Picture Book Retreat 2014 – a Novice’s View

After excitedly anticipating this event for over six months, the day had finally come to embark on SCBWI’s Picture Book Retreat. I did not know what to expect, but having gone to lots of other fantastic SCBWI events organised by Anne-Marie Perks and Bridget Strevens, I knew that we would be in for a treat! By Shana Nieberg-Shuschitzky


 
Holland House is a fabulous location for inspiration. The original architecture is stunning, the staff are warm and welcoming, the rooms lovely and peaceful, and when you step out into their phenomenal grounds your eyes are greeted by a sea of lavender and hollyhocks and a green expanse that’s just asking to be enjoyed.
 

We had a couple of hours to unwind after our travels and I was pleased to discover that I wasn’t the only rookie there. Bridget and Anne-Marie handed out our programme of events, which provided the perfect balance between group activities, appointments with assigned Mentors and Individual work time.

There were two fabulous guest speakers present: Alexis Deacon (Beegu, Croc and Bird) and Helen Stephens (Fleabag, How to hide a Lion), who, over the course of the weekend, ran a series of fun and challenging workshops and talks to inform and stimulate us. 

Alexis beguiled us with his powers of observation, fantastic approach and understanding of storytelling, not to mention his classic and amusing impressions of a blackbird and its cheeky mimic, the robin.
 

Helen dazzled us with her stunning illustrations and their corresponding roughs, of which she brought so many to show us that at one point I had piles handed to me from both directions and was almost drowned by awesomeness!

Saturday afternoon we were incredibly lucky to have a visit from two Industry talents: Sarah Malley, the Deputy Art Director from Egmont Books, and Maria Tunney, Senior Picture Book Editor at Walker Books. They talked us through various examples of Picture Books that they loved and what it was that made them special. Then they gave us an honest and revealing account on how many developmental meetings and how much decision-making happens before books are taken on.

Interspersed throughout Saturday and Sunday were the Mentor appointments held with: Alexis Deacon, Helen Stephens, Mike Brownlow, Sarah Malley and Maria Tunney. However, all of the Mentors were so incredibly open and approachable that many of us ended up having more than one appointment.

The food at Holland House deserves a special mention, particularly their cakes (I’m biased to sugar, it gets a raw deal!). All their food was made with local produce and one mealtime included a black forest gateau with the most delicious cherries the size of plums that almost made me cry, it was so good!

Throughout the whole weekend however, the most unexpected bonus was the utter joy of being amongst such like-minded and spirited people. Being part of SCBWI inspires a feeling of camaraderie akin to belonging to a tribe. The socialising and fun-filled activities, including a most memorable midnight game of croquet, complete with iphone lighting, was like the cherry on top.
 

I think that I can speak for everyone when I say that we all came away with our heads buzzing with inspiration and our hands raring to go, and it’s all down to the amazing efforts of Anne-Marie and Bridget, so thank you both so much.

In short, this is an experience that every storyteller should have, at the very least, once in their lifetime.

Weavers of Words and Pictures Unite!

Photos used by courtesy of Helen Stephens, Sue Eves, Candy Gourlay, Anne-Marie Perks & Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky.
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Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky aka Shanarama creates stories and illustrations for both picture books and older children’s fiction, though she has a few other tricks up her sleeve. In 2012 she won the Undiscovered Voices Competition for illustrating and is a proud SCBWI member. Her website is http://shanarama.co.uk
Also, follow Shana on Twitter.

Interview - Helen Stephens

Helen Stephens

Illustrator and picture book author Helen Stephens will be one of the facilitators at the upcoming SCBWI Picture Book Retreat for Illustrators and Writers. In this exclusive interview for Words & Pictures, Anna Violet delves into her processes and techniques. 






Helen Stephens has worked as an author and illustrator for about 15 years and lectures at the MA course in Children's Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. She has written and illustrated many books, including Fleabag, The Night Iceberg, The Big Adventure of the Smalls and How to Hide a Lion. She has also illustrated books for Roger McGough, Sophie Hannah and Michael Morpurgo. JoJo and the Melon Donkey (written by Michael Morpurgo) will be published this August.

Spread from How to Hide a Lion

 Sketching

 My best drawing happens when I am uncomfortable

 

Your picture books always start with a drawing from life. Could you talk a little about your sketching processes?  For example, are your characters and settings always (at least initially) drawn from real life? How do you translate your sketches into your final picture-book spreads? What sketching kit do you take with you when you go sketching on location and how do you deal with unwelcome attention?

Drawing from life is an integral part of my work; it’s where all of my ideas start.

I usually take a sketchbook, a small one if I want to draw unobserved, or a big one if I know I'll have room to spread out and take my time. I usually limit my materials to a few coloured pens, and a dip pen and ink.

Strangely enough, my best drawing happens when I am uncomfortable. If I feel time pressure, or I’m freezing cold, or getting in the way of passers by, then something interesting usually happens. It's something to do with thinking less about getting the drawing technically correct, and just reacting in a more instant way.

 I enjoy it if people stop to chat, or look over my shoulder, it's all part of the fun. But if I really don’t want to speak I have my ‘Don’t talk to me!’ body language, it usually works!

Doges Palace drawn from life in Venice, used as a resource for the final artwork

Illustration for JoJo the Melon Donkey (written by Micheal Morpurgo) of Doge's Palace, with horses parading past

A photo of me drawing in Northumberland where I live

Sometimes the drawings stay in my sketchbook for months or years before I realise I have a character or story idea, sometimes the drawings just stay in my sketchbook, and that’s OK too.

It’s rare for me to illustrate someone else’s text, but recently I was asked to illustrate a Michael Morpurgo story. It was set in Venice, so to find my way into the story I went drawing in Venice. Some of the sketches I did there almost became the spreads in the book. It was such a pleasure to illustrate. I am now working on another Michael Morpurgo book set in a small village in Switzerland, so I’ve just come back from a drawing trip there.

Words

Sometimes I think the idea will go nowhere, and then suddenly I have a breakthrough

 

The interplay of words and pictures works so well in your picture books.  At what stage do the words come into your books? Do you start off with a large word-count that gets pruned down as the pictures develop, or do the words gradually build-up along with the pictures?

 I usually start by playing. This involves drawing a character in different poses and situations and seeing what happens. I add words here and there and gradually the words and pictures develop into a story.

It’s not always easy, there are lots of ups and downs, sometimes I think the idea will go nowhere, and then suddenly I have a breakthrough. I rely a lot on the honest opinion of a good editor too. I have a great editor in Alison Green and a good designer, Zoë Tucker. If I am stuck we get together and fire ideas around, it’s lots of fun and we laugh a lot. I then take the ideas home and start drawing again, and a story might evolve in this way.

Example of rough drawings for How to Hide a Lion from Grandma  where I'm working out the story structure and where the text and image will go

The words and pictures happen together, I don’t write and then draw. I don’t write a long text then edit it, the words happen at the same time as the pictures, constantly changing, often doing hundreds of drawings and rewrites until the whole thing starts to work.

I scan roughs in, then chop and change them on photoshop, then make a pdf so that I can see where the page turns are and how they work. I often make paper dummy books too.

Style, process and tools

It’s all in the preparation

 

Your illustration style is so fresh and lively, it almost looks effortless. You often leave white spaces around your characters and use swathes of yellow that bring in the light. Reviewers of your books also talk about your timeless style, with traces of Edward Ardizonne and Ludwig Bemelman.  Do you use any favourite tools or processes? Do you use a computer at any stage to refine or tweak your images? I understand you completely changed your illustration style a while ago. What led to this and what was your style like before?

I am so pleased to hear my work looks effortless. It is only after a HUGE amount of effort that the drawings eventually become effortless! It’s all in the preparation. I draw as much as possible from life, then do so many rough drawings, that by the time I start the book I know my subjects inside out. The final artwork happens very quickly, I might do it a few times and choose the best one.

 I stand up to draw, that helps keep the drawing fluid. I use a dip pen and a bottle of ink because it gives me less control, I like that.

My dip pen and ink (with a bit of card stuck on the bottom to stop me   tipping it over

I changed my method of working a few years ago. I used to work in flat brightly coloured acrylic paint. It was great for baby/toddler books, and they sold really well, but it gave me no scope for drawing depth and emotion for older children. I eventually felt trapped by ‘a style’. So I stopped taking on new commissions and took a year out. I went back to my sketchbooks and developed a new way of working.

Now I don’t feel I have a style, I don’t even like that word really. I try to look at each book as an opportunity to learn something new. Having a style can stifle that creativity I think.

Influences

Which illustrators and writers have inspired your style and way of working? Do any contemporary illustrators and writers inspire your work now?

 I have a varied taste in children’s books; I like everything from Ardizonne to Charles M. Schulz. I like lots of the illustrators from the 1950’s including Roger Duvoisin and Jean-Jacques Sempé. I love Ludwig Bemelmans, I just read his biography and it was good hear that he too did thousands of rewrites and rough drawings, and drawing from life. It was good to hear that, very affirming!

I also love John Burningham, I like the spontaneity and the emotional pull of his drawings, and his words and pictures work so well together. I also love Bruce Ingman. His line is so individual, naïve but sophisticated at the same time.

Agent

Your agent is Hilary Delamere from The Agency.  Do you think it is important for a picture-book illustrator/author to have an agent?

I don’t think an agent is vital. I managed without one for the first 10 years. But I couldn’t manage without Hilary now; she does all the paperwork and chases up contracts etc. It saves me doing all that difficult stuff, so that I can get on with the creative work. It’s good to have someone to talk through problems with too, or make plans.

Magazines

 I like the change of pace

 

I understand you also work for French Children's magazines. Can you tell me a bit more about this?

I often do illustration work for Bayard Presse, they publish magazines for children covering lots of age groups. I’ve been working with them for about 12 years. They are lovely to work with, it’s usually quite a quick turnaround from brief to final artwork, and I like the change of pace compared to writing a picture book. It’s also lovely to see children’s magazines that are so full of beautiful illustration, for boys and girls alike.

I get depressed when I go to my local newsagent to buy a magazine for my daughter, everything is marketed towards either boys or girls, lots of pink for girls, and terrible cheap trashy freebies. My daughter loves it when the Bayard Magazines arrive, we pick our way through the stories using my very limited French, and then set to work making the paper theatres that appear at the back for the magazine. They are a real treat.

Gerry Turley

Your partner, Gerry Turley is also an illustrator, and he will be a fellow facilitator at the upcoming SCBWI Retreat.  Do you inspire each other or work together on any illustrations?

Yes, I suppose we must inspire each other, but our work is not visually similar. We both like to draw from life, so our work has a similar foundation in life drawing. We talk through our work with each other sometimes, but don’t really give each other advice, that would be too intrusive and lead to rows!

Gerry has a book coming out next year called Woooo!. He used a mixture of screen-printing and photoshop layers to make the artwork, it is beautiful. He has influenced me with this actually, because I have started to do some screen-printing, although it hasn’t appeared in my books yet.

What are you working on next?

I am about to do a follow up to How to Hide a Lion called How to Hide a Lion From Grandma, a new Michael Morpurgo book set in Switzerland, where I went to draw earlier in the year, and a few other exciting things too. A very busy year ahead!

Thank you Helen for sharing with SCBWI your journey into picture books. 

Helen Stephens official website
Read Helen's Blog Oh I Forgot to Say, here

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Anna Violet is a freelance author-illustrator based in Manchester. She won the Undiscovered Voices Tribute competition 2010 and was Featured Illustrator 2011. She illustrated a young readers book, How Anansi Got His Stories (Oxford University Press) in 2011. Check her portfolio website here, and her blog here.

Retreat

by K. M. Lockwood

Dunford House

A reflection for writers and illustrators on this theme with some ideas to pursue.

The word ‘retreat’ is a homonym – the two different meanings are spelled the same and sound the same. Unfair, the child in me cries. Therefore, I intend to divide and conquer.



1.

RETREAT noun – act of retiring in the face of danger, also verb

I suspect this is where my previous somewhat bellicose metaphor comes from. The Armed Forces used to beat a retreat on their drums to signal falling back when the odds were too high – or to entice the enemy into thinking that.

Credit: Drummer Boy by Erin Williamson no remix

Currently, commonplace advice holds that your central character must always be active – must take the lead and do things – not be ‘done to’. Largely, I would agree – we don’t want wimps. But there are occasions when discretion is the better part of valour.

For your work-in-progress, have you a situation where your protagonist should withdraw? It is even more effective if there is pressure on them to remain steadfast – but they know it’s futile or that there’s a better way. Have they taken on a role that’s too much, have they confronted an enemy or a challenge too soon?

Try a sequence where they need to go back and find the courage to start again. Perhaps they have to argue with companions, have to show how this is a better way when everyone else doubts them. This will make for a stronger character in the end – but if you’re really cunning, you might make the reader fear for them and their motives.

2.

RETREAT noun - withdrawal into privacy; place of seclusion 

Clearly distinct from the military meaning, this has a spiritual element to it. The SCBWI-BI retreat at Dunford House, though full of fun and interaction, had that sense of pausing to reflect and consider. For writers and illustrators, the place of seclusion is a key element. We need space to escape the busy-ness of everyday.

That can apply to your work too. How about taking your character into an empty landscape, taking away all the outer stimulus and see how they cope? Will your YA character fall to bits without a mobile? Can your MG adventurer cope on a desert island? Visually, does your character stand up without a whole load of setting seducing the viewer?

Credit: St Cuthbert's Isle by Fr Lawrence no remix

It might be worth taking your protagonist to some isolated spot well out of their comfort zone and dumping them there. Cruel – but it can show their mettle.

Alternatively, they might need to go for themselves – leave their friends baffled and go off into the hills, the desert, out to a tiny island, to think deeply. It could be an exercise to discover more abou t them – or a brief moment in the narrative. This last might make an effective lull before a major crisis – a moment of introspection, of delicate lines and subtle hues before a riotous explosion of colour and action.

“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion." 

                   Albert Camus 

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@lockwoodwriter

K. M. Lockwood is a writing name of Philippa R. Francis. Once a primary school teacher, she became a graduate of the MA in Creative Writing at West Dean College in 2011. Her story The Selkies of Scoresby Nab was short-listed for the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition and long-listed for the Times Chicken House in 2012/13. She was born in Yorkshire but now lives by the coast in Sussex. Her writing shows her deep fascination with British folklore and the sea. Her interests include reading, scuba diving and belly dancing, though not at the same time. She also blogs at the-wedding-ghost.blogspot.co.uk

What I did last summer - The Highlights Foundation Advanced Illustrators Workshop

The annual series of Highlights Foundation workshops for children's writers and illustrators takes place amongst rural scenery in Honesdale in the USA. Here, our Illustrator coordinator Anne-Marie Perks reports on last year's Illustrator Workshop.

As part of my continuing professional development, I commit to at least one class a year, to further my skills and to be inspired. It’s not all about learning a new mark making technique, story development strategy or digital technique. It’s also about the camaraderie. Fellow illustrators and writers working together on honing our craft, sharing stories and industry news at various levels of our careers, and taking time out to experiment, explore and have lots of fun. Two years ago the Highlights Foundation, after many years of the successful writing workshops, started their very first Advanced Illustrators Workshop. I feel privileged to have attended both the very first workshop in 2011 and their second in 2012, taking place over the American Labor Day weekend (first weekend in September).

The foundation is part of Highlights for Children, Inc. They publish Highlights Magazine, 6 - 12, High Five, 2 - 6, and Hello, 0 - 2 years of age, and the book imprint, Boyds Mills Press. Kent Brown, executive director of the Foundation and editor in chief emeritus for Highlights Press, is very active in several organisations that promote education reading. During the workshops, Kent often stopped by to talk to students and faculty during meal times dressed in his characteristic denim jeans and braces. All workshops are now run in the Barn on what used to be the Myers’ family farm just outside of Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

View of the Barn, Highlights Foundation Conference Centre.

There are a few things that stand out in a typical Highlight Foundations workshop. They do everything they can to make you feel welcomed and comfortable. The meals are prepared with mostly organic and locally sourced food. Every meal is a piece of art. Everyone from the kitchen to the faculty are committed to you being able to focus entirely on your craft. Each attendee is assigned a mentor to work with over the five days you are there and every mentor has received recognition through a Caldecott prize, a Coretta King honour or some other prestigious award that highlights their work. The faculty for the very first workshop in 2011 was Eric Rohmann, Floyd Cooper, Melanie Hall, Suzanne Bloom, and Lindsay Barrett George along with several special guests. The 2012 faculty was Eric Rohmann, Floyd Cooper, Kelly Murphy and Ruth Sanderson with special visits from Donna Jo Napoli and David Weisner, and Neal Porter from Neal Porter Books, imprint of Roaring Brook Press. The workshops cover not only art techniques but also address dummy preparation; storyboarding; continuity; portfolio expectations; character development; self-promotion; and finding a market. Attendees range from on the edge of being published to published a lot, leading to informal critique sessions and discussions throughout the five days.

So how does this journey begin? With a submitted application to the Highlights Foundation. From there, the faculty vets all submissions and chooses who to invite to the Advanced Illustrators Workshop. Once you are approved and invited, then you pay your workshop fees. You’ll get several mailings informing you who your mentor is, the time set aside for you to meet; about 45 minutes, and a reminder to bring your portfolio and any work you want feedback on. Though you are assigned a mentor, other faculty members will look at your work if asked. There are scholarships available for those who need it. Be aware that if you intend to apply for a scholarship, apply early.

Highlights Press back door used by staff going between Highlights Press and across the green, Boyds Mills Press.

Everyone from the kitchen to the faculty are committed to you being able to focus entirely on your craft.

Before the illustrators workshop officially begins, all attendees are invited to a tour of the beautiful old houses on Church Street in Honesdale where the editorial and design staff offices are. Across a shady green from Highlights Press is Boyds Mills Press. Art directors and editors talk about their magazines or books with a chance to preview the books and magazines that they publish. The most amazing piece of trivia from the tour is that every, yes, every piece of mail is answered and all the craft activities published in their magazine is tried out by staff physically making them. Every craft piece made and published is stored in Highlights’ archives. They are always looking for new craft activities to publish.

My cabin on the grounds of what used to be the founders farm across from the Barn.

Looking at the cabins from the woods. None of the cabins are too close allowing for quiet.

It is with excitement that faculty and students meet for the first time in the Barn over an amazing dinner. Every attendee is assigned a rustic cabin to themselves that includes lovely Pennsylvania decor, shelves full of books Highlights publishes and a work area for writing or artwork. This is just me, but I did keep my eyes open for bears reputed to populate the woods around there.

Workshop area inside the Barn.

All the facilitators were very giving of their time and expertise.

Every day begins with an art technique session facilitated by one of the faculty, about three hours. These sessions are hands on and all art materials are provided. You will end up producing a sample piece from each session. It is up to you whether you pursue taking your piece to final finished form or you keep it as a sample.
Reductive processes seemed to be the keyword last September. We began with prolific illustrator Kelly Murphy. The process included Wintergreen oil, a printer’s technique for transferring images, Crystal spray fix, watercolour and gel medium for sealing the paper.

Illustrator Kelly Murphy showing us her original art.

Kelly demonstrates reductive process, lifting highlights from a raw sienna midtone wash.

The next three mornings were led by Ruth Sanderson showing another reductive process that included sealing the paper with gesso medium after drawing out your image in prismacolor pencil. Then coloured using oil washes applied with cotton ear buds. Eric Rohman gave an in-depth talk on his lino printing process on the book, Kitten Tale and led us all into designing a small lino print. Floyd Copper showed yet another reductive technique in which oil washes, or sepia chalk in this case, are applied to sealed paper and areas of light are lifted with a gum eraser.

Clockwise: Facilitators Floyd Cooper, Eric Rohmann, Ruth Sanderson and Kelly Murphy.

The afternoons were filled with mentor appointments, individual work time and optional offerings in character design, storyboarding techniques, narrative development, talks by Neal Porter and a session with author illustrator David Weisner and author Donna Jo Napoli. Donna and David shared their evolving process between writer and illustrator responding to each other’s work, which will result in a graphic novel. An interesting exercise done in a small group portfolio critiques had the group decide on three of your best pieces to exhibit in the evening exhibition set out in the loft. Highlights provided table easels and cloth covered tables for the work. Note: the favourite pieces you’ve fallen in love with that you think are your best are rarely the ones that are chosen! Dinner was always preceded by drinks and snacks on the patio in front of a huge fireplace and old stone walls reminiscent of English rock walls.

Showcase exhibiting three pieces from each illustrator chosen by their small portfolio critique group.

Large outdoor fireplace at the barn. A fire was set every night.

On the walls in the barn are a few original paintings by the publisher’s illustrators. I sat in front of Floyd Cooper’s painting from The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars by Jean Merrill, in awe working out how he did it. Over the two Advanced Illustrator workshops I attended, my mentors were Floyd Cooper and Eric Rohmann. All the facilitators were very giving of their time and expertise.

Illustrator and Coretta Scott King award winner, Floyd Cooper.

On publication of this article, the 2013 Advanced Illustrators Workshop is taking submissions. Over the American Labor Day holiday you will work with children’s book illustrator E.B. Lewis, author illustrator Matt Tavares and art educator and children’s book designer, Joy Chu; all award winners. If you are interested in finding out more about this year’s Advanced Illustrators Workshop, follow the links for information and application forms for both the workshop and scholarships.

Anne-Marie Perks