Picture Book Idea Month 2013

This month I will be generating 30 picture book ideas as part of the PiBoIdMo challenge. Excuse me, I've got some brainstorming to do!

Critique Groups and more!

Once a month, I co-host the monthly meet-up for the Minnesota Chapter of SCBWI. This group is for all MN-SCBWI members to participate and give and take critiques on their writing and illustrations. Due to the FAQ's asked at the group by folks beginning their Children's Book journey to publication, I've added a few new pages to my blog.

Tutorials - stop by and get how-to advice
Good Reads - look at my growing list of books on craft.

ENJOY!

Spunky Monkey

All summer I've been studying Character Design and character driven picture books. This is a sample of a character I developed a few years back. It's nice to visit with your drawings after not seeing them for awhile. It's funny, I saw it and I still like her. So, I redrew and reworked this one based off an old sketch. I'm glad I did.


Cyclesaurus

I've been doing a lot of dinosaur research lately. I discovered a new species of bike riders. Ok, maybe not, but I think if the Ceratosaurus had had some wheels (back in the day), they would have been as pleased as punch.

Collaboration is Crucial


I am the Illustrator Coordinator for the Minnesota chapter of SCBWI. A position that I am growing into and have really enjoyed because it gives me many opportunities to get out and meet with our chapter members that I might not take if I were less involved. It is so easy when working-from-home to stay in the cocoon of your familiar surroundings. Whether that be the walls that you live within or the part of town you are from.

I recently left town to attend the 2013 NY SCBWI Conference. It was my first national conference and very inspiring to hear all of the speakers, meet colleagues from around the country. And meet many of the volunteers from the others SCBWI regional chapters. We had dinner and conversed on what topics and workshops we found to work well in our own regions, share ideas and recommendations. I am so thankful to be involved in such a great organization.

Today our Minnesota SCBWI chapter hosted a monthly group meeting called “A Mixer”. Although it sounds like something involving cocktails, the reference is really to, 'mixing ideas'. We had a great turnout, the topic of our discussion was, What Do You Recommend On Craft? We asked people to bring book titles that they were reading on the craft of writing and/or illustrating for children's books, which I will list in a bit.

It is such a great experience to get out of the studio and meet with other people in the industry to “talk shop”, as it were. I usually come home so energized that I can't go to sleep after a meet-up in the evening. Likewise, today my brain is ruminating with all sort of ideas from the exchange and interaction with my peers. I am alive with inspiration of what avenues to explore with my own works. While in my studio, I will come across books or references and think to myself, “Be sure to tell 'so-n-so' about this the next time I see them because it would be right up their alley”.

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the benefits and drawbacks to “working from home”. In lieu of the recent decision by Yahoo to ban its employees from working-from-home. Another drawback noted in the discussions, was the lack of collaboration due to the inability to “meet at the water cooler” as perhaps people do while working in the office environment. Does this lack of conversing in person affect innovation? I can only support the notion that getting out and meeting with peers does enhance innovation.

I have also been an advocate of volunteering and being involved in local organizations for years do to the many benefits that you can receive from the exchange of ideas with like-minds - not to mention, the opportunity to give back to the community. One such group that I belong to was founded solely on the premise that it is vital for self-employed people to leave their office/studio and interact with peers in the same room. This group also meets once a month “in person” as well as exchange ideas through an online listserve.

Discussions with colleagues via social media has been an interesting development for me as well. I like the availability to ideas from other cultures or influences that I may not normally happen upon. The more I learn, the more I realize that there is so much more to learn. And I the quest for knowledge is never ending. I love it!

Today's collaboration was no exception. We had a lot of energy in the room because all of us are excited and passionate about this industry. A plethora of knowledge was shared in a couple of hours. So much so, I had to go for a long dog walk when I came home (to burn off some energy) and then sit down and write about it. So, in case I cannot remember these titles the next time I see you, here they are:


Writing Craft (in no particular order):
Crafting Stories for Children, by Nancy Lamb
Get Known Before the Book Deal, by Christina Katz (about self-promotion via social media).
A Kick In the Head, by Paul B. Janeczko (poetry forms).
Characters & Viewpoint, by Orson Scott Card
What's Your Story: A Young Person's Guide to Writing Fiction, Marion Dane Bauer
Writing it Right, by Sandy Asher
Writing Picture Books, by Ann Whitford Paul

Illustration Craft (in no particular order):
Film Directing – Shot By Shot, by Stephen D. Katz
Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts, by Nancy Beiman
Drawn to Life, by Walt Stanchfield
Cartoon Animation, by Preston Blair
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards
The Art of Animal Character Design, by David Colman
Comic and Sequential Art, by Will Eisner
Expressive Anatomy for Comics & Narrative, by Will Eisner
Illustrating Children's Books, by Martin Salisbury
Children's Picturebooks—The art of visual storytelling, by M. Salisbury and M. Styles
Picture Book Primer, by Denise I. Matulka
Picture This!, by Molly Bang

Good Reads (I've added more of my own):
My Brother's Book, by Maurice Sendak
The Story of Mrs. Lovewright and Purrless Her Cat, by Lore Segal, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
The Arrival, by Shaun Tan
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate
Chicken Cheeks, by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Creepy Carrots, by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brow
YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND!, written and illustrated by Peter Brown
The Word Collector, by Sonja Wimmer
Sleep Like a Tiger, by Mary Logue, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
I Want My Hat Back, by Jon Klassen
That Is Not My Hat, by Jon Klassen
Lapin plays possum : trickster tales from the Louisiana Bayou, adapted by Sharon Arms Doucet

The Adventures of Molly Whuppie and Other Appalachian Folktales, adapted by Anne Shelby

Tom Sawyer

     This is my entry for the Tomie de Paola Award contest for SCBWI. This year's exciting challenge was to create an image for one of three stories in black and white. I chose The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain.

     It was difficult to pick just one passage from the whole book. There are so many exciting scenes to draw ideas from. I based my illustration from the text where he and his friends run away to become pirates.
     "Tom knew of the perfect hideout–a small, uninhabited island out in the Mississippi River called Jackson's Island. He and Joe sought out Huck Finn and invited him to join them on this wild adventure. . . .  Each would bring fishing hooks and lines and as much food and provisions as he could steal.
     It was a starry and very still night as Tom made his way out of the village. The mighty river lay like an ocean at rest. . . .
     The boys loaded their provisions onto a small raft tied up on the bank, and they pushed silently away from shore."

     Huck Finn on the far left is the "town innocent". He is uneducated, scrappy, awkward and homeless. I gave him a stooped posture to emulate his low ranking and a look of awe at what Tom is telling him. He turns out however, to be an asset on the adventure because of his skills at roughing it. Which the other two are not accustomed to.

     Tom Sawyer, being a smart Alec, comes up with the idea for the adventure. He knows the way to this mysterious island and leads the other two to it. I set an vignette of Jackson's Island on the adjacent page for them to go to.

     Little Joe Harper, is stooped down and busy fishing because his role in the scene is not as active as the interaction between the other two rascals. He is the first to get homesick in the following pages, even though they have had lots of fun fishing, eating fried catfish, swimming and doing whatever they please.

Gardening nightmares

     If any of you garden, you know that well, sometimes a plant can grow "out of control". Gardening is a passion of mine, and while I don't really mind taming the green little beasts that grow from time to time. I am sometimes taken back by how certain plants take over more aggressively than others.
     Do they have a mind of their own? Probably not, but some plants so are well equipped at taking over they even manage to get us to help them (i.e. the dandelion, the apple tree, and the tulip).
     You may be surprised or confused at my choices of plants. But the dandelion loves groomed grass lawns. Every time we mow them down we generously spread their seeds that blow over into our neighbor's yard.
     The apple tree entices us so much with it's sweet aroma that we have moved it far from it's native home in central Asia across the vast oceans to new continents. The little apple seed would never be able to accomplish such a journey without our help.
     The tulip was a surprise to myself until I learned it's history. Back in the heyday of the Netherlands when the Dutch were creating a lot of commerce from overseas trading. The tulip bulb became a status symbol for every well-to-do person to have in their garden. The price of a single bulb sky rocketed. People kept spending more and more money on them because it was the must-have of the time. That is, until the market crashed. The bulb strain became prone to disease and the flowers were not able to withstand the pressure they were under to perform their floral duties. The Netherlands literally fell into crisis. They are still very well known for their beautiful tulips today. And they take their management of this commodity very seriously.

Trudi Tribute

If only our pets could live longer than they do. Our English Springer Spaniel, Trudi lost her bounce and passed away last Friday after a grueling battle with a mysterious disease. Trudi was a great dog, I miss her a lot. She has provided me with much impetus to create art and enjoy life. She was at my side in the studio reassuring me with sighs and snoring.

An eternal optimist, Trudi never met a person she didn't like. And if you didn't, she'd try her best to change your mind with sweet doggie kisses. She thought everyone would feel better with some kisses.

When she was healthy, Trudi was a lean-running machine tearing a permanent rut into the sod during her numerous hairpin turns around the circumference of our yard that she could circuit for hours. She held the bunnies and squirrels in check. And so, our signal for taking her out became, "Bunnies-n-Squirrels!" Even if she was sound asleep, hearing that phrase would make her jump up with enthusiasm. Being outside was awesome. Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. Each season offered it's own pleasures.

Winter. A happy day, was a day with a fresh blanket of snow in the backyard. Trudi loved snow. She would happily run around making new tracks. And when she got hot from all that, she'd roll around in it and eat some. -Snow tasted so good.

Spring. Mud and Springers. Need I say more? Even better, the bunnies wake up from their winter nap. What joy! Bunnies tasted good too.

Summer. Countless hours in the warm breezes and taking numerous dips in the baby pool. Nothing quenched her thirst like doggie-pool water. yum...

Fall. Crunchy leaves that smelled so good. Those squirrels sure looked tasty if only Trudi could have climb trees.

Sid Korpi (author of Good Grief-Finding Peace After Pet Loss was kind enough to post about my pet's passing on her blog: http://goodgriefpetloss.wordpress.com/.

Rest in peace, Trudi. My studio is an empty hollow without you.

My hero is gone, but his legacy remains.


I was part of the "Where the Wild Things Are" generation. Benefiting from the creator, author/illustrator Maurice Sendak's life long contributions to the Children's Literature.

I love this quote from the New York Times article.

“Dear Mr. Sendak,” read one, from an 8-year-old boy. “How much does it cost to get to where the wild things are? If it is not expensive, my sister and I would like to spend the summer there.”
Thank you, Maurice Sendak for making our world a little brighter. We will miss you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/books/maurice-sendak-childrens-author-dies-at-83.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

It's growing on me!

Spring has sprung here in Minnesota. And my new website (www.aliciaschwab.com) is growing! If only it was as easy as planing a seed, watering, clearing the weeds and watching it grow. But it takes a lot more work than that to write, design and develop a website in CSS. My goal is to have it published by June, 2012. I am in do-or-die mode, now as the weeks are flying by. In the meantime, you can still review my work over at the old site: www.aliciaschwab-online.com. I am planning to leave it up for awhile in order to redirect people to the new URL.

Website Design

And now for something completely different.
http://www.phyllisalsdurf.com/



My friend, Phyllis Alsdurf's picture book, It's Milking Time is soon to be released by Random House Children's Book later this month. I am very excited for her. She asked me to design and develop a website for her.

It was a lot of fun, I was so grateful to have such a nice selection of rich, beautiful photography taken by her daughter, Lydia Alsdurf for the website. Almost all the photos featured are from the family farm where Phyllis grew up. It's a nice way to pay homage to the Midwestern dairy farm. She has many happy memories from her youth which influences her writing.

It's Milking Time, by Phyllis Alsdurf 
Be sure to check out her new book, It's Milking Time, by Phyllis Alsdurf and illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. ©2012 Random House Children's Books.

School Visit

 Today I was invited to speak to the art and writing classes at Mound Westonka High School. What a great group! They were very eager to get started on the next phase of writing and illustrating their children's book story. The two classes are working together in a collaborative effort to write children's stories and then illustrate them. Later in the year, they will exhibit their their works together.

Encaustic #2

"Daydreams"
One of the materials I brought to the Encaustic class with Jodi Reeb-Myers was a sketch I had done from an older piece of a little girl sitting reflectively on a chair. I thought that it might work well as an image transfer for my 2nd piece, "DAYDREAMS" (click to enlarge).

There are so many different ways to approach a subject that it almost hard to decide what to do first. I think it is important to just start playing. But I ended up making the surface too bumpy with wax and paper collage items for the image transfer to adhere properly. Oh well! So I opted to place her face up as I had originally drawn the figure.

The dots are from pieces of found paper. Now after looking at this for awhile I can think of other ways that I would do this piece if I were to start over. But that is the benefit of taking a class to learn something. I really enjoyed the class and would like to try it again sometime. Thanks, Jodi!

Encaustic #1

"Into the Blue"
I took a break yesterday and tried a new medium. WOW! That was great! The painting technique that I learned is Encaustic (painting with hot wax). I took a class from artist/instructor Jodi Reeb-Myers at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts.

There are lots of ways to paint with this technique. The two pieces I made were done with mixed media: paper, beeswax, oil paint on a wood support. There is a lot going on in this piece "INTO THE BLUE" (click to enlarge). I tried almost everything possible on this board and almost over did it. It is hard to know when to quit with this medium because you can re-melt the medium over and over again with the heat gun.

School Visit


School Visits are fun. The students love seeing what grown-ups do for work. Today I visited Mrs. Brayman's art class to talk to the students about how to use symbolism in their artwork. I showed them samples of my own work and how I use objects, color schemes and texture as some of the ways to convey a message or meaning in my work. In the book I am holding, Great Group Skits, I use symbolism in each of the chapter head illustrations to show what the title of that chapter is about. The students were inspired to take that knowledge and use it in their own illustrated book project.