#KTChat with Author/Illustrator Bethany Barton: In Defense Of Your Day Job

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Author Tips, Bethany Barton, day jobs, Give Bees a Chance, I'm Trying to Love Math, I'm Trying to Love Spiders, illustrator tips, mentorship, tips

By Bethany Barton

Editor’s Note: Award-winning author/illustrator Bethany Barton spends her days working in film and TV, currently in the prop department at ABC’s Black-ish. Her newest book, I’m Trying to Love Math, hits stores this July. And Bethany is not only making herself available to chat with you this Friday (3/22) for an hour beginning at 12PM, but she is ALSO SCBWI-LA’s mentor! So if you’re an illustrator or author/illustrator, you can apply to be her mentee! And no matter what you’re writing, today’s chat topic about day jobs will encourage you, make you laugh, and start a lively conversation! And now, take it away, Bethany…

I hear it all the time from authors and illustrators: “I wish I could make books full time… but for now I’m JUST (insert self-deprecating tone) a bartender/teacher/accountant/etc.” 

We’re all wonderfully complex human beings and that “day job” is a part of our story….so why do we feel the need to apologize for it? Maurice Sendak did toy-store window displays. JK Rowling worked as a secretary and translator. As long as there have been authors and artists, they have had day jobs and side hustles.

And I’m here to suggest we stop apologizing for them.

Consider this a call-to-arms to embrace our day jobs and, dare I say, even celebrate them?! Here are some quick reasons why:

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10 Inspiring Kite Tales Quotes from 2018

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Aaron Reynolds, Cassandra Federman, Dan Santat, Danielle Davis, Garret Weyr, illustrator tips, inspiration, Kayla Cagan, Kent Culotta, Melody Mansfield, Victoria Wells Arms, writing tips

I’m always grateful for the community and connection that comes from being a member of SCBWI. There’s no shortage of people willing to share advice, tips, and knowledge. And lucky for us, so many in the kid lit community have shared their stories and wisdom on the Kite Tales blog.

Whenever I need a creative boost, I like to reread Kite Tales posts for nuggets of inspiration.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Kite Tales stories this year. Hopefully they’ll inspire you too as you set your 2019 writing goals. Read on and click the links to see the full posts.

Author/Illustrator Frans Vischer on Drawing to Communicate

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Halloween, Illustration, illustration prompt, picture books

By Frans Vischer

My first day at school in America was a doozy. My family immigrated from Holland when I was eleven years old. I was shy, and didn’t speak English, and I needed to use the restroom. The entire class got involved, guessing what I tried to tell the teacher. Out of desperation, I made a drawing of a kid on the toilet, which to my dismay, the teacher shared with the class, before taking me to the restroom.

Working Writer’s Retreat 2018: Revisions, Connections, and Karaoke

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E. Katherine Kottaras, Jessica Chrysler, Katya Dove, Kelsey Horton, Nephele Tempest, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, Stephanie Guerdan, Victoria Wells Arms, Working Writer's Retreat

By JESSICA CHRYSLER and KATYA DOVE

This year’s Working Writer’s Retreat brought together writers of all skill levels and backgrounds to the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, Sept. 28-30. From actors to teachers, newbie writers to seasoned veterans, participants had something to gain from the faculty and each other. In workshops, writers were grouped by category and genre and had ample opportunity to mix and mingle throughout the weekend, including a karaoke party.

Faculty included agent Nephele Tempest, agent Victoria Wells Arms, Delacorte Press associate editor Kelsey Horton, Harper Collins assistant editor Stephanie Guerdan, and author E. Katherine Kottaras.

In this post, writer and illustrator Jessica Chrysler and writer Katya Dove share a conversation about their experiences at the retreat.

Jessica Chrysler: It was so great to see you again at the retreat this year, Katya. As much as I love getting to know new people, it’s always nice to find friendly faces. Every year the organizers try to change up the panels and workshops, so I’d like to know, what was the highlight of your weekend?

Katya Dove: I thought the critique sessions were amazing. Listening to other writers read their work, sharing my own, and bonding over words was by far one of the most powerful experiences. There’s so much talent among the attendees. I was blown away by how focused and committed everyone was. Though I must say, the karaoke party brought out a whole new side to fellow writers and faculty—a wild and vivacious side!

JC: I have to agree on the karaoke! It’s always my favorite part of the retreat since it gets everyone out of their quiet, writerly shell. I also really enjoyed the presentation by Katherine Kottaras on “The Joy of Revising.” It’s important to love revision as part of the writing craft and it felt like everyone had similar challenges when facing editing demons. It was great to share and learn different strategies to tackle those obstacles.

Author/Illustrator Cassandra Federman on the Mentors and Digital Illustrations that Led to Her Debut Picture Book

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Cassandra Federman, digital illustration, illustrating, mentors, mentorship, picture books, This is a Sea Cow

Author/Illustrator Cassandra Federman was born and raised in Massachusetts where she spent her childhood reading comic books, playing action figures, drawing super heroes, and participating in all things nerdy. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University and moved to Los Angeles, where she became a hand model. When she isn’t pretending to be famous people’s hands, she’s creating art and literature for children. She is the SCBWI Los Angeles 2017 Mentorship Contest Winner, Writing With The Stars 2017 Mentorship Contest Winner, SCBWI Central California ArtWorks 2016 Promotional Card Contest Runner-up, and her first book, This is a Sea Cow (Albert Whitman), is coming fall, 2019.

SARAH PARKER-LEE: A lot seems to have gone your way in 2017, leading up to your successes this year with a book deal. Congrats! Before you won all the awards, what were you doing that got you there?

SCBWI-L.A. Twitter Banner Contest Winner: Illustrator Gail Buschman

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digital illustration, illustrating, Illustration, illustration prompt, illustrator resources, illustrator tips, prompt, Twitter Banner Contest

In SCBWI-L.A.’s first Twitter Banner Contest (a bi-annual event), illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: GROW. The winning contestant’s artwork is featured on the Los Angeles Region SCBWI Twitter Profile until the next contest with a feature article published here on Kite Tales. Illustrator Gail Buschman won! Read on to learn more about Gail, her tips and tools, her own illustration prompt for anyone looking for some inspiration, and to see her winning image!

Interview with Aaron Reynolds and Dan Santat

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Aaron Reynolds, After the Fall, Beekle, Bloomsbury, Brown Books, Caldecott Medal, Creepy Carrots, Dan Santat, Dude, illustrator, interview, Little, macmillan, Neal Porter Book, picture book, Roaring Brook Press, Scholastic, writer

In April, I had the pleasure of watching funny men AARON REYNOLDS and DAN SANTAT dazzle elementary school kids by acting out their new one-word picture book, Dude! Afterward, they graciously shared their wisdom and expertise.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: What advice do you have for prepublished writers and illustrators?

Volunteer Spotlight: Lisze Bechtold, SCBWI-LA Illustrator Coordinator, Illustrator Events

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Buster the Very Shy Dog, Edna’s Tale, Illustration, illustrators, Lisze Bechtold, Sally and the Purple Socks, SCBWI events, SCBWI members

Lisze Bechtold is an animator as well as an author & illustrator of picture books and early readers. Her published works include Edna’s Tale, Sally and the Purple Socks (a Children’s Choice and Imagination Library book), and the award-winning Buster the Very Shy Dog series. She has taught workshops, reviewed portfolios, and studied writing with such luminaries as Myra Cohn Livingston and Patricia Lee Gauch. A long-time member and volunteer for the SCBWI, she’s co-coordinated several SCBWI Illustrator Days, sits on the L.A. Regional Board, and has quite a few ideas and events in mind for our region’s illustrators and author/illustrators. “What ideas and events?” you ask? We wondered that too, along with a few other questions you didn’t even know you wanted to ask. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with this installment of “Volunteer Spotlight.”

SARAH PARKER-LEE: Just in case anyone out there has avoided approaching you at events or something because of this, before we go any further, how do you pronounce your name?

LISZE BECHTOLD: “Liz” or “Lizzie”, if you need to pronounce all the extra letters.

SPL: Phew! We haven’t been saying it incorrectly! (Introverts worst nightmare.) With that out of the way… You’ve been an SCBWI volunteer for a long time, off and on, why did you recently take up the mantle of Illustrator Coordinator?

LB: I had too much fun coordinating the illustrator contests at the 2016 Writer/Illustrator Day and realized as an author AND illustrator, I have specific insight into the different needs and interests of each. I love connecting people who should meet, as well as the detective part of helping other artists — pointing out their strengths and the direction they are already taking that perhaps they themselves may not have noticed.

SPL: As an experienced illustrator and author, what types of workshops, exercises, or tools have helped you?

SCBWI Members Help the Getty Bring Art and History to Life for Young Readers

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Abrams, Annie Won, Getty Publications, Janine Pibal, Julie Berry, Michelle Thies, Nick Geller, Scholastic Press, Viking Children's Books

Each year, the J. Paul Getty Museum hosts more than 100,000 children on field trips to view the vast art collection at its two locations: the Getty Center atop the Santa Monica Mountains and the Getty Villa in Pacifica Palisades. Add to that those who visit with their families and take part in family-centered events and activities.

The effort to make art interesting and digestible for children extends to Getty Publications, which in recent years has increased its efforts to publish for the youngest readers, said Getty Senior Editor Elizabeth Nicholson.

“The goal is to support understanding and appreciation of art for all audiences — art, archeology, humanities, ancient world,” she said.

Although some books are published to accompany a Getty exhibit, they’re all meant to be readable on their own.

“They’re not meant to be didactic,” Nicholson said. “They’re meant to be fun.”

The books, available through the Getty and also distributed by Abrams, range from picture books to young adult graphic novels. They include two picture books by SCBWI members: author Julie Berry and illustrator Michelle Thies.

Berry is writing the picture book Don’t Let the Beasties Escape This Book! to be published in conjunction with the exhibition, Book of Beasts, a major display of medieval bestiaries — illustrated volumes about beasts real and imagined. It will open in May 2019 at the Getty Center. Berry, has experience with history and research. Her young adult novel, the Printz Honor book The Passion of Dolssa (Viking Children’s Books), is set in the thirteenth century.

Thies, a background artist for the Cartoon Network show Unikitty!, illustrated the picture book Cleo and Cornelius: A Tale of Two Kitties and Two Cities. The book, co-written by Elizabeth Nicholson, Janine Pibal and Nick Geller, was published in conjunction with the exhibit Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the Classical World, currently on view at the Getty Center.

Berry and Thies answered our questions about their books via email. The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

BRING ON THE BEASTIES

ERLINA VASCONCELLOS:  Congratulations on the Don’t Let the Beasties Escape This Book! How did you become involved with this project?

Illustrator Kent Culotta on Animation vs. Illustration, Inspiration, and Leveling-Up Your Skills

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Busy Trucks on the Go, D is for Dump Truck, Dan The Taxi Man, Eric Ode, illustrating, illustrator tips, Kent Culotta, picture books, SCBWI members, The Twelve Days of Christmas in Kentucky, Too Many Tomatoes

Some of professional illustrator Kent Culotta’s most recent projects include illustrations for D is for Dump Truck, published by Sleeping Bear Press, and The Twelve Days of Christmas in Kentucky, published by Sterling Children’s Books. He’s also collaborated with author Eric Ode and publisher Kane Miller on three books, Dan, The Taxi Man, Busy Trucks on the Go, and the recently released Too Many Tomatoes. Kent lives in Southern California, but grew up in a small town in Michigan. When he was five, he covered an entire wall of his parents’ living room with his own gallery, each drawing taped lovingly in place. No blank piece of paper, used envelope, or post-it note have ever been safe from his pencil. And today Kent, a fellow SCBWI member, shares with us his experience along with some tips and tools for leveling-up your own skills.

SARAH PARKER-LEE: You’ve worked as an artist in newspapers and on film, including several years in the animation industry working on some pretty memorable Walt Disney movies. How, and why, did you make the transition to children’s book illustrator? Did SCBWI play a role?

KENT CULOTTA: Being a children’s book illustrator was always in the back of my mind when I was working at the big animation studios, and I took a couple of book illustration classes back then at Otis Parsons. I think that I first learned about SCBWI from one of those classes. At the time I was a bit discouraged because publishers then were less open to illustrators whose work showed an animation influence. That has changed a lot. The big transition I went through was when animation rather quickly went from hand-drawn to CG. I worked hard to update my skills and did pretty well, but I soon realized what I really missed was drawing by hand. I joined a group called Drawergeeks that my co-workers participated in. Each week a new subject was set and we all would do an illustration piece on that subject. It helped motivate me and also helped me get out of my own head a little and tackle subjects that I wouldn’t normally think of, a good skill when you’re illustrating other people’s stories. I ended up getting a pretty nice first illustration portfolio from those Drawergeeks illustrations. It was at that point I started regularly attending SCBWI schmoozes/mingles and conferences, which were great motivators as well.

SPL: As an illustrator, you’re tasked with interpreting someone else’s story while still being true to your artistic identity. Do you have any advice on how to maintain that balance for those just starting out or perhaps feeling a little lost?