Art on the Page

Home Dummy

2012-01-28T10:17:00.001-07:00

I've been drawing a lot lately working on a picture book dummy titled Home. I like to take my time drawing so I can be sure to get things right. Finishing an image by carving, printing, and painting a linocut is so much fun. But drawing is a little nerve-wracking for me. Here are a couple of the small drawings I've done already.

I see that I need to adjust the perspective on lots of those downtown buildings! I couldn't decide which angle I was looking at them from.

I would like to submit this dummy for the SCBWI Don Freeman Grant. It has to be received by March 15th including two finished illustrations so I have to get busy and go draw some more!

Rock-A-Bye Baby finished

2012-01-23T09:58:00.001-07:00

Well, I know this nursery rhyme ends rather badly, but I do like the way it starts out!

I've been meaning to make a baby picture for years and I'm glad my friends are having a baby to finally prompt me to do one. I'll also have one for sale in my Etsy shop soon. :)

Rock-A-Bye Baby

2012-01-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

My friends are having a baby soon and I wanted to make something for their new little girl. I finished carving and printing this block today and I'm looking forward to painting it soon.

I love Virginia Lee Burton's illustrations and she influenced this print. She drew gorgeous trees, sweeping lines of pathways on the ground and birds in the sky, and lots of decorative patterns. I like the way she used symmetry also. Symmetrical layouts are often pretty static so I'm cautious about them. But I enjoyed putting this tree smack in the middle of the picture!

I got Ms. Burton's book The Song of Robin Hood for Christmas (thanks Mom!) and I wanted to share a couple of her beautiful illustrations. Aren't they fabulous? I really like the way she did the leafless trees in the first image. And I kinda borrowed the style of the tree in the background of the bottom picture to make my small tree. :)

14 Wishes and 1 Winner

2012-01-14T11:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I mailed off these 14 prints for the Wingtip Press print exchange. I will get 12 different prints back sometime in the spring. Amy who runs the exchange named it Leftovers because you make small prints to use up your leftover scraps of paper AND because she uses one print from each set to sell and raise money for hunger relief.

She also takes one print from each set for exhibitions. The prints from last year's exchange are going to be shown in New Zealand! That's cool. I hope my prints go exciting places that I may never get to visit myself. There's still time to participate if you are a printmaker. You just need to make 14 prints by March 15th.

I was in the mood to carve letters when I made this little print so I used the text from the song When You Wish Upon a Star because it runs through my head often. For those of you who want to make a wish, here's your star!

I drew a name from my warm winter hat to pick the winner of my Seasons linocut. Zoe of Playing by the Book is the winner! Thanks everyone for the nice comments!

Illustration Friday: Grounded

2012-01-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

The way I stay grounded is to walk outside in all kinds of weather. But of course I like sunshine best! Today I painted this print and I think I got the effect I was trying to achieve. On bright winter days the whites, blues, browns and green pine trees are so crisp and clear. This has been a winter of very little snow and lots of gorgeous clear blue days. I'm not complaining!

I've been participating in the Mother Reader comment challenge and meeting so many great people this week! Thanks to those of you who've been visiting my blog for the first time recently. I'm working my way through your blogs also. It's fun to see new formats, read lots of book reviews, and see the wonderful art. :)

Also-- if you're an artist wanting to make a children's book dummy be sure to check out the Kid Lit Art Picture Book Dummy Challenge. I'm doing it!

While I'm linking to things, I'm sure most of you have heard of Illustration Friday. But if not- go check it out. This week's theme is Grounded hence the title of this post. There are always sooo many great illustrations to see.

Winner and New Giveaway!

2012-01-08T08:56:00.002-07:00

I'm giving away another hand painted linocut this week to celebrate my 2 year blog anniversary. To be entered in the drawing just leave a comment on this post and follow the blog. If you have thoughts about what the phrase "art on the page" means to you, I'd love to hear. I'm thinking about making a new header and your thoughts are inspiring! The drawing will be next Sunday, Jan 15th.

This is the print I'm giving away this week- Seasons. I haven't matted it yet but I will this week. I hope you like it!

This morning I did the drawing for the Snowflowers print. The winner is Mary my writing critique partner- Yea!!! Thanks all of you for the nice comments and thoughts about Art on the Page. You can see that I did the drawing in my husband's Denver Broncos hat because today is a playoff game. :)

Bridge and Steamboat Ski Area

2012-01-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest linocut for my series of Colorado cards. This is a view of a footbridge over the Yampa River with the Steamboat Ski Area in the background. There is a lovely walking path along the river that runs all the way through town. My dog and I walk here a couple times a week and I always enjoy the view. I will paint this print and post its finished version soon.

Here's a photo of the spot that the drawing is based on. I changed it up a little and tidied up the cottonwood trees.They sure are messy aren't they?!

Snowflowers Giveaway!

2012-01-01T09:22:00.001-07:00

It's almost my 2 year blog anniversary and to celebrate I'm giving away 2 prints! I started this blog January 15th, 2009 and I wasn't sure I'd like doing it but I've had a great time. I SOOO appreciate all of you visitors and the wonderful friends I've made!

I'd like to make a new header and I've had some ideas but nothing that is really exciting. So, to be entered for a drawing to win Snowflowers please be a public follower of the blog, and then leave a comment on this post telling me what the phrase "art on the page" means to you. (Or if you can't think of anything, just leave a comment!) I'm hoping your ideas will help me create something fun and new for the header.

I'll have the drawing next Sunday Jan. 8th and I'll also start the next week's giveaway with a different print. Thanks again for the support and wonderful comments these last two years!!

Print Exchange

2011-12-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

I made this little linocut to be part of an exchange put on by Amy of Wingtip Press. You make 14 small prints and send them to her in Idaho. You get 12 prints made by other people in return and she uses the extra two for exhibitions and to raise money for hunger relief.

Here's a drawer full of prints I need to paint! (I never make this many in one go, so it's kind of exciting for me.)

And here's the info on the exchange if you want to participate:

Yes, it's time for Leftovers again!

As you may recall - and for those of you who are new this year - this print exchange developed as a result of cleaning out the flat files and wondering what to do with all those precious, little, leftover scraps of printmaking paper that we just couldn't bear to toss but were really jamming up the drawers. I got an idea to create a print exchange asking people to use their leftover scraps to create an edition of 14 prints and receive 12 in return. Last year we had 120 artists participate and we've had three exhibition to date. AND (drum roll, please) they're headed to Wharepuke Gallery in Kerikeri, New Zealand in March 2012! And the really, most sincerely, good news is the funds raised from our first silent auction held last week will help the Hunger Relief Task force ensure food safety and hunger relief for a whole lot of hungry people.

So, please gather all your scraps for Leftovers III. Here's the scoop:

LEFTOVERS III

Prints: 14 (you'll get 12 in return, we keep one for exhibitions and one to raise funds for those who need our leftovers)

Size: Up to 5" x 7" - can be smaller, but NO larger please!

Cost: $12.00

Due Date: March 15, 2012

Ship to: Wingtip Press

6940 Butte Court

Boise, ID 83704

Please advise by return email to info@wingtippress.com with the good news that you wish to participate.

And please invite other printmakers to join us!

I will be keeping track of our progress on the Leftovers blog again this year: www.leftoversanyone.blogspot.com

May you always, and evermore, have Leftovers,

Amy

Wingtip Press

Night Barn painted

2011-12-24T09:51:00.001-07:00

Happy Christmas Eve!

Other parts of Colorado got lots of snow recently but we are still working with a bare minimum here in Steamboat. Even without much snow there are lots of visitors in town, beautiful lights and decorations, and verrrrry cold weather.

Wherever you are I hope you have a cozy happy holiday!!

Between the End Pages on facebook!

2011-12-23T18:11:00.001-07:00

Marvelous Tina Kugler just set up a facebook page for our group blog. You can click the like button and make me smile!!

There's lots of Christmas goodness going on over there at Between the End Pages. This month we illustrated scenes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. First, guess what these little clippings came from and then go over there to see if you were right. Ho ho ho! :)

Night Barn

2011-12-20T20:24:00.003-07:00

Here's a new print for my series of Colorado cards. I'll paint it in a few days. This is (more or less) Hahn's Peak in north Routt County, Colorado. On the very peak of this mountain is an old fire lookout station with an amazing view. Can you imagine spending the summer up there?!

Illustration Friday: Separated

2011-12-15T08:50:00.001-07:00

These tourists got exhausted window shopping and now they are lost and separated from their car! I did this drawing while being a tourist myself in Durango, Colorado. We did manage to find our car each time but sometimes it was hard.

I'm thinking of making this image into a postcard and putting a photo on the back. If I did that which of these photos is the most interesting?

A Christmas Carol

2011-12-13T08:16:00.001-07:00

Here's a little painting I did after watching the recent movie of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I imagined Scrooge and Tiny Tim really hit it off and spent the whole next year practicing singing Christmas carols. Fa la la la laaaaaa!

I carved and printed some tiny snowflake stamps for this painting. Now I want to stamp snowflakes on everything!

Robot Tourists block

2011-12-03T09:16:00.001-07:00

I'm finally carving the robot family. Everything is taking longer than expected- isn't that just the way of things this time of year?! While you are waiting patiently for me to finish this (haha) you can see some other great robot illustrations over at Between the End Pages.
Happy December!

Animal Healing Center Card Done

2011-11-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the holiday card for my vets all finished. It was a challenge to work the blue-green of the x-ray room into a Christmasy color scheme.

The really fun thing about this card is that Dr. Andi Kohler and Dr. Craig Stanton worked on some unusual animals this year and that inspired me to include them in the drawing. You should "like" them and look through the photos on their Facebook page!

Here are some highlights-

Star the reindeer got acupuncture.

Chester the rooster got an eyebrow trim.

And Casper the big white dog is selling his Christmas Coffee again!

Animal Healing Center Holiday Card

2011-11-22T19:22:00.001-07:00

Andi Kohler and Craig Stanton my wonderful vets at the Animal Healing Center asked me to make a holiday card for them again this year. Here's last year's card-

And here's a link to a video of me printing last year's image.

This year I decided to include everyone who works at the clinic in the image along with a whole slew of animals. I just printed it tonight and I'll paint it soon. It's gotten me in the holiday spirit!

Celebrate Picture Book Month

2011-11-18T22:09:00.002-07:00

I guess I've been a little bit out of the loop because I just realized November is now Picture Book Month! There is a wonderful site set up by several picture book author and illustrators with a new post every day this month about why picture books are so important. There are also tons of links to other kid lit sites and great children's illustrators and authors. Check it out!
Since this summer I've splurged and gotten so many great books. So in celebration of Picture Book Month I thought I'd share my recent favorites. Here they are in my studio-

Bone Dog written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann takes place on Halloween night but I think it's a story that can be loved all year. Even though Gus' dog Ella has died she can still save the day! There is a nice video of Eric talking about the book here.

The illustrations in this book are done similarly to the way I work- with relief prints. It can be a challenge to have art made this way look loose and energetic but Eric is a master of that! Look at these dogs running across the page- don't you just want to run with them?

The Crows of Pearblossom by Aldous Huxley and illustrated by Sophie Blackall was written in 1944 and is the only children's story he wrote. It does have some 1944 stereotypes but it also has tons of charm, a great villain, and a happy ending. Sophie is one of my favorite illustrators and I think her artwork is magic. Have you ever seen such well dressed crows?!

You can also listen to a Weekend Edition NPR segment about the book.

Otis and the Tornado written and illustrated by Loren Long is a follow up to his book about a happy red tractor called Otis. I was lucky enough to hear Loren talk about his work process and see lots of early drawings for Otis. I still prefer the first book best but having another adventure to read makes me happy.

On Loren's website you can see his sketches that transform into the finished art, unused sketches, and a video of Loren talking about Otis. I heart Otis!!

A Pocketful of Posies is a collection of nursery rhymes illustrated with hand sewn fabric by Salley Mavor. It's jam packed with everyone's favorite nursery rhymes and plenty of unfamiliar ones also. Sally's art is carefully and beautifully constructed with hand made dolls, little trinkets, sticks, and buttons assembled together in lush and decorative sewn backgrounds.

You have to watch this video of Sally working on her piece called Rabbitat. Wow!

And the last treasure I have for this post is called Stars written by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by Marla Frazee. It's about how there are more stars than just those in the sky. I think the real star is Marla. She manages to draw more than 10 different children with their families and weave them all together in their own visual stories. Here is a nice recent interview with Marla on Geek Dad.

There are several very special illustrations in this book. The one I wanted to show you looks like a child's dream come true to me. A moss covered tree with a warm bright cave in the roots and friends sharing a good story. I want to go live there. :)

The Little Print Book Came Back!

2011-11-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

Last year in September I made an edition of 5 of these little books. I was feeling kind of isolated in my small mountain town and I wanted to meet more printmakers. So I mailed them out to a few artists I don't really know but admire their work, and to a couple people I do know. One of the books was mailed back to me right away and I never sent it out again. If anyone wants me to mail it to them to start filling with prints, let me know!

This book that has now traveled a corner of the world and returned was first sent to my friend Sherrie York in Salida. Sherrie knows lots of printmakers and I'm not surprised that her connections turned it into such a wonderful treasure. I would like to send everyone who contributed to the book one of my prints as a thank you. So if I don't already have your address, please email it to me! jill@jillbergman.com

Here are photos of the pages with links to the artists-

My blue truck stamp is on the left, Sherrie York from Salida, Colorado on the right

Amie Roman, Cobble Hill, B.C. Canada and B. A. Cavin, Cobble Hill, B.C. Canada

Beverly Koski, Duncan, B.C. Canada and Beverlee McLeod, Cowichan Bay, B.C. Canada

T. Kungold Ammann, Lake Cowichan, B.C. Canada and Adrienne Hall, Bellevue, Washington

Another print by Adrienne Hall on the left and Lori Dean Dyment, Richmond, B.C. Canada on the right

Randie Feil, Victoria, B.C. Canada and Diane Podolsky, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

And a lovely embossed Iris which may be a little hard to see by Roxanne Button, Buffalo, New York

It was so exciting to get this little book back full of art after a year of traveling! Thank you to everyone who contributed and hopefully the other books are still out there making the rounds. :)

Illustration Friday: Stripes

2011-11-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Driving across Colorado the other day we passed a factory putting out puffs of white steam. It reminded me that when I was really young I thought that factories with towers putting out white and gray columns of steam, smoke, and/or mysterious chemicals were actually where clouds were made. I mean obviously, they LOOK like they are making clouds, right?

This week's Illustration Friday prompt Stripes influenced the way I colored this doodle from my sketch book. :)

Robot Family on Vacation

2011-11-08T19:32:00.001-07:00

Here's a drawing I made while on vacation last week. I live in a tourist town- Steamboat Springs, CO and I almost never get to go anywhere on vacation. But for a week, my husband and dog and I went to play tourist in another Colorado town- Durango. We had lots of fun!

Driving around navigating with confusing maps and wandering the downtown influenced this drawing of Robot Tourists. It's pretty detailed and I may have to enlarge it and make it into a big linocut to pull it off. I'll see how it goes!

Dr. Seuss Exhibit

2011-11-04T08:18:00.000-06:00

I'm visiting Durango, Colorado this week and after rolling into town I discovered there was a show of original Dr. Seuss drawings!! I feel like I won the lottery!

Here is a photo by Steve Lewis that I grabbed from this Durango Herald article. There's also a nice article from The Durango Telegraph.

Next to each drawing from one of his stories, they displayed a copy of the finished book open to the same page. It was fun to compare the rough sketch with the finished version in the published book. Many of them were done on tracing paper. With some drawings, he also used the tracing paper to do color separations. Lines were done in pencil and some of them were inked with black ink. Then he planned out the color by coloring in big areas loosely with colored pencil. In his early books he only got to use 2 or 3 colors besides black and white. He could also use a lighter or more dense version of a color for variation. Fo example, a wall was colored completely in blue pencil an there was a note saying "blue 100%." Then there might be a character with lighter blue hair on the same spread with a note saying "blue 70%." And in another spot on the page a pale blue book cover with a note saying "blue 30%."

There were also some finished paintings from his books and some political cartoons. And in a corner for the kids, a reading area with heaps of Dr. Suess books. Do you know he published 46 children's books?!

If you're interested, you can see his political cartoons here. And his advertising artwork here.

Hay Bales

2011-10-31T09:33:00.001-06:00

Here are some hay bales! This is the second image I finished for a new series of Colorado greeting cards. I really like this one but I may try repainting it with more greens to make it look a little different from the Aspen Path print below.

And here's a little Halloween silly business from my house. Our friend Frank came over with SUPERDOG Riley so Frank put on my Lion mask and I am modeling my friend Brooke Boynton Hughes' Ghoul mask. Happy Halloween everyone!

Aspen Path Painted

2011-10-25T16:10:00.002-06:00

Here's my latest print painted with watercolor. It's hard to believe, but the linocut was printed with the new brown ink I mentioned in my last post. It's so dark that it's hard to tell even up close and in person that it's not black. But I love it! It just comes across as a really warm black. I'll definitely be using it more.
It's the tail end of fall here. I can feel snow on its way this afternoon. But we've had a lovely autumn with great weather and lots of chances to walk on aspen lined paths!

Aspen Path Printed

2011-10-23T19:45:00.000-06:00

I finished carving this block and printed it this morning. I tried some different shapes and patterns for the trees and bushes. I'm happy with how they turned out! I'll paint the print soon and post a picture of it finished.
I also got some new Gamblin Sepia brown ink in the mail a few days ago. I think this is a good image to try printing in brown. Oh boy, something new!

Art Theft!

2011-10-18T19:47:00.001-06:00

I just listened to a really good podcast about two J.M.W. Turner paintings that were stolen in 1994. The speaker is Sandy Nairne the director of the National Portrait Gallery in London. He was involved in the recovery of the paintings many years later. He's a good storyteller! If you scroll down on this page it's the second podcast listed. Or you can go directly to the story. Mr. Nairne wrote a book about the theft and recovery also. http://shop.nga.gov

He's right that we romanticize art theft and thieves. You know how handsome and ruthless those mastermind criminals are in the movies? Mr. Nairne pointed out several cases where a thief returned a valuable stolen painting- including the Mona Lisa, and no one believed that he was the thief because he didn't fit that romantic profile.

I know that thieves come in all shapes and sizes. I worked in a gift store for many years and we finally realized that most things were being stolen by nicely dressed middle-aged women. Many of my greeting cards were stolen over the years. I have to admit, it made me a little happy. Not only were people willing to pay for something I made, they were willing to STEAL it. I might feel a little differently if the cost of the stolen items was more than the $4.50 I sell my cards for though!

New Card Images

2011-10-11T20:06:00.001-06:00

My little Colorado gift enclosure cards have been selling really well and I've been thinking about making some new larger cards. I went through the gazillion photos my husband and I have taken in Northwest Colorado and there's lots of inspiration there. So I'm working on drawings for some new linocuts to make into 5x7 cards.

Here are the first two drawings that have a fall flavor. Do those hay bales look ok?

And here are some of the photos that influenced them.

Pretty, eh?!
Now I have to turn these blank gray linoleum blocks into something lovely!

Sophie Blackall's Missed Connections

2011-10-07T08:04:00.002-06:00

I've gotten a lot of wonderful books this year but this one is my favorite!! Sophie Blackall is a fabulous artist and one of my favorite children's illustrators. Missed Connections isn't for children, it's Sophie's illustrations of some Craigslist posts from around New York. These are people who had a meaningful connection in passing but didn't take the time to exchange information or maybe even talk to each other. Sophie takes these short quirky messages and illustrates them with her own lovely twists. She has a blog where she posts her Missed Connection illustrations here. These are a few of my favorites-

We shared a bear suit at an apartment party Saturday night.

You were appliance shopping on Saturday.

I help you almost once a week at the grocery store with your seafood purchaces.

I was the face painter at the party today and you were there.

The Lion Mask is Done!

2011-10-01T19:51:00.000-06:00

When my friend Brooke first suggested making masks, I wasn't so sure. But I has so much fun making this! I'm going to wear it for our neighborhood Halloween. :) In a few days I'll have a version you can download, cut out, and wear yourself over at Between the End Pages.

ROARRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Lion Mask

2011-09-25T18:54:00.000-06:00

Halloween is getting closer! For October my friends and I are making masks. I took a simple half mask that I bought at Target to get the size right and I drew a lion. I'm having a lot of fun with it!

When it's all done you'll be able to download it at Between the End Pages, cut it out and wear it yourself. I'm excited to try it out on the neighborhood kids!

What You're Good At and What You're Not

2011-09-20T17:51:00.001-06:00

I had a wonderful time at the SCBWI conference in Denver. That Adam Rex sure does know how to entertain a crowd! I got his book Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and I'm enjoying reading it in yummy bites right now. I hope Adam made it home through airport security with his mounted taxidermy duck a-ok...

Because I'm a bit of a perfectionist, I tend to dwell on what I'm not so good at and worry about how I could make it better. At the conference I had a great portfolio critique with Adam Rex and a manuscript critique with Alexandra Penfold, editor at Paula Wiseman Books. After both critiques I gnawed away at the comments about the weaknesses in my art and story. But as time passed and I put things in better perspective, I realized that I was given lots of compliments and encouragement, too.

I also got to spend a few days with my friend Brooke Boynton Hughes. She conquered her fear of zombies over the weekend which you can read about on her blog. (Another success story from a SCBWI conference!) One evening Brooke passed along some wisdom to me. Lots of people focus their energy trying to improve their weaknesses. But it's important to remember your strengths also. It's ok emphasize the things that you love to do and are really good at. That way you aren't always working on something difficult and perhaps disappointing.

So!! I would like to acknowledge what I'm not so good at-
1. Drawing people and their clothes.
2. Putting emotion into the text of a story.
To work on improving I'm going to draw people in the real world every Friday morning. You see, I was excited to start going to life drawing sessions. My work schedule just changed and I was finally off on the Friday morning meeting time. But I found out they just recently stopped doing the sessions. Aargh! So I'll be drawing at a coffee shop or the library.
And I'll keep writing and writing and writing etc. while thinking about the emotion of the story. Heck I may do a little of that at the coffee shop, too.

But there are things that I'm already good at-
1. I'm very good at my favorite medium, linocut.
2. I'm also good at thinking through an entire story or concept and working on it until it's done and is a BOOK.
I'm all fired up and already working on my next dummy. And of course redoing my current one.

In the spirit of celebrating what we are good at, I'd love to hear what you love to do that you do really well!

Gone to Denver SCBWI

2011-09-13T22:01:00.001-06:00

This weekend I'll be at the Rocky Mountain Chapter Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Conference. That's a mouthful. This year there's a new Illustrator's Intensive for a half day on Friday. Apparently Adam Rex is going to show us how to model our characters out of clay. (!)

I also get to hang out with Brooke Boynton Hughes, my pal from Between the End Pages. Check over there when you get a chance- our illustration theme this month is Ocean Voyage. AND we are going to start posting 15 minute sketches soon.

Have a lovely weekend!

Illustration Friday: Boundaries

2011-09-09T17:37:00.000-06:00

Here is the finished illustration that I gave a little background about in my last post. I think it also works for this week's Illustration Friday prompt- boundaries.

Even though the Earth seems infinitely huge and complex, it isn't. The boundary around us is unforgiving. Our world is the only home we have and everything we need is here- including solutions to our problems. Enjoy the sunrises and moonshine!

The Evolution of the World In Print

2011-09-04T21:30:00.001-06:00

Any of you that have seen my art over the years may have noticed a theme. I feel silly even mentioning it. It's OBVIOUS. When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut. Then when I got older I thought about becoming an astronomer. I have lots of books with photos of beautiful star clusters and images of Earth from orbit. My favorite is still The Home Planet edited by Kevin Kelley. It was published in 1988- forever ago! But it has so many wonderful quotes from astronauts around the world. I wish a new version of it could be made.

I'm just starting a new linocut for a poem I'd like to turn into book. I'm hoping it will work as a children's book, but I'm not certain yet until I do some more drawings. Here's the beginning of the block-

And here are some prints that I've made of Earth in the last 6 or 7 years. I was trying to work out the story I wanted to tell and what it would look like.

And finally I got to a good place with a series of prints of nine views of the planet. Here's North America. I put them together into a hand-made book called Earth that I finished this year.

In the last couple years I tried some more illustrative versions. I hope the print and story I'm working on now will resolve these latest thoughts!

My first Etsy Treasury

2011-09-02T15:07:00.000-06:00

Last night I was too tired to do any real work, but I had fun poking around Etsy and picking out some fun art that I like. This is my first treasury and the collection is called For the Children.

'For the Children' by BlueSkyArtwork

HorseAndHare $15.00	esan01 $18.00	JenniferLorenz $5.00	mmcullen $14.00
StudioFerguson $8.00	BlueshineBaby $20.00	dreamymeisme $8.00	craftyhag $11.00
ArtAndDreams $14.99	ChasingtheCray... $17.00	tuesdaymournin... $20.00	bfhughes $75.00
jpopstudios $698.00	ChasingtheCray... $60.00	tugboatprintsh... $45.00	sheridesthelio... $75.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

They meet!

2011-08-26T19:40:00.002-06:00

I just finished one more spread from my picture book dummy. Here's where the two main characters finally meet. Happiness!

I'm getting ready to go to the Denver SCBWI conference next month. I can't wait to go to the new illustrator intensive and have a portfolio review with Adam Rex. Now I have to make business cards and print whole bunch of stuff.

Illustration Friday: Influence

2011-08-19T08:31:00.001-06:00

Here is Wynken, Blynken, and Nod painted. I had a lot of fun working on this one! This is my interpretation of a sleepy-time poem by Eugene Field. I imagine if you read it to your wide-awake little person, it would certainly influence them to sleep.
If you go to Between the End Pages you can print out a copy of this along with the poem that inspired it. Here's the whole poem:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
by Eugene Field (1850-1895)
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
   Sailed off in a wooden shoe---
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
   Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
   The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
   That live in this beautiful sea;
   Nets of silver and gold have we!"
                     Said Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song,
   As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
   Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
   That lived in that beautiful sea---
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish---
   Never afeard are we";
   So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
                     Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod.
All night long their nets they threw
   To the stars in the twinkling foam---
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
   Bringing the fishermen home;
'T was all so pretty a sail it seemed
   As if it could not be,
And some folks thought 't was a dream they 'd dreamed
   Of sailing that beautiful sea---
   But I shall name you the fishermen three:
                     Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
   And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
   Is a wee one's trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
   Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
   As you rock in the misty sea,
   Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
                     Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod.

Printing Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

2011-08-16T12:20:00.001-06:00

Today I finally got to print my latest block. It's for a bedtime poem by Eugene Field called Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. The poem is fantastic and full of goofy nonsense to illustrate.
Here's the block-

And here are some photos of inking and printing the linocut-

I used a piece of linoleum that I mounted to a block a couple years ago and never carved. It was softer than what I've been using recently. I started by carving the moon and my lines came out skinnier than I intended because I was surprised by the softness of of the linoleum. Hopefully the moon won't look out of place once everything is painted. I'll paint it tomorrow when the ink is dry enough. Here it is in black and white-

Favorite Printmaking Sites

2011-08-09T21:42:00.000-06:00

I shared some of my favorite relief printing sites on Between the End Pages. There are links for how-to's, amazing art for inspiration, and a couple good places to buy supplies. It's especially for all you artists I've been talking to who want to try some linocuts!

Poems!

2011-08-06T14:49:00.009-06:00

I've been working on an illustration for a nonsensical lullaby by Eugene Field. It's so much fun!

I'll tell you more about this poem later, but in the meantime I've been having a good time reading other silly, playful children's poems and I wanted to share a few.

The Microbe by Hilaire Belloc

The microbe is so very small  

You cannot make him out at all,  

But many sanguine people hope  

To see him through a microscope.  

His jointed tongue that lies beneath  

A hundred curious rows of teeth;  

His seven tufted tails with lots  

Of lovely pink and purple spots,  

On each of which a pattern stands,  

Composed of forty separate bands;  

His eyebrows of a tender green;  

All these have never yet been seen--  

But Scientists, who ought to know,  

Assure us that is must be so...  

Oh! let us never, never doubt  

What nobody is sure about!

There are holes in The Sky by Spike Milligan

There are holes in the sky 

Where the rain gets in 

But there ever so small 

That's why the rain is thin.

  To Make an Amblongus Pie by Edward Lear

Take 4 pounds (say 4 1/2 pounds) of fresh Amblongusses, and put them in a small pipkin.

Cover them with water and boil them for 8 hours incessantly, after which add 2 pints of new milk, and proceed to boil for 4 hours more.

When you have ascertained that the Amblongusses are quite soft, take them out and place them in a wide pan, taking care to shake them well previously.   

Grate some nutmeg over the surface, and cover them carefully with powdered gingerbread, curry-powder, and a sufficient quantity of Cayenne pepper.   

Remove the pan into the next room, and place it on the floor. Bring it back again, and let it simmer for three-quarters of an hour. Shake the pan violently till all the Amblongusses have become a pale purple colour.   

Then, having prepared a paste, insert the whole carefully, adding at the same time a small pigeon, 2 slices of beef, 4 cauliflowers, and any number of oysters.   

Watch patiently till the crust begins to rise, and add a pinch of salt from time to time.   

Serve up in a clean dish, and throw the whole out of the window as fast as possible.

He he he he he!!!!
These poems came from http://www.poemsforchildren.org/

Illustration Friday: Obsession

2011-07-31T20:56:00.005-06:00

It takes a little bit of obsession to grow really big flowers OR make linocuts. I enjoy doing both! Come on over for a watermelon slice served under the sun flower!

Check out the other garden images at Between the End Pages. This is the new children's illustration blog I'm part of with Brooke Boynton Hughes, Tina Kugler & Marsha Riti.

Between the End Pages

2011-07-30T07:35:00.000-06:00

I have some exciting news. Brooke Boynton Hughes, Tina Kugler, Marsha Riti and I have started a new blog together featuring our children's illustration. It's called Between the End Pages in reference to all of the great art that happens between the end pages of children's books.

Right now we have some summertime garden illustrations posted including my night and day gardens. I haven't posted the day image here yet, but you can go over there to see it first!

We plan to do some giveaway downloads, share some news, and figure out what Tina means by having a scribble-off. I'm super excited about the new group and I hope you can visit us. I'll keep a permanent button on the left here to link to the site. See ya there!

Linoleum Scraps

2011-07-24T20:18:00.001-06:00

I finished carving my Summer Garden block and printed it today. Usually I sweep the linoleum scraps into the trash as I go but today they just kept piling up on the table. Here's a picture of the block-

Illustration Friday: Perennial

2011-07-21T21:11:00.003-06:00

I can't afford to buy a lot of flowers every year so I always buy perennials. I would love to find one of these perennial crescent moon flowers for my little plot!

I painted this Harvesting the Night Garden print yesterday. I am part of a new super exciting group of artists and we are giving ourselves a prompt to illustrate each month. July is "summer garden." I'm also going to finish the daytime companion to this print next-you can see that drawing a few posts below. Pretty soon we are going to debut our new children's illustration site and I'll get to introduce you to the other artists. I can't wait!

I took some photos of the different layers of watercolor as I painted them on the night sky. The progression is kind of interesting to see.

Questions?

2011-07-16T07:09:00.001-06:00

I'm thinking about doing a little write-up about my process. I would include info about mounting linoleum to a block, transferring an image, carving, and printing. But does anyone have any specific questions that I could answer? Let me know!

Podcasts

2011-07-09T21:16:00.003-06:00

I think most artists like to listen to things while they are working. Making art usually involves long stretches of time when your hands are busy but large parts of your brain aren't occupied. So your thoughts roam around or in my case, I sometimes get sleepy. So my favorite way to keep my brain occupied is listen to recorded books or podcasts. I listen to music a lot too, but it isn't as engaging as listening to a story.

My favorite podcasts are interviews with other artists. I love learning about their lives and how their artwork evolved. The interviews are often inspiring and sometimes trigger ideas for new things I want to try. So I thought I'd share some of my favorite podcasts. If there are some you love please share them with me!

Reading Rockets has a wonderful list of video interviews with children's illustrators and authors. They are all worth listening to but my favorite is at the very bottom. Audrey Geisel talks about her husband Dr. Seuss aka Theodore Geisel. Dr. Seuss is such a legend, it's great to listen to his wife describe him as a real person who worked very hard at his craft. You can click on any of the images- they link to the artist's websites.

Just One More Book was a long running blog that isn't active any more but the old posts are still there. If you scroll down on the right side you can see the list of podcast interviews. These are all children's authors and illustrators. Mo Willems' interview is great! His answer to, "How do you get started?" begins, "I look at my mortgage, and, um, that inspires me."

I recently found these podcasts from the National Gallery of Art. I listened to most of this long presentation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. They are such a comedy team! I got to hear them speak when I lived in Salida, Colorado. They gave a presentation in the smallish Senior Center of this very small town. They were letting the community know about their plans to drape the Arkansas River canyon with silver fabric for 42 miles starting in Salida. The crowd was skeptical to begin with but Jeanne-Claude and Christo won everyone over with their charm, humor, and practicality. I'm a big fan now and I look forward to seeing their Over the River project in the next few years.

One of my favorite interviews is with book artist and author Audrey Niffenegger. I knew her name because her novel, The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my favorite books. But I didn't realize that she is also a book artist making hand made books. This talk with Audrey came from Steve Miller's list of interviews with book artists, printmakers and poets that you can find here.

Escape from Illustration Island is the place to go for interviews with illustrators working in lots of different areas. I really enjoyed this one with Dave McKean. What an incredibly creative and interesting guy!

I just had a friend mention Daniel Pinkwater's podcasts on NPR. I didn't realize he was doing children's book reviews. He is the author and illustrator of one of my favorite books from childhood, The Big Orange Splot. You'll get a kick out of this review of Calef Brown's book Flamingos on the Roof. Daniel and Scott Simon take turns reading lots of the funny poems.

Another thing I do occasionally is just search for names of illustrators on YouTube. Here is a video of Marla Frazee talking about picture books and specifically All the World written by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla. This is a beautiful book illustrated by one of my most favorite artists.

Tell me about some of your favorite podcasts and I'll listen to them!

Postcards

2011-07-05T18:36:00.002-06:00

Today I did the layout for this postcard. It's nothing special, but I think it looks nice. I haven't sent out a postcard to art directors since last Christmas, oops! I've been using GotPrint for postcards. They do a really nice job and the cost is less than a lot of places. I want to do a new business card also, but I haven't figured that one out yet. Hhmmm........

OK! How's this for a business card?

Summer Garden

2011-06-30T21:42:00.001-06:00

I'm working on a couple of garden drawings. Here's a little redhead watering a really big sunflower. Today we had a lot of those cloud flowers hovering around. I'm hoping for sunshine tomorrow!

Illustration Friday: Launch

2011-06-22T12:07:00.003-06:00

I'm not too sure what it would take to launch this aircraft, but I'm thinking it might include falling off a tall building!
I just finished painting this print of Birdland this morning. I tried to use more browns and subtle colors than the really bright watercolor I've done in the past. I like the way it turned out. Maybe I can be subtle after all...?

Printed Birdland

2011-06-18T18:46:00.012-06:00

Today I finally finished carving this block and printed it. I think it turned out well! I realized that it's the biggest block I've printed by hand and I was struggling to hold the large sheet of paper. The paper is 26x17 inches and I have to lay it down in one swoop without bumping or shifting it or the ink will smear. It was a challenge.

I'll paint it in a couple days - can't wait!

Illustration Friday: Swept

2011-06-15T11:07:00.001-06:00

Here is a little sketch from my latest book dummy that I painted for this week's Illustration Friday. Avery is expecting a visitor and tidying up his house while he waits. Something my house could use a bit of as well....

Feature about the VSS and me, too!

2011-06-14T11:15:00.000-06:00

My friend Alex Colombo has posted a feature about The Visual Storytellers Studio on her bog. You can read it here. The VSS is a group of children's illustrators that I belong to. Alex shared how the group got its start and then she included a bio about me and some of my artwork. I hope you can visit Alex's blog The Moon from My Attic!

It's a Job

2011-06-11T14:00:00.004-06:00

Last month, Jules at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast posted a wonderful interview with illustrator Carson Ellis. I love Carson's artwork and she sent a lot of it to enjoy while reading her interview. I was happily settled in to reading when she mentioned that she'd moved around a lot after college and was a cocktail waitress in four different states. I laughed out loud!

I've also moved around a lot have had a variety of odd jobs. I read the rest of the interview thinking about how every artist has probably had something in their past like Carson's serial cocktail waitressing.

I was brought up to believe it was important for me to have a career- something respectable that would make a difference. I became a musician instead. That was ok with my family. I played the oboe and practiced very hard and was actually started on my career, even if it was a slightly suspect career as a musician. But then I quit. (Long story.) And since then I've bumped around from job to job, making a living so that I can do art in my free time. There's no doubt in my mind that I'm an artist but that's not the same thing as having a career as an artist.

It's hard not to be frustrated going to work at a job every day when you really just want to be creating art. But those jobs bring us so many good things, too- new friends, skills, knowledge, conversation, variety, laughs, and of course money. I'm happy I'm an artist and I definitely want to be a full-time career children's book illustrator. But in the meantime you can find me selling prescription medication at Lyon's Pharmacy!

These are the jobs I've had in my life:
bird survey counter
assistant to black-footed ferret breeding program
delivery driver for a medical lab
orchestral oboist
waitress & hostess at 6 restaurants: Chinese, breakfast, Indian, vegan, cafe, and fine dining
picture framer in 5 different businesses and self-employed
movie theater operator
art galley sales
hotel maid
graphic artist
production printer of fine art etchings
greeting card deign and sales
retail antique and gift sales
bookbinding assistant
photographer
grocery store stocker
pharmacy technician
artist

Tell me about your favorite or worst jobs!

Carving Birdland

2011-06-08T07:47:00.000-06:00

I've been working on carving this large block. I kept being indecisive about how exactly to do the details so I started with the wings and then it really took off! (haha) I will probably be printing it next week and I'll post some photos then.

Colorado Moments

2011-06-01T13:08:00.000-06:00

I finally got 20 of these little images done. Here is the layout for the 12x16 inch poster I'll be making. The individual pictures have been doing well as gift enclosure cards for sale at Lyon's Pharmacy in downtown Steamboat Springs. I hope people want to buy this print of all of them as well!

Illustration Friday: Asleep

2011-05-29T07:55:00.003-06:00

Here is a page from a picture book dummy I made a couple years ago. It's about this little girl, Maybelle (green, with three eyes and a tail) who is afraid of monsters. The story and art kind of got critiqued to death. I've since managed to rewrite the story and it's so much better! Now I just have to get around to redoing the art. I am very fond of Maybelle, though so I'm sure I'll get to it one day.
Happy sleeping everyone!

Sunshine & Paper Cutting

2011-05-27T21:09:00.010-06:00

It has been such a cold wet spring in Steamboat. We are all missing the sun terribly. I made this little sun linocut to be part of my series of Colorado prints. This may be the most sun I get for days!

I've been really busy and unfortunately don't have any exciting art to share. I did buy a marvelous book last weekend that I'd love to share though. It's called Paper Cutting: Contemporary Artists, Timeless Crafts

This book features 26 artists who each have their own wonderful styles of cut paper art. The detail of some of the pieces are just amazing! I really love black cut paper against white. I think they have a similar look to relief prints. I keep thinking I'm going to try some but I haven't yet. Here are some photos-

Emily Hogarth

Mia Pearlman

Hina Aoyama

And here is one of my favorites by Su Blackwell

Book show

2011-05-20T08:07:00.001-06:00

This is the opening weekend for several Guild of Book Workers shows in Boulder, Colorado at the Norlin Library. My Earth book will be in the show. And I usually never get to see these exhibitions in person but I will be in Boulder on Sunday. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the artist books! They are making a catalog and I'll post a link to it when it's ready.

There is a book idea I've had for many many years. It's the original idea that eventually evolved into my book, Earth. It was a little too complex to actually make though. Now I'm thinking about starting an internet version of it on a new blog. It would be a celebration of the beauty of the Earth as seen from a distance and the importance of the Earth as our only home. I would like to collect quotes and artwork from lots of people. I'm mulling it over and I'd love to hear any thoughts you have!

Birdland

2011-05-13T11:37:00.004-06:00

Here is a new drawing I've been working on this week. I'm going to turn it into a linocut. I'll add some motion lines to make it look more like it's flying through the air. I'm excited to start carving it!

Art for Japan auction open right now!

2011-05-07T22:16:00.002-06:00

My hand painted linocut Seasons is being auctioned on eBay right now! This is the auction Meg Hunt is organizing. She has really a lot of art that's been donated and mine is in the first batch. Please go check it out! HERE is the listing of the first batch including mine. And HERE is mine by itself.

Update--- My lovely boss Jennifer won the print! Thanks so much to everyone who bid. There are still lots more rounds of auctions to go with different art and you can get the info and links HERE.

A few new images for cards

2011-05-06T10:04:00.003-06:00

Here are 3 more small prints for my series of Colorado gift enclosure cards. I meant to make the gondola one last winter but I never did. Oh well, it will be ready for next winter I guess.

I can't WAIT for summer and camping! It's still early spring in Steamboat. We have record amounts of snow in the mountains. We might not be getting the first spring flowers up there until July! At this point, I'm just looking forward to leaves on the trees in town. :)

Virginia Lee Burton

2011-05-03T14:39:00.001-06:00

I'm working on some drawings, but nothing ready to share yet. So I thought I'd show the book I just read. Virginia Lee Burton, A Life in Art by Barbara Elleman is full of Virginia's art, photos of her, and info about her life. I'm a big fan of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and The Little House. It was great to read about their development and the ways Virginia's life influenced her stories.

In addition to her children's books, she and her group of design students and friends called the Folly Cove Designers made beautiful fabric patterns with linoleum prints on cloth. They carved a lot of large prints and it must have been a huge undertaking to print that much fabric! I guess they started out printing on the floor by laying the fabric down, putting the inked block upside-down and stomping on it. Eventually they got a press. Here's a print of the creative process.

I really loved the photos of Virginia also. Here's one of her with her two sons looking at a painting she did on the wall. What a wonderful, vibrant artist she was!

The Velveteen Case

2011-04-27T19:28:00.000-06:00

Look at this beautiful velveteen envelope my mom, Annette made for my latest artist book!

It's lined with black satin, has a velcro closure, and fits perfectly.

It even stands up without sagging at all.

This is the first one she's done but she'll be making more as time permits so each book can have one.
Thank you, Mom- it's perfect!

Mail Art for the Visual Storytellers Studio

2011-04-27T13:28:00.003-06:00

I got my airplane prints painted and now I get to tell you what they are for! The Visual Storytellers Studio is a wonderful group of children's illustrators that I belong to and we are starting a mail art project. I made 5 of these prints to send to 5 of my artist friends along with some blank cards. Each person who gets one will create a piece of their own art and send it to one of their friends. We hope everyone will take a photo of the art and post it on our facebook page.

I'm off to mail 4 of these right now- one to Alex Colombo in California, one to Becky Gavney Driscoll in Wisconsin, one to Lisa Michaels in Florida and one to Tatyana Starikova in New York. I'm also mailing one to my friend, author and craft genius Anna Branford in Australia!

Here's a photo of 3 of my prints with the blank cards. Do you want to be part of the mail art project? Send me an email jill@jillbergman.com.

Printing fun

2011-04-23T17:20:00.001-06:00

I made a fun block and printed it today along with some other small prints for gift enclosure cards. The girls and bear in an airplane are from a new picture book dummy I'm starting. It's in the very early stages- just some rough sketches. But I enjoyed turning this drawing into a linocut. It's like getting to know the characters a little bit better by printing them!

Illustration Friday: Journey

2011-04-16T12:18:00.005-06:00

I'm a truck girl. I love old pick-up trucks. My old orange GMC took me on many journeys across the country. The truck I have now is a beautiful blue 1984 Dodge. I haven't driven very far in this truck- just fun drives into the country, trips to the dump, and the daily drive to work. Here is a little stamp I made of my truck.

This is a stamp I made and painted with watercolor. The red dump truck is Lucky, a character in my first picture book dummy. Lucky is based on my husband's real-life dump truck. That truck is so fun to ride in. It's bouncy, you sit way up in the air, and it's loud and scary when you dump boulders.

Here is an earlier stamp I made of Lucky and also painted with watercolor. Lucky has gone through many transformations. In this version his bed is sort of brown. I like the black and red I finally came up with better.

This is a stamp of my first pick-up truck. She was a 1972 GMC and I named her Bessie. I had Bessie for 18 years! Unfortunately a big Suburban with a bad driver smashed her so badly that she had to retire. She carefully protected my husband who was driving, though.

Here is a picture of Bessie I made after she um.... passed on.

And here we are, back at the very beginning of my printmaking journey which is obviously closely tied to my truck journey. This is my very first ever linocut. I made this print in 1995 by carving the linoleum with a razor blade. (I do NOT recommend it.) I think I printed it with acrylic paint and no roller.
I was commemorating the fact that Bessie's odometer had just turned over to all zeroes for the first time. I guess it's not really a birthday exactly, but surely an important event. I don't know why I chose this to carve for my first linocut. But do remember that I had so much fun I went right out and bought proper carving tools, a roller and real printing ink. Every journey has to begin somewhere!

Art for Japan auction

2011-04-12T19:56:00.001-06:00

My linocut is in the first batch of art for the auction Meg Hunt is organizing to raise money for Japan. There are a lot of nice pieces in the auction! You can see them all here. My Seasons linocut is toward the bottom. It sounds like they will be available to bid on at eBay later this week or next. I'll let you know when it starts!

A Book About Books

2011-04-10T09:17:00.006-06:00

Yesterday my friend Laura Wait gave me a copy of a beautiful paperback featuring 40 book artists called Masters: Book Arts: Major Works by Leading Artists. Laura is one of the artists featured in the book- here is one of her spreads.

This is a gorgeous book full of photos of hand made book objects. Some look like books and some are more sculptural. There is also a bit of info about each artist with some quotes by them about their work. Here are Adele Outteridge's amazing transparent books-

And some neat bindings and and a patchwork book called Scrap Book II by Peter Madden-

Also featured in this book is the amazing Brian Dettmer-

And one of my favorite artists Beatrice Coron-

It's impossible not to be inspired to go and make things after looking at this art! I wish there was more time in the day....

DONE!!!!!

2011-04-06T21:10:00.003-06:00

Here is the artist book I've been working on for an eternity called Earth. It is about the different views of our planet. Here in North America we always see images of Earth that include North and maybe South America but we rarely see the other continents. This book celebrates the beauty of the whole planet.

This one is number 1 in an edition of 10. I'll put together numbers 2 and 3 soon also. The rest of the edition will have to wait for me to hand color all of the interior art- it takes a long time.

Each print is a black and white linocut done with oil based ink and colored with watercolor.

I trimmed the art right to the image so it would look dramatic against the black paper of the pages.

I attached the art to the page with acid-free ATG. It's a tape used in picture framing. When you peel up the backing of the tape only adhesive is left on the art.

By laying rulers down to mark the place for the art I can get it in position quickly. It's really hard to pull up the art when the adhesive has already made contact so this saves me from having to reposition it.

These straps are a composite leather material. It's thin and strong and cheaper than leather. It's actually so thin that I glued two pieces back to back for strength. Then I trimmed the corners and sanded the ends to make the glue stick better.

I punched holes in the pages to match the holes in this wooden spine. The sewing is my favorite part!

I punched holes in my leather straps ahead of time to be sure they were all centered. Then when the pages were sewn to the spine I just had to fold the straps over and mark the holes onto the wooden covers. Then I took the covers and drilled the holes all the way through. Next I glued the straps to the cover.

I found these fun stars here. They are brads that have 2 tiny metal straps coming off the back. You put them through the hole and then open the metal pieces to lock them into place. Then I lined up the last print to be sure it would show through the cut-out correctly.

Yeah!!! It's exciting to see the book finished!

Printsy

2011-03-30T15:10:00.031-06:00

I just joined Printsy- a large group of printmakers with stores on Etsy. They have a blog with interviews and other info. There are also links to new prints for sale every week. There's a Flickr page and a Team page with discussions. Lots of printmaking stuff to see all over the place!

Here are some of my favorite beautiful prints for sale on Etsy-

Girl with a Pram by GrazvydaArt

Flights of Fancy: Fly Stork by Barbara Fernekes Hughes

Shadows and Reflections by Sherrie York

Seed Bloom by Zebedeeprint

L is for Ladybug by Strawberryluna

Illustration Friday: Toy

2011-03-29T08:54:00.000-06:00

I haven't flown a kite in a long time but I used to love it! I grew up in Laramie, Wyoming and it was so windy there that you had to be careful not to try it on the windiest days because your kite might crash or the string might break. This particular toy is special because there are crayons tied to the tail that are coloring a rainbow in the sky.

Wooden book covers

2011-03-22T12:21:00.003-06:00

I am so close to putting together 4 of these books! One will be a test and the other 3 will be the first in an edition of ten. The covers are painted wood. Now I need to work on the leather straps that will go around the wooden spine and attach to the covers. I get super excited when I get this close to seeing a finished book!

Art Auction to help Japan

2011-03-15T11:44:00.001-06:00

Meg Hunt and her sister are organizing an auction of artwork to raise relief funds for Japan. You can see all of the info on her blog Show & Tell. If you are an artist check it out! They need to receive donations by March 31st. I'm going to send one of my linocuts called Seasons.

Home sketch colored

2011-03-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a peek of the colored sketch of my poem Home. It still needs some work before I turn it into a linocut! Coloring the drawing really helps me work out the problems before I start carving.

Drawing Home

2011-03-05T09:59:00.001-07:00

I've been working on this poem Home for quite a while. It was originally written to be part of my artist book about Earth. But I decided the poem didn't really fit with the art I'd already made for that book. Then I thought if I expanded it maybe I could make it into a children's book. But that didn't seem quite right either. So I've decided to do the poem as a large linocut. I think I'm going to do multiple blocks for different colors instead of painting it with watercolor. I will paint this sketch with watercolor though to help me think about the colors. I'll post that colored sketch soon!

Giveaway on The Visual Storytellers Studio!

2011-03-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

For the first couple weeks of March you can enter to win one of my original linocut prints on the VSS! Go on over there and check it out. :) :) :)

Heroes

2011-02-23T12:57:00.001-07:00

I'm kind of shy until I get to know someone. But I try not to let that stop me from meeting new people. I just pretend to be brave, and somehow I am! It's even harder to introduce yourself to people you look up to. I've done it a few times and each time I was pleasantly surprised at how kind and helpful my heroes are. I guess I'm lucky that many of them are children's artists who tend to be nice, fun people anyway.

Last summer at the LA SCBWI conference I met Loren Long. His talks were inspiring and gave me insight that I needed about bringing emotion into my artwork. Loren encouraged me to mail two of his books that I owned to him to sign. I also sent him a hand made thank you card and one of my postcards. Loren sent me back a wonderful letter and this signed Otis poster. I LOVE Otis! I finally just got the poster framed yesterday.

Another hero of mine, Marla Frazee was wonderfully helpful. Marla is generous and smart in addition to being super talented. She critiqued my work two years in a row at different SCBWI conferences. Marla was able to see my progress and how I had followed her suggestions from the first year. She even suggested I email her if I made changes in any of the stories. I wound up completely redoing my last dummy based on her observations. When I emailed her she had me send her a pdf of the new dummy. Isn't that nice? She liked it!

I finally emailed Beth Krommes after combing the internet for about a week trying to figure out how to transfer a line drawing onto scratchboard without chemicals. I asked her how she did it and she answered me right back. It was a piece of cake! Here's my first scratchboard attempt.

I wanted to meet more relief printmakers so I started a little mailing project. I made 5 small books for artists to put one of their prints into and then mail on to someone else. I sent them to a couple friends and then realized my BIG MISTAKE. I started the project to meet more printmakers. That's because I didn't know many. So who was I going to send the other books to?! Complete strangers? Yes! I sent a couple to artists I admired and then got brave and mailed one to Mary Azarian, with a letter of course. Mary sent me a notecard back saying she'd gotten it and sent it along to another printmaker. I was so excited to get a card from one of my heroes!

By the way... I still don't know if those little books are out there circulating. I hope so. They are supposed to be mailed back to me when the pages are filled. But who knows if I'll see them again.

Does anyone else have good hero stories to share? I'd love to hear!

Earth Day goal

2011-02-18T10:35:00.001-07:00

For about 6 years I've been thinking about making an artist book celebrating the beauty of our planet. I've come up with 4 different ways to do it with completely different art and endless variations on text and bookbinding styles. This image is from an idea I had using stamps, painting and quotes. I was trying to make it too complicated because it was very important to me and the Earth as a subject is so HUGE. (ha ha)

I finally did settle on a simplified book with painted linocuts and a wooden cover. Here are some links to photos on earlier posts- painting title page cover carving
And my goal is to have 3 (out of an edition of 10) finished by Earth Day on April 22. Then I can also concentrate on doing something nice for the Earth on that day other than just adding more books to a bookshelf!

Adele's mishap painted

2011-02-12T17:40:00.003-07:00

Poor Adele, I actually feel a little sorry for her after painting this print. What a gloomy day. I want to tell her that children's books always have a happy ending, so don't give up yet!

Illustration Friday - Sweater

2011-02-12T17:16:00.001-07:00

This one is from oohhh so many years ago. I used to find rhymes, puns, and idioms irresistible. It's just silly business- I can't explain it any other way!

And she tumbles down the hill!

2011-02-09T15:25:00.001-07:00

I just printed this one this morning. Adele falls down the mountain on the way to visit Avery. She gets a little banged up, but after a trip to the doctor she's a-ok! Unfortunately, she misses her date with Avery. What will he think?!

Illustration Friday- Reverse

2011-02-05T13:19:00.001-07:00

This is the Pacific Ocean from my series of images of Earth. Being from the Northern Hemisphere, whenever I see an iconic Earth image it's mostly North and Central America with the top of South America. But there are so many other views of our planet! I guess the real REVERSE side of the planet from North America would be the Indian Ocean or something like that. But here's an unusual view- the Pacific- look how big it is!!
All of my linocuts are carved in reverse of what I want the final printed image to be. Here's a photo of the block and print and another of me painting with my helpful assistant Zoe. I'm still painting these images for an artist book- it feels like a never-ending project at this point!

One more block

2011-02-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

I painted the print of Adele and Avery meeting but I didn't like it. It was too boring- that's why I haven't posted it already. So I think I'm going to redraw it as a close-up of their heads and upper bodies without all that extra grass and fence. It's supposed to be an exciting moment! We'll see how the second version turns out.
So I decided to do a finished print of the scene where Adele falls off the mountain. It's a scary moment and I have to make it both frightening and not too frightening. Because in the end she's ok... don't worry!!! She's ok! That's why she's sitting up at the bottom! :)

Brains

2011-02-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just posted some goofy Brain prints for sale at my Etsy store! They are from many years ago, but I still smile when I see them. :)

Painted! Printed!

2011-01-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

Here's the painted version of the print I was working on below. This story is about being lonely and looking for a friend, so I decided to go with this gray version. Most of the story will be kind of subdued like this until Avery and Adele finally meet. Then all of the colors will be brighter.

I also painted one with bright colors, because I couldn't resist! But I think the gray one tells the story better.

I got the second block carved and printed as well. I need to let it dry a little longer before painting it. This is when they finally meet, so I get to paint it with happiness!

I mailed my little dummy today for the Don Freeman Grant application. Yeah! Can you believe they don't announce the winners until August? I wonder how many people apply?

Linocut artist Sherrie York interview

2011-01-25T10:13:00.002-07:00

My artist friend Sherrie York in Salida Colorado just posted a video interview of herself. It's great! You can see her carving and printing as well as seeing her finished prints and listen to her talk about her inspiration.
Here is one of her beautiful reduction linocuts called Standing Still.

The Next Block

2011-01-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

I've started carving the next block for my story. I'm working a little faster and more frantically than I really like. Since I am so close to having this dummy finished, I want to send it in for the Don Freeman grant given by the SCBWI. But it has to be received (in paper form) by Feb. 2nd! Oh, I have so much to do still!

Printed

2011-01-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

This morning I finished carving the first block for my picture book dummy. And right away I printed it!

Here it is- Ta-da!

Now I have to wait several days for it to dry before painting it. To keep myself from going crazy waiting, sometimes I do a small computer print of the black and white and play around with colored pencils planning out the colors.
Now on to the next page....

Carving a new block

2011-01-11T15:52:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I started on a new linocut for my picture book dummy. This block is slightly smaller than the double page spreads I've done for other stories. It's 10 x 16 which is a nice size.

First I draw on tracing paper and then transfer the image to the block by rubbing the back of the tracing paper. Next I draw over the lines again to make sure they won't smudge off.

Carving a mountain!

I'm working my way over to the city. I'm really looking forward to painting this print! I think it needs subtler colors than I usually use. I'll post the block and print when I'm done.

Cover?

2011-01-05T16:45:00.003-07:00

A little while ago I posted sketches from the dummy I'm working on now. I just finished it! I got to the end and still hadn't decided what to draw for the cover. All along, I thought somewhere in the story would be a spread like this showing a cut-away or map of the important places in the story. But it never happened. When I asked my husband what I should do for the cover he had this same idea. So I tried it! I think it's kind of cool. The flaps on either side of the lines would fold under the covers. The city is taking up a bit too much space, but I'm not going to worry about that yet.

So actually the front cover would look like this--- (plus title etc.)

Present from Sherrie York

2011-01-02T08:55:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year!! I meant to post yesterday, but I have the first cold of the year and it wiped me out.
My husband, Matt and I went to Salida, CO for a late Christmas visit to his family. I also got to meet Sherrie York who is a linocut printer living in Salida. I've only known Sherrie from conversations online and it was wonderful to meet her! Sherrie makes lovely prints of trees, wild animals and the countryside around Salida. She is very very talented- you should check out her website www.sherrieyork.com, her blog where she posts photos of her working process brushandbaren.blogspot.com or her store where you can buy her prints www.etsy.com/shop/riosalidaart
When we were leaving, Sherrie gave me a present! Here are photos of it- This is a handmade book with reproductions of sketches and paintings she made from home, and while working in Holland and Maine. It's beautiful!! You can get a copy here.

My cat was determined to get in this photo- finally I let him.

I'm making something to pay you back, Sherrie! I just have to get feeling a little better first.

Happy New Year to everyone!!

Winter

2010-12-25T10:32:00.005-07:00

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is Winter. It's definitely winter and today is Christmas! So here is a spread from my last dummy where two brothers are throwing a holiday party for their new neighborhood. I hope everyone has a happy day!

Early Present

2010-12-22T20:11:00.001-07:00

My husband let me open a Christmas present early and look at what I got!

My brother and I had a copy of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. I love these stories!! Mary Anne the steam shovel works so hard and is so charming she's irresistible. And I think The Little House is a really special story also. I can definitely see Ms. Burton's influence on me- both her art and her stories. Look at this great photo of her!

Happy Christmas!!

2010-12-18T09:34:00.001-07:00

I drew this about 3 years ago. I guess I'm overdue for a new holiday card. Ah, well... there's always next year. Merry Merry Christmas to you all!!

Dummy Sketches

2010-12-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some sketches from my picture book dummy. I agonized over the characters and the storyline for what felt like forever. But once I drew the crooked city and realized rabbits lived in it, the book has practically been drawing itself.

I was lucky enough to have the generous and talented Marla Frazee critique my work two years in a row at different SCBWI conferences. The second year she was apologetic and asked if I would like to switch and have someone else look at my portfolio. But I saw it as an opportunity to get insight about my progress in the last year. Marla gave me a very thoughtful critique focusing mainly on my two picture book dummies. She distilled the essence of one story down and told me, "It's a love story."

At first I was worried. Children don't really need or want love stories do they? But then I realized my story is about two people who are kind of lonely, meet, and become best friends. That's a universal story that everyone of any age can relate to, right? So thank you, Marla for your great insight! Now I have to go draw more love story....

Phenomenon

2010-12-12T18:34:00.001-07:00

You can see this phenomenon regularly on clear nights. If you happen to be in a cow pasture......
This is an older linocut of mine. Instead of carving only one block, printing it in black and painting it, I carved a block for each color of this print. There are 5 blocks that I printed one on top of the other. I haven't worked this way in a while. I should try a multi color print again!

Robin's Nest Ring

2010-12-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

Looky! I got this beautiful, creative ring from Anna Branford. It's a little felted robin's nest. I photographed it with a nest and egg that were found in my yard. I just can't believe how charming the ring is- it's soft and comfy and well, the coolest thing I've seen in ages. Anna has a story about making them here.
Anna is a children's book author in Australia and she makes gorgeous crafts and dolls also. Check out her blog and her ideas page. You can learn how to make everything from fairy tents to tiny knitted Christmas wreaths.
Thank you Anna!

Blank Books

2010-12-10T09:21:00.001-07:00

I made these two blank books the other day for the fun of it. I cut an old game board into quarters and varnished them for the covers. Then I sewed the books together using the coptic stitch. There's a great step-by-step for sewing like this onto hard covers in The Art & Craft of Handmade Books by Shereen LaPlantz.

I'm giving one away for Christmas and keeping one. I'm keeping the one with the funny and horribly offensive "Careers Crystal." Really I love it and it makes me laugh. I soooo appreciate living in our time instead of the 50's or whenever this game was made. Here are the careers available for ladies according to the Careers Crystal- nurse, actress, stewardess, secretary, housewife, or teacher. And for the gentlemen- star athlete, jet pilot, cowboy, fireman, explorer, or scientist.

Last 3 Earth Prints

2010-12-01T21:44:00.002-07:00

These are the final 3 prints to go in the artist book I am working on. The top image will show through cut-outs in the wooden cover. The second one is the title and dedication page. I will sign and number them in the white space below the word Earth. And the stars are the last page of the book. The End!

Savour

2010-11-28T21:40:00.001-07:00

Ummmm... I only eat chocolate cake once in a blue moon. When I do I certainly savour it! This piece is several years old, so it might not be so tasty anymore.