I Love Being an Illustrator...

I LOVE what I do...

Today was a wonderful reminder of why I love being a creative soul who makes pictures for her job.  It was an early morning and somewhat dicey weather as I left Moncton just after 6:30 to drive up to Chipman, New Brunswick for two days of school visits through our Provincial Writers In The Schools Program.  It  had begun to snow just as I got on the highway and roads got slippery about halfway there, but I took my time.  The scenery into rural New Brunswick was amazing as I drove past farm fields or forests of trees draped in snow.  Logging trucks coming the other way made me keep my eyes on the road.

I arrived at the school safely just after O Canada and had time before the scheduled class visits to do an enrichment session with a dozen of the children at the school who love to draw. What a treat to get them to practice using their imaginations with 8 different exercises.  I also swore them to secrecy about how tall I was...

When the first class came in, I was sitting down in front of the Smartboard on a chair and they arranged themselves on the carpet in the middle of the room.  I welcomed them, told them who I was and what I did for my job.  I explained that illustrators often have to draw things that don’t exist... like purple cows wearing roller skates... or a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a tutu.. or a hippo making a snow angel.  At that point, I explain how an illustrator needs to use their imagination and think about how things look.  I choose the smallest child in the class and ask them to come to the front of the world.

“Suppose a squirrel makes a snow angel...” I explain and I ask the child how they make snow angels.  I get them to stand with their arms out wide, ready to make a snow angel.  I explain that the squirrel’s tail would also make another part of the snow angel that humans don’t have in theirs.  Then I smile.  “I would be more of a GIRAFFE making a snow angel!” I say as I stand up from my chair....way up!  I am 6’5” without the heels and 6’8” with them.  I wave my long arms and legs about with a smile as the children gasp and the little victim.. er... volunteer stares up at me in amazement.  I send my “squirrel” back to their place and begin to ask them about hippos.  I explain that I can’t borrow a real hippo from the zoo, so I need to think about what makes hippos different as an animal.  Basically, they have tiny arms and legs, big noses and big bums.... so they make DEEP snow angels.  Then I show them the painting I did for my grandmother who loved hippos (I’ll add it to this blog once I get home).

The rest of the session is spend talking about how illustrators and authors come up with ideas by asking “What If?” and then, after the power point talk, I use my tablet to draw a quick, interactive doodle with each class where I give the kids crazy choices and they vote by raising their hands to guide what our picture turns out to be.

I save each class file as a .jpg and once I get home, I will redraw each class picture then resend it to the school to play with.

I really, really. REALLY love my job!

Tomorrow, I get to go speak to Middle and High school students about what is it like having a “nontraditional” career.... I can’t wait!

Marketing A Book...

I’ve been a bit silent on all of my blogs this summer... partly because I’m still not sure where the time went and partly because I also ran some summer camps for young writers and illustrators, hosted volleyball players for Team NB and had wonderful visits with family members who came from overseas!

Paul and I held the book launch for Emily Finds a Dragon in June and got copies off to our distributor in Nova Scotia so that he could take them to meet with the Chapters/Indigo buyer for the Maritimes in Halifax.  This got copies of our book online with them by mid-July.  We sold copies for a Saturday at the Farmer’s Market here in Moncton while I was also promoting my Tale Spin Summer Camp and placed them with a local gift shop who has sold more copies of our first book (Owen & The Dinosaur, 2008) than anyone else except Chapters.

We had an interview on CBC radio here in Moncton early one morning as well as 2 articles in the local paper over the summer which also helped get the word out, but sometimes it is those chances that you take that lead to the unexpected.

While up in Halifax 2 weeks ago to tour the Saint Mary’s University campus before a volleyball camp evening session for our oldest daughter, I took the time to drop off 2 copies of each book at the local television station.  I knew that 2 members of the morning show, Breakfast Television, had children at home.  I also knew as a parent that this time of year, kids run out of things to do and books to read, so I tucked in a note asking them to pass the books on to their kids to see what they thought and that we’d be more than happy to appear on the show if they thought the books had merit.

Paul and I will be doing LIVE television on Thursday morning at 8:15 am to promote the book!  We’re going to drive up to Halifax tomorrow and stay overnight so that we can be coherent.  This also lead to a book signing at the Dartmouth Chapters’ location before we leave town after the show and a confirmed date for the store here in Dieppe as well as a nice order for the stores around the Maritimes.

Promoting the book ourselves first above all has been so much more effective than waiting for someone else to do it.  I think that this is becoming the norm for most authors and illustrators now as the market gets more competitive.  

Now if I can just keep from having food stuck in my teeth on camera Thursday morning....  Eeeep!

Drawing SO MANY Dragons!

When Paul and I sat down to plan out our next project last year, we envisioned how much easier a chapter book would be with only black and white illustrations, or line drawings toned in Photoshop instead of all those big full colour illustrations in our picture book.

Hah!

Part of the problem is that I am a perfectionist...

Part of the problem is that need to earn other income while the publishing and illustration side of Dragon Dreams is still growing...

Part of the problem is that there were a lot more illustrations to do than we’d truly understood...

but as the last few drawings get inked, our final edits are being done and everything is getting ready to go to the printer, I am getting excited!

I know that when we hold the copies in our hands, it will all be worth it...

but I think I have a better understanding of how an elephant feels being pregnant for 2 years!

Saying Goodbye to A Year... and My Dad.

In my other blogs, I posted my thoughts and goodbyes to my Dad, but while cleaning off the hard drive as part of my year’s end activities this morning, I found a few of the illustrations that I’d made for a Father’s Day iPhoto book for my father a few years ago.  Since this blog is supposed to be the place to share my drawings, I thought I’d tuck them here.

Sing or Talk to your Kids at Bedtime...

One of my earliest memories is my Dad singing me a lullaby at night, a tradition I carried on with my own girls.  Reading, talking, praying or spending time with your children as often as you can before they go to sleep is something that will give them roots and love as they grow.  This is becoming a bit more of a challenge as they hit their tweens and teens and like to read in bed on their own, but I will eventually find the new balance that keeps us close but respects their changing desires for more independence.

Always Reach For Your Dreams...

My Dad was the ultimate, impulsive dreamer.  I learned that spark of believing that almost nothing is impossible from him, but thankfully also got  the practical planning necessary to accomplish goals from my Mom!  Encourage your kids to follow their dreams!  Too often, grownups explain in very practical terms why certain impossible dreams could never work.  Instead, why not give them the tools or help they need to try to see if they could make their dreams a reality (within reason and budget of course) because they just may surprise you!

Happy New Year Everyone! Keep Dreaming and Doodling!

Time for some Holiday FUN!

I’ve just finished revamping my Dragon Dreams website and am working on the final touches to change some of the artwork on my Dragon Doodles website for 2010, so I thought I should add a little contest for some co-creativity holiday fun.

A larger version of this picture can be found HERE so that you can print out a copy and use your imagination.  Drawing ability helps, but when my daughters and I sit down to pick the winners on December 21st, we’ll look at who really used their imagination as well.  The prizes will be 3 hand drawn ATC (Artist’s Trading Cards) created especially for this contest!

To enter, scan in your entry, post it to a site like flickr or blogger where you can share a link and post that link in your comments to this entry.  You have until midnight (Atlantic Standard Time) on December 20th to enter and you may enter more than once.

I can’t wait to see how creative you are...

Trying to give back when you were given to...

Sometimes... I have to draw it instead of say it.  I tied this into my Inhaling Creativity blog, but when I heard the sad news yesterday, I thought in pictures first.

This song was one of the first recordings I remember listening to where I understood the words.  It also was the fist song that made me want to create something so that I could re-work an ending to a story.

When I was little, I thought that Puff was sparkly blue or pink until I realized that people always seem to associate those colours with gender, which this dragon has never needed.

Goodbye Mary.  I am thankful that your creativity and music made a difference in my life... and that is really what Art is all about.

Learning From Kids...

Part of the Grade 4 and 5 curriculum is a component in Health where the kids have to fill out sheets about themselves.  I have seen several variations on this theme and blogged about it on Friday in my Inhaling Creativity blog.  

Since this blog is a place where I can show off my doodles, I thought it was worth posting here too...

Luckily, this page turned out better than the cooking adventure I wrote about there.  Maybe I can turn that into a children’s book idea someday... I will be able to picture the grimaces on my family’s faces for quite some time!

The Beginning of a New Adventure...

     This blog is the beginning of a whole new adventure looking into the trials and tribulations, the highs and lows and the challenges of being a children’s book illustrator... the adventure of drawing the impossible in a way that brings it alive.

     I need a place to share sketches, work through ideas and promote myself to a wider world.  I hope you will enjoy what you find in these pages.

     Like any grand adventure, this one has to begin with a single step... or in this case, a single page from my sketchbook, coloured in Photoshop as I play with my tablet.  

     I already know that the “DELETE” button can be both a blessing and a curse.  One of the reasons that I switched to sketching in pen after the SCBWI conference in Los Angeles last summer was because of one speaker who challenged us to get away from the fear of making mistakes that can hold so many of us back from truly chasing our dreams and finding our path.  It will take some time not to be incredibly fussy about getting things “right” with the tablet when so much of my life has been spent drawing and colouring things by hand.

     What is the point of going on an adventure if you aren’t willing to learn new things, explore new horizons and stumble once or twice along the way?  Time to just step out onto the path and explore!