Illustration Friday: Round

It's about time I posted something new, isn't it? Gosh, the past couple of weeks somehow flew by with work and assorted holiday comings and goings—it's rejuvenating to have a day to draw, and to catch up on my blog visits. It's been almost a year since I started my blog, and when I don't have time to tend to it, I miss all of you!

My entry for the topic "round" on Illustration Friday is an homage, of sorts, to The Polar Express, a holiday favorite of mine. In fact, I love it so much that, on my forays into antique shops and websites, I'm often on the lookout for antique sleigh bells like the ones in the book. There are some gorgeous ones, but they're usually  brass, not the silvery (nickel?) ones in the story. A couple of years ago, after my father-in-law passed away, we were sorting through some things in his home and I came across this single, old sleigh bell. Right away, it reminded me of the one that Santa gives the boy at the end of the book. So, with apologies to Chris Van Allsburg, here's my sleigh bell—for all of us who truly believe.

Illustration Friday: Stripes...and Selznick!

Every  now and then I need to take a break from my drawings of botanicals and everyday objects, and after doing that turban squash, it was time! For this week's Illustration Friday topic, stripes, I decided to do another in my series of little trompe l'oeil drawings, using mostly white pencil on black paper. It's a complete departure for me, and a fun mental exercise, figuring out what's white and what's black. Here are the three together, you can see the original posts here and here):

But while were chatting about black and white drawings, I'm dying to tell you about my amazing evening a couple of weeks ago: Brian Selznick was in town talking about and signing his incredible new book, Wonderstruck, which is two stories intertwined, one told in words, one told in pictures. I've written about him before, especially my love for his book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. If you ever get a chance to hear Brian speak, you have to go—he's an amazing speaker and storyteller; everyone in the school auditorium was enthralled. While he spoke, we were treated to a fabulous screening of images from the book, his writing and drawing process, and the trailer for Martin Scorcese's new film, "Hugo". Brian answered tons of questions, and shared some fascinating things: 

There are hundreds of pencil drawings in these two books. He works really small (about 4 x 5 ) with a mechanical pencil on watercolor paper, and then the drawings are enlarged for the books. (He has an exquisite way of cross-hatching...I try not to drool on the pages.)

He decided to tell one story in pictures after watching a documentary about deaf people. (He has learned to sign really well; there was a deaf student in the audience and he chatted with her afterward.)

As a child, he was obsessed with the wolf diorama at NYC's Museum of Natural History. The wolves and the museum are important parts of Wonderstruck. 

He said that Martin Scorcese was unbelievably faithful to his book, and that the movie uses 3D technology in a new, sophisticated, artful way. When he visited the movie set, he saw that Scorcese, as well as most of the cast and crew kept his book with them  throughout the filming.

As he toured the set, built to look like a Parisian train station, Brian noticed how perfect a certain wall grate looked. He asked the production designer, the talented Dante Ferretti, where they found the grate, saying, "It looks just like the one I drew!" Ferretti answered, "It is the one you drew!" He was amazed that they had literally brought the smallest details of his drawings to life.
It was such fun meeting him as he signed my books.

(He had on the coolest silver leather shoes.)

I could go on and on, but I'll let you experience the genius of Brian Selznick firsthand. Check out his website here and the movie trailer here. It opens November 23...I can't wait!!

Illustration Friday: Boundaries

Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes • Prismacolor Pencils on Strathmore Bristol Vellum

"Now, my dears," said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, "you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor."

The animals around my garden have not been heeding their mothers' admonitions about respecting boundaries.  What started as a tentative nibble on a spaghetti squash, has escalated to bold beheading of sunflowers, and brazen feasting on tomatoes.  Are my nighttime visitors squirrels, raccoons...or maybe even rats?  I'm not sure, but when I see their handiwork in the morning, I can't help but picture them more as Beatrix Potter characters than as garden pests.  Fortunately, there are plenty of vegetables for all of us.

•   •   •

While on the topic of boundaries, I was thinking about how Illustration Friday really transcends all geographic boundaries.  I want to mention two artists and fellow bloggers, well-known to many of you, from distant points on the globe (well, distant from where I live). They're both very generous with their comments, very prolific (I'm convinced that neither one sleeps) and if you haven't visited their blogs, now's the time:

From Hokkaido, Japan: Check out DosankoDebbie's Etegami Notebook. Her artwork is so beautiful and unique. She has multiple blogs (!) and amazing talents, and I learn something from each and every post.

From Newscastle, NSW, Australia, Andrew Finnie. He creates fascinating, beautiful (and sometimes surreal) digital illustrations, and his accompanying text is just as entertaining. And recently, he has blogged about an exhibition of his paintings, which are completely different than his digital work, and are simply sublime. Oh, and he's a surfer and an optometrist in his other life.

Enjoy!

Illustration Friday: Obsession

Prismacolor pencils on Strathmore Bristol Vellum

My obsession? That's easy: books. I love books and everything connected with them: book blogs, bookstores, used book sales, libraries...especially libraries. Aren't they still the best deal going?  When I was growing up, my mom didn't drive, but we lived a few blocks from the Emerson Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library, my favorite place in the world. The librarians had these mesmerizing pencils that had a little rubber date stamp attached to the tip so that they could initial and date the checkout card with one efficient stroke; I thought they had the best job on earth. 

I loved the quiet, the card catalogs, and that intoxicating smell...sort of musty, but sort of magical. And apparently, the addiction is genetic: When my daughter was small, as I was tucking her in one night, she opened her book and cooed, "I  love how books smell." Call me a sentimental fool, but it was one of my favorite parenting moments of all time.

As a kid, on a summer day, I'd take my library books home to the coolness of our screened-in porch where I would begin a little ritual that I still perform: I'd read the first paragraph of each book I'd checked out and one with the best paragraph would be the one I'd read first. To this day, if I pick up a book that doesn't have a great first paragraph, I rarely read any further.

The books I've drawn are my copies of favorites from that era of the visits to the Emerson library. Top to bottom:

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
A classic, of course: the size, the story, and those illustrations. Loved 'em then, love 'em now.

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, illustrations by Garth Williams
Easily my favorite book of all time, and some of my favorite illustrations as well. I'm thrilled that kids still read it in school; it has stood the test of time unbelievably well. I received this copy for Christmas when I was nine. I also got a little tape recorder, and I would sit and read Charlotte's Web into it and play it back to myself...such a book geek. Audio books, circa 1966.

Magic to Burn by Jean Fritz 
I loved this book and read it over and over after doing a book report on it in fourth grade. American kids find an elf while on vacation in England, and bring him home with them. Sadly, it's out of print now, but I found this copy on eBay several years ago.

On Cherry Street - the reader we used in first grade. We didn't have Dick, Jane and Spot, we had Tom, Betty and Flip. Another eBay purchase.

Sugarplum by Johanna Johnston
One of the books that we owned, and we must have read it a million times. This was our copy; I found an identical one online for my sisters birthday a few ago.

What were the books that were most important to you as a child?

NOTE: If  you're a book lover, I urge you to get your hands on a copy of Anna Quindlen's indescribably wonderful little book, How Reading Changed My Life...it will change yours.

Waiting for summer

Protea "Pink Ice"

11" x 14" Prismacolor colored pencil on Strathmore Bristol

Our California summer is slow in arriving this year, but while I was finishing this drawing, I could pretend that I was enjoying a warm, dry African climate. This is the "other" protea that I mentioned in my last post. I continue to be fascinated by the botanical world: drawing the outer part of this flower was almost identical to drawing an artichoke or a pinecone.

Speaking of Africa, I have to tell you about my new favorite children's book, Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell. (See it over there on my sidebar?) If you're a fan of children's books, you'll know the feeling of paging through a picture book that is so wonderful that it chokes you up a bit. This book is a look at the childhood of Jane Goodall, and speaks eloquently to children about making their dreams come true. Jane Goodall has long been a hero of mine—many moons ago, I started out as a biology major in college, with visions of romping through the wild, notebook in hand, à la Jane. After a few tedious late nights in the lab, mating fruit flies, I switched to Art & Design, my other passion. (Interestingly, my son is now a field biologist, romping through the woods, notebook in hand, à la Jane.) Patrick McDonnell, best-known for his comic strip, "MUTTS", has created a masterpiece. Looking a bit like a field journal, this book treats you to his charming, sensitive illustrations enhanced by gorgeous vintage engravings behind the text, as well as some of Jane's own childhood sketches...and then there's that goosebump-inducing photo on the last page. Do yourself a favor, and get a copy of this one. Or better yet, sit down and read it with a child that you love...and get goosebumps together.

Note: I'm trying to tweak the type that I'm using for these posts. I was using a smaller type for the past couple of weeks, but it suddenly looked too small to me today. I'd appreciate any feedback as to which is more legible to you, or, being the indecisive type, I may be toggling back and forth between the two forever...UPDATE: Thanks for the feedback; I'm switching back to this larger type...for now!

Illustration Friday: Lesson

Sometimes I oversimplify things, but I think that the world just might be a better place if we made sure that all children had a box of crayons.

Don't most kids these days own crayons?  Sadly, the answer is: No.  I substitute teach, and when we're doing the occasional semi-artsy project, I sometimes chat with the kids about what kind of amusements they have at home.  Nintendo and Wii?  Check.  Crayons and paints and pads of plain paper?  Not so much.  I usually end up giving my little speech about the fact that art supplies are really cheap compared to video games.  (You can still buy that glorious box of 64 Crayola crayons for under $5.)

Lest you think me a Luddite, I confess that I have nothing against computer games and video games.  (I remember my laundry backing up as I worked my way through Myst some years back, and my iPad is all smudgy from playing Cut the Rope.)  But kids need art supplies of their very own at home.  They need their own box of crayons, so that they can arrange the colors any way that they want to, peel the paper off, or even break one or two without anyone caring.  Today's teachers, God bless 'em, have to cover such a specific curriculum that there just isn't much time left for a lot of artistic freedom and creativity.  (I remember being asked, by my child's teacher, to outline in Black Sharpie all of the kids' illustrations in their Young Authors books.  I not-so-politely declined.)

"The arts give our young people the power to bring their own voice to the conversation about who they are and how they think."  So says illustrator and artist Betsy Streeter, who has a wonderful website called Drooly Dog. Its mission is "to help young people and their grownups develop their unique voice through art." Check it out.

Maybe giving kids a box of crayons and a big, fat pad of paper won't solve all of our problems.  But on a day when we're finding out that we have one less villain in the world, I keep wondering whether, when he was a child, anyone gave him a box of crayons of his very own.

This week's drawing was inspired by one of my favorite children's books, The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola. In this autobiographical story, Tomie tells of  the impact that a box of crayons and an open-minded art teacher had on his life.(You might remember that I told you last December about my own love affair with Crayola crayons.) This is such a wonderful book!

Fabulous books, fabulous people

We all fret about the future of small, independent retail establishments these days, while lamenting the proliferation of the big, impersonal chain stores.  Well, in the past few days, I've had heart-warming experiences at both:

I'm lucky enough to have the world's best children's bookstore just a few blocks from my house. Hicklebee's is, quite simply, a treasure.  Do you remember the charming children's bookstore in the movie, "You've Got Mail"?  Hicklebee's is just that wonderful.  The owners, Valerie Lewis and her sister Monica Holmes, are quite well-known in the world of children's books.  On the walls throughout the shop, one finds amazing items which make up the Hicklebee's "Museum": artifacts and original illustrations given to the shop by the most well-known authors and illustrators.  (I've met people like Tomie dePaola and J.K. Rowling at Hicklebee's events.)  This magical shop was a big part of my kids' childhoods, so when I buy children's books, I head over there.

I've just recently become aware of the amazing books by Diane Hutts Aston and illustrated by the incredible Sylvia Long.When I bought A Seed is Sleepy at Hicklebee's last week, I ordered a copy of  An Egg is Quiet, and stopped by today to pick it up. I got to chatting with the woman who was helping me, telling her I liked to draw things from nature and that I was madly in love with Sylvia Long's illustrations in these books. She smiled and ducked into the back room and brought out this beautiful poster from the publisher featuring the author's next book, A Butterfly is Patient, and said "You can keep this." Isn't it gorgeous? So unbelievably nice.

Now, before last Saturday, I would have confidently crowed, "I know that would never happen at the big chain stores!" But, here's heart-warming experience number two:

You all know how much I love "The Fabulous Beekman Boys".  (If you need a reminder, click here and here.)  On Saturday, Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge were speaking about heirloom vegetable gardening and signing Josh's book The Bucolic Plague at Williams-Sonoma in San Francisco, and there was no way that I was going to miss it.  I wasn't disappointed: Josh and Brent were absolutely charming, and unbelievably gracious.  They chatted and answered questions of all sorts, and it felt like an afternoon spent with old friends.  Then, it came time for the book signing.  I had brought prints of my Beekman soap drawings to give to the guys, but, I warned my husband, "Those Williams-Sonoma people will probably herd us in like cattle and whisk us through in an assembly line."  I couldn't have been more wrong.

Aaron, one of the culinary experts at W-S, wove through the line and served us delicious shortbread cookies (a Beekman recipe) that he had baked himself.  As we got to the front, the W-S staff set up each person's book to be personally signed (some authors have stopped personalizing at these things and only sign their names), and  genially introduced each groupie guest to Josh and Brent.  The guys weren't stationed behind a table, but preferred to sign while standing the entire time because it was easier to hug people and pose for pictures that way.  Yes, another W-S sales associate happily took each person's camera (usually a cell phone) and patiently took pictures... of everybody. Josh and Brent chatted with each and every obsessed fan person as if they were old friends, even little ol' me with my soap drawing prints.  They remembered my blog post, which made my day...well, my year. (My daughter says that I look like a proud little kid on show-and-tell day at school...I think she's right.)

As I'd expected, those Fabulous Beekman Boys really are fabulous, but so is, surprisingly, Williams-Sonoma.

My favorite page spread from An Egg Is Quiet

Illustration Friday: Warning

"TWEET! Recess is over, return to your classroom!"

"TWEET! Get out of the pool!"

"TWEET! Make way for ducklings!"

Maybe it was the fact that I haven't had much time to draw, or maybe it's because I just finished reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick and am still under the spell of those breathtakingly exquisite pencil drawings, but I was in the mood to do a simple sketch this week.  This is the nickel-plated whistle that I carry to school with me when I teach.  It belonged to my mother-in-law, who taught school for forty years.  As I looked at my whistle, I thought of this drawing by another illustrator that did exquisite pencil work, Robert McCloskey.  As a child, I adored Make Way for Ducklings, and Homer Price.  I remember looking at those illustrations, and marveling that they were done with some of my favorite things...pencils and paper.

from Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

from The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick