COMING SOON

To mark the bicentennial of his birth, opening August 25th and running through October 31st at the Yonkers Riverfront Library Gallery is Charles Dickens, A Celebration Of His Work In Pictures: Illustrations by The Children's Book Illustrator Group. I've curated the show for CBIG and organized two days of events in support of the exhibit A Day Of Dickens  September 13^th that will include the artists’ reception, and A Day Of Dickens October 13^th.

I'm hosting a discussion panel on Dickens and there will be artist demonstrations, craft sessions, talks with Dickens experts, performance readings by The Friends Of Dickens, picture book story hours and a book signing and sale of published works by guests participating in the events and CBIG exhibiting artists. During the exhibit run, check the library for additional related Dickens offerings. I'm hoping to have films and other support material available. All events are free and open to the public, ages 3 and up, great for the whole family.

Look for further information on the exhibit including a detailed schedule on this blog and I'll post it on our new exhibits page for CBIG at 

www.cbig-nycExhibits.blogspot.com. 

Sign up for email notifications on both sites so you don't miss exciting news about CBIG and what I'm up to. Happy 4th of July!

News: CHILDREN'S LITERARY SALON, NYPL

Here's some news about what I'm involved in -
A Conversation with The Children's Book Illustrators Group

Saturday, June 2, 2012, 2 - 3 p.m.

NYPL Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, at 42nd Street, Rm. Margaret Liebman Berger Forum (Map and directions)

Join me, President/Exhibition Curator of CBIG and my colleagues: Vicky Rubin, Webmaster/Listserve Manager, Diana Ting Delosh, Communications Officer/Blogzine Manager, Maria Madonna Davidoff, Postcard Designer and Ruth Karpes, Meeting Venue Hostess for a discussion about who we are as a group, where you can see our member's work, our accomplishments and future goals with moderator Elizabeth Bird, Youth Materials Collections Specialist and creator of the children's literary blog A Fuse #8 Production http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production

This program is for adults.

CBIG is a group of 60 illustrator and author/illustrator members with experience in the children's book publishing industry, commercial and fine arts. Visit us at  www.cbig-nyc.com  and see work from participating members at our upcoming exhibits: The Yonkers Riverfront Library Gallery, Yonkers, NY celebrating Charles Dickens opening in August and The Flinn Gallery at the Greenwich Public Library, Greenwich, CT interpreting Mother Goose opening in December. Check back for further details about the exhibits and associated events closer to the dates. 

Friends and Colleagues- Theater

I'm so excited for my friend Robert Greer, Artistic Director of the August Strindberg Repertory Theatre. Their new production, Playing With Fire, runs through June 10th at New School for Drama 151 Bank Street, NYC. For further information about the company, the play and performance schedule visit http://Strindberg.org/ 

Friends and Colleagues

If you find yourself in Long Island, stop by and see the portrait entry of artist and fellow CBIG member Laura Goetz. To see more of Laura's work visit her blog at http://lauraspencil.blogspot.com/ and on CBIG's web site www.cbig-nyc.com

It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul. For me, Laura has the ability to bring the soul of her subject alive through the eyes. It's subtle, but it hits me every time. There's always a quiet emotion just below the surface in her work whether she paints people or animals. Her subjects breathe.

The Art League of Long Island presents:
A Common Theme: Portraiture

An Exhibition of Portraits and Figures
Exhibition Juror, Burton Silverman
May 20 through June 17, 2012

The Special Award Winners of The Morgan Book Project

The Special Award winning books from The Morgan Book Project are now posted on their web site! Click on the individual names to see selected pages from the kid's books. The Turtle Shell of Torture by 3rd grader Kate Reynolds is a great fantasy story and My Necklace Memories by 4th grader Kelly Chang about a necklace handed down in the family was touching. There was poetry, the surprising birth of hamsters, a dad turned into a knight to save the day, an account of a hunt with a Native American father and son and stories of friendship lost and found. All the stories were great and imaginative, and the illustrations showed a wonderful sense of layout, design, use of color and storytelling. A selection of books were also on view for a special 1 day exhibit. Congratulations to all the participants!

http://www.themorgan.org/education/StudentBookAward.asp

My Process

It's always interesting to see how an artist works. I'll post my process from time to time because I don't always work the same way in terms of how detailed my preparation is. For the peacock image I did a detailed line drawing and then I didn't do any color sketches but rather delved straight into the painting from the line drawing. My process always begins with an unrecognizable thumbnail sketch. For Noah's Ark I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to do in my head so I moved into a basic outline sketch to size:

Next I traced it and refined the image (I use "refine" loosely):

I added a background for the sky and water, blocked in the boat, and began to add some details: the cloud swirls in the sky, the decorative waves and the lines and color variations in the wood of the boat.

I continued layering the colors and filling in the details. I used some colored pencil in the peacock. It's a little difficult to see where I used the gold from my scan, but it's strongest in the waves, with touches on the wood to catch the light in person, some of the fur and on Noah's robe.

This image was done for the Children's Illustration Showcase exhibit at Gallery Connect on view through the end of March.

Judging Day for the Morgan Book Project

Wow! This past Friday I had the privilege of being a judge for the Morgan Library Museum’s program for children, the Morgan Book Project. Nine judges reviewed a selection of amazing books created by children from 3^rd to 8^th grades.

Teachers learned the process first and the kids were treated to a gallery tour and an opportunity to see the Morgan’s collection of illuminated manuscripts for inspiration. Back in the classroom, the teachers helped the kids to fabricate the accordion books. The kids wrote their own stories and then illustrated them using paint they created from scratch! Yep, they took raw materials like saffron (for yellow), and cochineal insects (reddish pigment), ground the material up using a mortar and pestle, added a binder and voila! Paint. They were even given 22k gold leaf to use on archival paper. This is serious business! The stories ranged from the anecdotal to full out fantasy. A day with a stomach bug, the birth of hamsters, Dad as a medieval knight, Native American influenced stories, and a magic turtle were some of the themes. They were funny and moving, and the artwork was awesome. As judges we were given guidelines but it was so hard to choose. Well done guys, beautiful work!

Here’s more info on the program:

The Project: In this free program, every year teachers from New York City public schools participate in a four-day Summer Institute for Teachers, developed by the Morgan in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education, and focused on the integration of book arts into the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subject, as well as The New York City Department of Education Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Through the following fall and winter, these teachers lead their students in the writing, illustration, and binding of manuscript books. They submitted their students' four best projects to a jury. At the end of March, the winning books are featured in a one-day installation at the Morgan, while the students whose books were selected receive an award in the presence of their families, school teachers, and principals in the Gilder Lehrman Hall.

For additional information on the The Morgan Book Project, please visit www.themorgan.org/education/BookProject.asp