Network News: On Teens, Treats and Peeking into Picture Books in Central North.

By Liz Miller

We’ve been a bit spoilt in recent months in Central North with not one, not two, but three visiting speakers who kindly agreed to come and share their expertise and work with us. First up were uber- experienced editors, Non Pratt and Emily Sharratt who came to talk to us about ‘How to Get Your Teen Novel Published’ as part of the Lincoln Inspired Festival. Except they didn’t just talk to us, they made us work as well!

Creating characters and voice 

Non and Emily contemplating what to ask us to do next.

Non spoke about creating characters and voice and then got us to do a couple of writing exercises to work out our own strengths and to help us to consider what we needed to be focussing on to create that all important ‘voice’.  Heads buzzing, Emily then moved onto plot and considered the narrative arc and journeying between each point of the arc before setting us another exercise. Heads whizzing, we moved onto themes and finding the ‘heart of a story’. Then, more writing but this time with a lucky dip bag!

Our thanks to Non and Emily for a thought provoking event. Yes we had to do our bit as well but we were all much the wiser for doing so. 

'Peek into Picture Books'

Our notebooks barely made it back into bags before we were welcoming our next visitor. This time it was our much anticipated ‘Peek into Picture Books’ with award-winning children’s illustrator, Lynne Chapman. Lynne is a member of our Lincoln SCBWI Facebook group and we were looking forward to meeting her in person. 

Lynne gave us an engaging, funny introductory talk about her journey to children’s book illustration. Essentially, her journey involved a lot of hard work, a touch of serendipity and holding a cat to ransom! Not a real cat you’ll be relieved to know and thankfully there was a happy ending to its briefly worrying predicament. 

Checking out Lynne's sketch books

Next, we moved over to the tables where Lynne had brought along a selection of early sketch sheets, roughs and finished artwork. She talked through the stages in her illustration process and we were soon poring over her work, fascinated by it and feeling very privileged to get such a treat! Lynne told us that one of the ways she keeps her illustration work fresh is by sketching outdoors, for the fun of drawing. So after a brief pause for lunch, we had more treats looking through her sketchbooks and her impressively light (and very ingenious) sketch kit. I wish I’d remembered to take a picture of her sketch kit though I did jot down its components! 

From sketch sheet to finished art work 

You can learn all about Lynne and her work from her website and blog; both are a treasure trove of insights, illustrations, sketches and generously shared resources. But in Central North, we feel rather fortunate to have had a closer peek.  Thank you for sharing your journey and work with us Lynne!

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Liz Miller joined SCBWI in 2010. She likes to make lists and is one of life’s volunteers.  When she is not making lists and volunteering for things, she writes picture books. Her picture book Farm Zoo Hullaballoo was Commended at the Winchester Writers’ Conference this year, which made her very happy!

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 15th April

Your erstwhile Blog-Breaker, Nick Cross, has decided to skive off for the week, and I’m here in his stead. It’s only a small change really, we’re just adding a “Y”– Nick for Nicky… I was a little concerned that it might be a quiet week on the blogs, with little to give you in your ten minute blog break, but I’m delighted to see that our stalwart SCBWI bloggers are blogging diligently.

Who doesn’t love a competition and the possibilities that come with it? Ewa Jozefkowicz has kindly done all us children’s writers a good turn by creating a record of all the competitions  coming up over the next 12 months in the children’s book genre. So far there are nine competitions listed – if you know of more, do let Ewa know in the comments section of her blog.

Anna Violet posted to Words & Pictures last week  about the sketchcrawl in Manchester led by Lynne Chapman. In her own blog, Lynne reveals her experience of leading the sketchcrawl . And gives you the lowdown on what she keeps in her kit bag to illustrating the post with stunning sketches done during the course of the day.

Old books and particularly old picture books hold many evocative memories. Paeony Lewis, faced with a house move, blogs about which books she decided to throw out and which to keep and why. Have you held onto old picture books from your childhood – and if so, which ones?

Some of you may have noticed that there’s been a thing called a Writing Process Blog tour doing the rounds of the blogosphere. The tour has been a fascinating insight into the writing process of so many writers. The striking thing that comes through is that there is no right or wrong way to write, only “your” way. Take a look and see how Kathy Evans, Sue Hyams and Larissa Villar Hauser  set about their writing.

And finally, I couldn’t possibly do Nick Cross’ column for him, without taking a look at his own blog post for the week. This week Nick, in inimitable style, considers how important it is for writers to get a firm grip on their ambition so that they’re able to creatively realign themselves to a realistic vision. As he so wisely says, madness is the way for those too focused on the market.

Nicky.

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SCBWI-BI “member abroad”, Nicky Schmidt  is an ex scriptwriter, copywriter, and marketing, brand and communications director who "retired" early to follow a dream. Although she still occasionally consults on marketing, communications and brand strategies, mostly she writes YA fiction (some of which leans towards New Adult) in the magical realism and supernatural genres. When not off in some other world, Nicky also writes freelance articles - mostly lifestyle and travel - for which she does her own photography. Her work has been published in several South African magazines and newspapers. As well as being a regular feature writer for Words & Pictures, Nicky also runs the SCBWI-BI YA e-critique group. Nicky lives in Cape Town with her husband and two rescue Golden Retrievers.

Sketchcrawling in Manchester

SCBWI BI North West held its first sketchcrawl day event last month at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), Manchester.

Children's book illustrator/author Lynne Chapman led our group of 12 people, including illustrators, designers, teachers, students and writers. We had the use of MOSI's wonderful Learning Loft as a base on the top floor of the Great Western Warehouse. 


Lynne started filling sketchbooks on train journeys on her way to school visits, and went on to become involved with Urban Sketchers. Lynne sketches in a variety of small easy-to-carry hardback sketchbooks, sometimes with grey paper and sometimes in a concertina-fold format. 

The contents of Lynne's small black sketching bag: 

*Wrist sweat-band (to replace a cloth, for cleaning brusheswhile painting on-the-go). 

*3B pencil & other b&w mark-making stuff incl graphite stick, white chalk, sharpening tool 

*Watercolour pencils (Inktense by Derwent) 

*Calligraphy pen which gives lively lines (cheap Sailer) with waterproof writing ink (Noodlers) 

*Variably coloured pencil (Koh-i-Noor) 

*Small pan set of watercolours 

*Clips (to hold down paper) 

*Waterbrush (brush with a small water reservoir) 

*Blu-tack with 2 plastic hairspray tops (to stick to surface and fill with water, but too messy to use inside museum) 

*Hairspray fixative

We had 4 sketching stops in total, about 1 hour each, spaced throughout the day. The first was at the Air and Space Building, with planes and roadster cars. 

Katie Weymouth

Pattie Callaghan

Jonny Wood

 The second sketchstop was at the Power House, full of moving engines and very challenging to sketch.

Lucie Golton

Pattie Callaghan

Lynne Chapman

The third sketch stop was in the Castlefield canal basin area in the sunshine (yes, it came out specially!). Some of us also recorded writing on signs and overheard snippets of conversation.

sketching & writing in sunshine

Adelina Pintea

Anna Violet

Eleanor Boyle

The fourth sketch stop was the view from the Great Western Warehouse (top floor or ground level). 

Heather Dickinson

Celia Hume

Lynne Chapman

writing by Gill James

 At the finish, we had great fun sharing our sketchbooks and writing. Being part of a sketchcrawl group made many of us feel more relaxed than sketching alone in public places. The event also gave the challenge of drawing industrial scenes and machines, out of the usual comfort zone for most of us there. Gill James will post a further article about this event from a writing angle in Words & Pictures Network News. 

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Anna VioletFreelance Illustrator www.annaviolet.co.uk 
annavioletillustration.blogspot.co.uk

Getting Near to the End....

By Lynne Chapman

Yesterday I was out doing a school visit in Nottingham, but for all the rest of last week, I have been working away on my Swap! artwork. On Wednesday morning I finished off the school room illustration I was half way through last time we met: 

Since Wednesday was a nasty, overcast day (hence the slightly dingy-looking photo), I pulled the blinds and set-to at my light box, tracing up the last two pages I've yet to do. Of course that doesn't include the cover artwork and the front endpapers (which you remember are different from the back ones on this book, which I already coloured, just before the first batch of artwork went off to Frankfurt). At last the end of the actual story is in sight though.

I decided to tackle the other 'school chaos' illustration next, as I could use the image above as reference. It's so tricky making sure the various kids remain constant across the different spreads - who has teeth showing, who has freckles, which child has which hair colour, which hairstyle, which hair slides... 

I got it finished by mid-afternoon yesterday. This is Sparky's favourite part of the school day: the lunch hour. The publisher asked me not to make the food too obviously English, so I gave them a choice of pasta or good old sausages and mash. I don't know if you can make the food out - the light was bad again, so it's a wee bit fuzzy:

Before the end of the day, I just had time to sort out all my gear, ready for my visit to Ambleside Primary School, where I had a whole day with a single Y3 class, which is quite unusual. We started with an illustration workshop in the morning, then used the images we created to weave stories for a creative writing workshop in the afternoon. Great fun!

Getting back to Drawing: SketchCrawls

By Lynne Chapman

Lots of us illustrators don't really draw any more. We draw as part of our work, we might sketch as part of research for a book, or to create a character, but many illustrators haven't gone out with a sketchbook, just for the joy of it, since college. 


I rediscovered sketchbook drawing a few years ago and have never looked back. The fun and freedom of exploration and experimentation, of drawing for no other purpose than being in the moment, is exhilarating after years of drawing illustrations to commission.

I now run a group called SketchCrawl North, which has members from Sheffield, Hull, Manchester etc. We go out for day trips to various locations to share a love of drawing, and to inspire and learn from one another. The excellent film Mark Lomas has made, of our recent SketchCrawl at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, really captures the idea. Take a look:

Contact me if you fancy giving it a go with us. If you love drawing but are too far from us or from an existing group, try getting together with a couple of friends and starting your own SketchCrawl group. Here are some tips to get you started and help you organise a day.

Other things that might be of interest are my top tips on how to draw people in public places, and my film about my sketchbook work, on the film page of my website. Power to your pencils!

Creating the artwork for my new book

By Lynne Chapman

I'm a bit behind with my 'Swap! artwork, so no more time for filming: it been head-down-time this week.

This was my desk on Friday night. I have decided to treat myself to some bigger, bolder bits of artwork for the next few days, having focussed on vignettes for quite a few days now, which are so fiddly. The joy of these bigger, simpler images is that you cover vast areas of the paper really quickly, so get a great sense of achievement.

Of course, having blocked in the main areas, I still have to slow down and fill in all the detail, but at least I have the sensation of having got lots under my belt to start with.

I'm working on two at once like this when I can: it helps to speed things up when the images contain similar content. If you want to learn more about how I create my pastel artwork, take a look at my YouTube channel or the films page of my website. 

Filmed Demonstration: Creating a Picture Book Illustration in Pastels

By Lynne Chapman

From time to time, people have asked me if I could make a film demonstrating the pastel technique I use in my picture books. I wrote a step-by-step illustrated guide, talking through the creation of a cover illustration for an educational project, but it's taken a while to get round to an actual film.
John and I did done a couple of try-outs earlier in the year, with the how to draw a cat and how to draw a dragon films. We've learnt from those and this new film is tighter and more adventurous, showing me working on a real project in the studio.

It's the perfect time, while I am creating the artwork for my next book, Swap!: I wanted to show something 'real', rather then re-create artwork. John filmed me doing this piece, where Lucy, having enjoyed swapping places with her dog Sparky for the morning, starts to feel a bit bored:

Of course, the artwork took more than twice as long to do, what with all the messing about getting the lighting set up and working out the best way to talk through what I'm doing, and continually stopping and starting, but I'm really pleased with how it's come together, so it was well worth it. 

A big thanks to John, who did all the filming, as well as getting his head round all the technical editing stuff. If you enjoy it, please share it with your friends, so we can get the hit-count up a bit. Cheers!

Starting My New Picture Book Artwork!

By Lynne Chapman

I've finally had the go-ahead from my publisher on those last few redraws of the illustrations for my new picture book Swap!, so at last it's all go! I've only done about half my tracing-up, as it's such a tedious task, tracing all the line work onto my pink pastel paper on the light box. I have to do it in the dark too, despite the sunshine outside (groan), as the pastel paper is too thick to see through otherwise. 

It was great to get stuck into colour though. I started with the first spread of the book, not because I like to work through in the correct order, but because I had clear ideas about the colours things needed to be (pretty much pink, pink, pink), so it was a safe place to begin. 

It was also a comfortable way to find the main characters, as they are very large on the page. I  was imagining Lucy blond, but concerned that might not jump out of the page as much as brunette, especially as I am rather fond of soft, pastel coloured backgrounds (which we will drop in later, digitally).

I wasn't sure what colour to do Sparky. Black would be tricky for showing details, white a little boring, brown a bit dingy and dull... I wanted him to stand out from the backgrounds too, so I chose white with tan bits, to make it more interesting and colourful.

Watch this space for the rest of the artwork.  

Itsy-Bitsy Book Cover

By Lynne Chapman

Remember the issues we had with Waterstones not liking the yellow cover which I originally designed for Baby Goes Baaaaa!? Well, I thought we had sorted everything with the new duck-egg blue cover, but I suddenly remembered something...

On the inside, there is this illustration of Nana Croc reading to Baby Croc. Now, whenever possible, I include my own books in my illustrations. Cheeky, but why not?

I thought for Baby Goes Baaaaa! is would be sweet if, instead of one of my other books, Nana Croc was reading the actual book she was in! Clever eh? Except trouble is, that book no longer has a yellow cover... Uh-oh.

Remember the patch I made for Baby Croc's bare bum on the cover of Baby Can Bounce!? Yep, you guessed it: 

It was so very tiny, it was a bit of a nightmare to do, but quite cute, I think you'll agree. When it was finished, I scanned it in and pasted it over the professional scan of Nana Croc from repro. Then, in Photoshop, I tinkered with it until it fitted like a glove. What do you think?

'Baby Can Bounce' artwork - head down...

By Lynne Chapman

When last I showed you my artwork on the book, I was about to start the hedgehogs. I got on with them early last week:

There's so much other stuff tacked on the desk above, as I am using the artwork from Baby Goes Baaaaa! as colour reference for the characters etc. 

The hedgehogs are all done now:

They are illustrating the page: 'Baby can dance' of course. I thought it would be more fun if they were dressed up. As you can see from this earlier rough, they were originally going to be trying on Mum and Dad's clothes, like children do...

...but Egmont felt that made things look too old and not babyish enough, so I went for more random dress-ups instead.

I finished the week by working on the polar bear and the anteater. Polar bear is about done (Baby can hide) so today it's anteater (Baby can shake) I'm going to get stuck into.

This week John is going to help me out by scanning all the illustrations I've done so far, to send to Egmont. These won't be the final scans of course, just interim ones, but Egmont emailed to say they need some images to take to a sales meeting in the USA. I don't want to send the actual artwork, as sometimes I like to go back and tweak the ones I've previously finished, so home-scans are the next best thing.

It's so great to have someone else to be able to do the scanning, so I can get on with the next piece. 

 

Right, head down...

New Idea: the Tour de Sketch

By Lynne Chapman

On Sunday, we tried out a new sketching idea in Derbyshire, just outside Sheffield. Instead of our usual monthly SketchCrawl, we tried it on bikes. A group called Pedal Ready, associated with the Peak Park, sponsored us by providing free bike hire, which was great, because it meant everyone could have a go. 24 people turned up at 9.30am at Hassop's ex-railway station.


The 1st sketching stop was just 10 minutes away at the old Thornbridge Station:

Apparently, in its day, it was a private station for the exclusive use of the residents of the adjacent Thornbridge Hall (!). Next we continued to a spot where the path opened to lovely, long views across rolling farmland:
We had a longer run next, to where there was a twisted, old birch tree in a picnic area: We rode back to the cafe at Hassop Station for lunch, as it was too chilly to picnic, then had another slightly longer run afterwards, out to where the trail ends, at Coombs Road viaduct. The sun was trying to come out and it was getting quite warmer, so we sat on the grass, beside a field full of springy, new lambs, and spent about 50 minutes on our final sketch of the day: Then it was back to Hassop for a well-earned cuppa, where we sat round a big table and slowly passed all our sketchbooks around the circle. It was a real feast: big books, tiny books, all kinds of styles, rich with ink and watercolour, charcoal and pencil (as usual, I will post other people's work up in my Picture Gallery as they send it in. We'll certainly be trying that idea again!

Baby Goes Baaaa! - creating the artwork

By Lynne Chapman

I started on the pastel artwork for my latest book Baby Goes Baaaa! last week - yikes!

Fortunately, it's all going pretty well so far. It's taken such a long time to get to this stage that I'm really enjoying getting down to it.

To keep on schedule, I have to do one page a day, but that's not as tricky as it sounds, as none of the images have backgrounds this time - we are going to drop bright pastel colours in later.

Here are the ones I've managed so far. Egmont has kindly given permission for me to blog the entire process so, if you are interested, you can see in-progress images and read more about the project every couple of days on my blog An Illustrator's Life For Me!

Wish me luck for this week - I'm working on a baby hedgehog's first kiss today...