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| Artwork by Shawna (that's me)! |
Utah and Southern Idaho Illustrators Unite!! Mark your calendars!
Utah/ Southern Idaho SCBWI presents, our 2015 Illustrator's Conference, February 21, 2015 with art director
Kristine Brogno from Chronicle Books! Other speakers will be Author/Illustrator
Mark Pett (The Girl and the Bicycle), and Illustrator
Guy Francis (Clark the Shark). Come join us for a day full of fun and inspiration!
Keep up to date on the Drawing Sunshine Blog:
http://drawingsunshine.wordpress.com/Also, you can register here:
https://utahsouthidaho.scbwi.org/events/utah-southern-idaho-scbwi-illustrators-conference-2015/
I had a most amazing time going to CTNx (Creative Talent Network Animation Expo) in Burbank this past weekend. Here are a couple highlights from my trip.
The day before the Expo, we got together with people from the Oatley Academy. We had breakfast together and then we went to the
Getty Museum. It was amazing to be with wonderful people who I have taken classes with at the Oatley Academy who have become some of my best friends.
After looking around the museum, we had "OA family time." Chris Oatley, Lora Innes, and Justin Copeland gave us some great talks on what to expect at CTN, longevity of careers in art, and not quenching our passions because of what other people think.
Here's a picture of some of my favorite people.
After the Getty, we went to the Center Stage Gallery to see the Lovely Ladies of Animation exhibit. It was awesome to see their original artwork in person! Here is a picture of us gathered after to eat and visit. We ended up in a circle of drawing awesomeness.
The Expo itself was amazing. I met so many people that I knew from school, from Utah, and from the internet. I met new amazing artists. I got to talk with artists who I really admire in person. Glen Keane's opening speech almost had me in tears. I took many amazing workshops. I bought far too many books. I laughed until I almost fell over, and I got lots of giant hugs.
Helping out at the Oatley Academy Booth.
With Peter De Seve.
With Pascal Campion.
Hanging with friends. The Muppet Crowd of Awesomeness!
Now you might be wondering what a children's illustrator is doing going to an animation expo. Well let me tell you. I have learned so much from the animation industry over the last couple years. I had a very good education from BYU, where I got my degree. But character design, and story boarding were not really part of what I was required to learn. I think these are important skills for anyone wanting to make children's books. After all, making a children's book is almost like making your very own personal movie (without the animation part). Having well designed characters is going to be a big part of the appeal of your picture books!
Also, a lot of people in animation are also into the children's illustration world as well. I picked up a few picture books while I was there! I thought I would feel silly saying I was an illustrator (not a character designer or visual development artist), but it turned out that many of the people there exhibiting are illustrators just like me.
While I was at CTN, I got the chance to see so much good good art. The expo floor is like a giant Comic Con, but all the art is actually really really good (no crappy fan art). There was so much inspiration there. Some amazing character designers there that gave me some good advice for my character designs. I also went to a few workshops that were really inspiring and helpful to any artist.
Also, being at CTN was like a giant family reunion where so many of my friends were gathered. I loved going so much, and I hope I can go again in future years. I hope to see some of you there in future years!
Snippets of Wisdom from the NY SCBWI Conference
It's been over a month since the conference, but today in part 2, I'm keeping my promise to share a few of the snippets of wisdom I learned at the SCBWI New York Conference.
What I learned from Tomie DePaola, children's book illustrator:
The influence of theater in Illustration.
Tomie was involved in theater from a young age. In college he had a teacher who told him that "Joining the theater is best thing you can do for your illustration. If you want to be an illustrator, you must love great theater." Tomie has really taken that to heart over the years!
Costumes can really help define a character. You have to think both in time period and personality when it comes to costumes. Also it's important to take the color of the costume into account with designing the set.
When designing scenery for your illustration, think of how you can change the mood of the scene with color and weather changes.
Character sketches are your casting call. It's important to contrast your characters with size differences and varying features. Make sure you give different characters in the scene different reactions.
What I learned from Brett Helquist, children's book illustrator:
Casting and Character Development
It is important to really spend time to learn the craft of drawing. When characters are drawn well, they are alive. Often times we see illustrations are very well rendered and beautifully composed but the characters are lifeless.
It is important to push the faces of your characters to be different and not falling into the habit of always drawing the same face.
Don't fuss with the details early on. Be messy and make mistakes. Just start drawing different characters until you find the right one. Do loose and fast drawings to develop emotions and moods. Don't be afraid to play around with shapes and sizes. Push yourself to draw things you've never drawn before.
What I learned from Paul O. Zelinski, children's book illustrator:
Staging
A Picture book makers could be making a movie. There are characters, lighting and costumes. The edge of the books makes the set. You need to stage every element of the design, including the text in each spread.
The story will tell you what the right shape is for your particular book.
Perspective is fun. Different angles can add to a picture. Horizontal lines represent rules, strictness or stillness. Diagonal lines represent chaos, or moving. Low angle and high angle can tell different stories and add to the psychology of the picture.
What I learned from Holly McGhee art agent, Arthur Levine publisher, and Lily Malcom art director:
This was a panel where these three industry professionals were critiquing work from attendees of the illustrators intensive. Here's a little bit of what they had to say:
It's good to show different expressions and emotional interactions between characters in a picture book. Show the relationships between characters. Use diversity in your characters. Show that two characters relate differently to another character or event in the story.
Show energy in your illustration, don't make your illustrations static. A curve of the neck or a turn of a hand can make a character less wooden.
Vary your values. Remember atmospheric perspective. Recede values. Lights and darks can help to focus and mood a piece. Pay attention to your color palette.
Book covers should convey one clear moment instead of trying to capture the whole book in one image.
What I learned from Laurant Lynn, art director at Simon and Schuster:
Self-Promotion
Remember You are a business. Consider making a recognizable branding. Make goals for updating your website and sending out postcards. Make a one year plan and a five year plan and keep on task.
Website. Keep it clean, simple and easy to navigate. Separate different styles. Include a bio.
Postcards. Send your best work to art directors on post cards with images on both sides. Send out a new card every 3-4 months.
Expand your horizons. Try doing different kinds of illustration and art work. Don't get pigeon holed into a certain genre.
Go to Conferences. Get out and talk to people. Ask questions.
Challenge yourself and your craft. Continually update your art. You never know who is looking at your art. Know what is essential to have in your portfolio, and what you should take out.
Challenge yourself to get better at drawing. Go to figure drawing classes. Read all the time!
Social Media. Just do it! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Blog!
Greetings friends out in Internet Land! You may have wondered why it has been a month since I have posted anything. Well, I've been hard at work preparing for the New York SCBWI Winter Conference!
Here is a brief recap of some of the people and places I saw on my trip! There will be a part 2 where I share a few things I learned on my trip! There's lots of great hyperlinks in this post, so click on the link and discover some great illustrators and great places to visit!
I met some awesome illustrators that I have always admired! Some illustrators from the conference to follow: Paul O. Zelinski, Peter Brown, Brett Helquist (fellow BYU graduate), Tomie dePaola, Oliver Jeffers, Marla Frazee, Raul Colon, and Shadra Strickland.
I had the opportunity to see some beautiful artwork, both in New York and in Massachusettes. In New York, I had the opportunity to go to an exhibit at the New York Public Library called
The ABC of It: Why Children's books matter. There was some great picture book art there, including some artwork by one of my favorite classic illustrators,
Arthur Rackham.
In Massachusettes, I had the privilege of going to the
Norman Rockwell Museum. There I was able to see many beautiful works of art by Norman Rockwell. I also got to see some beautiful artwork by
Ruth Sanderson, one of my favorite children's fairy tale illustrators!
If you live nearby any of these places, go take advantage of these great opportunities and visit them!
The best part was being with great friends and family!
After the conference, I met up with my sister Bethany, and she took me around Connecticut and Massachusettes! Ah, what a great trip!
