New Medium, New Project

So I have been busy, believe it or not!  I am working on my next picture book, a fractured fairy tale of fiery independence...and a little bit of silliness of course.  I am going for a sort of different tone and writing style this time by trying to make it more modern and edgy.  I also plan to experiment more with non-digital media, which I've gotten away from since college (Micron pen aside). 

But that's not what the title of this post is about.  What it is about, see, is I've had it in my mind for years now to get into animation.  I haven't even tried the slightest bit of animation, not counting helping my college roommate with his dark, twisted stop-motion shorts in which my main contribution was moving scary toys around in our creepy basement, inch by inch (his movie turned out awesome though). 

My animation will be about 2 minutes in length, and I plan to use a medium that I haven't really seen used before but which will be fantastically low-tech (who has time for learning Flash? And who uses it nowadays anyway?) and I think a good foray into the medium just as a first excercise.  And yes, it will feature none other than Lizzie and Rennie, who have gotten many encore requests since their debut in Lizzie Fox-Top over a year ago.  Here's a little morsel of a sketch:

Please excuse the weird nose-wrinkle.  It's a sketch, after all.

Introducing Stevie French, Curator.

I really need to get to work.  And I do realize the irony of a post where I complain about the fact that I have not worked on anything in awhile.  I could definitely be doing some art right now.  Because listen to all these great plans I have!

But first, rewind. I gave another illustration lecture to some classes at Temple University last Thursday.  It went well, again! I think this is going to be a semesterly thing, which is fine by me.  I love having all that time to talk about my favorite subject (me). It was fun to have an actual finished book this time; last time I only had the messed-up proofs to show.  I even sold a book, and one very Gracious Benefactor who will remain anonymous even bought up my entire current stock of greeting cards (don't worry, I'll make more!). 

But wait there's more.  This very same person, who owns the bookstore where I had my signing party last year, invited me to be in several upcoming shows with very exciting, specific themes.  This means I need to get to work!  I am feeling very inspired by the topics though.  It almost reminds me of when I got a particularly cool assignment in college that I couldn't wait to "solve."  I say solve because I think a lot of art is a problem that needs a solution, like math only not terrible.  The problem is usually how to express yourself given certain limitations, like a theme or the materials.  I think that's why I like illustration so much--I like figuring out the best solution to something creatively.  It's the most satisfying thing in the world (besides chocolate cake). 

And last but not least, as evidenced in the title of this post, here's the really exciting news: I've been invited to curate an illustration exhibition at the main art gallery in Oxford!  It won't be until next fall, but I am beside myself with excitement.  It truly was a fateful day when I decided to attend a meeting of the Oxford Arts Alliance.  What great friends I have in the art world!