Digital Doodle-Doo
For those interested, up to this point in my career all my drawing has been traditional – pencil sketches on paper, then inking with usually a brush & ink. Colouring courtesy of Photoshop. With (ahem), yes, a mouse. A strange mix of old school and semi-new school, I guess.
I knew I needed some sort of a change, some sort of a growth in my art, for practical, professional and personal reasons. So, thanks to my wonderful cartoonist friend Mike Cope, (who has lent me his Wacom tablet until further notice), I am finally entering the 21st Century in creative technology.
For the moment I am doodling in the program SketchBook Pro, but I do plan on playing around in Photoshop, too. Heck, I may even purchase Manga Studio, we’ll see. All of these changes came about thanks to my talented friend Debbie Ridpath Ohi, who kindly invited me to a fantabulous Autodesk SketchBook Toronto event, and introduced me to the wonderful world of digital drawing.
To say that it was an eye-opening, inspiring experience, is an understatement. And yes, all the images in this post have been drawn digitally. I still have a lot to learn, and obviously it doesn’t quite feel natural yet, drawing on a tablet. And no, this does not mean that I’m giving up paper and ink, but does mean that I’m making an effort to break out of my comfort zone, which really, I should be doing on a much more regular basis.
When I was a kid, so much of what I did in my life was motivated out of fear – fear of getting in trouble, fear of humiliation, and of course, fear of failure.
As an adult, a lot of what I did in my life was motivated out of anger – anger at myself for making bad choices, anger at others for their condemnation of me, and most especially that furious “I’ll show you!” kind of anger. It certainly was effective for a while, but who wants to be angry all the time? Certainly not me. And besides, these negative people aren’t in my life anymore – why the heck am I allowing them to still live inside my head? So I’ve been trying to find other reasons to create, the reasons that got me drawing as a kid all those many years ago in the first place. I wrote and drew because it felt good, and because I loved to do it. And that’s what I’m trying to do now. And you know what? It feels good. Really good.
Colour My Chirp World Fun!
It’s March 1st, and well, let’s face it – it’s pretty darn dreary outside. No fluffy white snow, but no luscious green grass and blooming buds, either. Just a palette of bleh. So thank goodness the March issue of Chirp is all about colour! I dunno about you, but I’d sure love to ride a rainbow right now!
OLA was Snow-Blinded! (But Not with Snow)
It was a fabulous day at the OLA Super Conference on Friday. I survived my Snowy Science presentation, and the Scholastic book signing was a blast. I’m also very pleased to announce that Snowy Science received an Honourable Mention for the 2011 OLA Best Bets for Children. Big congrats to authors Shar Levine and Leslie Johnstone!
And finally, for those interested, here’s the words to the song I sang in my presentation (to the tune of Thomas Dolby’s She Blinded Me with Science).
It’s poetry in motion
Snowflakes falling from the sky
I think I’ve got a notion
To give this Snowy Science book a try
Snow-Blinded me with science!
(Snow-Blinded me with science!)
Yes, I’ve got a chilly notion
To give this Snowy Science book a try
It’s poetry in motion
An avalanche is what I crave
I’ve got a snowy notion
To see just how an avalanche behaves
Snow-Blinded me with science!
(Snow-Blinded me with science!)
Avalanches in your kitchen, make it very easy to be brave!
Making an avalanche is fun
Be sure to clean up when you’re done
It’s poetry in motion
I wonder just what wind chill means
So I’ve got a chilly notion
To experiment with wind chill, ‘cuz I’m keen!
Snow-Blinded me with science!
(Snow-Blinded me with science!)
Blow a fan on a wet body, and you’ll see that it’s windy, chilly scene!
Making a wind chill is such fun
Be sure to clean up when you’re done
It’s poetry in motion
I’m craving ice cream sweet and cold
Please no Häagen-Dazs commotion
Snowy Science can make ice cream, look, behold!
Snow-Blinded me with science!
(Snow-Blinded me with science!)
Experiments with ice cream, have no empty calories, I’m told!
Making ice cream is such fun
Be sure to clean up when you’re done!
SCIENCE!
OLA? Oh Yeah!
If you love librarians and books as much as I do, then maybe you should hoof it over to the Ontario Library Association’s Super Conference 2012 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. I’ll be there, doing a very wacky presentation for the latest book I’ve illustrated, Snowy Science. In fact, a whole bunch of amazing CANSCAIP authors and illustrators will be presenting their new books from noon to 2:00pm. You shouldn’t miss it! I’ll also be signing copies of Snowy Science at the Scholastic Canada booth (#230) at 2:30pm. Hope to see you there, baby!
And for those who sadly will miss my presentation, here’s a little taste of some Snowy Science fun.
Hmmmm…hours of scientific analysis using the most sophisticated empirical methods has lead me to conclude…where the heck is all the snow??
Oh, How I Love TVO!
I can’t believe how fortunate I am. Last week I got to speak on a TVOParents panel about children’s illustration with the fabulously talented author/illustrator Barbara Reid, and the charming and hilarious Sheila Barry, who is the president of the board at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and is co-publisher at Groundwood Books. It was another wonderful experience with the very fine folks at TVOParents, made especially enjoyable because of their lovely host, Cheryl Jackson. You can see the video here.
Oh, and speaking of ‘O’s’ – a big fat congrats must go out to Barbara Reid for being named to the Order of Ontario!! Oh my!!
Yowza! Chirp on TV!
Yowza! What fantabulous news. Chirp is going to be on TV!! You can read all about it here. The animation company working with the CBC is called Yowza (awesome name!), and the company working on the development of Chirp apps and games is called Moonray Studios. I just hope all this fame doesn’t go to Chirp’s head. It’s big enough as it is, don’t ya think?
Fly Chirp to the Moon!
Happy New Year! And what better way to ring in 2012 than having Chirp nestled on the moon with his favourite teddy bear at his side? The Jan/Feb issue of Chirp is all about that magical, mystical time of day – the night! Scary things happen at night, that’s true, but wonderful things happen, too – like stars shimmering in the night sky, big beautiful moons winking at you, and (hopefully) lots of deep delicious sleepy dreams. You might notice something different about the Chirp cover – yup, that lovely banner at the top, announcing that 2012 is the year to celebrate 15 years of Chirp!! That’s something to jump over the moon about, don’t ya think? So stay tuned for fun news in the future about Chirp’s birthday celebrations, and in the mean time, I wish you plenty of sweet dreams…
Pirates and Penguins Galore!
My goodness, I do love getting early Christmas presents. It’s nice to know that even though my book The Pirate and the Penguin has been out for 2 years that it’s still getting some very nice attention. First I discovered this lovely review from Drew and Kate at Tall Tale Books in BC. And then I found this amazing review by Gina over at Satisfaction For Insatiable Readers. Gina’s review is clever and funny, very well written, and by gosh, she totally understood what I was trying to do with my book! And finally, I had a wonderful interview with Roz Fulcher over at Picture Book Junkies, where I blather on about how The Pirate and the Penguin came to be.
It really does feel good when I can reach people with my words and art. I truly am grateful. Thank you!!
