Thought this illustration done by Michelle Henninger was the perfect illustration to help us celebrate Memorial Day. Michelle uses watercolor and ink and is represented by Christina Tugeau. Here is the link to her feature on Illustrator Saturday: http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2014/01/04/illustrator-saturday-michelle-henninger/.
May no soldier go unloved
May no soldier walk alone
May no soldier be forgotten
May no soldier by left behind
when they return home!
Remember our soldiers, while enjoying the day!
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Registration closes for the NJSCBWI Conference at 9 p.m. on May 28, 2014.
To register for the conference, click here.
Besides giving the State of the Market Report to kick off Sunday. I still have a few critique spots available. Hope to see you there.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
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Our featured illustrator this week is Susan Drawbaugh. She loves to draw and do whimsical illustrations. Early in her art career she was greatly influenced by a man she met while touring the MGM Animation Studios, Ben Washam. As one of the original animators of the Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, and Tom & Jerry cartoons, he ended up passing down the skills of his trade by teaching a small group of aspiring animators from his home. Susan was one of those fortunate students.
Although she never made a career of animation, years later she wrote and illustrated her first children’s book, What Pet Will I Get?, an animated “Flip n Giggle” picture book that was soon published. A mix of creative ventures followed, until she made the decision to become a freelance commercial illustrator.
Her range of work spans from children’s picture books, stationery lines, canvas paintings, infant bedding, and editorial picture puzzles – to humorous wall prints, greeting cards, coffee mug lines, holiday decor, and chapter illustrations. Susan uses the traditional method of illustrating by hand, but throughout the course of every project she puts her digital skills to work, as well.
Surrounded by the coastal charm of Southern California, she creates from my home studio by the port of San Pedro. Take a look. I am sure it will put a smile on your face.
Here’s Susan explaining her process:
Soon after my younger daughter had her first baby, she excitedly told me that she’d ordered a painting for the nursery that she’d seen online.
Purchased???! I thought. A whimsical painting???! But, WHY??! , I gasped, What about your whimsical-artist mom??? Well, the picture arrived in the mail, and to my hidden delight, she was not happy with it. So off to Aaron Bros I went – to get started on my new project. I came out with a 40″ x 30″ stretched canvas, paint brushes, and tubes of acrylic paint in every color – - – - I’d used oil paints in the past, but never acrylics! Nail biting time.
Before starting I very carefully planned each step.
1) First I brushed a coat of white paint over the entire canvas.
2) Then I developed rough sketches, fine tuning them until they were just the look I wanted. Tracing paper, a kneaded eraser, and a soft lead mechanical pencil are my favorite tools for developing characters. The lines flow with ease, allowing more personality to come through as I draw, and there’s no messy crumbling or smearing from the eraser.
3) Once I was happy with the drawings I scanned each one into Photoshop CS3 and loosely created paths for each. I then dragged each image, layer by layer, onto a blank Photoshop document that I made to be the same size as the actual canvas – in this case 40″W x 30″H. Because of the layers I could move each image around, reducing, enlarging, and positioning until the layout was the look I was after.
4) I saved it as a PSD keeping it in LAYERS just in case I wanted to make changes late
By: Kathy Temean,
on 3/9/2012
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Joanne Friar grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, an old New England city full of 19th century mills and fishing boats. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth where she studied illustration and photography.
She has been creating art for children’s books for over 18 years, researching history and nature from ancient civilizations to the Great Depression, from wetlands conservation to endangered species. Her books have won awards such as the CBC Notable Social Studies Book, the CBC Outstanding Science Book, and John Burroughs Nature Books for Young Readers.
She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Picture Book Artists Association. Joanne and her family make their home in Somerset, Massachusetts.
Some of Joanne’s clients are Charlesbridge Publishing, Lerner/Millbrook Press, McGraw Hill, Pearson, Harcourt Educational, The Quarasan Group, Houghton Mifflin Educational, Scott Foresman, Bill Smith Studios, Richard C. Owen Publishers, Magination Press, Ladybug Magazine and Kalliope Audiobooks.
Here is Joanne explaining her process:
I usually start off by making some very loose thumbnail sketches, mainly for composition and text placement. When I’ve decided on the best option, I sometimes scan that thumbnail and enlarge it to the right size in photoshop. Each element in the sketch can be adjusted this way, larger or smaller, and moved around to get the best results.
I then make a neater tracing, making final changes, and transfer the drawing onto watercolor paper using a lightbox. My favorite paper is Fabriano Artistico soft press, which is a cross between hot and cold press. It’s a little more forgiving than hot press, but the texture still allows for the detailed work that I like to do. The biggest change in this sketch was to have the dog looking up at the boy, which I thought showed that closeness between them.
The next step is to do a light washy underpainting . I usually have an idea of what colors I want to use, and this is like doing a color study, without being totally committed to my choices. I use a combination of liquid acrylics and acrylic gouache.
I then start to darken the elements in the picture, painting in shadows and adding details. The colors are built up slowly, layer by layer.
At this stage, I’m just about done. More details are added – grass, fur, branches, clouds, a plaid shirt. Some areas can be lightened or made deeper. The overall effect that I’m trying to achieve is a richness of color and texture.
10 Comments on Illustrator Saturday – Joanne Friar, last added: 3/12/2012
This week I have the pleasure of introducing you to Nina Mata. You may recognize her first piece of art, since it is one that she sent in to be shown off with the other February Illustrations. Nina has been drawing for as long as she can remember. In 1996, she attended the High School of Art & Design where she concentrated in Commercial Arts minored in cheerleading, film, and boys. In 2004, she switched from Fine Arts and majored in Illustration at The Fashion Institute of Technology.
Since then she has been freelancing full-time in illustration and graphic design working with a variety of cliente. She currently is a 2D concept artist for a social gaming company. Nina says, “I love and truly enjoy what I do!” She specializes in character development, illustrating for the children’s market, editorial illustrations, children’s books illustration.
Here’s Nina: The Process
My process has changed over the course of 2 years, and it continues to change as I hone in my style, for example I have completely transitioned to digital from conceptual sketches to final works (though on occasions I will go back to a basic paper and pencil). Although my technique is constantly changing and ever evolving, there are certain steps that remain the same.
I usually start out with a few rough sketches, study the place, person, and or setting, and figure out the best way to execute the layout. I love close up shots of my characters I think the face can express so much more than the body sometimes. After I get a general idea of how I might want the finish to look like I start tightening up my sketch. Now days it’s been a lot easier for me to manipulate my sketches exactly how I want them (without wasting paper) since I can work with many different layers on Photoshop. If the work is for a client I’ll tighten up the entire sketch, but for my promotional pieces and personal work I’ll usually just sketch out the main subject and let it “tell me” about its background, it’s much more fun that way.
After the sketches are laid out how I want them, I’ll move on to coloring. Since I work digitally I usually set up a layer strictly for my color palette to save a little time looking for colors. I like to bring in my training as a traditional artist in adjacent with my digital work by first doing an under painting, especially with the skin tones, I’ll usually paint it a layer of under tone (cool purple) on top of the actual skin color.
Once I have a general rough coloring in place I would add a layer of texture on top to add a little body and a sense of hand painted look about it. Sometimes, I’ll add the texture in the beginning so I know how saturated to keep the color palette.
This February illustration treat is by Joanne Friar (details bottom of page), but below are a number of yummy Newbery treats you can mark off on your calendars. 
Newbery Award Winning Author Jerry Spinelli will be signing books at:
At the Top – Yummy bakery illustration treat: Joanne Friar earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts where she majored in art education and illustration. She has illustrated many children’s books for the trade and educational markets, including O Christmas Tree, Nathan of Yesteryear & Michael of Today, and The Bald Eagle’s View of American History. She lives with her husband and four children in southeastern Massachusetts. You can see more of her work at www.joannefriar.com.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
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5 Comments on Mark Your Calendars Newbery Book Signings, last added: 2/28/2012
). I know…. my last name is quite a coincidence!
John Kanzler grew up in Norwalk Connecticut in a house formerly of William Steig’s and currently lives on a small farm in Greenfield Massachusetts with my wife Diane and his daughter Lorelei. They have several sheep and a llama or two. I have been drawing on things as far back as I can remember and is completely a self taught artist. Most recent titles include CHRISTMAS PUPS (Albert Whitman & Co.), LITTLE LUCY (Random House) and PRICELESS GIFTS (August House). When not doing any of the above, I generally pursue a crazy range of interests, from astronomy to paleontology.
This IS the perfect illustration for this weekend :) Beautiful watercolor, Michelle! Freedom is a LOT to be grateful for, that’s for sure.
And can’t wait to see you at the conference, Kathy :)