Interview with new SCBWI Illustration Mentee, Brooke Boynton Hughes - by Jen Betton

Brooke Boynton Hughes was the recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2013 Summer Conference. Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Brooke to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Getting such specific and direct feedback on your work, did you find the experience enlightening? Affirming? Confusing? Conflicting? Why?

Brooke: I found the feedback I received to be both enlightening and affirming.  All of the mentors zeroed in on two main weaknesses in my work, which made it very clear what I need to focus on moving forward.

Each of the mentors talked about my timidity with shadows and the need to improve my use of both light and shadow to ground my characters in their settings.  Everyone also talked about my character's faces being generic and interchangeable.  One mentor noted that if you removed the hair from my characters, many of them would more or less look the same, which I thought was a really helpful point.  Since the conference, I've been working on drawing more unique and interesting faces.

I also came away from the critiques knowing that I need to do more life drawing.  In grad school I spent two years drawing the figure from life, but somehow, once I was finished with school I fell out of the habit of life drawing.  I'm excited to start drawing from observation again.

One mentor remembered my work from last year's conference and noticed that I've been working on painting more loosely and that this has improved my work.

Kidlit Artists: What kind of projects are you working on now?

Brooke: Right now I'm working on my first two books, a middle grade book for Disney/Hyperion, called "Cupcake Cousins", written by Kate Hannigan and a picture book for Beach Lane Books, called "Baby Love", which is written by Angela DiTerlizzi.  Working on my first books has been really exciting!  Next year I'll be doing a picture book for Random House, written by Linda Ashman, called "MORE!".  The manuscript for this story is really lively and fun and I can't wait to get started. 

I'm also working on revisions to a picture book dummy, as well as working on manuscripts for two different picture book ideas.

Kidlit Artists: Is there one really helpful piece of advice that you've gotten since pursuing illustration? Any one piece of horrible advice?

Brooke: Several years ago at the SCBWI L.A. Summer Conference I received a portfolio critique from Marla Frazee.  This was the first time that I had my portfolio reviewed by a professional illustrator and Marla's advice was extraordinarily helpful.  The main thing that stuck with me was that she told my to keep going.  She said that I was on the right track and that I just needed to keep pushing ahead.  That piece of advice came at a time when I really needed to hear it and I feel so grateful to have had such a thoughtful and encouraging critique of my work.

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online.

Brooke: You can find me online at www.BrookeBoyntonHughes.com, where there is a link to my blog.  You can also find me on twitter, @BrookeBHughes.   

Kidlit Artists: Thank you Brooke!

Catching up with Brian Ormiston

Brian Ormiston is one of the very first SCBWI Mentees, from the summer conference of 2009,  but hasn't been formally introduced here. Until now! Today we catch up with him and ask him a few questions reflecting on the mentorship experience, as well as about what he's up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share?

Brian: Once things got rolling we talked a lot about ways to improve our portfolios, self-promotion, and our thoughts about the future. I remember Arthur Levine advising me to create sections or categories in my portfolio, because at the time, I had lumped quite a number of unrelated pieces together. The themes jumped around quite a bit. Cecilia Yung suggested I create a series with the same character or theme that illustrated a narrative progression. It didn’t have to be an epic; it could be as few as three pictures. My portfolio had about twelve pictures but none of them were from the same story. David Diaz had some great pointers on technique, hints to save time and avoid headaches. When I make my paintings I’ll painstakingly ink the line then paint watercolor right on top, but if I make a mistake, the whole painting goes kaput. David suggested I scan and print a nice copy of the inked line onto quality paper. Then if I screw up painting the watercolor I can just grab another copy and start again. Scanning and painting in the computer can help a lot too but I find the process is not as enjoyable as using real paint and paper. Priscilla and I discussed all things children’s books related and about the society. It was my first conference so she brought me up to speed on pursuing the essentials and how to get the most out of the conference.



Kidlit Artists: Getting such specific and direct feedback on your work, did you find the experience enlightening? Affirming? Confusing? Conflicting? _______ (fill in the blank)? Why?Brian: It was very affirming. I had originally gone to the conference on a kind of information gathering trip. I didn’t intend on submitting my portfolio until a good friend encouraged me to do so. I ended up winning a mentorship and a second prize honor so it definitely made me feel like I was doing something right. Nervous too. It pushed me way beyond my comfort zone, out of the safe place of making pictures for myself in solitude into a forum in which I had to take an audience into account. A good thing all around I think.



Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?

Brian: I definitely think more in terms of a series of drawings instead of trying to pack the whole universe into one composition. I love getting lost in detail but right now, with the limited time available to me, I have to simplify my compositions otherwise I’ll never finish a book.



Kidlit Artists: What kinds of projects are you working on now?

Brian: With wonderful encouragement from my very patient agent, Marietta Zacker, I’m developing several stories and getting them shaped into dummy form. Some are further along than others - all picture book stories. I like the challenge of the picture book format. It’s forced me to simplify my ideas. I can sometimes over-complicate my stories, making things much harder on myself.

Kidlit Artists: Is there anything, looking ahead, that you’re excited to be working on?

Brian: Looking beyond the picture book I’m developing now, I have a line up of stories with a lot of visual possibilities that I’m eager to sink my teeth into. I can at times overextend myself, so I have to practice discipline; otherwise I touch lightly on everything but no single story gets done. As soon as I finish the book dummy on my plate now I’ll dive right into the next one. 

Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future?

Brian: I think it would be wonderful to make pictures for a number of things like: classic children’s stories, literature and poetry journals, theater posters, music posters and puppet theater work. I did a painting for a group show last year as part of a launch event for Sara Wilson Etienne’s book Harbinger. That was a lot of fun. I’d love to do more of that.

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online.

Brian: You can check out my website, which is way over due for an update just so you know, at brianormiston.com. My blog, where I post little scenes on post-its for the time being, is brianormiston.blogspot.com. The title of the blog is Roostergator, a nonsense word if anyone is wondering.

Kidlit Artists: Thanks Brian!

Growth, Spring, Book! by Kimberly Gee

I had a post all ready to go about growth, our theme of the month,- complete with a new illo (very cute...I’ll share later...), but I find I’m in the mood to talk a bit about my friend and fellow 2010 SCBWI Mentee, Eliza Wheeler

Eliza Wheeler reading Miss Maple's Seeds at Skylight Books. She is accompanied by her husband, Adam. 

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Yesterday, I went to the launch party of Eliza’s new book, Miss Maple’s Seeds (Nancy Paulsen/Penguin Books, 2013), which is why I have Eliza on my mind. Eliza, has fresh and tangible proof of author/illustrator growth...a new book! Miss Maple’s Seeds is a delightful story about...nurturing growth! How perfect. I just had to tie this event in with the theme of the month.

Our primary job, as author/illustrators as far as I can tell,  is to be like Miss Maple,- the nurturing mother to our ideas, (our seeds), believing in their potential, scrubbing them up, releasing them in the world. Some will take root and grow... just as Eliza’s did.

 Get the book,...my summary won’t do the book justice. But believe me, it’s a perfect and beautiful metaphor for creative growth.  

Congratulations, Eliza! We can't wait to hear all about it from your perspective.

Lost Weekend With David Diaz (Part 2): More Highlights & Why I Will Always Be A Mentee At Heart - by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Continued from Part 1 of my Lost Weekend report...

Juana Martinez-Neal (who won the overall SCBWI-LA Portfolio
Showcase earlier this year) talks to us about her process.

Just like last year, one of my personal highlights of Lost Weekend was seeing how others work.

Jen Betton gives a demo of her process.

It's one reason I LOVED the Illustrators' Intensive at the 2011 SCBWI Summer Conference, where we got to watch pros like David Small, Paul Zelinsky, Marla Frazee, Richard Jesse Watson, Kadir Nelson, Denise Fleming & Jerry Pinkney doing hands-on demonstrations of how they work.

Karyn Raz talks about her process.

It was so funny to hear so many of us at Lost Weekend say before our demos, "Oh, my process isn't going to be that interesting." Other people's process is always more fascinating than our own. :-)

I still experience imposter syndrome sometimes, mainly because I never went to art school and also have little experience with non-digital art materials. I also know there are some pro artists out there who look down on those who draw digitally.

I give a demo of how I draw (using a travel-size Intuos tablet).
Thanks to Jessica Lanan for the photo!

One of things I love about our Mentee group (and I'm talking about all the Mentees, not just the Mentees from my own year) is that everyone is open and interested in different techniques, different approaches.

Maple Lam gives a demo of how she works.

What I found during Lost Weekend: that it didn't matter whether some of us worked digitally, some non-digitally, or with a mix of both -- I learned something new or found inspiration in every single Mentee's demo/talk. Even seasoned pro David Diaz said he had learned some new things. :-)

Jessica Lanan gives a demo of her process one evening by the fireplace.

I was chosen for the SCBWI Illustrator Mentorship Program in 2010. Back then, I was total newbie in terms of professional illustration. Since then, I've been learning more about the craft and industry through working on I'M BORED (written by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by yours truly, published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers) as well as from other illustrators.

Lisa Anchin gives a demo of her process.

I know I still have SO much to learn. Which brings me to the title of Part 1 of my Lost Weekend report, where I call myself a "veteran Mentee."

Brian Won gives a demo of how he works.

I will always be a Mentee at heart, no matter how many books I publish in the future, because:

1) I always want to be learning, to be experimenting and stepping outside of my creative comfort zone. 

2) I love being part of the mini-community created as a result of the SCBWI Illustration Mentorship Program, with the opportunities (both official and unofficial) to get to know and learn from other illustrators.

Portfolio display on Saturday night, during the party. I forgot to
bring mine, but enjoyed browsing everyone else's.

Another highlight: seeing Jen Rofé and Rubin Pfeffer again.

Jen, who is a literary agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency, was the one who nominated my YA novel for the Sue Alexander "Most Promising For Publication" Award last year. Although it didn't win, Jen's encouragement reminded NOT to forget about my dream of having my middle grade and YA novels published someday. I love Jen's enthusiasm and energy.

Eliza Wheeler & her agent,  Jen Rofé

Plus Jen signed Eliza on as a client after she and Eliza had a chance to chat at last year's Lost Weekend...so it was great to see this come full circle when she and Eliza chatted about some of Eliza's current projects during the Saturday night party.

Brian Won, Rubin Pfeffer, David Diaz and Christina Forshay.

As for Rubin Pfeffer...well, I adore Rubin. I remember being so intimidated by him just before our first meeting in 2010, when he was one of our Mentors. But then I saw him with an iPad (they were brand new back then) at the table as I approached for my consultation, and I knew it was going to be okay. We shared our iPadgeek excitement, and Rubin gave me some excellent career advice.

Andrea Offermann talks about her process.

So many more highlights, but I've already been rambling on too long. In case you missed it, do read Part 1 of my Lost Weekend report.

You can also read what other attendees have posted about the event:

Lisa Anchin (Class of 2012) - Lost Weekend
Jen Betton (Class of 2012) - Lost Weekend 2012: A Kidlit Hobnob
Maple Lam (Class of 2012) - Lost Weekend 2012
Jessica Lanan (Class of 2011) - Lost (and Found) Weekend

Alice Ratteree gives a demo of her process.

Huge thanks to David Diaz for his generosity in sharing his knowledge, his time and his home. It was a wonderful event that none of us will ever forget.

David Diaz gives us a demo of his process.

LOST WEEKEND ATTENDEES 2012:

TOP ROW (L to R): Brian Won, Arree Chung, Lisa Anchin, Jessica Lanan, Karyn Raz, Jen Betton, Erin O'Shea, Lorraine, Bonnie Adamson, David Diaz, Alice Tillotson Ratterree, Andrea Zuill, Heidi Sheffield

 BOTTOM ROW (L to R): Eliza Wheeler, Christina Forshay, Maple Lam, Andrea Offermann, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Juana Martinez-Neal

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Debbie Ridpath Ohi illustrated I'M BORED, a new picture book written by Michael Ian Black and published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (just found out that the book was picked as a Notable Children's Book Of 2012 by The New York Times Sunday Book Review, yay!). She is currently writing and illustrating more books for S&S, and tweets from @inkyelbows. Her blog about writing & illustrating for young people: Inkygirl.com.

Lost Weekend With David Diaz (Part 1): A Retrospective From A Veteran Mentee - by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Part 1 - Part 2

As Jen Betton mentioned last week, Caldecott-winning children's book illustrator David Diaz was kind enough to host another Lost Weekend this year.

According to David, the idea for Lost Weekend began at the 2011 SCBWI convention when Eliza Wheeler, Kimberly Gee and I joked to David about wanting to snoop through his art studio. I still think it was Eliza & Kimberly's fault; I don't think I would have the nerve (and HAHA, it's my blog post, so E and K can't defend themselves). Anyway, David decided to take us seriously and suggested a Lost Weekend at his place.

Erin O'Shea shows us her process during Lost Weekend.

Last year, David hosted the very first Lost Weekend; you can read my post about it. We attendees were relieved when David announced that he was going to have another in 2012 because it meant that he must have enjoyed himself. Or at least not scared off by all the Mentees invading his house!



Please note that this is not an officially sanctioned SCBWI event, but an invite-only gathering generously hosted by David Diaz. After posting my report last year, I had people asking how they could sign up for this year.

Juana Martinez-Neal, me and Andrea Offermann on a morning walk

The best way to get invited, as far as I know: enter your portfolio in the SCBWI Summer Conference Portfolio Showcase and get picked for the Mentorship Program. Even then, however, it's up to David.



Last year, David invited the 2010 and 2011 SCBWI-LA Mentees (you can find out about the SCBWI Illustrator Mentorship Program here) as well as a couple of his own Mentees. This year, he expanded the invite list to include one of the 2009 Mentees, the new 2012 Mentees and a few others.




I have to admit I was a bit nervous. After all, the first Lost Weekend was such a magical, special event. How could a second event live up to expectations? And how would having twice as many attendees affect the intimacy of the first? And more importantly, would David still make those heavenly POPOVERS?



I needn't have worried.

Yes, this year's Lost Weekend was different from last year's. But that would be true even if exactly the same group had gotten together. Each Lost Weekend is the sum of its attendees and the moments they create together.



We all love SCBWI conventions -- it's how most of us met, through the SCBWI Illustration Mentorship Program. At Lost Weekend, however, there were many more quiet spaces and opportunities for in-depth conversation and getting to know each other.



David supervised all the cooking and did much of it himself, enlisting the rest of us to help chop, stir, clean up etc. There was plenty to eat, and it was all excellent. We had most of our meals at David's house, including breakfast:



I love David's house...it's so full of light and art and fascinating discoveries. Like this baby's head cup:



And the unique decorations on this kitchen statuary:



And of course, David's amazing paintings! I brought a copy of one of David's books for him to sign:



One of my highlights: hearing Rubin Pfeffer talk about what happened when Smoky Nights (illustrated by David, text by Eve Bunting, published by Harcourt) won the Caldecott.



I had no idea that Rubin was the Art Director for that book! Rubin is now a partner at East West Literary Agency.



Another highlight: on our long beach walk (we had to work off all those calories), it was fun to see the ebb and flow of conversation change as the small groups split off, joined other groups, split off again.



Continued in Part 2 of my Lost Weekend report....

Meanwhile, other attendees have also posted about Lost Weekend:

Lisa Anchin (Class of 2012) - Lost Weekend

Jen Betton (Class of 2012) - Lost Weekend 2012: A Kidlit Hobnob

Maple Lam (Class of 2012) - Lost Weekend 2012

Jessica Lanan (Class of 2011) - Lost (and Found) Weekend

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Debbie Ridpath Ohi illustrated I'M BORED, a new picture book written by Michael Ian Black and published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers. She is currently writing and illustrating more books for S&S, and tweets from @inkyelbows. Her blog about writing & illustrating for young people: Inkygirl.com.

Welcome Andrea Zuill!

Andrea Zuill was a recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2011 Summer Conference. The 2010 founders of Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Andrea Z. to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share?

Andrea Z: First I would like to say how impressed I was with the mentors' laser like pinpointing of my trouble areas. I kept thinking, “Why didn’t I notice that?” But they also all assured me that I was on the right track. 

My two biggest problems where creating individual looks for my characters and creating background scenes. My human characters looked like they all came from the same family. And whether I wanted to admit or not, I needed to acknowledge the existence of backgrounds. I was given the assignment to create an illustration of children in a classroom. Each child had to be different and they had to be in a class scene. At first I was a bit scared, but this image became one of the funniest illustrations I’ve ever done. After it was done I felt like I could tackle almost any image I wanted to create.

Kidlit Artists: What kinds of projects are you working on now?

Andrea Z: I just finished illustrating an educational book on telling time. It was incredibly fun to do! I’m currently working on a couple illustrations for a children’s book author. 

 

Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future?

Andrea Z: I would absolutely love to illustrate a crazy, funny children’s book! That would be heaven.

  

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online.

Andrea Z: http://www.zuill.us/illustration/ and www.badbird.etsy.com

Thank you Andrea!