Rebecca Thornburgh's Creative Process

Here is another wonderfully generous author/illustrator who shares her creative process
Click on either illustration to go to see her full process.

CALL FOR FIRST TIME CHILDREN'S AUTHORS ILLUSTRATORS

Alice Pope, he author of the annual "Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market," has created a great blog . She is looking for first time (published) authors/illustrators to be profiled in her upcoming edition. Check out "call for first time authors" entry as well as her entire blog, which has some great resources as well.

Cheers

the photoshop experiment: Jesse's Song

the photoshop experiment: Jesse's Song
Cory Godbey is a wonderful and generous illustrator who shares step-by-step processess for using traditional media and photoshop for creating really lovely work. Must see for all us "traditional" (i.e. old) artists who are wondering about the possibilities for art in the digital age!

The Outlaw: Varjak Paw

I just read the sequel to "Varjak Paw" (see review below). It was as interesting and fun as the first one. This second book was even darker than the first, all about gang warfare, leadership and the underbelly of the city -- literally. The illustrations are very cool, very edgy, done by Dave McKean. Below are the illustrations from the first book:

The illustrations from the second book are darker and funkier than the first book. Definitely worth looking at to see the possibilities for creating illustrated books for older readers.

Children's Books Reviews

I listen to recorded children's books while I paint. Not only do I accomplish two things at once, but it keeps me engaged in thinking both visually and textually. This week I listened to three lovely short novels for children ages 9 and up. The first two are Newberry Medel winners and the third is just sheer fun.
Missing May
Cynthia Rylant's voice of Summer, the 11 year-old West Virginian protagonist, is so authentic. She is an adopted girl morning the loss of her adoptive mother. This is a "quest" story where most of the "journey" is an internal transformation of both herself and her adoptive father. The characters are fragile, funny and resilient. The recorded version is read by Frances McDormand, who absolutely brings the story to life! Also, a number of people have created some very thoughful "lesson plans" for this book.
Bridge to Tarabithia A lovely book about friendship and imagination between a young boy and girl in rural Virginia in the 70s. The story brought me to tears. Paterson really touches on the emotional life of the child.
Varjak Paw This book is just sheer fun! It is a kind of "Kung Fu - Karate Kid" for cats. Narrator George Guidall's interpretation is marvelous. I can't wait until the next recorded version comes out!! I do want to check out the written version however, since it is also illustrated in the style of a graphic novel ;)

David Wiesner's Creative Process

David Wiesner, author/illustrator of Tuesday, the innovative Picture Book, shares his creative process here. Very cool, step by step demonstration of how he goes from inspiration to dummy book to full spread and publicaiton. Definitely worth a look

IF- "PORTRAIT"

This is a new character I am trying to develop, so in a sense she is a 'portrait" for Illustration Friday ;) Her working name is "Lila," but I would love to hear suggestions for naming her!




Color Pencil on Paper
(15"x5")

Click to enlarge

Monster (in Color)

This is the second rendering of the "monster" (see below). This time I painted over the scrtachboard with acrylic glaze... just an experiment. This was fun to do. I think I might try some more like this ;)

MONSTER

"MONSTER!" for Illustration Friday. I thought I would put something up for IF. I used scratchboard and then colored it on the computer. I hope the image is self-explanitory ;) (click to see bigger image).

PS: My images seem so unfocused when I post them. Does anyone know if there is something I can do to improve the resolution quality of my images?

Illustration Friday - Tatoo

(acrylic wash, ink, colored pencil on illustration board)

This is my take on tattoos for Illustration Friday. The illustration is inspired by traditional art from India and the Mehndi tattoos that are done as part of a woman's wedding ceremony. The deeper the henna stain, the deeper the love of the groom for the bride.... or so they say. Anyway, I like the idea of tattoos being connected to ritual and tradition and collective identity, as opposed to commodities that we so easily purchase nowadays.

The Journey Home

(acrylic on canvas board)

This is the cover for a children's book I'm doing called "The Journey Home," about a Maya refugee girl rediscovering her community's history and heritage.

Children in Exile

(colored pencil on paper)

This is a group portait of Guatemalan-Maya children living in refugee camps in Southern Mexico where I did my fieldwork in 1994. Many of them were infants or were born in the refugee camps and never have seen the Guatemalan highland communities of their families. When the collective return of exile communities began in 1994, many of them did not know what to expect. They had heard terrible things about the places their families had left. It took great courage from them and their families to return.

(scratchboard sketches)
CLICK TO ENLARGE