Robin Rosenthal was the recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at
the 2014 Summer Conference. Kidlit Artists would like to officially
welcome Robin to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the
Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.
Did the feedback you received during the mentorship
critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any
specific examples you can share?
The mentors confirmed I was headed in the right direction
and that was great to hear. Before the conference I had pulled out five older
gouache pieces that I no longer felt strongly about and added three new pieces.
(And after Steven Malk’s Saturday morning talk about building the perfect
portfolio I rearranged the order of my book right before I handed it in for the
showcase.)
Across the board, the mentors noted that I needed more
pieces that felt like they were part of a story and that emotionally connected
with the reader. To paraphrase one mentor, a great children’s book illustration
has “three elements: emotion, narrative, and anticipation.”
One of my favorite pieces of advice came from two different
mentors, said in slightly different ways. Each suggested that I start with
illustrating episodes or scenes as opposed to trying to create a whole story,
and to not worry about the words yet. This was a breakthrough thought for me
and took a lot of pressure off.
In general the mentors loved my color marker pieces, like
the rooster, but were more divided on my block prints. Some felt that they
belonged in the fine art world and some saw them working in children’s books. I
am going to be exploring that technique more over the next few months and see
how it plays out.
What kind of projects are you working on now?
Right now I am focusing on incorporating the feedback I’ve
received from the mentors. I walked out of the critiques with a concrete list
of next steps that I am very excited about. There are a few pieces in my
portfolio that I want to develop further and some new pieces I want to create.
I also have an idea for a children’s book I’d like to write and illustrate but
I want to shore up my portfolio, technique, and visual storytelling skills
first.
Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that
you’re hoping for in the near future?
I would love to illustrate a picture book and continue to do
editorial pieces. I’ve also been really into wordless comics lately, especially
those in the Nobrow series, so I may try creating some of those in the near
future. I love incorporating typography in my work and would like to do more of
that as well.
Is there one really helpful piece of advice that you’ve
gotten since pursuing illustration? Any one piece of bad advice?
I was very moved by Kate Messner’s keynote speech at the
2014 NY Winter SCBWI conference. She talked about learning to be okay with
failure. She noted that athletes and engineers expect to experience a lot of
failure before they get it right. Another quote from that same speech that I
love: “You learn to make your work by making your work.”
What was one of your favorite quotes or lessons from the
SCBWI Summer Conference?
I loved Meg Rosoff’s keynote and her breakout session on the
power of the unconscious mind. In her keynote she said, “Don’t be afraid to
engage in the difficult parts of yourself,” and that stuck with me (as a person
who has some difficult parts of herself.)
I also found Steven Malk’s talk, Building the Perfect
Portfolio, immensely helpful. He began with emphasizing the importance of the
portfolio. “These pieces can change your life. An art director or agent can
look at [your portfolio] and decide they want to work with you…. Commit to
slowing down…. Your portfolio deserves your complete undivided attention.”
What were some of your favorite books when you were a kid?
These were the books that I went back to again and again as
a child:
The Seamstress of
Salzburg by Anita Lobel. (I wrote about it here: http://penandoink.com/2013/01/09/the-seamstress-of-salzburg-by-anita-lobel/
)
The Giant Jam Sandwich
illustrations and story by John Vernon, verses Janet Lord Burroway
The Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel
Silverstein.
Nobody is Perfick by
Bernard Waber
Sometimes I’m Afraid by
Jane Werner Watson, illustrated by Hilde Hoffman
The Big Tidy Up by
Norah Smaridge, illustrated Les Gray
The Practical Princess
and other Liberating Fairy Tales by Jay Williams, illustrated
by Rick Schreiter
Barbapapa’s Ark by
Annette Tison and Talus Taylor
One Fine Day by
Nonny Hogrogian
Bread and Jam for
Frances by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban
Draw Me a Triangle and Draw Me a Circle by Robyn Supraner,
illustrations by Evelyn Kelbish
Where can we find you online?
You can see my work at robinrosenthal.com and follow me on
twitter: @robinarosenthal. I am also one of the bloggers at penandoink.com, a
blog about children’s book illustration (@penandoink).
Thanks, Robin!
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