suessian school visits

Thank you, Dr. Suess, for your brilliant birthday and Read Across America. In your honor, I was invited to two schools to read and draw on March 2. First stop was right down the street, to the Peaks Island School, where I was greeted by the cheery principal, Cindy Nilsen, sporting her Suessian best.

I met with 4 classes during the morning, each as eager and energetic as the next. We began by singing happy birthday to Dr. Seuss and then I read one of my favorite stories, Yertle the Turtle.

This parable about a bossy turtle never goes out of style, and ends with the line that all creatures should be free. This lead to reading a poem from Nest, Nook & Cranny about the mouse in the house. Plenty of island homes have hosted these critters, and in mine we have gently brought them to new fields on the back shore, where they can be even..freer, we hope.

I talked a bit about being an illustrator, using models for reference, and drawing from life. I strongly believe in the powers of observation. Pausing for even a few minutes to really look at something is an important act of authentic discovery.

Each student then drew a small life-like animal toy from a bag. I gave a quick demonstration of finding the shape of an object, using simple shapes to begin a sketch.

I made a big sketchy sketch for them, starting with the bear's pear shape from a side view.

Believe it or not, I used a little polar bear for my jacket design sketches for A Warmer World.
That little toy came in handy for finding a variety of compositions from different points of view.

The biggest surprise here is that illustrators do LOTS of sketches. It takes many drawings sometimes to get the right look. I asked them to sharpen their eyes and their pencils.

They dove in with gusto. Here is Noah's drawing, who not only drew the polar bear, but gave him a wonderful habitat.

Maisy drew a lyrical setting for her deer.

Here's a girl like me who loves black and white!

Zeke had time to draw a shark and then write a poem that began with "a shining shimmering shark slooming through the night." Loved his invented word, very Seussian indeed!

This young artist redrew the animal to create a sunny scene. Bravo!

 

In the blink of an eye, it was time to pack up pastels and paper and head to the ferry. Thanks, Peaks Island School! You're awesome artists, every one.

I crossed Casco Bay and was warmly welcomed to Nancy March's 4th grade class at Yarmouth Elementary School.

Her lively class asked great questions and made their drawings with incredible focus.

This artist also drew a penguin, big and bold as can be.

Love the line quality and expression here:

Artists make visual decisions intuitively all the time: what to leave out, what to put in, emphasis, mark-making, detail. This artist focused on the face, and big, too.

This artist is drawing the subject many times, examining the symmetry and pattern.

Visual awareness is a skill put to task in many areas other than art. I just began reading a fascinating book, Field Notes on Science and Nature, in which Jenny Keller writes:

From Da Vinci to Darwin, drawing has a long and illustrious history as a means of scientific investigation and communication. Although technological innovations have provided powerful new tools for documenting information, all field scientists can benefit from understanding how to think visually and can use simple drawing techniques to improve the way they document their corner of the world.

Have pencils, will SEE!

Here the artist drew just about actual size, but completely changed the scale by adding the rock as a perch. I encourage illustration students to do precisely this: draw with observation and imagination.

Here's another inversion of scale in this coincidental pair of elephants. Najee happened to get an elephant, and drew it about the same size as an elephant that appears on a book he's reading.
I happen to know the author, another coincidence.

I like how his drawn elephant is facing the book cover's elephant. Maybe they will meet in another story, yet to be written.

I was delighted to receive written comments via the teacher a few days later. 

Najee wrote:

“I like your demonstrations on how to draw animals.  When you told me I was doing a good job, it gave me more energy and potential to put a lot of effort into my drawing.”


Ellie wrote:

"Jamie, I like it when you showed us your original drawings for your book about Polar Bears and Butterflies.  I was interested when you told us the process of a published book.  I never knew that it took soooo long for the book to get illustrated.  I enjoyed drawing and trying out some of your ideas.  That made me feel like an illustrator myself.”

Hooray!

It's gratifying to learn that Lauren got a model to pose for her, a very common tactic of mine, as my family will attest. She wrote:

“I loved the way you showed us all your different illustrations.  After I got home I asked my dad to pose for me.  I was inspired by your drawings and now I understand how much it takes to draw a picture.”

Thanks, Yarmouth Elementary for inviting me into your classroom so full of curiosity and cool artists. 

Everybody get ready to sharpen their eyes and their pencils. Oh, the places you will go!

And if you're a fan of animals and the planet we share, flick off your lights at 8:30 PM
on March 31 during World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour.

It's an invitation to change your world.

thar she blows

I am feverishly fussing over the last touches on my illustrations for Here Come the Humpbacks by April Pulley Sayre. Above is a detail, since the art's all too large for my scanner. Here's a humpback spouting, just as I've been blowing blue dust all over my studio for weeks (cough, cough..)

Ahoy, thar be a whale in Casco Bay this morning?

 

Oh, what fun!

I just came across a very life-like toy by Schleich that I had to play with. If only I'd had this at the beginning of this project! 

Here's another detail in which I got to draw other sea creatures, a welcome diversion from the whale focus. I took out several books on jellyfish, and have fallen in love with drawing them. And turtles, too!

A loggerhead makes an appearance in this spread from my newest book,  A Warmer World by Caroline Arnold.

 
For that book, I drew lots of polar bears.

It was this time last year I was looking for reference on a trip to Boston, specifically at the aquarium, for this spread about penguins.

Yes, there's always blue dust in the air around here.

The distant factory in this image is from an old snapshot of the Boston Edison plant. It seemed to provide the right contrast for this page.

We'll head to Boston later this week, and I will deliver my final art to Charlesbridge. Hooray!

Just a little more fussing, and blowing of pastel first.

critters

There's an amazing show of infinite delight at the UNE Art Gallery called "Critters." Having just delivered all the art for a picture book about animals affected by climate changes, I was keen to see animal art. The show is swarming with sculpture inside and out; there's a dizzying amount to take in. There are well-known artists like William Wegman, Bernard Langlais, Dahlov Ipcar, and even a couple of artists I was surprised to find, like former colleague Joe Begnaud, and fellow pastel artist Wade Zahares.

Certain creatures called to me, like this school of ceramic fish by Sharon Townshend that swam up the gallery wall.

I recently did this illustration below for Charlesbridge, and could relate to the pull of the stream. I brought in my own thermometer to gauge the pastel water temperature: chill.

I enjoyed this sculpture by Clare Cohan. We should all take a slow ride, and pay attention.

Could this be a loggerback, like the one I drew below? Here's a detail from my illustration.

I often find odd coincidences in my roamings. This white whale by Don Gove.....

made me think of senior illustration major, Seumas Doherty, who I've spent the past semester meeting with weekly. His independent study project involves concept art for a game titled Moby Dick: A Space Odyssey. He spent his last semester of art school illustrating character designs, costumes, hardware, and scenes.

Here's Seumas in front of one end of his thesis display in the halls of Maine College of Art. 
If you are in need of stalwart diligence and creative design, he's your captain.

There was another whale reference in the UNE exhibit, so tiny one might miss it. My whale radar is exceedingly strong, though. Look, a paper moth of incredible delicacy by Cat Schwenk.

 Whales are mythic in my imagination. I drew Daisy riding a whale named Wink in  Seven Days of Daisy:

 

Is it coincidence that a picture book manuscript about humpback whales has just floated my way? I think not.

The day after seeing this show, I met another senior illustration major, Elise Smorczewski, to review her thesis project, Strange and Endangered. Since meeting Elise sophomore year, I've learned quite a bit through her devotion to the odd critters of the world.

Elise covered many bases with her body of work: she made oil paintings, and sewed handbags with fabric printed from the paintings and paired with information about each species. She made a website, stickers, and a street campaign of posters and flyers that promote awareness. Did you know there's a World Tapir Day? Now you do: April 27.

Elise plans to pursue more animal research in New Zealand, and wants to teach young kids about conservation. 

All of us can be better informed about the critters with whom we share the planet.  Any art that fosters that wonder is worthy of applause. I give a standing ovation  to all the artists in "Critters", whose work uplifted me.

And to ALL the amazing illustration seniors at MECA, be proud of your creations. Graduation probably can't come fast enough, but savor the accomplishment. Bravo, ninjas.