New York, New York.

I am on my way home from the SCBWI New York conference. 

I am so very tired, and so very inspired. 

This whole weekend has been a whirlwind of information and networking, but if I had one word I could use to describe the entire thing, it would be relationships. 

It was the highlight of the illustrators intensive, working on empathy in our stories and pictures, making that deep emotional connection. But it did not end there.

I used to live in the city, but I am a small town gal now, and I was soooo nervous about going to New York, even though I was among friends. I thought it would be cold, fast, impersonal... But I could not have been more wrong.

I LOVE New York. People look at you and make eye contact. Strangers always willing to help. Weddings in grand central station. People greeting, hugging, kissing, saying hello and goodbye, smiling... So much smiling. Grand central was amazing. I walked around by myself a few times and just watched... So many people sharing a small small space and it works.

Something else I noticed... New Yorkers are REALLY good at their jobs. All the service was wonderful, engaging, prompt and professional. There seems to be a real pride in doing a good job that permeates all, from the porters, hot dog vendors, servers... Everyone seems to enjoy what they do, even if they don't really. This is not something you see in Canada everywhere... When people don't like their jobs, most want you to know it.

Another thing, walking downtown, I hardly saw ANYONE texting or talking on their phones. When people were sitting together, they were not sitting around on phones, they were sitting and talking together... Maybe it is risky to text and walk in NY, no doubt it is, but it was so refreshing. I have been assured that it is not always like that, but as far as my take of it. This meant something to me. I loved it.

SCBWI is an incredible organization, they put on a awesome conference, with lots of chances to network, party and most of all, learn, hone and celebrate the craft of children's books. 

Spending the weekend meeting people I have known online for years, meeting new people and travelling with my friends has been amazing. The energy that exists in a room with over a thousand people that love kids books is... Incredible.

I met Tomie Depaola, Gordon Korman, Kelly light, E.B. Lewis, Roxie Monroe, I SAW Oliver Jeffers, Jon s. And so many other people on a start studded Friday night... 

If you haven't joined yet, you should.

Postcards for New York!

So, I splurged, I am off to New York for the SCBWI conference, and I am so excited and nervous. My good friends at JB Printing printed these postcards for me, I wanted something a little different, hoping to stand out a bit, it's a pretty big crowd of super talented people at this conference and I'd like to meet an art director or two that digs my work... So here's hoping for an excellent time and opportunity for all!

A giraffe in Disguise...

Watching time bandits and sketching away...

So I am dying to do some darker stuff... Some older books or covers or something... So working on a style that I've always had, and been wanting to do... While my kids are in the tub. This is done in procreate on my iPad in about 30 minutes. The sketch was done while I was doing some homework for my job, watching time bandits. I have the WORST job, lol!

PLaying with the Cintiq

I have to confess, I am in love.

I am in love with how fast the cintiq works for me. How I can do all my steps in one place without stopping to scan, trace and re-draw. I do all those things, but it's intuitive. It is how I have ALWAYS wanted to work but did not have the medium.

Below 1) a work in progress

2) a completed spot

the Fatou Storysack...

I love these storysacks. And I loved illustrating this story. http://www.storysack.com/sacks/show/83 to preorder one now. There are also lots of teacher/parent resources on the http://www.cornertolearn.com website for downloading!

Packaging Your Imagination 2011

What a day.

Today was the annual PYI conference in Toronto. I almost did not make it.
MO was up all night sick to his stomach and I felt terrible guilt at heading out - but I did.
My drive was fast and uneventful - until I had to find parking. I pulled into a $10 PUBLIC underground parking lot entrance, the garage door closed behind me and the ticket machine was not working. SO, here I am stuck in between the arm and the closed garage door, laying on my horn, shouting for help. There was a hot coffee steaming in the booth, and fresh bananas - but NO one around. So here I am, LATE already for the conference I have been WAITING for... so, after about ten minutes I backed my car up to the garage door praying NO one else comes in, I run over to the other side, STOMP on the cord to open the door, RUN back into the car and hit reverse to bust out of there. Got out, found an outdoor lot - stick my card in to pay and it gets STUCK! Seriously. Pressed the help button, they reset the machine and I was off to go...

I met up with friend and critique group member Ishta and Kari-lynn Winters with whom I got to have another little parking lot adventure (I hope you got out ok!) and got to chat about a STINKY event in Balls Falls coming this spring...

I missed the welcome address, but made it for my first workshop with  Catherine Rondina. A very well-written non-fiction author and we talked about connections. The degrees of separation that separate us all - interesting. It is true though - that opportunity knocks - you just have to listen. It was a wonderful workshop.

Next up was Bill Slavin, I've been a long-time admirer of Bill's. He is famous for many things, but the Stanley books are up there. He talked about character development - check out his blog for the notes. He is awesome. I loved seeing his original art, and I love, like me, he usually draws things once.

My last workshop was with Ruth Ohi. I had a feeling we'd be kindred spirits... but when she showed her bookshelf (which looked remarkably like mine), and then some pages from the Secret Art of Dr. Seuss... not to mention that her kids are a HUGE source of inspiration for her... I knew I would like her. She did not disappoint - she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES what she does and she just glows talking about it. She shared lots of things and was uber inspiring - AND her lovely sister Debbie Ohi (who I follow on twitter) was there too, so I got to meet them both.

Our Keynote speaker was Kathy Stinson. I was in tears as she spoke of her son shaving, and packing up baby clothes and the desire for more time. She was eloquent and passionate. It was a beautiful end to a lovely day.

Thank you CANSCAIP for another great conference.

from felt to illustration - a walk through this creative process

Here is the original felted piece for Henny Penny. It is needlefelted onto flat felt from a sketch.

Here is Henny after my first foray into Painter 12 (gotta say I LOVE this program) with my teensy WACOM tablet.

 

Then I thought I'd see what happened when I put Henny on an illustration I painted previously - just to see how it looked. 

 

more felty digital fun

 

Pulled out my little wacom tablet this time - and this piece is bigger. Thinking these may need to be photographed though, instead of scanning, bits are getting lost...

Sticking and Painting

This is so much fun - and SO very different for me.. but here we are. This is after a couple of hours of painting and experimenting. These are photos, not scans, so in actuality the images are a bit brighter, but hey - this shows what I am doing. This paper is so gorgeous, I am thrilled to be able to use it. This is the first time ever I've been excited to show a work in progress.