Painting in Progress - Young Boy

I have been working on new portfolio pieces in preparation for the SCBWI Illustrators Day next month. Here are the preliminary sketch and finish of a scene from one of my manuscripts.

I work on tracing paper first because it is easy to check for drawing errors by looking at the reverse side of the tracing. Another way to check for accuracy is by looking at your sketch in the mirror. That’s how I find out that one eye is too high or other unintentional oddities. It’s also easy to transfer your drawing from tracing paper to paper or board or canvas. Then I’m ready to paint.

For this piece I painted gesso on Strathmore Wet Media heavyweight multipurpose paper, but didn’t stretch the paper first so there was slight buckling. I usually apply several coats of gesso to Bristol board. This works well for me when I paint with acrylics and doesn’t require stretching the paper.

Becoming Lucky

I’ve thought a bit about luck since I sold my manuscript to Tricycle Press.

My musings on the subject were renewed after the excellent event I attended last weekend - the Santa Barbara County Education Office's Breakfast with the Authors. The featured speaker was the 2007 Newbery Award winning author of The Higher Power of Lucky, the talented and entertaining Susan Patron. The title of her talk was Becoming Lucky: Taking Chances. Several other authors spoke briefly of their own experiences of luck, and taking chances. They were all enjoyable and enlightening.

My old Webster’s dictionary defines luck as 1) a force that brings good fortune or adversity or 2) the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual.

Alexis O’Neill spoke of her luck in having her supportive Irish/Scottish parents, who gave her a childhood of music and storytelling, and of her lifetime of taking chances which led her into writing. She said luck doesn’t just happen to you. You make it happen.

Barbara Jean Hicks said luck came with courage, the chances she had taken, hard work and the support of those around her who believed in her.

Thalia Chaltas read the dictionary definition of luck she had found: a purposeless, unpredictable and uncontrollable force which shapes events favorably or unfavorably.

But the consensus of the writers who spoke Saturday seemed clear:  being writers, being published takes luck – the kind of luck that occurs with hard work and being willing to take chances along the way. That it is possible to make your own luck.

And I agree.

Cats on Wednesday - A Heaven For All Our Cats

I’ve been a fan of Newbery winner Cynthia Rylant’s books for a long time. Perhaps my favorites of her books are Cat Heaven and Dog Heaven, two books which deserve to be forever-more classics. Cat Heaven was published a dozen years ago by Scholastic, and although it is a children’s book it can be just as consoling for adults who have lost a beloved cat. I have found comfort more than once reading its bright and joyful pages.

I have lost many cats over the years, including little outdoor strays I remember living in our garage when I was very, very young and the pedigreed Siamese my sisters and I won for our paintings when I was seven. Then there were much-loved Danny, kind Sylvester, talkative Ming Tu, saint Kitty, most-favorite Scout, faithful Lucy, stern and motherly Emily and her adopted daughter Orly, devoted-to-each-other Morgen and Thea, shy Mousie, wise Alyosha, moody Minka and, most recently, sassy Sophie. Sophie, so tiny as a kitten she looked like a little rat, grew up to be large and lovely and lived to be 17. Each one a distinctive being – I miss them all.

For anyone who has had a cat that died, Rylant has written a sweet description of the heaven one hopes, and perhaps believes, is awaiting our cats. It is beautifully written, in rhyme. Rylant is a self-taught artist. While her charming illustrations have reportedly been greatly influenced by the folk-style paintings of Grandma Moses, clearly they express the joyful message of her story in her own colorful and energetic style.

I am glad this book was created. It’s special.

Cats on Wednesday - Puss in Plumes

My computer desktop is adorned with cat.

He’s not a cartoon cat, not a photo-realistic cat, not a real cat (he’s wearing a plumed hat and a pleated ruff!)

What he is, is all-seeing, all-knowing, soulful-eyed, serious-for-the-moment essence-of-cat. And just looking at him soothes my stress, calms my nerves, makes me smile.

He’s the cover of a picture book. Don’t you just love him?

He's Fred Marcellino's Puss in Boots.  I was fortunate to see him (Puss) in the original in the Downtown Library's extensive and breathtaking exhibit, The Art of Fred Marcellino, in 2007.  It was the first book cover I remember seeing with no text -- it was, and is, very powerful.  It compelled me to look inside and see what the title was, who the cat was.  Marcellino once said that the cat grew and grew until there was no room left for anything else......  He must have had a cat. 

Wish he were still here, painting cats.

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