print, and then a few more on Friday, the night before the event to create the book. YouTube has it's merits, I must say..and this super video by Sea Lemon inspired me on Thursday night to go run out on Friday to buy some waxed thread, an awl, and some curved bookbinding needles. Friday evening came quickly as I paused, played, paused, played the video to finally stitch up my book, and here it is..it was actually quite meditative once I got the swing of it!

Moving on to the portfolio, for every year, because we've had the fortune of being critiqued by panel members in the industry, and especially from Professor John Clapp, SJSU, who stated that year after year, we should have fresh new work to show, I scrambled to print the latest work since showing my work last year. Thankfully the NYSCBWI conference I attended in February pushed me to create new work and so some of the pieces stayed in this latest book. My goal in preparing this book was to bring pieces to discuss with my paid portfolio critquer, the amazingly inspiring Marla Frazee! When the guests were announced for this year's event, I immediately signed up and chose Marla as I have been such a big fan of hers for many, many years. Her technique, her stories, her breadth of work continues to inspire me, and after spending the day listening to her, her amazing editor, Allyn Johnston, VP & Publisher of Beach Lane Books, a San Diego-based imprint of Simon & Schuster's children's imprints, and Ann Bobco, Executive Art Director overseeing picture book design in three of S&S's children's imprints: Atheneum, Beach Lane, and McElderry Books, I am even more inspired.

I passed out late Friday night, and was back up early to head to San Francisco (about a 2 hour drive), and was so happy to see my friends, author/illustrators Tracy Bishop, Laura Zarrin, and Joy Steuerwald at the reg. table. They saved seats for me and author/illustrator Laura Lee, a friend from the NY conference up front which was fantastico! As I settled in, I said hello to a woman a few seats away, Debbi she said, and it was noneother than Deb Pehrson Haun! What a treat to get to know and meet Debbi as we've been online friends for some time now. During the day, I was thrilled to see my friend, Bethanie Murguia (my roomie from the NY conference) and catch up with her, and friends Susan Rankin-Pollard, Josh Nash, Brian Bowes, as well as meeting Elizabeth Stevens Omlor and many others. One of the highlights of these events is getting to see friends and meet new ones..I highly recommend getting out of our bat-caves! :)

Debbi and Laura

Debbi, me, Elizabeth, Josh

Laura, Phyllis, Tracy, Joy, Sue, and me

Lea Lyon and I

The stellar event, hosted by SCBWI SF/South Illustrator Coordinator author/illustrator Lea Lyon,
and her team: SCBWI SF/South RA, Naomi Kinsman Downing, SCBWI SF/South ARA – Tim McCanna and SCBWI SF/South ARA – Kristi Wright, was held at the Fire House, Fort Mason, San Francisco. What a fantastic venue each year!



We started the day listening to Allyn and Marla speak about how they create their books together and were treated to many great background stories of how these books came to be: A Couple of Boys Have Best Week Ever, The Farmer And The Clown, Is Mommy? and Boss Baby.



After a break where we could view portfolios and critques were held, we listened to Ann Bobco and her design process including Marla's. Ann's design aesthetic and choices of letterforms were fascinating to me as we viewed her beautiful work on All The World,  Is Mommy?,  The Man in the Moon and more!

After lunch, we listened to Sarah Baker, Director, Illustration and Artist Programs at SCBWI headquarters, and Priscilla Burris, US Illustrator Coordinator and member of SCBWI Board of Advisors speak about the benefits of the SCBWI and how there are so many ways to participate and share your illustration with so many viewers around the world. We listened to Marla, Ally and Ann talk about Boss Baby, and the sequel, Bossier Baby. We are all SO thrilled for Marla's upcoming film in March, 2017!

After another break, the panel commented on participating attendees' "first look" assignment, which was given earlier in the summer, a series of three sequential illustrations interpreting a passage of one of Lyle Lovett's songs but the only part of the song that should be interpreted is the excerpt provided below. The rest of the song is not to be considered. These lines can be a launching off point to whatever story the illustrator wants to tell.

If I had a boat
I'd go out on the ocean
And if I had a pony
I'd ride him on my boat
And we could all together
Go out on the ocean
Me upon my pony on my boat

It was a fascinating part of the day, hearing all of the feedback from the panel's perspectives. From considerations of color, design, book considerations, i.e. gutter, page turns, etc., we learned a lot and were able to get feedback from the experts. I always get so much from these "first look" assignments!

The day wrapped up with the announcement for Portfolio awards, and surprising to me, I won one of the two Honor awards! I must say, I was in complete shock, a happy shock, and was asked to stand as Lea announced that I had one "something" :). Grace Chen won the other honor award, and the Grand Prize winner was Miya Huang! I am so honored by this acknowledgement, especially because the portfolios were judged by such an esteemed group: Marla Frazee, Allyn Johnston, Ann Bobco, Kristine Brogno, Children's Design Director, Chronicle Books; Danielle Smith, Agent, Red Fox Literary; Simon Stahl, Art Director, Creston Books; Julie Downing, Author/Illustrator & Children's Lit Teacher; Dr. Mira Reisberg, Award-winning mentor, Director Children's Book Academy.

I had a very, very helpful and insightful review with Marla..I cannot thank her enough for her advice and feedback! Marla pointed out areas of my work that were and weren't working as well, and her thoughts about how to approach my work to "play to my strengths". I have definitely been struggling but was able to have a few pieces that she spoke to where I must "go to" when creating..the pieces that have emotion and energy, and the ones that I spent less time fussing with, and just completely enjoying, so that was HUGE for me. :) I can't wait to dig in!

Thank you doesn't say enough, Marla! What an honor!

All in all, what a fantastic day! Each year, I appreciate the opportunity to meet with friends, make new friends, and learn more and more about children's books and the publishing industry. It means so much to me to be able to share the love of children's books with such a generous community. Each year I set out new goals for myself and I've found that when I'm prepping my portfolio for this event, it's really a great time to reflect upon what I've learned throughout the year and all of the highs and lows of this journey I'm on. I pinch myself knowing that I am so lucky to be doing what I love! Grateful, grateful, grateful is what I am.

I hope everyone's been well and hope that I can come up for air again sometime soon. I'm currently working on two books, and sketching for a third. I'll be sharing more as soon as I can. In the meantime, I am writing and working on stories for my own books and hope that I can push those forward in the year ahead. Have a wonderful FALL coming up, everyone! My best to you ~ Shirley

This little one's got a story to tell...

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Hello everyone! It's been far too long since I've updated my dusty but beloved blog..I really am sorry for the absence! I hope you've all been well!

So many very tragic and sad things have occurred all over the planet and today, I again, woke up to another shooting, this time of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It's time for peace. It's time for a change to the light. It's time for humanity, compassion, rational and open dialog, and our ability to think beyond what we feel is not fixable, but work towards a better tomorrow. I'm worried about the future our children and their children will inherit.

If we could all in our own way, move towards the positive, and share our love and light, we can keep the darkness away..in short, grow peace. Wishing you all well, my friends!

~ Shirley

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Welcome June! I can't believe how quickly time flies. May was a wonderful blur of so many celebrations..Mother's Day, my father's birthday, my birthday, my anniversary. I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful family and friends who continue to make me feel special year round. I thank you all..and I also thank this wonderful community, the artists here and on the social networks who make my world interesting, active, thoughtful, inspired, rich, and eager to keep learning and growing. Thank you! This year has brought a lot of long nights of hard work, some pressure and worry, a lot of wonderful feedback and a whole lot of inspiration and more energy to keep pushing forward on this journey of illustrating picture books. I am grateful for so much!

I just received word that I can share the cover and release date for a new book coming soon by the wonderful people at Magination Press. Dr. James A. Foley has written another book for the press called, Baxter Turns Down His Buzz, A Story for Little Kids About ADHD. It was such a joy to create the characters and illustrations for this sweet book, which hopefully will become a great resource to little ones and caregivers who care for those coping with ADHD. Thank you to my agent, Nicole Tugeau, and the great folks at Magination Press for this incredible opportunity. T

In a few weeks, I'll share the link as well as further information from the site once it's ready. In the meantime, I wanted to share a snippet or two, and what I consider the first equine endorsement of a little children's book ever. :)

The horses ask, "Are there any carrots in this book?"

These two characters aren't so happy with young Baxter bunny.

Hope you're all doing well and wish you a wonderful June! ~ Shirley

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Logo artwork by Janie Bynum

She'll have wonderful guests on her blog for all of the seven days, and I am SO incredibly honored to be a part of her line up. You'll also get a chance to win prizes including a print from yours truly. :)

This year’s NaPiBoWriWee will be May 1-7, 2016 with lots of fun writing advice blogs plus Q&A’s with some special guests.

Here are the basic rules from Paula:

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When I received the opportunity to work on this book, I read the manuscript and immediately wanted to hug little Danny. Though I have not personally experienced or have known someone with childhood depression, I have had the days where I feel that my mood and demeanor is completely different. For me, I'm sure it's aging, but thinking about little ones who may suffer from childhood depression, I found it very important to try to portray the feelings of sadness, grumpiness, and dilemma that Danny feels. Dr. Foley's text and Barnaby Rabbit's "Feel-Good Rules" are encouraging, lively, and motivating for little Danny, and I hope that his experience in the book gives readers some tools for their toolbox of coping. It's been a true delight sketching, illustrating and receiving kind reviews such as this one by 5 year old, Bryan!

The very wonderful folks at Magination Press also interviewed me recently, and I'd like to share that with you here. Also, here is an interview of the author..it is great to read of his background and writing endeavors!

I'll have a book giveaway soon, so stay tuned, and many thanks dear readers and friends for all of your support through the years! It's been an amazing journey and I am just so happy to be doing what I've loved for so long, illustrating picture books. This is one of those moments in time that I am pinching myself. ~ Best to you! Shirley

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So very happy for Grandma Nancy and her little readers! I thank you so much for participating everyone, and I wanted to share that the publisher let me know that the books are already in reprint, which is fabulous! I hope they reach an amazing amount of readers out there. Thanks again to the wonderful folk at Lee and Low Books, my sweet agent, Nicole Tugeau, and the talented Paula Yoo for the opportunity to work on these. I'm currently working on the next two stories and am thrilled!

Have a great April and week ahead everyone! ~ Shirley

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I decided to pick two winners today - thank you so much for entering, ladies!
Congratulations to Mary and Bella! I hope you enjoy the books..I'll be in touch with an email to get your addresses.

Happy long weekend and Easter to you all if you celebrate. Happy Good Friday!

May the Easter bunny, and his little sister visit you and yours this weekend!

For one more chance to win, you can comment here, or visit at FB, or Twitter, by 3/31/16, midnight PST. I'll pick the last winner next Friday, April 1, 2016. 

Thanks everyone! ~ Shirley

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I want to congratulate Dow Phumrik on winning the first set of books by Lee and Low, Dive Into Reading with the Confetti Kids! YAY Dow! 

For a chance to win a set of books, you can comment here, or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Thanks so much for your support everyone!

Wishing you all a great weekend ahead! ~ Shirley

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Lily is an African American girl and an only child. She's a little shy at first, but once she's comfortable, she likes to ask a lot of questions.
Pablo is a Latino boy and a New York native, he's the only boy in a family of three sisters. He's a bit of a bookwoorm and can often be found sitting on a corner reading a book.
Mei is a Chinese-American girl, and much to her dismay, she's a bit klutzy. She has an older sister and lives with her parents and grandmother.
Henry is a Caucasian boy who like Lily, is an only child. He likes to play sports, play the drums, and motivates the others to participate in different local events.
Padma is a South Asian girl, who's a bit sassy and outspoke. She lives with her parents, older sister, and younger brother. 
Lily's New Home features Lily, a bright young girl who moves from a home in a suburban neighborhood to an apartment in New York City. Lily is used to living in a house on a quiet street. When they arrive at their new apartment, Lily notices the amount of activity all around. Kids play jump rope on one corner. Buses and taxis zoom by. Lily feels like a small ant on such a busy block and worries that she’ll never feel at home. As she and her parents explore their new, multicultural neighborhood, Lily discovers that sometimes change can be a good thing. 



Want to Play? A Junior Library Guild Selection! - features Pablo, a smart and fun young boy who loves to read. On a warm, sunny day, Pablo and the gang head to the neighborhood playground to play. What should they play? Henry wants to play basketball, and Padma wants to play Follow the Leader. Finally Pablo comes up with a great idea: to play pretend. It’s a game that everyone can do easily. They can pretend to be archaeologists, astronauts, and explorers. There’s no limit to what they imagine they can be!

HOW TO WIN: All you have to do is leave a comment below, and/or help me spread the word about this new line of books by sharing this post, by social media, and/or by word of mouth. Is there a bookstore in your neighborhood who you would like to carry these books? Are there teachers or librarians you may know who don't know of Lee and Low books? I'm committed to sharing these books with my community and would very much appreciate your support sharing the information about this new series.




 
LEE & LOW BOOKS is the largest multicultural children's bookpublisher in the country.  Their story began with a simple mission: to publish contemporary diverse stories that all children could enjoy. They are also one of the few minority-owned publishing companies in the United States, as well as a throwback to what many publishers used to be: independent, generational businesses in which the people running the company have a personal stake in its success.

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Hello everyone! I'm back from New York (landed late last night) and have to send out an initial warning: this is going to be a long post, as I try to write in my jet-lagged state. Please forgive any errors or omissions from this post as I know I will have left someone/something out very unintentionally.

As this was my first ever "big" SCBWI conference, and my 2nd time to New York (my last trip was in the very early 90's), I knew I was in for a complete treat and I wanted to soak up every detail and experience to the fullest so I decided to not focus on social media for the weekend. The only "commitment" (which admitedly I did not do very well) was tweet! I must say, I am so glad I tweeted a bit, and posted one Instagram post for if it were not for that, I would not have met some of the most wonderful people!

So here we go! I'm "bulleting" my thoughts to hopefully make things a little easier to find should you wish to check out any of the links I'll be adding (check 'em out if you have a chance) -
• New York - what an incredible setting. The taxi drive into the city was beautiful as the city came upon me. The excitement after a long flight was building. I loved the Grand Hyatt hotel..the room was spacious and contemporary..and you can't beat the location, so wonderful to be connected to the historic Grand Central Terminal! Besides being artic-ly cold (in the single digits!), I thoroughly enjoyed the Big Apple.

• Community: I was blown away by everyone.. honest, generous, sincere, cool, witty, hilarious, awesome, encouraging, warm & welcoming, self-deprecating, crazy, and down-to-earth..these are just a few words to describe so many people I met or listened to this weekend.

• My roommate, Bethanie Murguia, is a fabulous roomie and author/illustrator extraordinaire...check out her new book, Cockatoo, Too!
• Jason Hart has GREAT stories to tell, wears a keen velvet blazer and kindly invited this newbie to attend a pre-conference dinner..thanks Jason for if it were not for you I wouldn't have met the...cool cat, Jennifer Gray Olson of Ninja Bunny fame is hilarious/witty/smart, who along with her talented and fun cohort, Julia Shahin Collard, allowed me to crash a crazy taxi ride. Three! I also had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Joel Grayson, of Books of Wonder about his writing career. Can't wait to read your books, Joel! Jason also pointed me out to the very kind and talented Moira Swiatkowski! Thanks Moira for wonderful discussions and time spent in that crazy portfolio showcase where I also had a ball meeting and speaking with the sweet and talented Meridth Gimbel!
• Julissa Mora the talented leader of my groupblog, welovetoillustrate.com for 6+ years now, was an absolute HIGHLIGHT for me to spend time with. Julissa, you rock. Your friends also rock..so great to meet/get to know Michelle Hazelwood and her friends..thanks ladies for letting me crash your party!
• Melissa Iwai, besides being such a brilliant artist and author, you are one of the most generous and kind people in this community...it was a highlight to meet and spend time with you..thank you is not enough. Check out her new book, Let's Go to the Hardware Store! It's beautiful!
• Roxie Munro, is an incredibly talented author and artist, and with her very kind and talented artist/photographer husband Bo Zaunders extended me a beyond cool experience meeting so many heroes in the industry. I am so grateful!
• There were 1,500+ attendees, and it was a thrill to meet in person so many people I've followed and admired on the net: Debbie Ohi, Don Tate, Arthur Levine, Elizabeth Biknell,  Emma Dryden, Harold Underdown, Paul O. Zelinsky, Carolyn Flores, Julie Rowan Zoch, Elizabeth Rose Stanton, Dorothia Radner, Ruth McNally Barshaw, and so many other greats. It was a joy to meet Katie Kath, Stephen Macquignon, Aino Anto, Rudolpho Montalvo, Colleen Muske, Nick Cannon, Joey Ellis, Luke Flowers, Andy Musser, Devon Kondaki, Ionna Hobai, Christy Schneyman, Benjamin Schipper, and so many other fine creatives.
• The Illustrator Intensive on Friday was great!! The keynote was by William Joyce. THE William Joyce of Rolie Polie Olie, Rise of the Guardians, Meet the Robinsons, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, and thensome. He delivered two wonderful keynotes over the weekend and his commitment to story and quality of work as well as his unending will to create the content he wanted to create and deliver it in its fullest was incredibly inspirational. I so thoroughly enjoyed the backstory of his path to publishing, his love of film, his excitement about the prospect of developing a new "something" for the up and coming iPad, the story app that set that vehicle on fire, and his recommendation to "Win an Oscar, it's an incredibly fun experience." His love for new avenues such as Instagram was palpable and his love for story drives him into his future projects. I'm excited to see his next book, Ollie's Odyssey, and further upcoming films. Bravo, Mr. Joyce!

Along with panel discussions and presentations by some of the industry's biggest stars, our focus that day was on career longevity and planning.
• The conference panel discussions, breakout workshops, and keynotes, kept me writing and writing in my notebook. Great information about the state of the industry, perspectives and advice.
• The Portfolio Showcase was 200+ strong. Some truly wonderful work!

• The wonderful presentations by Sophie Blackall,

were fantastic as they gave perspectives about their personal careers and paths to publishing as well as their thoughts about how to keep you working during the lulls in your career. Their commitment to their craft was incredible..research time and energy, and then execution of their efforts is what makes them the top-of-the-top in the industry. It was incredibly inspiring.
• Lin Oliver was quite witty and smart and so enjoyable to listen to each day! Her "fireside chat" with the acclaimed author Rainbow Rowell was a highlight and made me want to read, read, read!

• Nancy Siscoe, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, gave a great breakout regarding "Finding Your Unique Voice"
• Author April Halprin Wayland read her story, "More Than Enough", illustrated by Katie Kath during lunch...it was wonderful and a great little respite from the buzz of the conference..thanks April!
• It was a treat to listen in my 2nd breakout to Elizabeth (Liz) Bicknell of Candlewick Press speak about picturebook text. It was great to hear her speak about some of the greats for her house, Jon Klassen, Carson Ellis (I won her beautiful book, Home, in a raffle at the Illustrator Intensive...woot!), and the upcoming book, Toby, by the incredibly talented Hazel Mitchell. I can't wait!

The next day, thank you's were made to the incredible group of people who made the SCBWI Winter Conference possible...thank you everyone, it was SO well organized and executed, and the coffee and bagels were aplenty!

The renowned Jane Yolen gave the award for the two winners of her Mid-List Award:

 This year's Bologna competition winners were announced:

 Past Student Illustrator Conference Scholarship winners were highlit:
 and the 2016 winners were announced:
This year's Tomie dePaola Awards were announced:



 and finally, the Portfolio Showcase winners and honors were awarded:




We were treated to a keynote by Author, Rita Williams-Garcia, titled "Dos and Dont's in Children's Publishing from a Definite Don't"

and unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the rest of the conference or autograph session due to my travel schedule. Oh how I wish I could've gotten autographs for many of the books I purchased at the bookstore:
I had an incredible time at the conference filled with great moments that I know I will continue to remember more and more as the days and week go by. I took from this event two powerful things and that is that
#1) STORY is king..first and foremost. Paul Zelinsky's quote (you'll find it below) resonated with me, as did Dan Yaccarino's visit to the SF Illustrator day many years ago did as well, which is "why do you want to do this?" "Why is this book relevant?" Paul's quote is that it's not about you (the author/illustrator/publisher), it's about IT (the story). Yes.

and
#2, the people you "meet" online are indeed REAL! Meeting those who've I've admired and followed and enjoyed on social media for years in REAL LIFE was one of THE BEST things about the conference experience. To turn around and have a discussion, a "hello", a hug, or share a meal with someone you've known only through social media, well all I can say is WOW..it was incredibly rewarding and simply a beautiful thing. Beyond meeting those I've "known", getting to meet others in this industry, writers, illustrators, industry experts, and more, it was an awesome experience and I will forever remember this experience.

I'll leave you with the pre-conference prep work, printed postcards and business cards and pins, and some new pieces from the portfolio. I'm really happy that I was able to create 6 new pieces and share most of them in the book. If anything, I gathered very valuable feedback, some incredibly kind and generous feedback, and the knowledge that I was able to push myself to work towards a final body to represent myself at the event. I didn't give up and learned some wonderful techniques as I created the pieces..that is incredibly valuable on this journey. I'll also leave you with some inspiring quotes from the conference..yet another incredible body of information to reflect upon in the coming year as I continue working on my craft and stories. Hope they help you in your quest to make wonderful books!
Pre-conference prep: A whirlwind of a few weeks, and I have to thank my husband and daughters first and foremost for their patience with me as I was a bit of a mess before the conference trying to prep for the portfolio showcase that I almost didn't participate in. PSprint.com did a great job printing my new business cards and postcards as well.

This past month or so I have been finalizing color illustrations for a second book by Magination Press, and so with not much time left to prep for the conference, I decided to simply to create as many pieces as possible before the trip. This was probably not the best idea as how possibly could that be any good work, right? But, I knew that I wanted to push myself. I sometimes feel that given that hard deadline and the ability to say that the point of the process was for me to create, gave me this extra energy to think, sketch, execute in a manner that I only have done once before and that was before the most recent SCBWI event I attended, the Illustrator Day at the Fort Mason in Sept. 15.

I recently watched a wonderful online video by Lee White, titled Visual Storytelling Techniques from Will Terry's Society of Visual Storytelling's site. It was something I've been needing to help me craft new work with the techniques in mind, and I can't wait to learn and grow in this manner as I continue in illustration. After the tutorial, I thought, "Wow, what if I focus on "storytelling" in my new portfolio of work?" and so I started sketching concepts specifically for my first piece so that I could take it to the printers for new postcards and such. 

My work turned to "storytelling" and storytellers and so, with that, here is the final postcard:

front

back

This little piggy is writing...and rewriting...

This is not quite the story-teller image, but more of a continuation of a real story I have been tinkering with...

Little Hopkins the fox is reading about his famous relative..another story I've been tinkering with.

So long from Grand Central Terminal!

Some notable quotes:

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As promised, I'm posting the final Chinese New Year's piece. This'll be my last post before the big conference and I'm so excited! I'm packed with my new portfolio, postcards and buttons! I'll be tweeting at @shirleysillos so swing on by to Twitter..or I will try to also post to FB if I can figure this all out on my phone. :)

'til then, I am wishing you all well and thanks for stopping by! I'll do a full recap when I return!
~ Shirley

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Hi Everyone! Hope this finds you all well..and getting ready for Super Bowl Sunday! I am so excited to know that just down the freeway, all of the festivities are ready to start..the whole Bay Area is jumping and I plan to listen/watch the game while I continue preparation for the New York SCBWI Conference...it's coming up fast and I'm starting to get excited. It's the final stretch and I'm taking a tiny break from my work to share a little something that I tried the other day...and that is "tea-painting". Well, so I'm not sure if this is a bonafide way of doing this, but I found it to be something to add to my repertoire. If anyone knows of the proper technique, please do let me know...I'm continually in a quest to learn and grow, so thank you in advance.

I sketched this new piece thinking about how my mom used to play "Go Fish" with my girls when they were little. Boy, would they have the best games! Many times they'd end up in giant balls of laughter..such wonderful times. Excited to celebrate Chinese New Year tomorrow, I grew up celebrating the holiday at my grandparent's home, and then at my parents..we celebrated with laysee (red envelopes), special foods and candy, stories of firecrackers, watching the Chinese New Year parade on t.v. and live in San Francisco. What great memories..I'll be celebrating tomorrow and wish you all a Gung Hay Fat Choy!

I scanned the sketch into the computer and enlarged the sketch to fit on an 8.5 x 11 sheet. I printed it and layed it on a light table, and retraced the sketch onto a sheet of Fabriano Hot Press, towel dried the sheet, then stretched it on a board..then I made a hot cup of Tazo Earl Grey tea, poured the tea into a small cup, grabbed my widest brush and started painting. It gave it a wonderful golden-tone. I found that if I let it dry, and go over the area once again, the tone would become even more golden-tan. At the end of the painting, I made another cup of tea, and added more of the golden tone to areas I needed to bring in to make the piece more cohesive.

Here's a snapshot of the piece..


I'll post the final piece closer to the start of the conference....hope you all have a wonderful Chinese New Year! It's the Year of the Monkey, my brother's year...yay! Best to you all ~ Shirley

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Though 2016 has already started and we're rounding towards the end of the month, I am wishing you all a belated happy new year! I'm sending out a special wish to those I know who are moving through incredibly difficult times. Much love, peace, and strength to you!

It's been awhile and as I sit here mid-January with a project just completed, and a new one starting up tomorrow, I wanted to share something I've been thinking about lately, and that is, courage. As the holidays came quickly upon us, I found myself tending to my whiplash and after-effects of my first-ever car accident on Dec. 15th. Thankfully I escaped without permanent injury and am SO grateful that the father (driver) told me that morning that he believed his teenage son would be "ok", though he had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital for a hip injury.

They say there's a silver lining in everything, right? As I desperately tried to get right back to my usual routine of busy-busy, my body (and my husband, thank goodness), kicked some sense into me. I slept and slept some more. The very next day, I did the same thing. After two full days of rest, I resurfaced and I decided that a lot of the holiday hustle and bustle that I usually get pulled into, I'd let myself just take each day, one day at a time. As the days ticked on I worried less and less about getting everything done in time. I allowed myself a pass for the holidays. Holiday cards?, not this year. Holiday promo piece or thank you gifts? Not this year as well. What was I thinking about? Courage! Christmas came, and it was as wonderful as ever! My children, husband, and extended family all came together and we all worked together as a team. Courage to just say no..and let it go? A silver lining indeed.

Before the accident, I must have had that word in my conscience because I had to make a big decision about a submission to the annual SCBWI Tomie dePaola Award contest. I've entered for years, and have never placed or won anything, always toiling and worrying as I created one illustration to submit in the quest of satisfying Tomie's prompt. Each year I'd ask, "what would Tomie love?". Each year, I'd hope and in January would be disappointed, but happy for the winners as I could see why they were chosen. Though never placing or winning, the challenge for me has always been rewarding and worthwhile. This year's prompt (I'll post the full text below) ended with Tomie's final statement:

Those words resonated! It inspired me to just create..sketch and sketch and paint, start over, sketch and paint again. It allowed me to be "free" from all of the preconceptions of "what would Tomie love?" Honestly, I still wondered "what would Tomie love?" as I created these illustrations, but it didn't stop me from putting concepts on paper and just go for it. His statement, that word, were gifts to me.

The winners were announced this week, and I am so happy for them. I really am! Lisa Cinelli's grand prize winning piece was endearing! I see why Tomie chose her piece and that makes me feel great that her work successfully illustrated the prompt.

One of the best things about entering this contest each year is seeing all of the entries in the Unofficial Gallery - spearheaded by Diandra Mae. She works incredibly hard on this each year and it is such a great thing that we are all able to see everyone's submissions.

I received a lot of great feedback from my peers and agent, and in the end decided upon #3 below. #2 was a close one, but I took Tomie's advice and had courage to submit the piece that made me feel closest to the Little Red Riding Hood I wanted to share with the world. One that loved her little red cap so much that she wore it all the time, even in the bathtub.

I have a big month ahead... I'll be attending my first ever big SCBWI biannual conference, the NYSCBWI event in February and I cannot wait! I'm excited, and a bit worried that I won't have enough time to prep for the portfolio showcase, but I will continue to lean on this word, courage, as I press on and try my best.

As the year unfolds and we've lost loved ones already, and know of those who are suffering, I am wishing for peace, and love. Life is precious I tell you, and my appreciation for all of my blessings grows deeper each day. I am grateful to belong to such a wonderful community..thank you all for sharing your lives and gifts with me, and MANY thanks for reading/visiting and for indulging me in sharing this very long post. Here's to a year filled with courage! ~ Shirley
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Here is the 2016 Tomie dePaola Award Prompt:
One of the biggest and most important challenges the Children’s Book Illustrator faces, over and over again, is the UNIQUE VISUALIZATION of the MAIN CHARACTER.
 
So often, I have seen illustrators resort to generic depictions of the star of the story–too “designed,” too ordinary, too much like characters already seen in media, especially on TV and video games.
The assignment is simply to illustrate a moment from the following passage from Philip Pullman’s version of “Little Red Riding Hood” from FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM (Viking, 2012).  (You may want to read the entire story.  It is an excellent book.)
Once upon a time there was a little girl who was so sweet and kind that everyone loved her. Her grandmother, who loved her more than anyone, gave her a little cap made of red velvet, which suited her so well that she wanted to wear it all the time. Because of that everyone took to calling her Little Red Riding Hood.
One day her mother said to her: ‘Little Red Riding Hood, I’ve got a job for you. Your grandmother isn’t very well, and I want you to take her this cake and a bottle of wine. They’ll make her feel a lot better. You be polite when you go into her house, and give her a kiss from me. Be careful on the way there, and don’t step off the path or you might trip over and break the bottle and drop the cake, and then there’d be nothing for her. When you go into her parlour don’t forget to say, “Good morning, Granny,” and don’t go peering in all the corners.’
‘I’ll do everything right, don’t worry,’ said Little Red Riding Hood, and kissed her mother goodbye.
Her grandmother lived in the woods, about half an hour’s walk away. When Little Red Riding Hood had only been walking a few minutes, a wolf came up to her. She didn’t know what a wicked animal he was, so she wasn’t afraid of him.
 
Your task is to make me “FALL IN LOVE” with your illustration and especially with Red Riding Hood.  I want to “meet her” for the first time.Best of luck and good work.  And, as I’ve been saying a lot lately, “COURAGE!”
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So with all of that in mind, I got to work, sketched a lot, and came up with three illustrations:

I created two options for this passage:
" ‘I’ll do everything right, don’t worry,’ said Little Red Riding Hood, and kissed her mother goodbye.
Her grandmother lived in the woods, about half an hour’s walk away. When Little Red Riding Hood had only been walking a few minutes, a wolf came up to her. She didn’t know what a wicked animal he was, so she wasn’t afraid of him."
#1:

and #2


The second concept (below) came from this passage:
 "Once upon a time there was a little girl who was so sweet and kind that everyone loved her. Her grandmother, who loved her more than anyone, gave her a little cap made of red velvet, which suited her so well that she wanted to wear it all the time. Because of that everyone took to calling her Little Red Riding Hood."
#3

My entry for the 2016 Tomie dePaola Contest

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Hello everyone! I am SO excited to present to you my very first line of rubber stamps!

I recently received some samples and wanted to share this with you as it has been, for me, a very exciting, and interesting project. I have had the pleasure of working with my newest client over the past few months, and though previously slotted for 12 sets in total, we decided to embark on the first six with a launch of them in October.

October came, and it was almost over, and I hadn't heard from my client, and so something just didn't feel right. I've had a lot of super projects through the years, and I've had some disappointing and difficult projects as well, and I thought it was curious that I hadn't heard a peep from the outset of the launch. I decided to write to her, and ask for feedback of the launch. A few days passed, and finally I found out that she was also disappointed with the initial launch of the sets. My hunch was correct, but it was completely fine, as this is a new product/project/client, I wanted ultimately to gather feedback. Positive feedback always feels great and successful products are the goal, but as I continue on this journey, I always have to find out the nitty gritty (when possible) so as to learn and grow and do better the next time. (I hope there'd be a next time or chance!).

Anyway, with further feedback (that my little creatures were a bit more complicated than what is currently hot in the market), my client asked if I'd like to pursue something completely different, and so, I'm currently working on 6 more sets for this wonderful company. I can't be more grateful! I'll be lettering and designing, and hopefully in the future, these little critters (or iterations of them) will continue on in some form as stamps.

I am so honored to have this opportunity and to be able to share my work with all of you. They're available to order online, which is so exciting for me to share. I just stamped with one of my creations, and it is the most rewarding experience.

All of the six sets and a test stamp of little "Button" bear

"Caramel, Eggnog & Patty Penguin" Clear Stamp Set

The clear stamp on it's own..it's really cool! :)

"Sal & Button's Christmas" Clear Stamp Set

"Christmas Time Bunnies" Cling Mount Background Stamp

Handy dandy instructions and such :)

A sample from InkyAntics.com of their fabulous card product options!

Though Hopkins & Friends™ didn't have the best initial launch, I'm hopeful that you'll find them worthy of a look, and perhaps sharing with others who might like these stamps for their collections and creations! I'm super happy with the quality of their stamps...they ink, and wash so completely and cleanly.

I'll be in touch with the next 6 once they launch...thanks friends for your continued support of my work, I greatly appreciate it! All my best ~ Shirley

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Hi everyone - I wanted to share this very belated post on an incredible one-day workshop/conference I attended in September as frankly, it was one of THE BEST events I've ever attended. I had missed the last two Illustrator day events, but I knew I must attend this one as two incredibly gifted and hard-working giants in the industry would be presenting: Molly Idle & Kelly Light! Kelly Light & Molly Idle!  

Kristine Brogno Children's Design Director, Chronicle Books
Kristine Brogno is an award-winning art director and designer and is currently the Design Director of Children's Publishing at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. She’s had the great honor of working with a broad range of children’s artists — from first-time book illustrators to seasoned veterans, including Carolyn Conahan, Ward Jenkins, Calef Brown, Tom Lichtenheld, Andy Rash, Melissa Sweet, Jen Corace and Meilo So, among many others. When she’s not reviewing sketches and looking for the perfect typeface, you can find her exploring the Bay Area and beyond with her two young sons.
Paid Portfolio reviews offered by:  

quick "turnaround" but I didn't have time to draw the "back" view.

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Wow, what wonderful news! I'm overjoyed to let you all know that Kathleen Fucci's Emily Lost Someone She Loved, has received a 2015 Bronze Moonbeam Award. It's been such an honor being a part of bringing this important book to children and parents everywhere. Congratulations Kathleen & Kristina! Thanks everyone for your wonderful support. ~ Shirley

The Moonbeam Children's Book Awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary children's books and their creators, and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading. The Awards recognize and reward the best of these books and bring them to the attention of parents, booksellers, librarians - and to children themselves." 


From Kathleen Fucci, author:
We are incredibly honored, and thankful to God, to be among the recipients of the 2015 Moonbeam Awards. We pray this book, and the rest of the Hope for Kids in Crisis series, will be used by God to comfort kids and strengthen their faith, even in the midst of devastating life circumstances.

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Next in my "personal challenge" practice tips, is something I've always heard other artists speak of while in art school. While I personally had never heard of this practice while in school, I often thought that it would be a very useful and fascinating way to focus on technique as well as determine various aspects of your own personal work in comparison to your "hero's" work.

This was an incredibly fun and also very sobering practice for me in that the weaknesses in my skills are even more apparent as I attempted to re-create a personal art hero of mine, Holly Hobbie. I've been a fan of her's since the Hollie Hobbie lunch box I used to carry around back in elementary school, and more recently, her incredibly wonderful Toot and Puddle series of books. Who can resist those wonderful pigs! 

I'm hoping someone who's worked on their own "copy" of a master's work can help me here, and correct me if I'm wrong in this approach, but from what I believe is the task, it is to try to re-create exactly what the master has created. In doing so, especially by laying paint down, you can more clearly see how the master has created shadow, contrast, lighting, detail, and specifics such as determining which colors they've used to create shadow, etc.

One of the images I've loved from the book Toot and Puddle, is the page of spot illustrations of Puddle "preferring to stay home".

I decided to take a stab at the first image, with a twist so as to not completely "copy" her artwork. I must say, I'm quite the honest gal and had a really hard time with the concept of copying, but in this task, I felt it was in an effort to learn and is also because I admire her work so sincerely, that I hope that she wouldn't mind my attempt.

OK, so the first thing I did was google "old comfy antique chair". I found this wonderful image on the internet from http://tiffersupholstery.com
I then sketched the chair and added my little pig character and gave him a container of popcorn, just for fun and to make it different than Holly Hobbies'.

As I painted with watercolor (determined by reading the interior credits of the book), I started very lightly. I was timid at first trying to capture the exact tones of her pig to my pig and then realized that my brushes weren't tiny enough. I still question how she paints her thins so thin! I even tried my 00 Sable. Here's my first attempt:
 
As I stared and stared at her work, you'll see that she doesn't leave any pencil work in her paintings..I'm thinking because she paints all the detail work and doesn't need to sketch it in (cause that's how a master rolls! :) ) But in my effort above, you can see my stray pencil lines.
In her wonderful work, her detail of the chair is crisp..see those very thin brown marks? Do you think they were painted, penciled, or inked? I decided that maybe it was ink on top of the paint, so in my attempt, you'll see the very noticeble sepia ink marks (especially in the chair).

Being disappointed with my work, I decided to call it a night.

I picked this up again the next day and decided to re-paint some of the detail and add even more contrast as I noticed that side by side in "Preview" on my mac, you can completely see the difference in contrast between the master and the novice. Her Puddle's face has such detail and shading, and so I thought, wow, I better add some more pigment!




I also noticed there was more shadow in the chair cushions which definitely added depth and solidness to her piggy, and when viewed small, her image pops off of the white backgrounds so beautifully! I decided to add a little more contrast to the cushions. I then went and added the tiny dots to the fabric to add a little more depth to the piece. I think it helped a little! I also added more blue in the shadow below the chair.

Here's the 2nd attempt:
Here are the before and after side by side. I really like being able to take a quick screen capture to see the difference quickly!
Overall, I have a long ways to go, but this practice of "copying a master" (or at least a semi-version where you study a master's work and add your own twist to it), gives you another way to look at your work in comparison to someone's you strive to reach toward. While trying to paint Holly Hobbies' pig tones, it became even more apparent that she pays incredible attention to shadow, light and form. Something I've forgotten a lot about while painting characters. It's fascinating to think about how if a light source were hitting the top of the pig's head, how would the skintones be painted to show the effect of diminishing or increased shadow as the form is hit by light?

Also in this exercise, I now realize that my specific Sepia ink will bleed on top of a dried watercolor painting. I knew that it was not waterproof before and that it surely would bleed if painted over the ink, but I did not realize the reverse was true. For some reason I thought it would have stayed more crisp.

I am sure that when I try another piece to "copy" that I will learn more and more about what not to do..and perhaps that's a great way to learn as well while honing in on your own personal technique!

I'm really enjoying the journey, and I hope this might be useful to you.
Have a great rest of the week everyone! ~ Shirley

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Congratulations, Bella Sinclair!

Thank you all SO very much for participating in this giveaway!

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I decided to try a pencil sketch today focused on lighting and shadows. I haven't researched proper techniques or methods in capturing shade and lighting but thought I would resort to creating a simple mock-up for practice. It's been a long time since I've had life drawing, which I loved in school, and realize now that I really need to get out and focus on light and shadow as it's occuring in nature!

For today's practice, I set up a simple still life:

http://www.adrianjohnstone-taxidermist.co.uk

I decided to cast the light from my desklamp and see how the shadows fell..the thimble is a treasure from my grandmother by the way. :) Oh, and little woodstock is brand new..a little something I picked up at Target the other day. I think the Snoopy movie is on it's way. Anyway, Woodstock was my mother's absolute favorite. I just had to pick him up.

I found the shadow to be pretty sharp, and quite fascinating to see the little bit of shadow that is cast by the upturn of the thread. I decided to do the same for my sketched-in-mouse's tail.

I am heading outside now to sketch a little something in nature.

Thanks so much for visiting!
Shirley

An update! Here's a quick pencil sketch of the sunset this evening. It's very quick, but I wanted to capture the clouds...what beautiful shades to try to capture!

and in researching online for some good books about lighting, I stumbled upon this wonderful blog by Alan Carroll, who specializes in decorative finishes and murals in New York City.
This post describes "how to draw shadows on the Acanthus", a very beautiful decoration. Alan posts images of George Smith, "Furniture Draughtsman to His Majesty", who produced an incredible volume of Plates in 1826 "comprising instructions in the elementary principles of Ornamental Foliage enabling the student to draw with facility and correctness in this so generally useful branch of the Art." I found this fascinating as it described step by step the artist's method in creating the shadows, but more specifically doing it in a methodical way so as not to get caught up on each tiny shadow's detail. The overall effect, is impressive! I extrapolate this find by thinking about surface area and how light hits and how there are shallow shadows, overall mid-toned shadows, and then deep and distinctive shadows. Please visit this link, it's incredible!

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At the beginning of the year, I received a phone call from Kathleen who inquired about working together on her first book in a series of books titled Hope for Kids in Crisis. Kathleen Fucci, of Kathleen Fucci Ministries, presented her story which spoke of loss, specifically of a child's grief from a loss of a parent. Her personal story combined with her heartfelt and hope-filled words, as well as my personal desire to share compassion to those who've experienced or are going through loss compelled me to illustrate this wonderful book. It is an honor to be a part of this project, and I'm truly hopeful that this book and the series will help a lot of children through difficult times.

Kathleen explains: “Losing a loved one, at any age, is devastating. But for a child, it can lead to fears, insecurities, bitterness, loneliness, isolationism and estrangement from God – scars that can last a lifetime. I hope this book will be a resource for both the grieving child and surviving parent or caregiver. It’s a book that can be read over and over again, restoring faith in God and hope for the future.”

Here are the details to win a copy of this lovely book:

1) Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult things we have gone or will go through. In the spirit of compassion and hope for those who continue to or are grieving still, please take a moment to honor someone you or someone else has lost by taking a moment of silence for them. Then, please comment at this blog or on my facebook post here , and if you'd like to post a name, a story, or a wish, that would be wonderful, too!

2) Take a moment to visit Kathleen and if you wish to purchase a copy, you can at this link:
http://www.kathleenfucciministries.org/store/emily  
(it's a bit cheaper than via Amazon) : )

3) You have 'til 9/30 midnight PST to enter. I will post the random winner on 10/1/2015.

Thanks friends, and I'm cheering for Kathleen and her series of books to help so many people through her compassionate stories of hope.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KathleenFucciMinistries (Kathleen Fucci Ministries)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KF_Ministries  (KF_Ministries)
Google+: https://plus.google.com/b/110127094798784834011/+KathleenfucciministriesOrg1
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kf_ministries/ (KF_Ministries)

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hope you all have a super rest of August. I'll be incredibly busy until the end of September if all of my plans go right, and I'll share some posts as I go along. Thanks for poppin' in!
Shirley

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Whew, just wrapped up a wonderful family trip to Disneyland. It's a super 60th birthday celebration going on this year and wow, do they do it up right! Last night, after watching Fantasmic, we stayed to watch the firework show, which also showcased water effects and falling snow from the lampposts! It was amazing! :) I am glad we had time to enjoy a little R&R before school starts in 8 days. I can't believe it! Which brings me to...

Back-to-School! It's a back-to-school theme over at www.welovetoillustratestudio.com, and for my entry, I decided to offer up some FREE back-to-school stickers for download. Swing on by to see the ladies' wonderful work, and grab a free download there, or here at the link below.

I wish you a wonderful August ahead and hope you've all been well! What's new? I'd love to hear from you! Thank you again, dear readers, for visiting..I appreciate it very much! ~ Shirley

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This little porcupine, from a snippet of a recent project, sends a fond farewell to June, and welcomes in July! Hope you all have been well!

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Hello! I hope this finds you all well and I just thougth I'd share something I've been working on in the wee hours of the morning between projects I'm working on concurrently. I've found that I have to paint a personal sketch to keep fresh. It started as a pencil sketch straight on my hot pressed watercolor paper, and the other night I decided to just start painting it up. I loved getting into the little bits and adding dots and stripes and brushstrokes in white on top of the final piece.

We are officially on summer break now and I can't be happier regarding how my kids' school year went..the constantly amaze me!! Between music lessons, sports practices and games, and academics, they are just such talented and bright, wonderful human beings who I truly enjoy from morning to night. We're hopeful for a smooth and enjoyable few summer months ahead and hope that you all are well and getting some rest and relaxation too.

Thank you for visiting this dusty ol' blog, I really appreciate it!
Shirley

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