GHOST STORIES

I finally got a decent reproduction of one of my latest pieces! After two photographers, trying to shoot it myself, and then taking my painting to a scanning company, I think I'm satisfied! Ugh! I'm sure it's the contrast between the light and dark that gave everyone so much trouble. I spent a lot of money getting this reproduced! I hope my new postcards are worth it! Whew! Glad it's done!

MY BUSY YEAR

WOW! You'd think, by viewing my blog, I fell off the earth! I assure you, I haven't! I guess I need to set a New Year's resolution to do better with letting you know about my comings and goings!

I will do my best to review the highlights of my past year, but I won't promise that it will be in chronological order!

•  SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS- I submitted a piece into SI's yearly illustrators' competition and was accepted into their show/annual. My painting, The Need For Swimming Lessons, hung in their New York City building over the summer. If you visited SI this summer, you may have seen it!

• SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators)- This was amazing, as usual! I attend every year! I belong to the Utah/Southern Idaho region. Each year, they host an illustrators' conference where they have art directors, publishers, editors, writers, and, of course, illustrators that work in the children's book field come speak, teach, and share with us a little bit of their knowledge. Guy Francis, illustrator, (Clark the Shark) spoke to us, along with Kristine Brogno, design director, (Chronicle Books).

• WIFYR (Writing and Illustrating For Young Readers)- I've been trying to hone my skills in writing children's books so I've been attending WIFYR for a few years now. I took the picture book class with Kathi Appelt. It was a week long morning class that focused on the ins and outs of picture books. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to meet Kathi! What a wonderful lady! If I was to share everything I learned from her class, I think it would take days to read it! And the afternoon sessions, of course, did not let me down.

• UTAH STATE FAIR- I decided to submit an illustration of mine into the state fair. My husband and I attended the fair during the first few days of its opening. I was happy to see a blue, first place ribbon hanging from my piece. Then, my family and I made an unexpected trip back home, to Washington, to visit my step dad. This would be the last time I would see him before he would lose his battle with stomach cancer. It was a memorable trip- one filled with lots of joy but also sadness. While I was there, a friend called me to inform me I had not only won a first place ribbon at the fair, but also the People's Choice Award! I had been awarded it during the last few days of the fair. What an honor! I didn't know about this award. I guess the public could vote on their favorite piece throughout the whole art exhibit. The piece with the most votes won the People's Choice Award. Pretty cool, hu?!

• REFLECTIONS- I was asked to be a judge for the national Reflections competition for a local Elementary school in my area.  I was so impressed with the creativity and talent of of these children! The Reflections competition has six different categories (dance/choreography, music/composition, photography, 3D, writing/literature, film, visual art) in which a child can submit a work of art. Each child is judged by age and by school. The finalists progress to region and can go all the way to Nationals! I saw some of the pieces I previously judged in the Utah State Fair. Good job kids!

• WRITING A CHILDREN'S BOOK- I took an eleven week children's book writing course (one day a week) from Ken Baker, author. (Is my year looking full yet?) I told you I wanted to learn the ins and outs of children's book writing! I attended his class after WIFYR. It's interesting to see the things that were similar between the two classes but also the things that were different! Each class was a treasure of learning. And it's never a bad thing to have things repeated!

• AMERICAN ILLUSTRATION 34- I submitted a piece into the AI 34 Annual competition and was thrilled to get the email that I would be included in their annual! I just barely got the annual in the mail, the other day. Here's the piece on the printed page: 

 

• TOUCHSTONES JOURNAL- I submitted a piece into a local journal, as well. Actually it's the same one that was accepted into the AI 34 Annual (above). I won first place! 

•  WARP AND WEAVE- I submitted a piece into another local journal. My Zombie Babysitter, was accepted into the journal, Warp and Weave, for their spring publication. Later in the year, the editor contacted me and asked it they could use the image for posters, etc. for publicity for their fall publication. Of course, I said yes.

•  SCOTT GUSTAFSON- One of my all time illustration hero's! Can't say enough about this guy! I attended a lecture of his, asked tons of questions, and was pleasantly pleased to learn that we use a lot of the same techniques in our painting prep. I had him sign some books of his and had a wonderful chat with him. Amazing work! If you don't know who he is, you are missing out!

 I can't say for sure this is everything, but it's the parts I remember. It's been a wonderful and blessed year. I am truly thankful for the things I've learned and the growth I've made this past year and hope 2016 will be even better!

SOMETHING HARD FROM SOMETHING SOFT/ HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS

A few weeks ago, I asked the kids in my art class to make something soft into something hard. I gave them pictures of snowflakes, clouds, feathers, and flowers along with some rocks for reference. We discussed what makes something hard vs. soft. We talked about line- soft vs. hard and light vs. dark. I think it was harder than the kids thought it would be. I decided to draw along side them. This is what I came up with:

I also asked the kids to give something not human, human characteristics. We discussed the Disney movies, such as Cars, Airplanes, and Beauty and the Beast. I gave them pictures of trees and rocks but they could also pull from any of my other picture references. Again, I chose to draw along side them. Here's mine:

A few days later, I decided to add another character to the drawing. I used pen and ink on the girl. The tree is done with a nib. I'm sure you can see the difference.

I sure enjoy my little art class for kids. I like drawing right along side them. It helps me to remember all of the things I have been taught. I'm looking through books that I haven't looked through for some time now. It's great for me to review and to research the things I have learned over the years.

ART CLASS FOR KIDS

A friend of mine approached me last year and asked if I would consider giving her son art lessons. I know how serious he is about art and his desire to learn so I decided to give it a try. After thinking about it for awhile, I decided to include other children. I thought he would have more fun if there were others his same age attending.

Each month, I am focusing on a different aspect of art. This month, I am having the kids focus on imagination. Imagination is a major key element in drawing. Artists don't just draw what they see. They add and/or subtract from their subject matter. Imagination is also one of the first characteristics children lose as they transition into adulthood. If an artist can utilize the imagination they had as a child, their art will benefit, greatly.

I held my second class this evening and would like to show you a little bit of what we did.

First, I allowed the kids to pick an animal from my stack of pictures. Since I had recently attended the zoo, I chose some zoo animals for them to use.

I asked them to study the animal they chose. "What makes an ostrich an ostrich, or a giraffe a giraffe?" I asked. Then I asked them to draw their animal based off of their observation.

Next, I asked them to pick a tool from the options I had placed on the table.

I asked them to study the tool they had chosen (What makes a hammer a hammer, etc.?), and then for them to draw that tool.

I then asked them to make a creature by combining the two (animal + tool). This child made an ostri-hammer! I LOVE it!

And then, going off of the picture of the creature they had just created, I asked them to make their creature in clay.

Isn't this sculpture AMAZING?! This kid did such a great job! I think he had a lot of fun tonight! I sure had fun watching him!

TRUNK OR TREAT

My church held a carnival and a trunk or treat for all the little kids who live in the neighborhoods that surround it. I was asked to come up with a game for the carnival part of the evening. I decided to do a revision of the famous game, "Pin The Tale On The Donkey". I didn't come up with a catchy name for it but, basically, the participant is to put the candy in the monster's bag.

I started with designing my monster. I drew it quite small (on a piece of 8.5"x11" paper). Once I was satisfied with it, I brought a digital file to Kinko's and had them blow it up to a little over 5 feet tall. It took me a day to paint it. I used basic tempura paints. When I was finished, I cut it out and brought it to a local copy shop to get laminated. I think it turned out pretty well. The kids had a great time! I gave each child a piece of candy (from suckers to bubble gum) with double sided tape applied to one side of each piece. The older kids were blindfolded and spun around. The littler ones just had fun putting the candy inside the bag. I thought it was a great success! I still need to come up with a catchy name. "Put The Candy In The Monster's Bag", just doesn't do it for me.

JUNGLE BOY

I'm so excited to paint this kid! He was such an amazing model! Great job Niko!

As you can guess, my next painting will be my version of Mowgli from the Jungle Book. Thumbnails have been done. Finally photos have been taken. I'm in the final drawing stages. So excited for this one!

PHOTO REPAIR

A friend of mine came to me and asked me if I could fix an old photo she had of her and her sister when they were just little girls. She didn't have the negative and this was the only photo she had of both of them together. Her sister passed away last year from cancer so this project was very important to her. Not only did she want a copy for herself but she wanted to give one to her dad for Fathers' Day as well. I was pleased that I was able to help her out.


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