tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91894904957698184902024-02-06T19:43:05.593-08:00Chocolitier!Chocolit for kidliterati!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.comBlogger243125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-44188978065382494832015-09-17T04:35:00.004-07:002015-09-17T04:35:57.125-07:00Day 231: Drawing Bone with Jeff Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jeff Smith (born February 27, 1960) is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the self-published comic book series BONE. Smith solidified the 1990′s Self-Publishing Movement when he joined other self-publishers and launched a new era of independent comics publishing, a movement that captured nearly 20% of the growing comics book market. In 1993, Smith breathed new life into the Graphic Novel format with The Complete BONE Adventures Volume One: Out From Boneville, which sold an unprecedented 50,000 copies in its first year. BONE won numerous American awards including 10 Eisner Awards and 11 Harveys, as well as European awards from Italy, Germany, and the French Alph Art. In 2005, BONE was chosen to launch the first graphic novel series for children from a major publishing house, Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Books. There have been exhibitions of his work, and in 2009 Smith was the subject of an Emmy Award winning documentary called The Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, BONE, and the Changing Face of Comics. Later works include critically acclaimed SHAZAM: The Monster Society of Evil, and Little Mouse Gets Ready, a comic for emerging readers that received a Geisel Honor in 2009. In 2013, Smith guest edited The Best American Comics anthology, and released his second major work, RASL, a dark, hard-boiled sci-fi story that focuses on an art thief who hops through dimensional barriers, hiding out on various parallel worlds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Visit <a href="http://www.boneville.com/">Bone's website</a>!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17970706628155252744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-25029712335091932122015-09-14T04:57:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.167-07:00Day 227: Drawing Super Diaper Baby with Dav Pilkey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtWmT2JqX4iBuiSvbjT_P4CCEzamhk_i1E4WRhPn8Xa3-oERW3hEVf-j4ofYYLQ1XeOMmxRarzBnBdnFWVBdmiHSVrWVWlvgSkTajgHnJZO3DCaRSEV-k-6a5XKQs_V0T6_ZFj8twgtM9/s1600/Day+227+-+Drawing+Super+Diaper+Baby+with+Dav+Pilkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtWmT2JqX4iBuiSvbjT_P4CCEzamhk_i1E4WRhPn8Xa3-oERW3hEVf-j4ofYYLQ1XeOMmxRarzBnBdnFWVBdmiHSVrWVWlvgSkTajgHnJZO3DCaRSEV-k-6a5XKQs_V0T6_ZFj8twgtM9/s640/Day+227+-+Drawing+Super+Diaper+Baby+with+Dav+Pilkey.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dav Pilkey has written and illustrated numerous popular, award-winning books for children, including the Captain Underpants and Dumb Bunnies series; DOG BREATH, winner of the California Young Reader Medal; and THE PAPERBOY, a Caldecott Honor Book. He lives with his wife in the Pacific Northwest. In 1996, Dav moved to Seattle, Washington. He then took a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, WA where he has lived since 1999. He divides his time between Bainbridge Island, WA and Minami Izu, Japan.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Visit <a href="http://www.pilkey.com/" target="_blank">Dav's website</a>!</span><br /><div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-83697727133420540452015-09-14T04:53:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.181-07:00Day 226: Drawing Trixie and Knuffle Bunny with Mo Willems<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bQHv45EZruI40e9-PBWKq37_WtDqdVvgB_Is4pSeqtoSC0wqw1g7oPUjb06ROst5IoIpZS_88MJ51KVuXWtWn8TpV6Yj0Eza1XmqCslH3NpGiQtNRBKSFX7-udzSFsW6Ywdbvxd41ken/s1600/Day+226+-+Drawing+Trixie+and+Knuffle+Bunny+with+Mo+Willems.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bQHv45EZruI40e9-PBWKq37_WtDqdVvgB_Is4pSeqtoSC0wqw1g7oPUjb06ROst5IoIpZS_88MJ51KVuXWtWn8TpV6Yj0Eza1XmqCslH3NpGiQtNRBKSFX7-udzSFsW6Ywdbvxd41ken/s640/Day+226+-+Drawing+Trixie+and+Knuffle+Bunny+with+Mo+Willems.jpg" width="570" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mo Willems’ works in children’s books, animation, television, theater, and bubble gum card painting have garnered him 3 Caldecott Honors, 2 Geisel Medals, 6 Emmy Awards, 5 Geisel Honors, a Helen Hayes nomination, and multiple bubble gum cards. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember to visit <a href="http://www.mowillems.com/" target="_blank">Mo's website</a>!</span><br /><div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-13062738124300772462015-09-12T04:19:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.193-07:00Day 225: Drawing Amelia Bedelia with Herman Parish and Lynne Avril<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSnnU3PV-P7Nj0KDsrwy1sXS1nukafkbYKyUJ6KNWceiniqHJMv6Orhsh-he14uNoPMXgkwM-j8Ak4QnR1_K4ZpFpUwiH0s5QZ2vCnHOJB_kW65JmCe5BT8wZcqhIShtcU5cyyFvWNJJ9g/s1600/Day+225+-+Drawing+Amelia+Bedelia+with+Herman+Parish+and+Lynne+Avril.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSnnU3PV-P7Nj0KDsrwy1sXS1nukafkbYKyUJ6KNWceiniqHJMv6Orhsh-he14uNoPMXgkwM-j8Ak4QnR1_K4ZpFpUwiH0s5QZ2vCnHOJB_kW65JmCe5BT8wZcqhIShtcU5cyyFvWNJJ9g/s640/Day+225+-+Drawing+Amelia+Bedelia+with+Herman+Parish+and+Lynne+Avril.jpg" width="486" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">About Herman Parish:</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Herman Parish was in the fourth grade when his aunt, Peggy Parish, wrote the first book about Amelia Bedelia. The lovable, literal-minded housekeeper has been a member of his family ever since. Peggy Parish died in 1988. She would be proud and delighted to know that her nephew is carrying on—for a new generation of readers—the tradition she began years ago. Herman has added sixteen books about the grown-up Amelia Bedelia and five picture books about Amelia Bedelia as a young girl. He has also written four Level-1 I Can Read books about the young Amelia Bedelia, as well as several chapter books in the newly launched series.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">About Lynne Avril:</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In 2009, Greenwillow Books published Herman Parish's first Amelia Bedelia picture book, Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School, which introduced readers to Amelia Bedelia as a child. Lynne Avril, the illustrator of more than fifty books for children, was chosen to transform the familiar, beloved grown-up Amelia Bedelia into a young girl. "I've loved Amelia Bedelia for a very long time," she says, “and I read the Amelia Bedelia books to my own children. What fun it was to accompany my granddaughter to her first day of school and draw on that experience for the pictures in Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School!" Lynne Avril is the illustrator of all the books about young Amelia Bedelia, and she lives in Phoenix, Arizona.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-55101581466828272932015-09-11T07:32:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.205-07:00Day 224: Drawing Chu with Neil Gaiman and Adam Rex<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKN9-3u2ylIGb3Ng8NqgdVOtOuYCLB55hVZ9WRnGbh0NAbRo03MfTXmtEisSlFCuNCy_7bNYJnMj5Yss0vI48kkGZ7gqarHd1IpXpDSnsYxS7JY0WOjtujJuMbcIlqd9M3YAiHm2xh2itU/s1600/Day+224+-+Drawing+Chu+with+Neil+Gaiman+and+Adam+Rex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKN9-3u2ylIGb3Ng8NqgdVOtOuYCLB55hVZ9WRnGbh0NAbRo03MfTXmtEisSlFCuNCy_7bNYJnMj5Yss0vI48kkGZ7gqarHd1IpXpDSnsYxS7JY0WOjtujJuMbcIlqd9M3YAiHm2xh2itU/s640/Day+224+-+Drawing+Chu+with+Neil+Gaiman+and+Adam+Rex.jpg" width="442" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>About Neil Gaiman:</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BEGINNINGS</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Neil Gaiman was born in Hampshire, UK, and now lives in the United States near Minneapolis. As a child he discovered his love of books, reading, and stories, devouring the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Branch Cabell, Edgar Allan Poe, Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. LeGuin, Gene Wolfe, and G.K. Chesterton. A self-described "feral child who was raised in libraries," Gaiman credits librarians with fostering a life-long love of reading: "I wouldn't be who I am without libraries. I was the sort of kid who devoured books, and my happiest times as a boy were when I persuaded my parents to drop me off in the local library on their way to work, and I spent the day there. I discovered that librarians actually want to help you: they taught me about interlibrary loans."</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EARLY WRITING CAREER</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gaiman began his writing career in England as a journalist. His first book was a Duran Duran biography that took him three months to write, and his second was a biography of Douglas Adams, Don't Panic: The Official Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion. Gaiman describes his early writing: "I was very, very good at taking a voice that already existed and parodying or pastiching it." Violent Cases was the first of many collaborations with artist Dave McKean. This early graphic novel led to their series Black Orchid, published by DC Comics.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The groundbreaking series Sandman followed, collecting a large number of US awards in its 75 issue run, including nine Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards and three Harvey Awards. In 1991, Sandman became the first comic ever to receive a literary award, the 1991 World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ESTABLISHED WRITER & CREATOR</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Neil Gaiman is credited with being one of the creators of modern comics, as well as an author whose work crosses genres and reaches audiences of all ages. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gaiman has achieved cult status and attracted increased media attention, with recent profiles in The New Yorker magazine and by CBS News Sunday Morning.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SCI-FI, FANTASY & SOCIAL MEDIA</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Audiences for science fiction and fantasy form a substantial part of Gaiman's fan base, and he has continuously used social media to communicate with readers. In 2001, Gaiman became one of the first writers to establish a blog, which now has over a million regular readers.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In 2008, Gaiman joined Twitter as @neilhimself and now has over 1.5 million followers and counting on the micro-blogging site. He won the Twitter category in the inaugural Author Blog Awards, and his adult novel American Gods was the first selection for the One Book, One Twitter (1b1t) book club.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">WRITING FOR YOUNG READERS</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Neil Gaiman writes books for readers of all ages, including the following collections and picture books for young readers: M is for Magic (2007); Interworld (2007), co-authored with Michael Reaves; The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (1997); The Wolves in the Walls (2003); the Greenaway-shortlisted Crazy Hair (2009), illustrated by Dave McKean; The Dangerous Alphabet (2008), illustrated by Gris Grimly; Blueberry Girl (2009); and Instructions (2010), illustrated by Charles Vess.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gaiman's books are genre works that refuse to remain true to their genres. Gothic horror was out of fashion in the early 1990s when Gaiman started work on Coraline (2002). Originally considered too frightening for children, Coraline went on to win the British Science Fiction Award, the Hugo, the Nebula, the Bram Stoker, and the American Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla award. Odd and the Frost Giants, originally written for 2009's World Book Day, has gone on to receive worldwide critical acclaim.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Wolves in the Walls was made into an opera by the Scottish National Theatre in 2006, and Coraline was adapted as a musical by Stephin Merritt in 2009.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">WRITING FOR ADULTS</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gaiman is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Neverwhere (1995), Stardust (1999), the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning American Gods (2001), Anansi Boys (2005), and Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett, 1990), as well as the short story collections Smoke and Mirrors (1998) and Fragile Things (2006).</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His first collection of short fiction, Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions, was nominated for the UK's MacMillan Silver Pen Awards as the best short story collection of the year. Most recently, Gaiman was both a contributor to and co-editor with Al Sarrantonio of Stories (2010), and his own story in the volume, The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains, has been nominated for a number of awards.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">American Gods has been released in an expanded tenth anniversary edition, and there is an HBO series in the works.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">FILM AND TELEVISION</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gaiman wrote the screenplay for the original BBC TV series of Neverwhere (1996); Dave McKean's first feature film, Mirrormask (2005), for the Jim Henson Company; and cowrote the script to Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf. He produced Stardust, Matthew Vaughn's film based on Gaiman's book by the same name.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He has written and directed two films: A Short Film About John Bolton (2002) and Sky Television's Statuesque (2009) starring Bill Nighy and Amanda Palmer.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An animated feature film based on Gaiman's Coraline, directed by Henry Selick and released in early 2009, secured a BAFTA for Best Animated Film and was nominated for an Oscar in the same category.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gaiman's 2011 episode of Doctor Who, "The Doctor's Wife," caused the Times to describe him as "a hero."</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">THE GRAVEYARD BOOK</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First published in the UK at the end of 2008, The Graveyard Book has won the UK's Booktrust Prize for Teenage Fiction and the Newbery Medal, the highest honor given in US children's literature, as well as the Locus Young Adult Award and the Hugo Best Novel Prize. The awarding of the 2010 UK CILIP Carnegie Medal makes Gaiman the first author ever to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal with the same book. The Graveyard Book, with its illustrations by Chris Riddell, was also shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration -- the first time a book has made both Medal shortlists in 30 years.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Twenty-three years ago, we lived in a little Sussex town in a tall house across the lane from a graveyard. We didn't have a garden, and our 18-month-old son loved riding a tricycle. If he tried riding in the house he would have died because there were stairs everywhere, so every day I would take him down our precipitous stairs, and he would ride his little tricycle round and round the gravestones. As I watched him happily toddling I would think about how incredibly at home he looked. I thought that I could do something like The Jungle Book with that same equation of boy, orphaned, growing up somewhere else, but I could do it in a graveyard. I had that idea when I was 24 years old. I sat down and tried writing it and thought, "This is a really good idea, and this isn't very good writing. I'm not good enough for this yet, and I will put it off until I'm better."</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The film adaptation of The Graveyard Book is in production.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>About Adam Rex:</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="style60" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Adam Rex grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, the middle of three children. He was neither the smart one (older brother) or the cute one (younger sister), but he was the one who could draw. He took a lot of art classes as a kid, trying to learn to draw better, and started painting when he was 11. Later he got a BFA from the University of Arizona, and met his physicist wife Marie (who is both the smart and cute one).</span></div><div class="style60" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Adam and Marie live in Tucson, where Adam draws, paints, writes, spends too much time on the internet, and listens to public radio. Adam is nearsighted, bad at all sports, learning to play the theremin, and usually in need of a shave. He can carry a tune, if you don't mind the tune getting dropped and stepped on occasionally. He never remembers anyone's name until he's heard it at least three times. He likes animals, spacemen, Mexican food, Ethiopian food, monsters, puppets, comic books, 19th century art, skeletons, bugs, and robots.</span></div><div class="style60" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His first picture book, THE DIRTY COWBOY by Amy Timberlake, was published by FSG in 2003. His picture book FRANKENSTEIN MAKES A SANDWICH, a collection of stories about monsters and their problems, was a New York Times Bestseller. 2007 saw the release of his first novel, THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY, which was adapted into the DreamWorks film HOME in 2014. He has illustrated the work of many authors, including Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, Neil Gaiman, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, Kate DiCamillo, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, and Paul Fieg.</span></div><div class="style60 _lp" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Garlic and crosses are useless against Adam. Sunlight has been shown to be at least moderately effective. A silver bullet does the trick. Pretty much any bullet, really.</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't forget to visit <a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/" target="_blank">Neil </a>and <a href="http://www.adamrex.com/" target="_blank">Adam</a>'s websites!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-38241480990974072712015-09-10T05:09:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.218-07:00Day 223: Drawing Cheetah with Bob Shea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBckATt11M-6eN7A0JjLmX7Z8wIsMYBe6bElTBZgrYO9Px08HMcCSm66oPVKchhO1jXW4k2tdGL2ZwHkO6diaupd3SXCL0y0_O6-blQw7PxmcKRIq_vhxpKybL_0dnjxFJSSLXD2N-CTJ/s1600/Day+223+-+Drawing+Cheetah+with+Bob+Shea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBckATt11M-6eN7A0JjLmX7Z8wIsMYBe6bElTBZgrYO9Px08HMcCSm66oPVKchhO1jXW4k2tdGL2ZwHkO6diaupd3SXCL0y0_O6-blQw7PxmcKRIq_vhxpKybL_0dnjxFJSSLXD2N-CTJ/s640/Day+223+-+Drawing+Cheetah+with+Bob+Shea.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bob Shea has written and illustrated over a dozen picture books including the popular Dinosaur vs. Bedtime and the cult favorite Big Plans illustrated by Lane Smith.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Little Brown, Hyperion, HarperCollins, Random House, Simon and Schuster and Dial have all published his work. They are all still in business.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bob got his start at Comedy Central where he make up stuff and they went along with it. It was great.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His characters and animations have appeared on Nick Jr, Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bob spends his days writing, drawing and having “conversations” with NPR.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He’s lucky.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember to visit<a href="http://bobshea.com/" target="_blank"> Bob's website</a>!</span><br /><div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-75613333061930159622015-09-09T12:15:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.229-07:00Day 222: Drawing a Lamb with Steve Smallman and Joelle Dreidemy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4uVSgkz-ratV0P3fKJ6CD9n6adoqGN_E7XoZvzBcyUIpMmuxi_XnfjJQzO8uJP4nWFPhjDov2_K5OTTlUfIpnIyhYPmvxeKVtCXDAbDf9M0SKJyPnE0ZIKX9oE056oqku5C70sk9c4C3/s1600/Day+222+-+Drawing+a+Lamb+with+Steve+Smallman+and+Joelle+Dreidemy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4uVSgkz-ratV0P3fKJ6CD9n6adoqGN_E7XoZvzBcyUIpMmuxi_XnfjJQzO8uJP4nWFPhjDov2_K5OTTlUfIpnIyhYPmvxeKVtCXDAbDf9M0SKJyPnE0ZIKX9oE056oqku5C70sk9c4C3/s640/Day+222+-+Drawing+a+Lamb+with+Steve+Smallman+and+Joelle+Dreidemy.jpg" width="503" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>About Steve:</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">Steve Smallman lives in Staffordshire with his wife, two dogs and two cats. He has four children and a grandchild. Steve has been illustrating children’s books for almost 30 years and writing his own stories for slightly less. He also teaches illustration workshops in schools, including mural-painting. Steve is the author of Smelly Peter the Great Pea Eater (Winner of the Sheffield Children's Book Award 2009) and The Lamb Who Came for Dinner (Shortlisted for the Red House Children's Book Award and read by Meatloaf on CITV's Bookaboo). When he’s not working, Steve enjoys films, television, gardening and walking in the countryside.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">Steve Smallman on Steve Smallman:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I started working as an illustrator when I was in my final year at Art College and now, over 28 years later I still haven't got a proper job! I've illustrated literally hundreds of books, predominantly in educational publishing. A few years ago I was main illustrator for Longman's 'Story Street' reading scheme, illustrating 79 titles and writing 5.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I've worked in children's television, specifically in character development and most notably in the 'Raggy Doll' series in the mid to late 1980's. I have also done a certain amount of licensed work, illustrating characters such as Postman Pat, Bill and Ben and Sesame Street.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I've been described as an 'Animal Artist', not I hasten to add because I'm wild and hairy but because I love to draw animals and especially like to give them human characteristics. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I've been writing children's books for about 6 years and have already had several picture books published with more in development.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I've got 4 great children and although they're all adults now, my memories of them growing up inspire and inform my writing.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Joelle on Joelle:</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can't remember the first time I started drawing... maybe since I am able to take a pencil in my hand ! I spent my childhood among books from Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake, Tony Ross, Ralph Steadman ....</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After my baccalaureat, I studied arts in university in Strasbourg for 4 years, had my Master of Plastic Arts in 2001. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I went in Lyon to study illustration, animation and sculpture in the famous Emile Cohl School where I met fantastic and motivating teachers like Yves Got and Jean Claverie. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had my diploma in illustration in 2004. I live now in Paris doing illustration for french, english, american and korean publishers and I think it's the best job ever ! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also teach illustration in Emile Cohl School.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am full of energy, so next to illustration which is my very first hobby, I practice karate four times a week, write stories for children, play piano, go to museums, cinema....</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One thing is sure, I love my life and I wouldn't change it for nothing !!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Visit <a href="http://www.joelledreidemy.fr/" target="_blank">Joelle website</a>!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-26741479436761530622015-09-09T04:23:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.240-07:00Wednesday Muse: The Songbird<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIwe7qiihBfdJIxKc27Ww93Zoodsx91K_eDYvS8UMK42hW3wyAvvLvyjrprmStx8svm_sEIxywfRn8_8AwK-txU-SzrsBeWmvRSqIqVDYDBvJDaq8wLfayV0fX7OiNNroX3teP1cV4ICO/s1600/Sept+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIwe7qiihBfdJIxKc27Ww93Zoodsx91K_eDYvS8UMK42hW3wyAvvLvyjrprmStx8svm_sEIxywfRn8_8AwK-txU-SzrsBeWmvRSqIqVDYDBvJDaq8wLfayV0fX7OiNNroX3teP1cV4ICO/s640/Sept+9.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;"><a href="http://www.gratisography.com/" target="_blank">Photo Credit: Ryan McGuire </a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once upon a time, in a beautiful kingdom near the Loire, there lived a princess called Ciel. She was an adorable little girl, whose curiosity was only surpassed by her great kindness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When Ciel was old enough to leave the castle, her mother, seeing the princess’s insatiable curiosity, gave her a warning. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You can take any road you like, my dear, and visit any place in the kingdom… except the Silent Forest. There lives a demon who devours every living being that dares to enter those woods.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the last day of Spring, Ciel drifted away from the palace’s garden. She walked for many miles, chasing the last butterflies of the season, giggling with their iridescent tickles. She only noticed she was lost after the sun had hid behind the ancient pines -on the moment when the last butterfly was swallowed by the icy mist that was crawling into the woods. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ciel looked around and shrieked. She was in the Silent Forest! Remembering the queen’s warning, she ran and ran, looking for a way out of the woods… But the more she ran, the deeper she got into the forest. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Darkness had taken over the place. All she could see was the black silhouettes of the skeletal trees against the moon. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ciel sat against one of the dead pines and cried. She was cold, tired and hungry, lost and alone in the middle of the Silent Forest. And right then, to make things worse, she heard the demon’s haul. It was her doom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A lark heard her lament, and came flying to her rescue. Of course, being so small and harmless there was nothing he could do to save the princess from the demon, so he did the only thing he could: he sang. His song was so beautiful that the princess stopped crying and smiled. She forgot all about her hunger, and the cold. She no longer felt alone, because the lark was keeping her company. She didn’t feel afraid anymore either, despite the demon’s haul was getting closer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sitting on top of the tree, the songbird could see the light of many torches nearby, right in the outskirts of the forest, approaching from the North. They were looking for Ciel! They weren’t that far from her, but the demon was much closer, and if she stayed there he would find her before her parents could get to her. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The bird decided to bring Ciel to her family, taking her away from the demon’s reach. It so happens that this monster was binded to the forest by a powerful spell, so he couldn’t leave it. If the lark managed to take Ciel out of the forest, she’d be safe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The lark flew down to her side, landing on her shoulder and looked at her with love, silently asking her to follow him. He then flew towards the light, guiding her through the darkness, with her following close behind. Before long she was out of the forest, back into safety, in her family’s arms. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They were so glad that Ciel was safe, hugging her and kissing her, that they didn’t see the demon’s flaming red glare observing them behind the bushes. As Ciel turned around to thank the lark, the monster swallowed him up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“No!” she cried. And before the demon could disappear again into the woods, her father shot him with an arrow, killing him instantly. Although everyone cheered the king for having saved the kingdom forevermore from the terrible monster, Ciel cried for losing her friend. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All of a sudden, the monster’s jaws parted wide open… and a song emerged from his entrails. Everyone looked at the demon, still lying on the ground. There was the tiny bird, standing victorious on the monster’s tongue.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Celeste rushed to his side and thanked him, caressing him with gratitude. The king and the queen invited the songbird to live with them at the palace. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They all lived together, happily ever after.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br /><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><div style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">****************************************************************************</span></div><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b style="text-indent: 25.2px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wednesday Muse!</span></b></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px; text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px; text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here's a list of all the amazing wordsmiths in our cyberspatial society (you'll most definitely want to check them out!):</span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px; text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><span lang="EN-US"></span><br /><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 21px; list-style-position: outside; margin: 5px 0px !important; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em !important; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://www.vanessabarger.com/" style="color: #a46500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Vanessa Barger</span></a></span></li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://marycrockett.com/" style="color: #a46500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mary Crockett</span></a></span></li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="https://stuglennie.wordpress.com/" style="color: #a46500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Stuart Glennie</span></a></span></li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://littlebirdabroad.blogspot.com/" style="color: #a46500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nicole Conway</span></a></span></li></ul></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-63320353035723581342015-09-08T12:50:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.251-07:00Day 221: Drawing a Woolly Mammoth with Joe Lillington<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8MwRz4Q4EBz5R2q8goaht6wOCuggYgPdt9Hm4-Le4OQt3Fj3lRxsWoeQl_bSHssiYZPRSxfls7sZ6BAMIWgL9_t4-fBZBFYxiwvTm5Bs4gIUK6vt4SvodRQa8bSyZOz1D4tIduTNJN0z8/s1600/Day+221+-+Drawing+a+Woolly+Mammoth+with+Joe+Lillington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8MwRz4Q4EBz5R2q8goaht6wOCuggYgPdt9Hm4-Le4OQt3Fj3lRxsWoeQl_bSHssiYZPRSxfls7sZ6BAMIWgL9_t4-fBZBFYxiwvTm5Bs4gIUK6vt4SvodRQa8bSyZOz1D4tIduTNJN0z8/s640/Day+221+-+Drawing+a+Woolly+Mammoth+with+Joe+Lillington.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Check Joes's <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/sep/05/how-to-draw-a-woolly-mammoth-joe-lillington" target="_blank">How to Draw... a Woolly Mammoth</a>!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Joe Lillington's bio, in his own words:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">I'm a freelance illustrator currently based in London and available for commission.</span><br style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 16.5px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">You can contact me for work or just to say hello at joe@joelillington.co.uk</span><br style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 16.5px;" /><br style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 16.5px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">I'm on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LillingtonJoe" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">Twitter</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">, </span><a href="https://www.behance.net/joelillington" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">Behance</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/joe-lillington/92/43a/941" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">LinkedIn</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">, </span><a href="http://dropr.com/joelillington" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">Dropr</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;"> and </span><a href="http://joelillingtonblog.tumblr.com/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 16.5px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">I'm also a member of </span><a href="http://www.foldcollaborative.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;" target="_blank">Fold Collaborative</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;"> and </span><a href="http://www.justusdesigncollective.com/collective/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;" target="_blank">Just Us Collective</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 16.5px;" /><br style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 16.5px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">I was featured as one one of It's Nice That's </span><a href="http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/joe-lillington" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;" target="_blank">2014 Graduates</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 16.5px;" /><br style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 16.5px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">You can buy my prints and other goodies on my </span><a href="http://joelillington.bigcartel.com/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">Big Cartel</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;"> and </span><a href="http://society6.com/JoeLillington" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">Society6</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px;">.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember to visit <a href="http://joelillington.co.uk/" target="_blank">Joe's website</a>!</span><br /><div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-58930252348509807342015-09-07T06:10:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.271-07:00Day 220: Drawing Flat Stanley with Jeff Brown, Lori Haskins Houran and Macky Pamintuan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UGBTwIDM1P9BeozmYcZGhz7-kD_5dhW0UgQ4HLSvE8ON9Oupqb43OHmz-_bMHQjdUyiz08TIrwSQKcFEHULtLfh2RWwMI1-U7G_PvOrEgXu9uQBTXOSPmor6qMTmt2J3mw6d3mnuMwJk/s1600/Day+220+-+Drawing+Flat+Stanley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UGBTwIDM1P9BeozmYcZGhz7-kD_5dhW0UgQ4HLSvE8ON9Oupqb43OHmz-_bMHQjdUyiz08TIrwSQKcFEHULtLfh2RWwMI1-U7G_PvOrEgXu9uQBTXOSPmor6qMTmt2J3mw6d3mnuMwJk/s640/Day+220+-+Drawing+Flat+Stanley.jpg" width="378" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;"><b>Jeff Brown</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">Jeff Brown had worked in Hollywood and as an editor and writer in New York before creating Flat Stanley, a hero for the youngest readers whose adventures, with illustrations by Tomi Ungerer, were first published in 1964. Flat Stanley became the star of a series of perpetually popular books. The last, "Stanley, Flat Again!," was published the year he died. All together, Stanley's tales have sold nearly a million copies in the United States alone. The character's life extended further, as schoolchildren mailed cut-outs of him to their friends. In translation, he traveled to France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Israel, among other places.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">Jeff Brown was born Richard Chester Brown. Originally a child actor, he became Jeff Brown because Actors Equity already had a Richard Brown as a member. A graduate of the Professional Children's School, he provided a child's voice in a radio drama and appeared onstage.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">In Hollywood he worked for the producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and was a story consultant at Paramount. Preferring to write himself, he sold fiction and articles to national magazines while working at The New Yorker, Life, The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire and finally at Warner Books, where he was a senior editor until 1980. The idea for Stanley came to him one night at bedtime when his sons J. C. and Tony were young and stalling for time. One asked what would happen if the big bulletin board on the wall were to fall on J. C., and Mr. Brown said he would most likely wake up flat. That led to speculation about what such a life might be like. After writing "Flat Stanley, " Mr. Brown went on to "Stanley and the Magic Lamp," "Stanley in Space," "Stanley's Christmas Adventure," "Invisible Stanley" and finally "Stanley, Flat Again!"</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">The Flat Stanley Project was started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third grade schoolteacher in London, Ontario, Canada. It is meant to facilitate letter-writing by schoolchildren to each other as they document where Flat Stanley has gone with them. The Project provides an opportunity for students to make connections with students of other member schools who've signed up with the project. Students begin by reading the book and becoming acquainted with the story. Then they make paper "Flat Stanleys" (or pictures of the Stanley Lambchop character) and keep a journal for a few days, documenting the places and activities in which Flat Stanley is involved. The Flat Stanley and the journal are mailed to other people who are asked to treat the figure as a visiting guest and add to his journal, then return them both after a period of time. In 2005, more than 6,500 classes from 48 countries took part in the Flat Stanley Project.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Lori Haskins Houran's</b> bio, in her own words:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I grew up in Maine, where I often could be found perched in a tree, reading.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After college, I moved to New York to work in children's publishing. Eventually I became a Senior Editor at Random House Books for Young Readers, then an Editorial Director at Golden Books, overseeing hundreds of books in the process!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also started writing books of my own. My first book, Breakout: Escape from Alcatraz, was published in 1996. I've published about twenty more since then. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I moved to Florida in 2009 with my two book-loving boys. We go back to Maine every summer, where we often can be found perched in a tree, reading.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Macky Pamintuan</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Macky Pamintuan was born and raised in Davao, a city in the southern Philippines. As a young child, drawing was his favorite pastime and an activity that brought him delight and satisfaction. Early on, his parents discovered that giving him paper and pencil was a sure way to keep him busy, quiet, and out of trouble. He still remembers the day when he successfully drew Mickey Mouse and Superman, a huge breakthrough and a sweet triumph. He moved to San Francisco at age 21 and in 1998 enrolled in the Academy of Art College to pursue illustration. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in December 2003. When not illustrating, Macky enjoys playing basketball, his other true passion.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Below are his most recent projects, Zoo Zoom! by Candace Ryan (Bloomsbury USA Childrens), Flat Stanley Goes Camping goes into Happy Meal Book, Flat Stanley's worldwide Adventures by Jeff Brown (HarperCollins), Alien in My Pocket Book Series written by Nate Ball (HarperCollins), The Night Before Baseball at the Park by the Bay by David Schnell (Partnership with the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants), Down at the Dino Wash Deluxe by Tim J. Myers (Sterling),Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Cupcake Chaos, The Pumpkin Patch Puzzle, Cape Mermaid Mystery, Scream for Ice Cream, Ski School Sneak & Earth Day Escapade all written by Carolyn Keene (Aladdin), Alfred Zector, Book Collector by Kelly Dipucchio (HarperCollins), Twelve Haunted Rooms of Halloween (Sterling), Bedtime at the Swamp by Kristyn Crow (HarperCollins), and Baseball from A to Z by Michael P. Spradlin (HarperCollins).</span><br /><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Visit <a href="https://www.flatstanley.com/" target="_blank">Flat Stanley's website</a>!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-79097708405004935792015-09-07T06:05:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.282-07:00Day 219: Drawing Penguin on Vacation with Salina Yoon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AAMI372tviCOfuS2XxDPny5-BaJRuG00AJSMn4zcKFc9kZE_i43bzRo4cOZev7OZicwU4AkYtKuPCh7MS-JFIk0pw5ijHzPuNrfVeOtRJVwc0MSSb4uAyf4u5vvuZz9GR-oEM4nlMmUL/s1600/Day+219+-+Drawing+Penguin+on+Vacation+with+Salina+Yoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AAMI372tviCOfuS2XxDPny5-BaJRuG00AJSMn4zcKFc9kZE_i43bzRo4cOZev7OZicwU4AkYtKuPCh7MS-JFIk0pw5ijHzPuNrfVeOtRJVwc0MSSb4uAyf4u5vvuZz9GR-oEM4nlMmUL/s320/Day+219+-+Drawing+Penguin+on+Vacation+with+Salina+Yoon.jpg" width="468" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">Salina Yoon is an award-winning author/illustrator of over one hundred novelty books for young children including the dazzling KALEIDOSCOPE and PINWHEEL interactive books published by Little, Brown. She is also the creator of the popular PENGUIN picture book series, and forthcoming BEAR series with Walker Books for Young Readers. She lives in San Diego, California, with her family.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Don't forget to visit </span><a href="http://www.salinayoon.com/HOME.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Salina's website</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-22029682634366269092015-09-05T05:12:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.294-07:00Day 218: Drawing a Monster with Paul Czajak and Wendy Grieb<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5mqcdCj4RFkNhga9xVtr1LTRrLDjirXjgwEGYEj7H0jvsCAc9xooWT2pTvk-3yR3Y9_9eDC6EBICH7O8QLkIyGJzQBezpR6r21zCZZi2AvAuwbrUOQU4cxlO7WxiCVGjUFna3nnXFcsO/s1600/Day+218+-+Drawing+a+Monster+with+Paul+Czajak+and+Wendy+Grieb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5mqcdCj4RFkNhga9xVtr1LTRrLDjirXjgwEGYEj7H0jvsCAc9xooWT2pTvk-3yR3Y9_9eDC6EBICH7O8QLkIyGJzQBezpR6r21zCZZi2AvAuwbrUOQU4cxlO7WxiCVGjUFna3nnXFcsO/s640/Day+218+-+Drawing+a+Monster+with+Paul+Czajak+and+Wendy+Grieb.jpg" width="486" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Paul's bio, in his own words:</b></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Reading was never my thing.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I know, this is not something an author should talk about in his biography but it’s true. When I was a kid I was a T.V. / movie watcher. To this day I still remember the theme songs to the majority of cartoons and sitcoms that I wasted so much time on. Reading could never keep my attention, plus I was slow at it. If I were a kid growing up in this day and age I probably would be diagnosed ADD possibly dyslexic and placed on medication. I had a lot of energy as a kid and my mind was always going. I actually failed resting in Kindergarten. So my parents did the only thing they could do. They threw me into the pool.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If there is one sport that will tire out a child it’s swimming. Swimming became a huge part of my life. I’d wake up go to practice, go to school, come home, go to practice, come home, do home work then go to bed. Meals were thrown in there somewhere. The thing about swimming is that everyone only thinks about the health benefits and how great it is for the body, but no one ever thinks about what it can do for your mind. I believe one of the things that forged my imagination was swimming. When you swim 5000 yards there isn’t much else to do but think. Then one day at a swim meet, I must have been twelve or thirteen, a teammate handed me a book. The title was <i style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pawn of Prophecy</i> by David Eddings. My friend told me it was really good. Of course I’m thinking it’s a book how good could it be? But since the only thing to do at a swim meet is watch people swim, which is even boring to other swimmers, I figured I would give it a try. Well that was it, I was hooked. I read ever book in the series and in the second series. I started reading anything and everything in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre. I turned from never wanting to read anything to reading every day, all because of one book. With all the time on my hands for my imagination due to swimming, I would imagine my own stories. By the time I made it to college I was ready to write the next great science fiction story. When I received my first writing paper back with “F get a tutor” written in bold red ink across my paper, I decided to become a chemist.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fast forward twenty years. Now I know what you are saying, “How is it that someone so handsome and creative could be stuck in a job that is analytical in nature for the past twenty years?” And my answer to you is thank you for the compliment but you should know that I am married with two wonderful kids, so let’s try to stay on topic.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When it comes to science people have this idea that it is all numbers and equations, but in fact science is filled with creativity. Go look at a picture of the Hadron Collider and try to tell me that didn’t take some serious imagination. But it wasn’t science that finally spurred my creativity it was my kids. Watching my kids and listening to the things they say, was like reading a picture book. I know many picture book authors who have said the same thing but I can only speak of the exceptionality of my children and only wonder about the claims of theirs. I’m kidding I’m sure their kids are wonderful.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first picture book I wrote, <i style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Abigail the Dinosaur</i>, which shamefully has not been published, came from an actual account of my daughter getting over her fear of bugs. This is still my favorite story I wrote, because it took something simple, and with a slight tweak, made it into something fantastical but still believable. This is the wonder and the challenge of writing. Being able to take the humdrum everyday occurrence like, fear of bugs, picking out a costume, getting a haircut, even climbing a tree, and make it engaging. It’s what I love about writing, and If I could pass that joy on to at least one kid then it will all be worth it.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Actually that’s not true. If I only get one child to like my book then I’ll never get anything else published. So realistically what we’re looking at are 100,000 to 200,000 children.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then, all that hard work will be worth it.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Wendy's bio, in her own words:</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am storyboard artist, Illustrator, and teacher.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have worked on a variety of productions, winning an Annie Award for storyboarding in 2004. I have also served as an animation development artist, children’s book illustrator, and character designer for companies such as Disney, Nickelodeon, Sony, Klasky-Csupo, Scarletta Press , White Wolf, etc. I was a storyboard artist for at Disney TV for 16 years and most recently I served as the song specialist storyboarding on Disney’s hit TV show “Phineas and Ferb”. Currently I teach Animation at Cal State University Fullerton.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Please check out my web page and blog at:</span></div><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.chuckandwendy.com/" style="text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.6s ease-out;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">www.chuckandwendy.com</span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.wendygrieb.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.6s ease-out;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">http://www.wendygrieb.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Visit <a href="http://paulczajak.com/" target="_blank">Paul</a> and <a href="http://www.chuckandwendy.com/" target="_blank">Wendy</a>'s websites!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-10625414666783364782015-09-05T04:47:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.305-07:00Day 217: Drawing Little Red with Alex T. Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsK9yLwK-P24VbFq216E4hNSJCSQFhCRzHehG2tFvXQt2Tr2lmKGT8CuaLd6NexCi8ZPgBjWp3g9ZhvBTyVXnAdwp8sXIQFHI4GcL-XVtOE_VHe5a__aqxOjC5HJPx2-HH2HEf3QmNe_YV/s1600/Day+217+-+Drawing+Little+Red+with+Alex+T.+Smith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsK9yLwK-P24VbFq216E4hNSJCSQFhCRzHehG2tFvXQt2Tr2lmKGT8CuaLd6NexCi8ZPgBjWp3g9ZhvBTyVXnAdwp8sXIQFHI4GcL-XVtOE_VHe5a__aqxOjC5HJPx2-HH2HEf3QmNe_YV/s640/Day+217+-+Drawing+Little+Red+with+Alex+T.+Smith.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;">Alex was born in 1985 and has drawn and written stories since he could hold a pencil.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;">After considering several career options (space traveler, cake maker, professional rabbit) and working as a production assistant for an outdoor theatre events company, Alex decided to train to do the job he’d wanted to do since he was five - an illustrator specialising in the world of children’s publishing.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;">Alex graduated with a 1st Class Hons degree in Illustration in 2006 and having won second place in the Macmillan Prize for Children’s Picture Book Illustration in his final year, Alex begin working on his first commission as he put his degree show up!</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;">Since then Alex has gone on to work for a wide variety of clients not just in the publishing industry, as well as writing and illustrating his own picture books, many of which have won prizes and have been read on TV during the Bedtime Hour on the CBeebies channel.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;">Alex is also the creator of the CLAUDE fiction series for early readers. The first title,</span><em style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;">CLAUDE in the City</em><span style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;"> was selected for the Richard and Judy Children’s Book Club 2011 and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2012. The first three books in the series are now published in fourteen languages across the world and a further three books will be hitting the shelves from October 2012.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;">When not working Alex enjoys doodling in his sketchbook, reading, people watching and eavesdropping. He is also a big fan of cake and a nice cup of tea. He lives with and under the constant ‘supervision’ of his canine companions - two very tiny, very naughty chihuahuas (Coco and Mr. Bongo) and an ancient and very bossy Yorkshire Terrier - Lucy Locket.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;">He is represented in the UK and USA by Arena Illustration</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><a href="http://www.arenaillustration.com/" style="background-color: #fafafa; border-bottom-color: rgba(136, 136, 136, 0.298039); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">www.arenaillustration.com</a><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;">You can also follow Alex on Twitter</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 18px;" /><a href="http://twitter.com/alex_t_smith" style="background-color: #fafafa; border-bottom-color: rgba(136, 136, 136, 0.298039); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@Alex_T_Smith</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember to visit <a href="http://www.alextsmith.com/" target="_blank">Alex's website</a>!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-72209948356000707022015-09-04T07:46:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.318-07:00STRANGETOWN: The story behind the story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/46106257-strangetown-the-unnatural-disappearance-of-callie" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizR9zrjmP6FZitoc0Ixbod6Pxnj-LO3qV_BRzZUwX8o4ryJBpXfBhx4meBcICP2QhYdAXWeXjcGONyFCmrGuxgXCcDdf9wkKiW-zIvOz5TY8aMW_CWwgP7IAXVEOhOD0LsjypV5qO4BmF2/s400/STRANGETOWN_Cover.png" width="250" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I started writing over a decade ago. Children’s fiction, mostly middle grade although I tried my hand at a chapter book or two as well. I did everything a writer should do. Worked on my craft, learned about the industry as I went, diligently researched agents when I had a completed manuscript I thought worthy of submission (turns out I was wrong about that, by the way). Back then it was all by snail mail. You queried an agent and included an SASE for their response. The very first full-request I got needed to be printed out and mailed in a manuscript box.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That is how long I’ve been at this. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I watched from the sidelines during the early days of the digital disruption. I watched as Jeff Bezos announce the first Kindle to come to market and watched the industry roundly condemn ebooks as a fad. The publishing industry, for the most part, ignored digital believing (and hoping) it would just go away. I on the other hand was transfixed, as if a new pathway to a whole new type of storytelling was emerging before our eyes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Transmedia became a buzzword and, to my mind, represented this new pathway: an inherently cross-platform and immersive form of storytelling where every part adds something new to the whole. The best way to explain transmedia is to explain what it is not. Transmedia is <i>not</i> a movie based on a book. Transmedia <i>is</i> <i>The Walking Dead</i> webisodes, where a sub-character or sub-plot is further explored. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Transmedia changed the way I thought about books and changed the way I thought about storytelling. Enter <i>Strangetown</i>, which was first conceived and written as a digital first middle grade serial. My brain was on fire with the idea of an immersive, interactive piece of fiction that would be delivered to the reader (in this case, middle grade readers ages roughly 10 – 13) on the devices they were spending an increasing amount of time on (tablets and smart phones). At the end of the story’s run, a collector’s print edition would be released complete with story extras (illustrated maps, deleted scenes etc.) much in the same way collectible DVD sets come with director’s cuts. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The story itself was inspired by one of my favorite TV shows, <a href="http://abc.go.com/shows/lost">LOST</a>. I loved the idea of the place (the Island, Strangetown) becoming a character in and of itself, and the idea of a large, diverse cast of characters who were all somehow interconnected with each other and to their mysterious surroundings. To do this well, the storyworld needed to be layered and complex. I spent over a year on world building alone. In fact, very little of STRANGETOWN has been written to date, but 14 “episodes” (each that would run a novelette in length) are fully outlined in excruciating detail. I know every character’s backstory, the history of the town, and exactly what happens in the final, concluding “chapter”. The reason for this goes back to immersion and interactivity. It was my intention to leave room for readers to <i>affect</i>outcomes. Not something that can happen with a static book.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I began querying the first installment and the requests came in. And so to did the rejections – fast and furious. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Can’t be done.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kids don’t like ebooks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can’t sell just the digital rights.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kids don’t have access to tech.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don’t know what you mean by “digital first.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also heard (a lot)…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love the concept. Can you turn this into a traditional stand-alone middle grade novel?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I tried. I really did. Maybe my heart just wasn’t in it because I was so convinced they were wrong. Kids do prefer print books, I will give you that, but what about the reluctant reader? In my heart I felt the industry was missing the mark by not thinking more outside-the-book, and to this day I argue that reading should not be the most boring thing a kid does on a tablet. I also knew that kids did have access to these devices and studies have shown that this access, remarkably, crosses the socio-economic divide. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Or maybe STRANGETOWN just didn’t work as a traditional stand-alone. And maybe, just maybe, after all those years of writing traditional books that never sold…maybe I was better suited for this type of storytelling. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Things have changed a lot since I first started querying this project. Just a few months later the first YA digital only imprint was announced. Wattpad – coined the YouTube for readers – was becoming a real player. Digital start-ups were quickly becoming a dime-a-dozen and publishing began to (slowly) evolve. The television industry was being transformed as well. Netflix was giving the networks a run for their money and soon Amazon decided to get into the game. Amazon Studios launched with an open submission policy for features and TV pilots. I had always been fascinated by screenwriting, and so, I set out to teach myself the craft. Six (grueling) months later, I adapted <i>Strangetown</i> as a TV pilot geared towards the YA market and pitch it as the type of show you might find on The CW. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now the journey has come full circle. About a month ago I started re-writing the YA pilot version as a narrative and began releasing it on Wattpad. Because interactivity is so important to me and to the story, Wattpad was the perfect platform. Each week I release a new chapter of <i>Strangetown Part I: The Unnatural Disappearance of Callie Mae Baxter</i> and with any luck, after these many, many years, perhaps <i>Strangetown</i> will finally find an audience. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Writing is now a journey that can be taken alongside the reader. But to do so, we must first agree to begin. And to begin, we must enter a place called <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/46106257-strangetown-the-unnatural-disappearance-of-callie">STRANGETOWN</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfTm2a72cmx_FW8iJ_wy5FMax-ayERw7El8be45qMTkLYVRI0JWNdMdEETzjl_PuPH49f-MhPSD31NO3_iPUFnlhB5fp57Ob2q6tX0GJnlkqaEAK8CAzVXHewMb_lVqMIOh7ZF3vNVXpl/s1600/Profile.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfTm2a72cmx_FW8iJ_wy5FMax-ayERw7El8be45qMTkLYVRI0JWNdMdEETzjl_PuPH49f-MhPSD31NO3_iPUFnlhB5fp57Ob2q6tX0GJnlkqaEAK8CAzVXHewMb_lVqMIOh7ZF3vNVXpl/s200/Profile.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hilary Sierpinski is the Publicity Manager at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hilary.sierpinski">The Story Plant</a>, a content strategist and digital enthusiast who spends a great many of her waking hours rethinking author strategies in the new media landscape. She loves to connect with writers and readers online and can be found on <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/user/writerhpinski">Wattpad</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hpinski">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hilary.sierpinski">Facebook</a>. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-30504141841848717012015-09-03T13:54:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.330-07:00Day 216: Drawing Lady Pancake with Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNtEMyLe3J4NsnNJsMBMsrMu7gPdHCTCuDv5_lte3b2H26aYrXm24lBQaioAiRpADYPrLZyQpYyxJ6JAaQbzemicRs1OH3p2sJz5ZY7AfbecYym7L1sfXxi8LMjLxrbuY5KhVKBS4wNTk/s1600/Day+216+-+Drawing+Lady+Pancake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNtEMyLe3J4NsnNJsMBMsrMu7gPdHCTCuDv5_lte3b2H26aYrXm24lBQaioAiRpADYPrLZyQpYyxJ6JAaQbzemicRs1OH3p2sJz5ZY7AfbecYym7L1sfXxi8LMjLxrbuY5KhVKBS4wNTk/s640/Day+216+-+Drawing+Lady+Pancake.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Happy Book Birthday to Josh and Brendan! Viva! "</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST"</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> is the yummiest book of the year!</span><br /><br /><div class="font_7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Josh Funk grew up in New England and studied Computer Science in school. Today, he still lives in New England and when not writing Java code or Python scripts, he drinks Java coffee and writes picture book manuscripts alongside his wife, children, and assorted pets & monsters.</span></div><div class="font_7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="font_7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Josh is a board member of The Writers' Loft in Sherborn, MA and the co-coordinator of the 2016 and 2017 New England Regional SCBWI Conferences.</span></div><div class="font_7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="font_7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Josh is the author of LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST (Sterling), as well as the forthcoming picture books DEAR DRAGON (Viking/Penguin 2016), PIRASAURS! (Scholastic 2017), JACK! [and the beanstalk] (Two Lions, 2017), and more.</span></div><div class="font_7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="font_7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Josh is terrible at writing bios, so please help fill in the blanks. Josh enjoys _______ during ________ and has always loved __________. He has played ____________ since age __ and his biggest fear in life is being eaten by a __________.</span></div><div class="font_7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="font_7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Josh is represented by <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.marsallyonliteraryagency.com/the-agents/kathleen-rushall/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Kathleen Rushall</a></span> of <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.marsallyonliteraryagency.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Marsal Lyon Literary Agency</a></span>.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Brendan's bio, in his own words:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whilst studying Architecture at University I realised I didn’t like rulers. I also discovered that drawing pictures for a living was a legitimate and fun career option, and so traded architecture for illustration as quickly as I could. Having now completed my degree in Illustration I specialise in Children’s books and artwork, bringing my own chaotic style and ideas to any project. If you can’t find me drawing you are likely to find me with a guitar or banjo in hand. I like mince pies. I don’t like carrots.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't forget to visit <a href="http://www.joshfunkbooks.com/" target="_blank">Josh's</a> and <a href="http://www.brendankearneyillustration.co.uk/" target="_blank">Brendan's</a> websites!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-80162591110944610342015-09-02T12:53:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.342-07:00Wednesday Muse: The Land of Fairies<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuC0kWIEyUOsAwiq9hQix_mHcw2loDHAYjsfKFt6PBWYNKW1aMTnpOhEufPy-A6vSSofBY8zjhbCubtv4dP4tqn9lWZy8u_iyJj6z4wxwimRrWkohbxKvrMlYBOPCQN5-j8t81anuGJ_X-/s1600/Sept+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuC0kWIEyUOsAwiq9hQix_mHcw2loDHAYjsfKFt6PBWYNKW1aMTnpOhEufPy-A6vSSofBY8zjhbCubtv4dP4tqn9lWZy8u_iyJj6z4wxwimRrWkohbxKvrMlYBOPCQN5-j8t81anuGJ_X-/s640/Sept+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;">Photo Credit: Glen Johnson<br /><!--[endif]--></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Accross the land, beyond the sea</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">the Land of Fairies awaits for me."</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Andrea always knew this day would come -she simply never imagined it would arrive so soon. Having postponed this inevitable journey for so long, it was only natural to assume that she’d eventually choose to cancel it. And she would have probably done it, hadn’t life stripped her out of all her presumptive essentials (much too early) and kicked her into the real world.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The house was never really hers. It was Mr. Damborio’s. So she did what she had to do: packed some clothes and a couple of sandwiches in her red backpack, hanged the ”Gone to Fairyland” sign on the doorknob, and kissed Don Genesio goodbye. That was the hardest part. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">As she walked to the train station she could still feel his sardine breath lingering on her cheeks. But how could she take him with her, without knowing if she’d manage to find any suitable food that could possibly satisfy his gourmet appetite? </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><br /></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The trip was too long. Over fifteen hours of boredom and uncertainties. She had to leave her own country and cross three foreign states to reach the city of Curitiba. The moment of truth had almost come. One bus and forty minutes separated her from Pitangueira Park. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><br /></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">When the ride was over, she jumped out of the bus and stood at the wild Mata Atlantica blooming before her, greeting her with a profusion of trees and plants of all sorts and kinds. The air was cool and the sun warmed up the glittery path of round pebbles that stretched like a mosaic at the entrance, leading to her final destination. It smelled like jasmines, frankincense and Fairies. It felt just like home. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Andrea took her mama’s picture from her pocket and kissed her cheek one last time before crossing the bamboo bridge that separated Terrosa from the Land of Fairies.</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">****************************************************************************</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #484848; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><b style="text-indent: 25.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wednesday Muse!</span></b></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #484848; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #484848; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's a list of all the amazing wordsmiths in our cyberspatial society (you'll most definitely want to check them out!):</span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #484848; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 21px; list-style-position: outside; margin: 5px 0px !important; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em !important; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://www.vanessabarger.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Vanessa Barger</span></a></span></li><li><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://marycrockett.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mary Crockett</span></a></span></li><li><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="https://stuglennie.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Stuart Glennie</span></a></span></li><li><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://littlebirdabroad.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nicole Conway</span></a></span></li></ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-71716535078584050302015-09-02T12:50:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.353-07:00Day 215: Drawing a Rainbow Fish with Marcus Pfister<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFgLSIr970E2p89jkyLH4nHV4MredNY3L9Wcr2-H00nQIRhWX-oNIyv4xUpzJJZq2PVRrvLTKlfVU1jFRODpaQ67VlH3sd2o0MEgU6fhI-gZCZY_tHEGDeAeMkvE5myV-oIG_q5CYTmJnM/s1600/Day+215+-+Drawing+a+Rainbow+Fish+with+Marcus+Pfister.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFgLSIr970E2p89jkyLH4nHV4MredNY3L9Wcr2-H00nQIRhWX-oNIyv4xUpzJJZq2PVRrvLTKlfVU1jFRODpaQ67VlH3sd2o0MEgU6fhI-gZCZY_tHEGDeAeMkvE5myV-oIG_q5CYTmJnM/s640/Day+215+-+Drawing+a+Rainbow+Fish+with+Marcus+Pfister.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Marcus Pfister was born the 30th of July 1960 in Bern, Switzer-land. He attended the Art School of Bern and then completed an apprenticeship as a Graphic Designer. From 1981-1983 he worked as a Graphic Designer at the publicity agency Alexandre Ott in Zurich. He then took off six months and traveled across the United States, Canada and Mexico. When he re-turned to Switzerland he started working as an independent Graphic Artist. Between 1984 and 1985 he made the sketches for his first picture book “The Sleepy Owl". It was published in 1986 by North-South Books, this was the beginning of a long collaboration. Until 1992, Marcus worked simultaneously as a Graphic Designer and as an author/illustrator of children's books. In 1992 he burst onto the international scene with his book "The Rainbow Fish", which convinced him to focus solely on writing and illustrating his own books. Up to now 49 books of Marcus Pfister have been published. They have been translated into more than 50 languages. The total number of published copies has exceeded 30 millions. As an illustrator, Marcus has never bound himself to a definite style of art and surprises his audience again and again with new techniques and images. One can see this in "The Magic Book" with an elaborate folder-technique, the split pages in "Milo and the Magical Stones" which tells a story with two different endings, and in "The Rainbow Fish" series with the use of holographic foil. There is always a surprise for his readers with new and exciting effects. He is now concentrating on developing new characters and artistic concepts for his picture books. Marcus Pfister has four children and lives with his family in Bern, Switzerland. His book signing tours have taken him to Korea, Japan, the United States and many European Countries. His hobbies are photographing wildlife in the Rainforest and playing basketball.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember to visit <a href="http://www.marcuspfister.ch/" target="_blank">Marcus's website</a>!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-34389052486429532692015-09-01T12:59:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.364-07:00Day 214: Drawing Maisy with Lucy Cousins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFvRLzM85KiiAXX0wIHhpNib__GOLOpyOwzFYIvSgSGBZIGYCD_SbmZzvz8jNo9NqRukHpkvkNGzEgdx7icT2vL5JLmmAsjmgZgNz99rcTEt5mtb4vDsiSeSKkwWXtROX4EY1dPYobei8t/s1600/Day+214+-+Drawing+Maisy+with+Lucy+Cousins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFvRLzM85KiiAXX0wIHhpNib__GOLOpyOwzFYIvSgSGBZIGYCD_SbmZzvz8jNo9NqRukHpkvkNGzEgdx7icT2vL5JLmmAsjmgZgNz99rcTEt5mtb4vDsiSeSKkwWXtROX4EY1dPYobei8t/s640/Day+214+-+Drawing+Maisy+with+Lucy+Cousins.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lucy Cousins is the creator of many wonderful picture books for children, including Yummy: My Favourite Nursery Stories and Hooray for Fish! , as well as her bestselling books about Maisy the mouse. About I'm the Best, she says, "I had the idea for this book after winning a tennis competition. I loved telling all my friends and family about it, but then I realized that I was probably showing off, like Dog!" Lucy Cousins lives in Hampshire with her partner, four children and very fluffy dog.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Visit Maisy's website!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-32343187474916407852015-08-31T05:03:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.375-07:00Day 213: Drawing the Class Pet with Barney Saltzberg<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi774ZQz11EHRw4UzvHq1j7Zsz7AM57nHnApTHP6egcP6lojTGSW3DiBant4Tjs5q2eXkCIjSDREXUfWDwt8qJok_IQN9l5lhVi44RJSN9-MEWT86oShm9tZOA-dB3EjS_XVZTApfcVfoUe/s1600/Day+213+-+Drawing+the+Class+Pet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi774ZQz11EHRw4UzvHq1j7Zsz7AM57nHnApTHP6egcP6lojTGSW3DiBant4Tjs5q2eXkCIjSDREXUfWDwt8qJok_IQN9l5lhVi44RJSN9-MEWT86oShm9tZOA-dB3EjS_XVZTApfcVfoUe/s640/Day+213+-+Drawing+the+Class+Pet.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Barney Saltzberg is the author and illustrator of close to 50 books for children, including Beautiful Oops!, Arlo Needs Glasses, Andrew Drew and Drew, and the bestselling Touch and Feel Kisses series with over a million copies in print. Additionally, he’s recorded four albums of music for children.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Barney has been working with the United States State Department as a part of the Cultural Exchange Program and has traveled to China and Russia to speak about the creative process. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three dogs.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't forget to visit <a href="http://www.barneysaltzberg.com/" target="_blank">Barney's website</a>!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-7540893899075337992015-08-31T05:02:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.386-07:00Day 212: Drawing a Cow with Rosalind Beardshaw <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPtkItLItTIUj9D_GJyUwnZrUznuwFH1UnyhX3RNAWNY6N_PRKlggET_4B1DUKvkBTszWP3_9nFAe5W_F6Tt8YkDogu0uIFd8lrqxJ37sv0nb5UgBHei9eNiokXETvLHIv5obBcYYe5cm/s1600/Day+212+-+Drawing+a+Cow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPtkItLItTIUj9D_GJyUwnZrUznuwFH1UnyhX3RNAWNY6N_PRKlggET_4B1DUKvkBTszWP3_9nFAe5W_F6Tt8YkDogu0uIFd8lrqxJ37sv0nb5UgBHei9eNiokXETvLHIv5obBcYYe5cm/s640/Day+212+-+Drawing+a+Cow.jpg" width="538" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rosalind Beardshaw's bio, in her own words:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I really enjoy being a children's book illustrator and have always loved to draw. I've illustrated lots of picture books including two of my own stories and work for publishers such as Nosy Crow, Scholastic and Egmont.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My desk is very messy, but there's always space for a cup of earl grey tea and a piece of cake! I take my big shaggy lurcher, Basil, to the studio with me, he lays under my desk and keeps my feet warm.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My studio and home are in York, where I live with my young family.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember to visit <a href="http://www.rosalindbeardshaw.com/" target="_blank">Rosalind's website</a>! </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-27149301232509010712015-08-31T05:00:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.397-07:00Day 211: Drawing the Moon with Clement Hurd<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGi-XjsiPDpXmaDt1QGsc9W9aNQYvwZMqZ-crJ_mS8_qYXWzQCycFmVFlbQypwbr7qagtIdZ0pHMXwMuWxk5ZhLPRx1Qq7RxgTQXT4ofPp0sSexjxsA0UAzaZE4weSwMUP4KjcxMs0wm2F/s1600/Day+211+-+Drawing+the+Moon+with+Clement+Hurd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGi-XjsiPDpXmaDt1QGsc9W9aNQYvwZMqZ-crJ_mS8_qYXWzQCycFmVFlbQypwbr7qagtIdZ0pHMXwMuWxk5ZhLPRx1Qq7RxgTQXT4ofPp0sSexjxsA0UAzaZE4weSwMUP4KjcxMs0wm2F/s640/Day+211+-+Drawing+the+Moon+with+Clement+Hurd.jpg" width="560" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Clement Hurd (1908–1988) is best known for illustrating Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, the classic picture books by Margaret Wise Brown. He studied painting in Paris with Fernand Léger and others in the early 1930s. After his return to the United States in 1935, he began to work in children's books. He illustrated more than one hundred books, many of them with his wife, Edith Thacher Hurd, including the Johnny Lion books, The Day the Sun Danced, and The Merry Chase. A native of New York City, he lived most of his life in Vermont and California.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Clement Hurd (1908–1988) se graduó de Yale University. Estudió pintura en París en los años 1930 con Fernand Léger, entre otros. Allí fue donde desarrolló su estilo característico, compuesto de colores de fuerte contraste. Hurd estuvo casado con la escritora Edith Thacher Hurd, con quien también creó muchos libros que se convirtieron en favoritos de los niños.</span><br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-38978255827907058672015-08-31T04:58:00.001-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.419-07:00Day 209: Drawing Fancy Nancy with Robin Preiss Glasser<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgmV0pS5qcMC32sJMcGi-XIMrEAHeO6S-ppPiY75Fn0ZVv03j9PHAPPnXaD8DAAEv4g6b_etaTau8T7Tlr40lbjHq90rhrPYrAU5n6e3ceLaj8WV9OT_jq2ecXCY1Smudat1GTbTRWZPdH/s1600/Day+209+-+Drawing+Fancy+Nancy+with+Robin+Preiss+Glasser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgmV0pS5qcMC32sJMcGi-XIMrEAHeO6S-ppPiY75Fn0ZVv03j9PHAPPnXaD8DAAEv4g6b_etaTau8T7Tlr40lbjHq90rhrPYrAU5n6e3ceLaj8WV9OT_jq2ecXCY1Smudat1GTbTRWZPdH/s640/Day+209+-+Drawing+Fancy+Nancy+with+Robin+Preiss+Glasser.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Robin Preiss Glasser is the #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator of the Fancy Nancy series, written by Jane O’Connor; America: A Patriotic Primer, A is for Abigail, and Our Fifty States by Lynne Cheney, and Tea for Ruby by Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. She lives in Southern California with her family. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't forget to visit <a href="http://www.robinpreissglasser.com/" target="_blank">Robin's website</a>!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-73746540494642101522015-08-31T04:58:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.408-07:00Day 210: Drawing the Very Hungry Caterpillar with Eric Carle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpGsBKQr5g_WIoWz7y3JZenoKqVuPag5uia3KHdT5-XNiPO-niKFAQUwhSBOaOs0zoKYLPX3bfYPPWefnL2PGoHwkoiDAspZJrU6sNLQwwcCCB16ekWBBYur6WD8lZIS5KUEV70_hHtSx2/s1600/Day+210+-+Drawing+the+Very+Hungry+Caterpillar+with+Eric+Carle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpGsBKQr5g_WIoWz7y3JZenoKqVuPag5uia3KHdT5-XNiPO-niKFAQUwhSBOaOs0zoKYLPX3bfYPPWefnL2PGoHwkoiDAspZJrU6sNLQwwcCCB16ekWBBYur6WD8lZIS5KUEV70_hHtSx2/s640/Day+210+-+Drawing+the+Very+Hungry+Caterpillar+with+Eric+Carle.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Eric Carle is acclaimed and beloved as the creator of brilliantly illustrated and innovatively designed picture books for very young children. His best-known work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has eaten its way into the hearts of literally millions of children all over the world and has been translated into 62 languages and sold over 41 million copies. Since the Caterpillar was published in 1969, Eric Carle has illustrated more than seventy books, many best sellers, most of which he also wrote, and more than 132 million copies of his books have sold around the world.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Born in Syracuse, New York, in 1929, Eric Carle moved with his parents to Germany when he was six years old; he was educated there, and graduated from the prestigious art school, the Akademie der bildenden Künste, in Stuttgart. But his dream was always to return to America, the land of his happiest childhood memories. So, in 1952, with a fine portfolio in hand and forty dollars in his pocket, he arrived in New York. Soon he found a job as a graphic designer in the promotion department of The New York Times. Later, he was the art director of an advertising agency for many years.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One day, respected educator and author, Bill Martin Jr, called to ask Carle to illustrate a story he had written. Martin’s eye had been caught by a striking picture of a red lobster that Carle had created for an advertisement. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was the result of their collaboration. It is still a favorite with children everywhere. This was the beginning of Eric Carle’s true career. Soon Carle was writing his own stories, too. His first wholly original book was 1,2,3 to the Zoo, followed soon afterward by the celebrated classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Eric Carle’s art is distinctive and instantly recognizable. His art work is created in collage technique, using hand-painted papers, which he cuts and layers to form bright and cheerful images. Many of his books have an added dimension—die-cut pages, twinkling lights as in The Very Lonely Firefly, even the lifelike sound of a cricket’s song as in The Very Quiet Cricket - giving them a playful quality: a toy that can be read, a book that can be touched. Children also enjoy working in collage and many send him pictures they have made themselves, inspired by his illustrations. He receives hundreds of letters each week from his young admirers.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The secret of Eric Carle’s books’ appeal lies in his intuitive understanding of and respect for children, who sense in him instinctively someone who shares their most cherished thoughts and emotions.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The themes of his stories are usually drawn from his extensive knowledge and love of nature—an interest shared by most small children. Besides being beautiful and entertaining, his books always offer the child the opportunity to learn something about the world around them. It is his concern for children, for their feelings and their inquisitiveness, for their creativity and their intellectual growth that, in addition to his beautiful artwork, makes the reading of his books such a stimulating and lasting experience.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carle says: “With many of my books I attempt to bridge the gap between the home and school. To me home represents, or should represent; warmth, security, toys, holding hands, being held. School is a strange and new place for a child. Will it be a happy place? There are new people, a teacher, classmates—will they be friendly?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I believe the passage from home to school is the second biggest trauma of childhood; the first is, of course, being born. Indeed, in both cases we leave a place of warmth and protection for one that is unknown. The unknown often brings fear with it. In my books I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Eric Carle has two grown-up children, a son and a daughter. With his wife Barbara, he divides his time between the Florida Keys and the hills of North Carolina.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember to visit <a href="http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html" target="_blank">Eric's website</a>!</span><br /><div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-61352022276013120642015-08-26T04:51:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.430-07:00Wednesday Muse: Don Chiche’s trip<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyyzw-Kjp0oB2dhIxbZ7n1b8Z-eGLKCHGbKjsL6uaCqfwytUJMM4MwptpQ_W6v9G3nc52MqmtR2KsiS3XbjkEOrBVZCeWJtpATjuFqjdp0FGUBqTgKCzks2TzMhChmL7_1gXCtK1EFHgy/s1600/August+26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyyzw-Kjp0oB2dhIxbZ7n1b8Z-eGLKCHGbKjsL6uaCqfwytUJMM4MwptpQ_W6v9G3nc52MqmtR2KsiS3XbjkEOrBVZCeWJtpATjuFqjdp0FGUBqTgKCzks2TzMhChmL7_1gXCtK1EFHgy/s640/August+26.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;"><a href="http://www.gratisography.com/" target="_blank">Photo Credit: Ryan McGuire</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Don Chiche’s trip</b></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“Are we there yet? Don Chiche is hungry! He needs to eat a <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quindim/" target="_blank">quindim</a> at the <a href="https://www.fenadoce.com.br/" target="_blank">Fenadoce</a>!” said Nenena, hugging her polar bear plushie as hard as her little arms allowed, her big brown eyes glaring at her parents from the backseat of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Beetle" target="_blank">Fusca</a>. Her older brother Nico, sitting right beside her, shook his head and rolled his eyes.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“We’re almost there, Nenena. Tell Don Chiche he’ll have to wait just a few more miles,” said dad.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Nenena approached her mouth to the bear’s fluffy ear and reported the news. Immediately afterwards, she plugged the bear’s pink smile to her own ear and listened. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“Don Chiche asks if we can take a photo with Betty the Ant.”</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Nico snorted.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“Sure, dulzurita. The three of you can take all the pictures you want,” said mom.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Nenena placed Don Chiche on her lap and straightened up his bow tie. It would be so much fun to meet Betty the Ant, Fenadoce’s mascot, thought Nenena. Maybe they could all go on a picnic together after watching Betty’s music show. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“Are there caramels and bonbons there too? Don Chiche wants to know if the Fenadoce is really trully the biggest of all candy fairs in the universe.”</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“That’s true, princesa. There’s all that and much more: chocolates, toffees, cupcakes, and all kinds of sweets you can imagine!” said mom.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Nenena and Don Chiche exchanged a sparkling glance.They began bouncing and swirling, celebrating in advance the fantastic fiesta of music and play that awaited them, complete with singing ants and cotton candy trees… until the moment she accidentally stepped on Nico’s foot. And that was it. It was Tug Of War time, and Don Chiche was right in the middle of the vendetta.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><br /></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Nico pulled.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Nenena kicked.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Nico cursed.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Nenena bit.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><br /></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">And out went Don Chiche, flying through the window, landing right in the middle of route 35. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US"> “Don Peche!” cried Nenena, standing up on her seat, banging the Fusca’s back window with her tiny fists, as her eyes filled with tears.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Dad stopped the car, jumped onto the road and ran to save him. But -alas- he didn’t get to poor Don Chiche on time. The whole family watched as his red bow disappeared under the massive wheels. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">They all held their breaths, while the gigantic beast passed by on torturing slow motion. Nenena’s heart hurt so, she thought it would break. And it almost did. Almost.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Once the monstrous truck disappeared down the road, there emerged Don Chiche, alive and well, his smiling face gleaming at them all. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Dad carried Don Chiche on his shoulders, bringing him back to the car, where he was greeted by all with a feast of hugs and kisses, like a victorious soldier returning from war.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don Chiche spend the whole weekend in Pelotas like a king, treated with all the respect and honors that corresponded to someone in his position. He got to savor as many quindins and sweets as his furry heart desired, took a hundred pictures with Betty the Ant and experienced all the joys a bear can live with his loving family.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 25.2000007629395px;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 25.2000007629395px;">Wednesday Muse!</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 18.9pt;">This is my first week joining <a href="http://www.vanessabarger.com/" target="_blank">Vanessa Barger</a>'s Wednesday Muse -I'm so excited!</span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The challenge: every Wednesday we (Vanessa, Mary, Stuart, Nicole and yo) will post</span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">a snippet inspired by a picture or other writing prompt. </span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 18.9pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's a list of all the amazing wordsmiths in our cyberspatial society (you'll most definitely want to check them out!):</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; list-style-position: outside !important; margin: 5px 0px !important; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em !important; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="list-style: disc outside !important; margin: 3px 0px 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px !important; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.vanessabarger.com/" target="_blank">Vanessa Barger</a></li><li style="list-style: disc outside !important; margin: 3px 0px 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px !important; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><u><a href="http://marycrockett.com/" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="">Mary Crockett</a></u></li><li style="list-style: disc outside !important; margin: 3px 0px 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px !important; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="https://stuglennie.wordpress.com/" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Stuart Glennie</a></li><li style="list-style: disc outside !important; margin: 3px 0px 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px !important; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://littlebirdabroad.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nicole Conway</a></li></ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189490495769818490.post-44367447568718168492015-08-26T04:22:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:27:43.443-07:00Day 208: Drawing a secret transformer with Kristina Stephenson <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMgHG4M579IZCRpZZnBK5BTnE38_5HoXdbhjNGUhs9ZpLa7-SfjXhviPUTn0e7CHJbB9BkyJCZAtvzzAMpKyXAdLWHQ0s-Tu1BqsMUNRVX3jYgC0dGvndCY6IfNN7uOCCVV9rdFVKFCdS/s1600/Day+207+-+Drawing+a+secret+transformer+with+Kristina+Stephenson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMgHG4M579IZCRpZZnBK5BTnE38_5HoXdbhjNGUhs9ZpLa7-SfjXhviPUTn0e7CHJbB9BkyJCZAtvzzAMpKyXAdLWHQ0s-Tu1BqsMUNRVX3jYgC0dGvndCY6IfNN7uOCCVV9rdFVKFCdS/s640/Day+207+-+Drawing+a+secret+transformer+with+Kristina+Stephenson.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Check Kristina Stephenson's <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/aug/22/how-to-draw-a-secret-transformer-kristina-stephenson-molly" target="_blank">How to draw… a secret transformer</a>!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kristina Stephenson was born in the desert and by the age of two she was very good at building sand castles. As a child she loved making up stories and making a mess with paper, paints and glue. She still does, although now she clears up the chaos herself.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She was a day dreamer at school and her teachers despaired. She loved film and television and later developed a passion for theatre. She wanted to be an actress – singing and dancing in musicals – but she was painfully shy so she didn’t even try.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After school she trained as a set and costume designer and had a successful career in theatre and Children’s Television until she had her children. Wanting to stay at home with them she turned her hand to illustration, working at night in an attic in a house in London (it was a very nice attic) where she illustrated many non- fiction books. Inspired to write her first picture book by her son Charlie (who does not have Stinky Socks), she showed it to a friend in the book trade. Thankfully for us he recommended that she send it to Egmont. With a change in artwork style, the bold, brave Sir Charlie Stinky Socks embarked on the first of his many really big adventures.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kristina now lives in Wiltshire with her husband, who is a musician, her daughter, her son, a dog, two cats and a tortoise. She juggles work with family life in a busy, bustling house without an attic – now she writes in an old turquoise VW camper van called BRU. She loves her work but she still loves the theatre and she’s not as shy as she used to be, so … who knows.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't forget to visit <a href="http://www.sircharliestinkysocks.co.uk/" target="_blank">Kristina's website</a>!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374353771045503423noreply@blogger.com0