I Talked at A Middle School

Did a talk/reading at Mannington School in New Jersey yesterday.  I basically bestowed my knowledge of writing/publishing/and a little illustration upon 50 6/7/8th-graders.  I think they liked it! They asked some questions, which is always good.  And I was kind of surprised at how I was able to talk without benefit of my extensive notes--just referencing my bare-bones powerpoint.  I was worried about making it relevant and interesting for them, which I think I at least achieved the latter.  It's hard to know what to talk about with that age--they appreciate my book but it's not the main focus so I have to think of other interesting things to tell them.  Fun though.  Hopefully I get to do this sort of thing more often!

Again.

I forgot to add the complimentary color!  Do we like it better now?

Oh, also, Drunken Boat has my logo at the top of their page.  I think it's been there awhile but I didn't check it out til now.  Yay!

Beware, Children;.!

Here's a design for the cover of the Quaker book I am re-designing and illustrating.  I think this looks fairly B.-A.  Wonder if Richard will like it?

Inspiration: 19th Century flowery, art deco-y book covers, of course!

It's a Jungle Out There

Gearing up for another conference, this time in the beautiful mountains of northeastern PA!  Thing have been busy, but rest assured I've been hard at work on several projects.  The biggest one to date I just finished a few weeks ago, and I believe I mentioned on this blog before:  3 acrylic panels of a jungle scene for a baby's room.  They turned out great!  Only thing is, I think I'll never use MDF again.  It's nice when you don't want to spend $100 on canvases (and are terrible at making them yourself) but it's so hard to paint on!  The surface just hated my brush and I ended up having to go over every single part of the paintings multiple times before it would look decent.  But enough complaining.  Here they are:

 

I made this flier for a friend's charity event.  I think it turned out pretty nice for someone who doesn't do design that much. 

You should go!  It raises funds for a genetic disease that causes blindness.

I Did A Reading at Oxford Public Library

Had my first official book reading at Oxford Public Library on Monday!  It was great fun.  About 35 people came out (maybe 20 kids, plus their parents) to hear a dramatic reading of LFT.  Leanne, the children's librarian, did a wonderful job with the decorations too (see above photos).  Afterward, everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch together (featuring macaroni and cheese and cupcakes, my favorite!)

Everyone seemed to like the book and I sold a few copies.  The age range was wide though, from toddlers to about 9 years old, so that made me a bit nervous--I definitely lost some of the babies' attention around page 30!  But the middle-range kids listened and actively participated once I remembered my tried-and-true method of asking questions and pointing stuff out as I went along (this works wonders when reading to my classes during substituting).  The older girls pictured above are budding writers and were very curious about my writing/publishing method, which I was more than happy to share!

The main librarian, Ken, said he thought maybe I can come back and do it in the summer.  That would be fun, and now I know more what to do too (I'd like to engage the audience more beforehand--this time I introduced myself and just jumped right in, but I bet it helps to establish some sort of rapport first so they have more of a reason to listen).

Be Good, Kids! (Or Else You'll Die/Accidentally Kill Someone/Have No Friends/Get Fat, Etc.)

I'm working on some black and white illustrations for the re-publishing of a collection of didactic poems and stories written by a Quaker woman in the 19th century.  Here's one from a poem about a boy who keeps a squirrel as a pet, but eventually decides to let it go free.  My only worry with this project is that I will make the illustrations too Edward Gorey-esque.  He's one of my favorite illustrators (I've probably mentioned him in an earlier post), and one whom I've been compared to on more than one occasion (even before I even knew he existed, back in college).  He wrote several stories that were satirical versions of what I'm illustrating for now, so it's spotty territory, but hopefully I can find enough of my own style to shine through!

EDIT: I decided to color it for fun.