new posts in all blogs
Viewing Blog: Creative Cup Illustrators Group, Most Recent at Top
Results 26 - 50 of 323
We're a small group of artists with varying backgrounds and styles. The differences we bring to the table offer fresh insight and new inspirations. We started as a small group, sharing art and ideas over coffee. Now we've broadened our creative wings and have members from around the world online.
Statistics for Creative Cup Illustrators Group
Number of Readers that added this blog to their MyJacketFlap: 15
Ugly Fish
Author: Kara LaReau, Illustrator: Scott Magoon
For some reason, this week brought about the darker side of picture books. My girls and I are frequent fliers of our local library and within the seven days of reading, we'd covered,
Ugly Fish by Kara LaReau, (
Mama, why'd the fish do that?),
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, (
Mama, where's the rabbit?) and topped it off with
Monsters Eat Whiny Children by Bruce Eric Kaplan (
If you don't stop whining, I'm going to make a cucumber whiny child sandwich out of you!)
I Want My Hat Back
Author/Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Darker can be funny and in each one of these books, the girls and I were surprised, yet amused. We had some good discussions after reading Ugly Fish (
Treat others as you want to be treated.) and the dialogue in I Want My Hat Back is just plain funny. Monsters Eat Whiny Children probably isn't my kids' favorite...but it was a laugh for me. Now I can threaten them with whiny child salad to change their mood.
Monsters Eat Whiny Children
Author/Illustrator: Bruce Eric Kaplan
Luckily, my kids have a sense of humor.
Lady Sunshine
Lady Sunshine -
detail
"You will bring sunshine into someone's life."
I marched right downstairs to my studio to crank out the first piece for my
personal 365 project. I grabbed the first thing that was on my desk and dove right in. A crown and a blank face with hair I'd assembled some time ago. Perfect starter material.
I didn't want to fuss or think too much and then stall out on my first piece. Like
Melissa Sweet said in her session at the Western Washington SCBWI conference last April,
"Nothing is precious." That is a great reminder to dive in and enjoy the process and toss that dread of ruining something right out the window.
So I did. Who cares if it's too busy or not the right color palette. Who cares if the lips don't look right or the nose if off kilter. I decided to have fun and go with my mood. I'm not sure why this regal lady is in an old barn wood frame...and I don't care. I had fun and put something on that blank piece of paper. Welcome, Lady Sunshine!
Recycled elements: paper scraps, paper doily, music sheets, Christmas card, letter from mom.
This morning, I was thinking about the Western Washington SCBWI conference that I attended last April. Melissa Sweet was a guest speaker and had mentioned in one of her sessions that she had taken on a 365 day project of illustrating the weather; her creative warm up for the day.
I liked the sound of that idea, whether as a warm up for my illustrating or writing. To just put something on that blank canvas, ANYTHING, everyday, would not only limber up my mind for bigger ideas or create seeds of inspiration, but it would also help to create a good habit. I could certainly use more of those.
I have a friend on Facebook who is a photographer and is part of the 365 Project. They tout "Document a year of your life by taking a photo a day." How about we follow Melissa Sweet's idea in combination with the 365 Project, and make art everyday? A simple sketch, paint to paper, words, a creative journal entry? Anything goes, everyday, for one year.
I found another creative website dedicated to this idea called, Make Something 365 & Get Unstuck by Noah Scalin. If you'd like to share your project, you can do so on his blog. For all you Creative Cuppers, who want to participate, share here! It's your project, your rules.
Guess, I better get to my studio and start creating a good habit. I'll be back shortly with Project 1 of 365.
Cheers!
Hello fellow illustrators, Just wondering if anyone out there has a good recommendation for a home printer that does good art prints? I'm looking to get something decent so that I could make prints at home to sell, start an etsy shop, etc. I'm keen to go for Epson as I hear they're the best, (I see the Epson 1900 and 2000 batted around a lot) but a bit concerned at their ink usage. I've read if you don't use them often they do this recalibration thing that uses a lot fo ink each time, and I'm not sure how often I'll be using it!!! Just wondering if anyone has advice/experiences good or bad. Cheers K
 |
| © Holly DeWolf |
 |
| © Holly DeWolf |
Have a Happy Easter! ~
Holly
 |
| © Holly DeWolf |
 |
| © Holly DeWolf |
 |
| © Holly DeWolf |
 |
| © Holly DeWolf |
 |
| © Holly DeWolf |
 |
| © Holly DeWolf |
Got an email from They Draw and Cook...another contest is under way! The contest details are
here.
I'll be attending the Western WA SCBWI Annual Conference again this year. After reviewing the guest speaker line up, I decided to check out any picture books by the authors or illustrators that I haven't read yet. So glad I did, because I just read Snoring Beauty by Bruce Hale that was absolutely fabulous. His writing is spot on and was a delight to read. "Yadda yadda, hippity-hop."
Snoring Beauty
Written by Bruce Hale and Illustrated by Howard Fine
Howard Fine, the illustrator, is inspiring. Love his masterly expressions and varying points of view. Very talented guy and a perfect pairing to Bruce Hale's fairy tale.
A must read in my book!
Hi Guys,
I found these links a couple of weeks ago and found them really informative-- especially the parts regarding website structure and how to get going creatively... they are a couple of years old, but hopefully still as helpful to all of you as they have been to me!-- (working on that website!...)
http://www.n8w.com/wp/552
http://www.n8w.com/wp/1937
Enjoy!
-Randi
 |
| © Holly DeWolf |
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Let Your Heart Be Light!
Cover: The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
by Chris Van Allsburg
Insert: The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
by Chris Van Allsburg
Just read this book to my girls and love-love-LOVED the illustrations. So detailed and crisp...looks like pencil, so it's all black and white. A very talented artist, indeed. I've not read anything else by
Chris Van Allsburg, although most are familiar with or have at least heard of his Caldecott winners,
Jumanji and
The Polar Express.
This story,
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, is good but what really held my interest were his spectacular illustrations. Chris Van Allsburg won a Caldecott Honor for this book.
"Feeling left out."
I took the advice I received and dulled the white birdhouses so they didn't compete for attention with the birds. I also added some shimmering red berries to the tree and bush in the opposite corners, hoping to counter the strong diagonal line between the two birds.
I scanned the image in two passes and in Photoshop stuck them back together. I hope this helps show the true color palette.
I'm busy working on illustration #3. I have layered the background with letters from my grandmother and am waiting for it to dry. I'm having lots of fun with this! I've saved piles of letters over the years and it's nice to pull them out and turn them into art materials.
"It meant so much."
Another traditional collage piece fresh from the studio. The scowling mermaid is meant to hang in my bathroom so I wanted a quote that was about water...but when I came across an old greeting card in my memorabilia stash, the words "It meant so much" printed on the inside really spoke to me.
Thoughts, critique? Would love to hear it as I move forward in my exploratory phase.
Two Birds
I wanted to get back to my traditional collage roots for a time and get my hands dirty. I was inspired by the artist,
Cindy Wunsch, with her use of memorabilia as a background for her images. I really like her easy folk-like style, which is personally hard for me to accomplish. When I work traditionally, I'm in a constant state of fear. When I finally do find the courage to break through one obstacle, I'm afraid to ruin my piece at the next turn.
Cindy is featured in the latest
Cloth Paper Scissors magazine and mentions in her article that she had a hard time starting an image. That blank canvas does have a way of stymieing creative progress! Her solution is to lay down her base with memorabilia, then paint on top of that letting key words stand out...which then starts the story rolling.
I decided to try her method and really enjoyed seeing sentimental items that had been stored for many years, make an appearance in the light of day! I played with this image and am happy with it's direction, although it feels incomplete to me.
Any ideas or thoughts would be helpful to help push me past another obstacle to the finish line. I'd like to hear it all, even though it's glued down and pretty concrete...I have more memorabilia crying to be used :)
Thanks!
Suzanne Del Rizzo just brought to my attention that SCBWI has another challenge coming up...an illustration depicting the text below is due December 15 by email. For more information, check out the guidelines.
So they went along and went along until they met Turkey Lurkey
“Good morning, Goosey Loosey, Ducky Daddles, Cocky Locky, Henny Penny, and Chicken Licken,” said Turkey Lurkey, “where are you going?”
“Oh, Turkey Lurkey, the sky is falling and we are going to tell the King!”
“How do you know the sky is falling?” asked Turkey Lurkey.
“Ducky Daddles told me,” said Goosey Loosey.
“Cocky Locky told me,” said Ducky Daddles.
“Henny Penny told me,” said Cocky Locky.
“Chicken Licken told me,” said Henny Penny
“I saw it with my own eyes, I heard it with my own ears,
and a piece of it fell on my tail!” said Chicken Licken.
“Then I will go with you,” said Turkey Lurkey, “and we will tell the King!”
~ P.C. Asbjörnsen
I read several picture books from our library pile to my daughters last night. The first one I read I loved right off the bat and am now thinking of ordering it for our shelf. It was called Brontorina by James Howe; illustrated by Randy Cecil.
Why was it so good? The "voice" of the book was spot on and fun for me to read out loud. Merging dinosaurs and ballet is pure genius (both are favorite topics for the 4 year old set), the ending was a nice surprise, and the illustrations were beautifully done and integrated with the story quite well. The girls and I loved it!
Brontorina
By James Howe
By: Stacia,
on 10/10/2011
Blog:
Creative Cup Illustrators Group
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Children's artist,
author,
illustrator,
illustration,
collage,
Children's art,
Children's illustration,
children's book,
cool links,
Add a tag
Who Hoo Are You?
by Kate Endle
What Is Green?
by Kate Endle
I took my friend to Cafe Flora in Madison Park last Friday and loved the artwork that was on exhibit. I wrote down the illustrators website so I could see more and discovered that she is a children's book author and illustrator. I have read these two books and find her illustrative style very refreshing.
I have a soft spot for collage and I love her use of Japanese styled paper. She keeps things simple so that her shapes and patterns are the focus. Beautiful work! I'm inspired.
If you'd like to check out more of Kate Endle's work she has a
website and a shop at
Etsy.
Hi guys!
I've just started up a new blog which collates worldwide opportunities for illustrators,
whether it be a paying job, a casual art swap, a contest, a giveaway, or just plain networking.
Let me know what you think and please help spread the word!
CheersKim
Closetfound
I just posted my
favorite illustrator this week,
Sergio Ruzzier, who was also my inspiration for this week's character challenge: "Closetfound." I wanted to mimic Ruzzier's doodling style so I just let me pencil do the walking without too much worry of
proper and
perfect getting in the way.
This is Tayisha's closet monster...he's patiently waiting for her to return from her bug catching expedition.
It felt good to let me pencil tell the story...I just stepped back. A good exercise for me as I always want a polished piece to show.
View Next 25 Posts
My kids are the right age for these books...they are nearly 5 and able to understand and cope with the turn of events. Great for discussions!