Courtesy of the ASIFA - Hollywood Animation Archives: Illustrator Gustaf Tenggren

For the latest postings: Please go to http://HowToBeAChildrensBookIllustrator.wordpress.com

This fun, practical unique online class will provide you with the basics of illustrating for children’s books, magazines and other media for children, and will help you with all of your art-making from now on.

Those editors and art directors at children’s book publishing houses want to see samples of your color work.  So expect to complete some finished, full color pieces for your story. You can upload your best piece from the course to this site, if you wish. 

You’ll learn all the steps in preparing thumbnails, a book “dummy” and a submission package for an editor and/or art director at a publishing house. 

You’ll discover how to use visual references, transfer sketches to a painting surface and work in an assured way with color. Learn the right methods for submitting your final art (after you land that book illustration contract!) and how to effectively market yourself and your work for future assignments. 

More about the course

You’ll receive a hands-on  introduction to children’s book and magazine illustration by Mark Mitchell, an award-winning children’s book author-illustrator.

You’ll gain an exceptional understanding of the children’s book market and how to proceed with any book or magazine illustration project.

You will learn to prepare thumbnail sketches, storyboards and a book “dummy,” and find the reference you need to help you to draw confidently. 

The course will provide you with a real understanding of picture and page design, visual perspective, artistic anatomy and watercolor technique.   You’ll also find insights on working with editors and art directors and pointers for marketing yourself and your work in the intensely competitive field of children’s media. 

As you work through the lessons, you’ll find your individual style emerging as you start to develop artistic confidence.

For more information on the course, write Mark at mark@howtobeachildrensbookillustrator.com — or leave your comment on the ASK survey at this link.

Animation Archive Little Night, written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales, published by Roaring Book Press - Holtzbrinck (designed by Jennifer Browne) won the Golden Kite Award for best picture book illustration.
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April’s The Artist’s Magazine (F+W Publications) features an interview with Jan Brett (33 million books in print and still going strong.)

Funny, I was reading The Mitten to my three year old-granddaughter just the other night and we were both enjoying this book very much.

Brett’s only formal art training came from museum art classes when she was young.

She works with a very dry (watercolor) brush technique, “almost like a colored pencil,” she tells interviewer Paula Theotocus.

Loved as much by booksellers and librarians as by children, she travels the world researching the locales of the stories she works on, accompanied by her husband, Joe Hearne, who is also her business manager and webmaster.
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Cynsations, the blog of teen and children’s author Cynthia Leitich-Smith  featured interviews with children’s book industry folks who spoke at the March 29-30  SCBWI Bologna Conference 2008 in connection with the Bologna Book Fair.

Cynsations guest writer Anita Loughrey spoke with Caldecott winning illustrator Paul O Zelinksy, French comic author-illustrator Emmanuel Guibert and Harper Collins executive art director Martha Rago.

For Loughrey’s question, “What makes an artists illustrations stand out for you?” Rago had an interesting answer:

“I would not underestimate technical skills, which are very, very important: anatomy, composition, and perspective, good use of color and line, and effective use of materials,” she said.

“But I am always looking for someone who has not just the technical skills but a distinct individual style, a clear voice and images that suggest narrative through context,emotional tone, and the way they relate sequentially.” It’s not often you get to peek inside the mind of an art director at a major children’s publishing house. Read the full interview with Martha Rago here.

Awesome Austin Writers Workshop in session (Photo by Cynthia Leitich Smith)

A mega-critique of 26 children’s and YA published and soon-to-be-published authors, the Awesome Austin Writers Workshop  ended Sunday, June 29, and everyone drove home in shock.  Shock because it was over and had gone so well and we realized  that we weren’t coming back to hang out with each other again the next day.

The workshop took place in the 1920s-vintage Austin, Texas home of authors Greg and Cynthia Leitich Smith.

Cynthia, who teaches in the children’s and young adult writing MFA program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts thought up and organized the event with help from her author-attorney husband, Greg and other friends from the Austin chapter of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.)  

For three days she led the critiques in a tour de force of quick wit, good fun, practical erudition, zinging (as opposed to stinging) professional insight and Kansas Pioneer Woman stamina. 

Months before we’d been asked to submit up to ten pages of our works in progress. These were the beginnings of picture books, parts of YA novels and sci-fantasy chapter books, poems and nonfiction stories. Each writer got 40-45 minutes of vociferous attention from the group, moderated by Cynthia. 

Liz Scanlon, Alison Dellenbaugh, Erin Edwards and Phillip Yates get their papers in order. April Lurie is in the background. (Photo courtesy of Cynthia Leitich Smith.)

It’s an odd sensation to be on the receiving end of so much focus – 26 bright minds reacting to your prose or verse, while you’re not allowed to talk back. It feels like a surgical procedure is being done – a double cataract removal. 

Like the other dazed & AAWW’ed patients after their operations, I got my copies back scribbled with thoughts, kudos, suggestions for fixes, often accompanied by typed notes. We clutched our precious stacks like they were our medical charts and we were on our gurneys in the recovery room.

Since I was one of two illustrators present, I was invited to pass around a couple of sketches to accompany my picture book offering – for additional AAWW-some scrutiny.

There was a lot of sharing, bonding, helping and a lot of eating going on.  Our graceful “pages” (fellow SCBWI’ers)  Donna Bratton and Carmen Oliver kept us supplied with coffee, scrambled egg kolaches, chocolates, juice and jokes (bad pun jokes — relentless pantomiming on the theme ”turning pages”,  ”flipping pages.” At one point they donned tunics with labels: ”Page #1″ and “Page #2.”)

The founder and first regional adviser of our Austin SCBWI chapter, Meredith Davis was there, along with our current RA Tim Crow and former RA Julie Lake and our 90 year old member Betty X. Davis, who frequently outpaces us.  Participant Gene Brenek wrote later, ”These relationships have been years in the making.” It was true and probably contributed to all the magic we felt around us. Still, not  everyone present was an Awesome Austin writer. You see, Awesome writer Varsha Bajaj joined us from the Houston SCBWI chapter. She became one of us quickly, though.

Taking time out from their paginations, Donna Bratton(left) and Carmen Oliver (right) visit with author Lindsey Lane at the Saturday night party at author Helen Hemphill's home. (Photo by Cynthia Leitich Smith.)

We enjoyed a relaxing Saturday night party in the lovely loft residence of YA author Helen Hemphill and her husband Neil. Children’s writers settled right in to flowing wine, a spectacular catered supper and twinkling night views of the downtown.

Sunday around lunchtime everyone drove home in shock, as I’ve explained above. Many, after recovering somewhat, went straight to blogging about their experience, which is why the Awesome Austin Writers Workshop is all over the Internet today, as it should be.

Here are some of the blogposts::

Jo Whittemore, Julie Lake, Liz Scanlon and Betty Davis prepare for the next critique round. (Photo by Cynthia Leitich Smith)