Leverage for making books for kids: tips and things to ponder.

I attended an SCBWI event recently where Antoinette Portisgave highly useful presentations to add leverage and juice to illustrating for children's books.

I wanted to share some of the ideas here, since I find there is information out there about illustrating for kids books, but it's rare to find info as thoughtful as what I heard at this past event.

• Once you have birthed the idea, you are to serve it like a devoted lover! Do what you can to make choices that best deliver the idea/message/feelings you want you send out. Don't hold onto anything. If you want to create art for means of self expression, do this with another project.
• Ask the question, "What is the best character for the story you are illustrating?".
• Do you know your character well? What are their dreams, dislikes, doubts?
• Play to your own strengths and illustrate texts that are a match for you!
• Do a turnaround or model sheet so you can reference your character and stay consistent.
• Think about book size. Size can add irony or emphasis to your illustration and theme.
• Allow themes, motif, and metaphore, as in literature, to be told through the artwork. Antoinette does an amazing job with this one! She used reoccuring elements through the book to forshadow things to come!
• Work out your ideas in the thumbnail stage. This is where you get the kinks out, make discoveries, and ask all the questions. Don't skip this and go into final art!
• Consider the white space and the gutter. How can they be a presence? How can they can a valuable element within your illustration and design?

I hope these tips are useful for you! I found them enlightening, and I'm going to reference them as I work through some new ideas. It's so easy to get caught up in the drawing-- "does this look good enough? Is this hand right?" and forget that it really are the ideas that count.

Some of Antoinette's books are:

The book, Wait, especially made me teary eyed! **

Happy art making!

Annie is an author and illustrator with books available on Amazon and local book stores. She is open for commission, too! She lives in California, and loves tea, bike rides, reading, and exploring new places.

Fire Magic

I'm a super geek for life's metaphores. I want to draw them, talk about them, and write and write and write about them! So that's what you get today ;)

My dad up and all around Napa Valley and he mentioned to me that on his most recent trek up Mt. George in Napa, there was a fire poppy.

"They only surface after a fire. It's been 52 years since the last ones bloomed."

"Wow," I gawked at the photos of this lovely apple red flower.

Napa took a beating with the fires last Fall. 60 + homes were detroyed, and every month I find out more and more people, I know personally, lost theirs. So many folks have been trying to scramble and find places to live in the valley, so rent prices are high (higher than the normal high) and even more limited options than before. The community has been so supportive, however, and what could have been so traumatic of a situation, showed all of Napa how loving, strong, and ready natives are to take care of each other. I was amazed, and grateful I could be in Napa and witness this.

Now, after all that destruction, a beautiful, rare wildflower has sprung up, reminding us of our strength in the face of fire, and also the beauty and opportunities on the other side.

"Fire Poppy" in Napa Valley, 2018

Recently, I've been in a weird, up-and-down place. When I saw this fire poppy I felt my heart soften, and I realized that I'd been through my own little fire: a breakup from New York, a break up from a man I loved, and just before I left, a break up from old friends and coworkers at a company I'd invested all of myself into. Lots of fire, lots of destruction, lots of change. But see I have a hard time letting go. I hold everthing in my body. I resisted allowing the fires to burn and clear proper space for new opportunities, for new wildflowers. I resisted the fact that things hurt, and I needed time to heal.

No wonder I've been in this up-and-down place!

But when I saw that fire poppy...

They say the first step to healing a habit is awareness. So thank you, Dad, for sharing your pictures and interests with me. Thank you Mom for reminding me what I need is important, and helping me let go in your own way.

And for all the flowers in my life; my family, friends, and new projects.

One of these was a mural in Napa that came up the last couple months as I made my way back to California, and the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley, both of which were such great learning experiences, and well enjoyed breaks from the computer.

Letting go takes time and work. It's the kind of work you do on the yoga mat, or in the confidence of a friend. It's beautiful time spent and never has an agenda.

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Meary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom. Let it be. -The Beatles

And let it be I shall. I'm excited for the new things coming into my life, grateful for the past and its lessons and experiences, and ready for whatever life throws at me next. Who knows? Maybe it'll be a rare opportunity that can only come after loads and loads of frustration and heartache? Cool. I'm good with that. :)

Annie is an author and illustrator with books available on Amazon and local book stores. She is open for commission, too! She lives in California, and loves tea, bike rides, reading, and exploring new places.

Newshville

I will never get sick of the way life works, though I admit, sometimes I want to punch it in the face and run away. But still, it's amazing how everything is always changing! Always shifting, flowing, fighting, forging.

I'm in Nashville this week for work, and I feel different. I feel like new energy is coming in weather I like it or not (see what I did there?). Visiting old friends in new places makes for a very robust combination. There's so much joy in seeing your old collegue, in this case my friend Christina, and discovering her new home, in Nashville.

I love the South. It's slower, greener, loose and light. But it's also dense when it comes to setting in roots, almost like you must ground yourself here...being a floater myself, I feel like it would take some settling down in order to stay here. And I like noticing this. I like seeing where I stand in the world. And right now I'm still floating. It's all ok.

Knowing what you need and making decisions to move forward are two different things. I know I need yoga, tea, walks, friendship, family, outings, exploration, reading, warm blankets, live music. But moving forward is scary and it takes baby steps. I'm ok with this, too. I trust that taking care of myself in small ways, will lead to making the larger decisions.

Seeing my friend build her own home with an amazing man in a new place, makes me realize that I can build my environment now. We all can. Whether that's with someone else, on your own, you get to choose in this lifetime what attitude you want to live with, what your space will look like, and who you surround yourself with.

I've been known to chuck out physical treasures these days (just ask my mom), mostly because I've felt like I needed to shed my skin. Truth is, shedding the old Annie skin and trying things like going on a tour across the US, or moving to NYC, or going a Spain and France solo trip, has helped me learn about myself. But I don't think I shed an old skin, instead I formed a stronger shell. This is a helpful shell, like a snail's shell, one where I can rely on myself more and more, and feel at home in my own skin, where ever that may be.

I'm still working on this. Very much so!

And I resort to old feelings of wanting to stay close to family. It's a cycle. And Everyday I have to appreciate that life will surprise me. And in the meantime, I'll build my home, maybe with some small treasures, maybe just with some self care, one small step at a time.

Wishing you the best time with your explorations, and lots of love!

Annie

Annie is an author and illustrator with books available on Amazon and local book stores. She is open for commission, too! She lives in California, and loves tea, bike rides, reading, and exploring new places.

Let's Pause

Been reading a LOT about digestion lately. The idea of cycles keeps coming up, especially "optimal windows" of eating, resting, and detoxing throughout the day. It goes as follows:

4am-12pm is detox

12pm-8pm is appropriation

8pm-4am is assimilation

I feel like creativity mirrors digestion. You consume, process, then create, and it's definitely a cycle. But one thing I ALWAYS forget, is that space and rest is so so so important to the digestive system. If you're eating all day long, or too much, you can get constipated and tired or even put on some pounds. The body needs time to process everything, just like our creative minds do too.

My daily work habits suck. I will work myself silly for 8-10 hours, staring into the drawing tablet and forgetting to take walks. I'll deny myself myself time to oogle works by my favorite artists in order to get the job done, rather than fill myself up with some necessary inspiration.

And what about that detox, eh? What about getting rid of what we don't need? I always felt like elimination was the "creation" part, but now I'm thinking that detox is a totally different part of the creative cycle. It's reflection. It's doing things with friends. It's NOT creating. It's living and being and letting go and just...not doing.

If you want to read more about all this, you can check out this site for a run down of the cycles.

I wish you some space for your creative cycles, and that you ask yourself, what stage am I in? When is the best time during the day for me to create, rest, and allow for inspiration? Can I allow for more space for myself? You gotta, my loves! It's time to shine.

Annie is an author and illustrator with books available on Amazon and local book stores. She is open for commission, too! She lives in California, and loves tea, bike rides, reading, and exploring new places.

Playing Around

Been in a rut with my artwork lately. Sometimes, one gets a blockage and must do something new, something different, but it's either difficult to risk an experiment (for fear of failing and wasting time), or it's not even obvious what to do. The creative mind can make up as many problems as it can solutions!!

I'm trying to refine my skills and improve upon what I already CAN do, as well as learn techniques that I enjoy implementing. I lugged out the acrylic paints today so I could get the creative juices flowing.

Did I still love using a brush? I wondered.

left: acrylic, right: ink, watercolor, gouache, colored pencil,

Yes I did. Once I had my fill, I eyed my drawing tablet.

Often I want to throw my tablet (sorry tablet, dear!) out the window because my eyes hurt and I miss real paper. But digital tools allow me to try out fun texture that I otherwise would have to go to great length to achieve. And sometimes I wouldn't know how to create the digital texture traditionally at all.

So I made an inspiration board. As I do when I don't know where to start.

I made a color palette based on colors I liked as well as the pieces on the board, then I chose an illustration that cuaght my eye. This would be my inspiration:

The pointed red hats and desert moon landscape gave me an idea! What about gnomes holding onto star balloons, flying around the moon!?

Yeah!

I tend to work with line as I love defining shape. But I wanted to include some variety and loosness in this illustration, and experiment as well as create a portfolio piece that I was still totally steering. Lots of illustators are using textured brushes with simple shapes, and it has a gorgeous effect- both slick yet wild.

I used Kyle Webster brushes which are so amazing. "Add Noise" and "Chunky Charcoal" made an appearence, and are two of my favorite brushes.

The final piece + a little hope that this could be a real magazine for crystal loving, vegetable growing children...someday....

Annie is an author and illustrator with books available on Amazon and local book stores. She is open for commission, too! She lives in California, and loves tea, bike rides, reading, and exploring new places.