My Illustration for Tomie DePaola 2011 Heidi Award

My illustration entry for the Tomie dePaola 2011 Heidi Award.

Heidi - By Carolyn Dee Flores



The challenge was to illustrate the following text from Johanna Spyri's classic children's book  Heidi.

"From the pleasant town of Maienfeld a footpath leads up through shady green pastures to the foot of the high peaks that gaze down solemnly and majestically on the valley below. Anyone who sets out in the path will soon catch the keen fragrance of low mountain herbs and grasses, for the footpath rises straight and steep to the Alps.

One bright, sunny June morning, a tall, sturdy-looking young woman, evidently a native of the mountains, was climbing this narrow path. She led by the hand a little girl, whose cheeks glowed as if there were a ruddy flame under deep-tanned skin. And what wonder? In spite of the hot June sun, the child was bundled up as if she were to confront the sharpest frost. She could not have been five years old, but it was impossible to tell anything about her natural figure, for she wore two or three dresses, one over the other, and a big red cotton scarf around her neck; her feet were lost in heavy hobnailed shoes, and the little girl looked quite shapeless as she made her hot and laborious way up the mountain."

How impressive to see everyone's interpretations! Wonderful experience.   

Carolyn Dee Flores

www.carolynflores.com

Soon I will post Part2 of  My Top 15 iPad Apps for the Writer/Illustrator (The Gadgets) #7-11

Creating a Dummy Book For Illustrators - Part1

Creating a 8 x 10 Dummy Book - PART1

"Creating the Inside Pages First"

1. Start with a clean work area and plenty of room.
2. Decide the format your book .

I chose a standard picture book format:

	8" x 10" landscape
	32 pages

3. Write down your calculations on a piece of paper.

My book requires 16 pages for a 32 page book.

I will measure each page to 10½" x 8". Notice  I  added ½ inch to the width to allow for binding.

4. Cut your paper to the correct measurements.

Using a paper cutter, I cut 16 pages  of sturdy drawing paper to exactly 10½" x 8".

5. Mark off your binding area on each page.

This is important because this will indicate where you score each page.

Draw a vertical dotted line ½ " away from the left edge of each page to allow for binding.

This will leave exactly 10" x 8" pages for viewing.

6. Score your pages along the dotted line.

The scoring option is found on some paper cutters. It creases the page but does not cut thru it, in order to provide for a clean fold. - (It is just a step short of perforation.) If you do not have this option, fold back and forth cleanly upon the dotted line.

7. Clip your pages together using binder clips.

I start by stacking the 16 pages together and making sure the stack is even.

 Make sure all  "binding borders" are on the same side.

Now, using binder clips, I clip the stack together - away from the binding side to make sure the stack will remain as even as possible when stapling.

8. Staple your book together using a heavy duty stapler.

9. You should have a booklet without endcovers at this point.

10. Number lower page corners lightly with pencil from 1-32.

I will continue with Creating A Dummy Book for Illustrators - Part2 in my next blog.

Carolyn Dee Flores

http://www.carolynflores.com/

The Illustration Process

 "If They Could Rule The World Like Me"

Carolyn Dee Flores. Oil on cardboard.

http://www.carolynflores.com/

THE ILLUSTRATION PROCESS … SOME OF THE BEST LINKS EVER!

Thumbnail to Finished Illustration -  Katriona Chapman

http://zero2illo.com/2010/09/the-process-of-illustration-katriona-chapman/

“The Art of The Cover” by David Weisner.

http://forum.teachingbooks.net/?p=4399

Left Brain Right Brain – Richard Jesse Watson

http://richardjessewatson.blogspot.com/2010/10/left-brainright-brainthe-odd-couple.html

More from David Weisner – “David’s Studio” and “Straight from the Sketchpad”

http://www.hmhbooks.com/wiesner/process.html

Loren Long - Illustrating the Picture Book
http://ingridsnotes.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/loren-long-illustrating-the-picture-book/

Debbie Ridpath Ohi
http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/Illustrator-Committee-Blog?Guest-Post--Debbie-Ridpath-Ohi

"Rafting at Night" and Modeling

Today, I am featuring one of my recent paintings - "Rafting at Night." 24 x 18" Oil on canvas. It is one in a series of five paintings I did based upon the Periodic Table of The Elements.

"Rafting at Night." 24 x 18" Oil on canvas

Since I spent the entire week last week building a miniature model classroom to use as a reference for the new illustrations I am working on (seriously, I did), it was a great change of pace to get back into just plain oil, brushes, tubes and easel.

Sometimes, you just need a break, no matter how much you love what you are doing.

By the way, here is a picture of my classroom.

My Scale Cardboard Model of a Classroom

 Last year, at the SCBWI Conference in L.A. 2009, David Weisner, three time Caldecott medal winner,  talked extensively about  the need to be skilled at drawing. One of his suggestions was to make clay models of your subject, in order to see it with the correct lighting and shadows.  I have been doing that since last year, and it really helps me to create the world I want and understand it a lot more clearly.

Here is model I made of a horse-drawn carriage. Crazy, huh?

Model of a Horse-Drawn Carriage

Retweet of the Day
These are such great tips on illustration! Enjoy.
http://www.teeteringbulb.com/?p=1239

 See you next week. Have fun!
 Carolyn Dee Flores

Pictures from the SCBWI Conference in LA 2010

Here is a picture of me with world renowned children’s illustrator Richard Jesse Watson.

Yes, THE Richard Jesse Watson.
I really lucked out this year, because Richard critiqued my portfolio and helped me a lot. I will discuss more about his tips on illustration in a future post.

However, this is one of only four pictures I took during the entire SCBWI Conference.

Reason being, as I walked out the door to catch my plane from San Antonio to LA, suitcase in hand, journal and quill pen tucked safely in my pocket, my friends yelled at me.

“And don’t go taking any of those pictures where you run out behind famous people and pretend like you’re really good friends – LIKE YOU DID LAST YEAR!”

Which, ashamedly, I did.

Here’s a picture of me last year running out behind poor Henry Winkler (The Fonz) and Lin Oliver– and taking them both totally by surprise.

I want to start my blog by saying something about the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Summer Conference 2010 :

I could write a book about all of the things I learned in those four days. But, the number one overwhelming impression of the SCBWI Conference in LA this year was that THE TALENT IN THE CHILDREN’S BOOK INDUSTRY TODAY IS STAGGERING. I’m not just talking about the faculty and published authors and illustrators. Everybody, everybody was great. I can’t wait to see what happens next! I’m really proud to be a part of this industry.

I look forward to talking with you about many different aspects of the creative process. Got some great links for you. Catch you later.
 Carolyn Dee Flores
http://www.carolynflores.com/