25 Wednesday May 2022
You may have heard about writer’s block, or have gotten stuck mid-way through a story or a sketch. Maybe you’ve redrawn the same scene multiple times only to have to throw away the paper after you’ve erased right through it. These times can be tough, and it’s hard to pick up that pencil and keep going. But that’s what you’ve got to do.
Continue reading16 Wednesday Mar 2022
Posted in Illustrator's Perspective, Illustrators Day
Tags
digital illustration, digital tools, illustrator tips, illustrators, Laura-Susan Thomas, SCBWI events, SCBWI members
SCBWI-L.A. Illustrator’s Day is coming around the corner and we have a wonderful presenter lined up, ready to dive deep into the craft of digital art making with you!
Please welcome Laura-Susan Thomas, a digital artist extraordinaire with experience creating art on a grand scale as a Walt Disney Imagineer where she was able to embrace her inner 10-year-old every day, working on designs for Paris, Orlando, and Tokyo theme parks. She has had her work featured in the LA Times Kids’ Reading Room and Babybug Magazine. A professor of Fine Arts at the Allan Hancock College, she is also the Gallery Director at the Ann Foxworthy Gallery and the Illustrator Coordinator for the SCBWI-CenCal region.
For Illustrator Day, Thomas will share with us different strategies for working creatively with technology. The workshop will delve into two of the main applications artists use for creating on the computer and will have a little “sandbox” time for participants to begin experimenting in the medium as well. If you haven’t signed up yet, please visit the regional events page to register.
Continue reading29 Wednesday Dec 2021
Tags
Amy Rubinate, authors, Elana K. Arnold, Eric Smith, Erin Dealey, Henry Lien, illustrators, inspiration, Jorjeana Marie, Kristen Nordstrom, LeUyen Pham, Rieko Mendez, Sara Schonfeld, SCBWI community
Another year has flown by, and while we have borne the loss of some great creators and publishing influencers, we still have a tremendous community of children’s book writers, illustrators, and translators to look towards for inspiration. We have had many words of wisdom shared on Kite Tales this past year and it is a great pleasure to share them again with you now.
Writing for children requires grit and self-reflection; a sense of play and an openness to the changing world. As creators, we can find inspiration in change and embrace our own strengths and weaknesses to make something greater than we thought possible. Take heart and have patience, we are all on this journey together.
Continue reading10 Wednesday Nov 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Illustrator's Perspective
Tags
Graphic Novels, illustrator tips, illustrators, LeUyen Pham, picture books, Shannon Hale, writing tips
Southern California author-illustrator LeUyen (pronounced Lay-Win) Pham is the 2020 Caldecott Honor winner and a NYT, Indies, and USA Today best-seller. Her successful collaborations include illustrating Julianne Moore’s Freckleface Strawberry series and Shannon Hale’s The Princess in Black chapter book series. LeUyen was also co-collaborator on Hale’s popular Real Friends middle grade graphics series. And there’s much more—over a million books in print more!
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! You wrote and illustrated your latest picture book, Outside, Inside (Roaring Brook Press, 2021). The book beautifully addresses how weird it was when everyone suddenly had to be inside. Even though the pandemic isn’t mentioned until the back matter, the way we felt during that time is clearly communicated. Was it harder writing this book than some of your others?
Continue reading22 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted in #KTChat, Illustrator's Perspective
by Anne Bollman
Editor’s Note: Author and illustrator Anne Bollman will be available to chat with you on Twitter on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, from 12 pm to 1pm (PDT) for a live #KTChat.
It was 2018 and I had a dream of becoming a children’s book author and illustrator. I had almost a decade of experience illustrating for products, from greeting cards to dinnerware and even obscure things like doggy-poo bags. I had written a book about a dog (my favorite thing to illustrate), created a dummy, completed rough sketches of the entire book and illustrated a few spreads. I met an agent at a trade show, showed her my pitch and within a month I had signed with a publisher. My dream was coming true!
Continue reading21 Wednesday Jul 2021
In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest, illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: NIGHT FLIGHT. 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 Hannah Shafiroff won this year’s contest!
Read on to learn more about Hannah, her tips and tools, and what has kept her inspired through the pandemic.
A recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach, Hannah Shafiroff lives in the South Bay and can often be seen with a sketchbook in tow. Her heartwarming and magical illustrations can be found at HannahShafiroff.com and on Instagram @ThatGalWhoDraws.
Continue reading03 Wednesday Mar 2021
Posted in #KTIllustrates, Illustrator's Perspective
Tags
#KTIllustrates, Candle Light, contest, Illustration, illustration contest, illustration prompt, inspiration, PolkaDotWhaleStudio
In SCBWI-L.A.’s first #KTIllustrates contest, illustrators were given a few lines from an old nursery rhyme to inspire them: “If your heels are nimble and light, you may get there by candle-light.” The entries could be in any form (spot, spread or cover design) and in any medium. The winner receives a gift certificate to ArtSupply Warehouse and is featured on the Los Angeles Region’s social media pages.
Congratulations goes to Sienna Youngsun Kim, our winner of the #KTIllustrates 2021 contest! Read on to learn more about Sienna and to view her wonderful work, filled with whimsy and delight.
30 Wednesday Dec 2020
Tags
Christian McKay Heidicker, Claire Annette Noland, Creative Life, Emma Trithart, Grace Lin, Harold Underdown, inspiration, Mary Ann Fraser, Monica Sagaser, Nancy Whitesides, quotes, Sherry Shahan
As the year draws to a close, it’s always a good time to go back and reflect on the things that have moved and inspired us along the way. Especially in trying times, going back to the moments that brought light into our world can help us continue to be inspired and come up with new ideas that might not have occurred to us before.
Creating may have been tough for most of us this year, but we had many encouraging authors, editors, agents, and illustrators sharing with us their insights on how to keep going when the times get tough. Sometimes the reassurance that giving ourselves a break was indeed what was needed. And sometimes we just needed to let our stories come out on the page.
21 Wednesday Oct 2020
Posted in Illustrator's Perspective
Tags
Globe Pequot Press, Illustration, Illustrators Journal, kidlit, Lon Levin, networking, publishing
by Lon Levin
When are you too old to become an artist?
I always envisioned myself with white hair and a beard wearing drawstring pants and sandals wandering through my studio filled with large paintings sipping on some nice wine. A true Impressionist’s fantasy.
I had trained to become an illustrator. I graduated from Art Center in the late 1970’s and couldn’t find enough work to continue down that path. I thought I may not be good enough so I turned to art direction which I thought suited me better.
24 Wednesday Jun 2020
Posted in Illustrator's Perspective
Setting is a powerful tool. When authors describe setting, they often use sensory descriptions and figurative language to bring out the story world. But when illustrators need to translate those descriptions, what do we do? We can’t draw how something smells or feels. Or can we?
Continue reading
Kite Tales 