SCBWI Winter Conference Part 2- The Good Stuff

Saturday started the heavy stuff. It was a day packed with speakers and events, and I met a lot of great people. Sunday was much more relaxed but it still had its moments. I’ll try to keep my recollections brief so I can cover everything that really impacted me.

Meg Rosoff:

The topic of Meg’s talk was “So, when are you going to write a real book?” How many of us have heard some variant of this question since the very moment they entered the creative field? Aside from being hilariously bitter, Meg really turned on a lightbulb for me as to why I want to work in the field that I do. I’ve always known I wanted to be an artist, and when I fell in love with middle grade/YA book covers, I wondered if I somehow failed the maturity test. I’m a reasonable adult- shouldn’t I be illustrating for the New Yorker or something?

Meg mentioned that the reason she writes for the YA genre is that humans that age are “just the right age to have [my] life changed by books.” I remember it so well, how deeply I connected with a good book when I was that age. It’s not that I don’t still enjoy books today, but I do feel more removed from them than I did when I was 14. Kids that age are “seeking intensity. Big emotions. Big ideas.” I love that intensity. What you say, and what they read, really matters.

If anyone wants to lighten the mood, while picking up on some handy writing tips along the way, I suggest you take a look at Meg’s blog:

http://www.megrosoff.co.uk/blog/

Patrick Collins (Henry Holt) and Isabel Warren-Lynch (Knopf & Delacorte)

Though they had differing opinions on what styles personally spoke to them, both agreed on many items that “hook” them, such as strong, identifiable characters, an emotional connection to promote storytelling, body language, and simplicity. It’s a good reminder from the Big Guys that no matter who your connections are, no matter what your personal style is, it all comes back to a solid foundation.

Shaun Tan

Honestly, I had no idea who Shaun Tan was until a few months ago, probably when he was announced as a speaker for the conference. I looked him up a while back and fell in love with his pencils from The Arrival.

“The truths I am most interested in are the ones that can’t be spoken about directly.”

In a time where everyone seems to be shouting how great they are through every social media outlet they can find, it’s refreshing to listen to someone so introspective as Shaun. He reminded me of my early days (you know, since I’m such a seasoned professional now) when the most interesting thing about making art was delving into my own psyche. It was less about “storytelling” for me at that point, and more about telling my own story. I had kind of forgotten what that felt like.

Also, I just really liked this sound bite of his on surrealism vs his own work: He’s just “accessing everyday reality through a sideways door.” If you’re interested in hearing more “deep thoughts” by Shaun Tan, he has a good collection of essays on his website:

 http://www.shauntan.net/comments1.html

Julie Andrews

It was so nice to hear her voice in person!

Mo Willems

Another hilarious personality. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Mo’s work; it’s just not my style. But he was a great speaker and I’m glad that the SCBWI brought in so many interesting personalities that really kept the audience engaged. I don’t know if they look for comedians or if it just worked out that way, but I enjoyed every workshop.

Mo recommended you always approach your work as though you want to change the world for the better, not just to get published. That will push you to make better work.

I don’t often make an attempt at writing, as I know where my strengths lie. But Mo had, in my humble opinion, some great advice: “In writing, you (the author) are in the way. You’re the third wheel. You have to be invisible.”

And this advice is relevant to anyone, writer or illustrator or any type of creative: “Ideas are not animals to be trapped.”


Lastly- I can't believe I didn't win the joke contest! I thought mine was hilarious:

A guy walks into a bar, and says to Chicken Little; "What's up?"

*****

This post is getting rather long, but I just had to mention how I ended my Saturday, as it was so unusual. Nothing to do with the conference, but I still recommend it if you’re in NY. A friend and I went to see the immersive theatre piece “Sleep No More”. It’s visually stunning, though definitely not for everyone.

Sleep No More is roughly based on Macbeth, which is helpful to know beforehand because it would be hard to pick up on. But knowing that helps you make sense of some of the scenes you happen upon. I am having trouble, even now, explaining it, except that I can say it covers a huge 5-floor hotel which you can roam through freely, and every room is meticulously designed to enchant the eyes. Spectators wear masks, no one speaks, but hauntingly beautiful music follows you throughout the hotel. If that sounds like your kind of thing, check out the website below:

Sleep No More NYC

SCBWI Winter Conference Part 1- The Journey

So after all the madness has died down, and I am safely back at home, I am tackling the subject of the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York this year. What an eventful weekend!

To start with, it was a transportation nightmare. I live far up in Upstate New York, and it's quite a journey trying to get down to the city. I figured I would drive 4 hours down through the mountains to Albany Thursday after work, stay with my sister that night, and catch the train in the morning so I wouldn't have to park in the city. I checked the weather report for a town about halfway through the mountains, since the roads are steep and winding, and it looked wintery but mild. Great. However, once I got a few miles past that town, a sudden onset of lake effect snow started blowing across the road, blinding us motorists and slowing traffic to a crawl. That was fine, I've driven in storms before, and the roads were still clear at that point. But after about 30-45 minutes of that, traveling at a glacial pace, not a single plow had been seen. I was coming around a downhill curve (in low gear and about 30 miles under the speed limit) when I started to fishtail and lost control, brakes locking up. Rather than steering into oncoming traffic I slid into the guard rail, spinning off onto the side of the road.

Honestly, I was going so slow that it didn't feel like much of a bump, so I thought, "hey, maybe it's not that bad." Boy was I wrong. I guess that guard rail just chewed up the front of my car. To make matters worse, it was still snowing, and that area has no cell towers. Luckily someone stopped immediately and offered to drive down to the nearest garage for me and call the police and a tow truck. I wasn't waiting there very long before the police came, and we waited for the tow. On top of all my bad luck, I was given a traffic ticket. The cop said he had no choice, since the guard rail was damaged, but hopefully I can get it reduced (he also wouldn't let me use his phone).

He dropped me off at a gas station near the garage, where I made a couple of long distance calls from a pay phone (when is the last time I've used one of those?). Seemed I would be stuck there for the night. I walked half a mile to the nearest motel, and saw 3 deer along the way. The lovely owner let me use her phone to make some more calls, as the rooms didn't have phones (how do these people live?). I arranged for the nearest taxi (about 60 miles away) to come get me in the morning, and changed my train ticket to Glens Falls. Then I had a rather sleepless night. I have never had a speeding ticket, much less been in an accident. I credit my supreme chillness in not freaking out and escaping wildly through the woods. Plus I was not wearing boots.

I arrived at Grand Central 15 minutes after the portfolio drop-off deadline. Noooo! This event was the whole reason I came! I am so grateful that the powers-that-be sitting outside the portfolio room let me drop off my book anyway. Let's hope the right people liked what they saw!

Why can't the NY Conference be in the spring or summer?

To be continued...

The Trouble With Faces

I just realized why at times it's been so difficult for me to ease into the "children's" genre. It's all in the faces. One of the first things I remember discovering for myself about art, when I was young, is that eyes aren't round, or even almond-shaped. No two people have eyes that are quite the same shape, have the same folds and the same expression. Next came noses. From that first upside-down 7 that we learned to draw, to some of the horrible in-between attempts at figuring out how to draw nostrils, to being able to accurately describe the schnoz. Same with lips, ears, smiles, frowns, hair, and on and on.

It took a long time to figure out how to turn this:

Into this:

While these revelations are great for a portrait-painter, they can sometimes hinder a children's-book artist. Not that I'm saying that art for children must be cartoony- I've seen plenty of beautifully realistic children's book art. But due to the demands of the genre, sometimes simplicity is called for. Sometimes you just can't spend your whole day filling pages with beautiful portraits of children- that doesn't make for very good storytelling. And sometimes you don't want a beautiful portrait of a child- sometimes it's just not what the story needs.

It took me a long time to realize that there can be a time and a place for this, as well:

By the way, I don't know where these images came from, just found them on Google. I did not create any of them.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Hey, remember these books illustrated by Stephen Gammell that used to terrify us as schoolkids? I more or less completely forgot about them, until I saw one of Gammell's drawings on the web, which brought it all back! I have never been someone who likes to watch scary movies, and yet I loved these books. Sadly, I can't seem to find the books online with the original artwork, they've been re-released with some tamer artwork. Probably because the books kept getting banned from schools and libraries. I'll put my vote of confidence in for the original, spine-tingling artwork!

Paul Jackson's Fluid Color

Just discovered an awesome new watercolorist, Paul Jackson. Stumbled upon him because he'll be judging the Baltimore Watercolor Society's Mid-Atlantic juried show, which I am considering entering. I'll have to check through my portfolio and see if I have anything that won't shame me too much, in the face of this awesome painter. Since images speak louder than words for me, have a look:

Watercolor isn't just for blue-haired old ladies anymore.

Jackson is the author of Painting Spectacular Light Effects in Watercolor, from North Light Books.

Visit the website: Website

Through the Looking Glass Edit

I don't know if this is committing some kind of author faux-pas on this, but I wanted to crowd-source some editing on the draft of my children's book in progress, since I'm not a writer by trade. If anyone is familiar with the story of Through The Looking-Glass, it's a pretty wild story, and runs the risk of being a total confusion when you boil it down to 32 pages (though it might be considered by some to be a confusing mess, regardless).

Anyone, here is the rough draft of the text, with a brief description of the images that will go along with it. Feel free to post your comments on what doesn't work, and why. I wanted to do more with the page about the Red King, and how the Looking-Glass world might just be his dream, but couldn't figure out how.

Page 1: (Alice is sleeping)

Kitty found a ball of yarn
while Alice napped one day.
Kitty played till Alice woke
and took the yarn away.


Pages 2-3: (Alice picks up Kitty angrily)

"See this mess you've made!" she said
and brought the kitty nearer,
"Look at this untidy room"
she said into the mirror.


Pages 4-5: (Alice goes through the mirror)

The Looking-Glass began to fade
"Well, this is something new!"
said Alice as she ducked her head
and boldly climbed right through.


Pages 6-7: (Is on the other side)

"It's like my house, but backwards!"
she said, looking around,
and was about to leave the room
but then, she heard a sound.


Pages 8-9: (sees the chess pieces)

"The King and Queen can talk!" she cried,
as out the door she flew.
"If anything can happen here, I wonder
if I could be Queen, too."


Pages 10-11: (Garden leading to giant chessboard)

Outside, the flowers spoke, and said
she must run very fast
for at the end of her journey
she'd be a Queen at last!


Pages 12-13: (train jumps across chess board)

When she found a train and climbed aboard,
it jumped into the air
and flew across the chessboard,
which gave her quite a scare.


Pages 14-15: (Forest on the way to Tweedledee & Tweedledum)

"I think I'll just walk from here"
Alice said, "if you please,"
"but I still want to be a Queen"
and kept on through the trees


Pages 16-17: (Red King sleeping)

titpoeing past the Red King snoring,
as quiet as she could.
Toward her goal she made her way
deeper into the Wood,


Pages 18-19: (Tweedledee & Tweedledum)

and met Tweedledum and Tweedledee
who liked to fight all day
and fought each other bravely 'til
a Crow chased them away.


Pages 20-21: (Sheep's shop)

The woods gave way to a small shop
where a Sheep watched with a frown.
With nothing to buy, Alice left, thinking,
"What I want is a crown!"


Pages 22-23: (Humpty Dumpty)

Then she found Humpty Dumpty, up on his wall,
and though she tried to warn,
"I'll never fall!" he proudly cried,
and chased her off with scorn.


Pages 24-25: (Lion & Unicorn fight)

She passed the Lion and Unicorn
as a crowd gathered round,
yet Alice did not stay to watch,
but hurried to be crowned.


Pages 26-27: (White Knight)

So she went on, until she met
the White Queen's noble Knight.
"Clumsy fellow," she thought, as he
could not remain upright.


Pages 28-29: (Alice's party)

"But how nice to walk me all the way,
I've won the crown at last!"
Now Queen Alice celebrates-
the guests all have a blast!


Pages 30-31: (Alice party goes wild)

But dinner soon gets out of hand
and Alice is dismayed,
"Make it stop!" Queen Alice shouts,
and all begins to fade-


Page 32: (Back to Alice sleeping)

till all that's left is Alice there,
still asleep in her chair.
Did these things truly come to pass
when Alice went through the looking-glass?

The Hawkeye Initiative

Just found a hilarious site called "The Hawkeye Initiative", a collaborative parody effort by comic book lovers to point out the ridiculousness of the various poses and outfits that artists come up with for female comic book characters.

"What is the purpose of The Hawkeye Initiative?
To draw attention to how deformed, hyper-sexualized, and unrealistically posed/dressed women are drawn in comics."

I like how this objective is met, not with preaching and proselytizing, but with tongue-in-cheek humor. Check it out!

The Hawkeye Initiative