PiBoIdMo Recap

Idea #1

Sigh. It's come. It's gone. Here is what I have to share. These are some of loose ideas that got a sketch, or a moment of pencil on paper this last November during Tara's genius second year at the helm of Picture Book Idea Month.

All of the pictures go with words, but not vs versa. Some of this months inklings are pages of dialogue. Some are inky post-it notes with scritch-scratch. One is an epic first sentence, one consists of three words written down 8 different ways. Currently they're a map that only I can navigate. (Ooh Idea #31) ;)

At any rate, there are 30 of them, while not always genius, that's 29 more than I would have had without the wide catching net of support of all my children's book cronies tweeting and twatting and blogging me forward this epic month of picture books.

Idea #4



Idea #6

Idea #12
AKA - A much better idea than idea #6
The 'evolution' of this idea was one of the most exciting parts of this month's breakneck make a story idea game. I kept revisiting it, in the shower, as I walked thru the park, and now at the beginning of December, I think it has sticking potential.

Idea #16
This is an idea I've been kicking around for a while, but PiBoIdMo was the kick I needed to get it down on paper and develop it into something that I won't sideline.


Idea #24
This is one of my favorites. I worked at keeping myself loose and sketchtastic on these. This idea was storyboarded in 14 frames in about 6 minutes. It's one of my most complete from this month of unprecedented kiddie focus, and actually one of the top 5 I'd take to an agent.


Idea #30
Came as I was desperately racking my brain for some last drop of picture book punch. I'm so excited to be working on this one and will attack it post haste.

I hope all your ideas were extra good to you this picture book season. I am excited to stalk you and see where they go. I'm attacking #3 (not pictured) first. It is my favorite and most funny idea this year. I want to pay homage to the genius of

Anna Staniszewski, Sarah Frances Hardy, and Jennifer Nielsen

In a sea of tantalising and delicious offerings theirs spoke to me and mattered most over time. This year's PiBoIdMo was simply smashing. I have not one single idea for how it could be any better. It was a treat and and a treasure and I'll be waiting on baited breath until Nov. 1st 2011 - No pressure Tara ;)

Snakes on a Blog

That's right! Monkey-Fighting snakes on a Monday - Friday blog!

When I have a concept for illustration I grab the closest piece of paper I have and I scribble random lines on it. I know that my memory is not as awesome as it should be. I'm only 27 but I forget some of my best ideas if I don't make a note. I think when I'm old I'll be one of those funny red-hat ladies with yarn bows tied on all my fingers. The digital age and Google Calendar has made life much, much better. Regardless, I like things tangible and scraps of paper are my preferred medium for note taking or scribble drawings and sketchy thinking.

These snakes first happened at Joya's on Court Street.
Nothing says snakes like a writhing bowl of mundo-delicious flat noodles. I love Joya's because the food is delicious and the service is bad. They have paper on all the tables and if you're a sketchy Brooklynite who always has a pencil tucked behind her ear this is a great place for inspiration while you wait forever and ever for your yummy food -- hence the snakes.

First snakes were sketched in itty bitty scale - around 2x4".
I liked them enough to give them some time and I hit them with red pencils on 10x10" paper.

These are done with my preferred Col-Erase red pencils in cadmium red.
I recommend buying them and trying them out - well that is if you're not in the Brooklyn or Manhattan Burroughs. Finding them here is getting harder and harder. If you must buy them in New York please just stay away from Chelsea's Utrecht and Lee's Art Shop across from Carnegie Hall - those are my haunts and I have dibs.

I always think better when I see my art in red line. I realized these snakes were almost cool but that their faces weren't entrancing. Snakes need entrancing faces. I played with them in pencil once I loved their mugs I attacked them with pastel, watercolor, gauche and digital ink.

When I got to this "finished" stage I was so disappointed with these guys. I thought they were going to be awesome when they were in that very first thumbnail stage. Now they seemed to be missing some face-punch snakiness. I uploaded dirt and grass variations and called my brother. Ashton starts every conversation we have about my work with "OK, but what's my percentage?" ;)

One of the best lessons I learned in college was from a professor who said "If you want to know how your art is going to be received ask anyone you trust. They don't have to have any artistic inkling to know what's wrong or what they think. After all, they're your audience." We looked at them online and I talked about the pros and cons of dirt vs. grass. I was weary of grass because The snakes were already green and I didn't want to lose them. At this point Ashton really wasn't earning his keep. Then he was like "Nah they look great, keep them on Grass. Just do something to make them different than the grass, like you know something artsy you can do." 2 points.

I suggested we add more rocks. He said "yeah, rocks can be good, just make them artsy." So I started scribbling in pastel while we kept chatting. "Kid, you've got to give me something better if you're going to earn that ten percent, yo."

"What if you gave them scales?"

This is where working with younger brothers becomes exasperating "Butch, they already have scales!"

I pictured him shrugging when he said undaunted in his Hawaiian boy attitude "Dude, give them more scales." I hung up exasperated, grabbed a glass of water and came back to the drawing board when I realized,
gee that kid is genius. Meet the snakes, in all their "more scales" glory.

listening to right this second: "right round" -- flo rida

Musically Thinking

Far Away - by Ingrid Michealson
"I will live my life as a lobsterman's wife on an island in the blue bay
He will take care of me, he will smell like the sea, And close to my heart he'll always stay
I will bear three girls all with strawberry curls, little Ella and Nelly and Faye
While I'm combing their hair, I will catch his warm stare On our island in the blue bay"

Music always runs through my art. In the first grade I illustrated a collective of drawings inspired by Disney's Cruella DeVille song. In retrospect, I think it was mostly just page after page of black crayoned space with big scary eyes stabbing you with harsh white contrast, indicating that you were being watched from underneath a rock.

The Cruella pictures are the first memory I have in what must be at least a 21 year run of drawings inspired by music.

Some of my favorite artistic musical highlights have been playing 45s of Cole Porter to kindergarten classes while they roll around on gigantic butcher paper with Pastels. I always explain that they should just go where the music takes them. I've done weird scientific space drawings based on guitar strings and music notes. I've storyboarded music videos, but my favorite thing to do is a Sketch-ercise I invented in really boring art class in high school with the help of my ultra hip 'Discman'. This is something I call 'Skip Listen Draw!" It's kind of like Tic-Tac-Toe in that it is awesome and that it's mega-lame if you can't see someplace to go.

Here are the rules:

1. You HAVE to draw something from each song your ipod randomly plays in Shuffle mode.
2. You have to have a theme - this one is kid's illustrations because I was three ideas short on PbIdMo. Sometimes I do "Things animals do" or one of my favorites is "This Only Happens in the Kitchen".
3. You can listen to the song twice
4. You can't give yourself space or any time to think between the plays.
5. You have to throw your pencil down the instant the music stops playing the second time.

Here are some PbIdMo thoughts based on Pod's selections this morning.

All I Want is You - as covered by Tristen Prettyman
"If you were the wood, I'd be the fire.
If you were the love, I'd be the desire.
If you were a castle, I'd be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float."

The Ninjas - by Barenaked Ladies
"I looked all around my bedroom -Underneath the dresser
Behind the curtain -But nothing could be found
There was nothing left behind them -No way that I could find them
No finger prints or crumbs on the ground"

Matters of the Heart - by Tracy Chapman
"Here I sit
I'm feeling sorry for myself
It's quite a sight
But I have you to thank
For reminding me
We're all alone in this world
And in matters of the heart"

We Don't Have Time to Get Restless

There's always something new!
Time for a little PbIdMo deviation.

Check out this mischevious watercolor over at Watercolor Wednesdays where you can see the whole banana.

listening to right this second: "over rainbow/what wonderful world" -- israel 'iz' kamakawiwoole

PiBiIdMo - WaWe - IlloFri

So... let's just say my life is kind of topsy-turvey these days.

This week Susan jotted me a note saying "Remember Amber, it's important to play too! I know it's great you have so many projects in the air but don't forget to have fun and to get some sleep too." Luckily my work is fun. And sleep? Who needs sleep?! (insert maniacal laugh)

Here's hoping your life is a bit more balanced than mine is this week ;)

Thank god for multi-tasking (she types as she brushes her teeth and squirms into a high heeled boot.) Happy Picture Book Idea Month, Watercolor Wednesday, Illustration Friday!

Don't forget to enter the contest for this month's blog candy!
listening to right this second: "time of your life" -- green day

The Night the Fairies Came

is still a blur....
a childhood memory lost in gossamer and light.

I've had this done to this stage since Friday. I was hoping I'd get to watercolor it but you know, deadlines deadlines, deadlines. It'll be a treat to find the time for painting in a few weeks when things calm down. In the meantime I get to animate a Bollywood inspired theme for a project and I get to draw animals having an off the hook party.

I started with rough pencils:
Here are some fairies and dust:
Make sure to enter to win She Sure is Sketchy blog candy!!!
listening to right this second: "32 flavors" -- ani difranco

Picture Book Idea Month

I lifted this banner from Tara Lazar's über informative blog. As I'm sure most of you know, November is National Novel Writing Month - thirty days and nights of literary abandon.

OK. OK. You may not be as a completely dedicated nerd as I. Maybe you spend November riding motorcycles and getting in gang fights, things I merely read about because PEOPLE WRITE ABOUT THOSE THINGS! You're not getting off the hook that easily.

Several friends of mine participated in NaNoWriMo last year. My interest in the challenge was sparked. I was Charlie Bucket, my face smashed up to the glass, watching as they tarried away clickity-clacking their keyboards. I just didn't have the kind of time needed to dedicate to the monumental task of writing a novel. I was too busy with clients and children's illustrations.

Enter PiBoIdMo. This one month challenge mirrors the work of authors around the globe who are churning out page after page of double spaced. The difference is it's geared towards authors and illustrators who cater to the children's market. PiBoIdMo challenges you to generate one new picture book idea a day.

Here's a glimpse at my inaugural idea. I'll be keeping my actual ideas pretty close to the vest. Here's some art for you to look at so you know I'm keeping my end up.
I join Tara and we urge you to grab a crayon, a pencil, a word doc or a post-it.
Change your perspective and go be prolific.

If you're not writing a novel this month but are participating in PiBoIdMo you might want to stop by National Novel Writing Month site from time to time to get some inspiration for your one idea a day goal.
www.nanowrimo.org

I'll be here as well as I attempt my first novel. I might give you updates at She She Sure is Sketchy here and there, but it's not nearly as visual as my participation in Picture Book Idea month and probably not close to as fun.

I will however, be all a twitter about both. So keep an eye on my twitter feed as I continue to document everything I overextend myself to do. Why would I ever choose sleep over fun?
listening to right this second: "Such Great Heights" -- Postal Service