Blog: A Work in Progress

10 Turkeys Preview

April 22, 2011 by admin

Here’s a preview of artwork for TEN TURKEYS IN THE ROAD by Brenda Reeves Sturgis (coming out Fall 2011). I just received these from the publisher and wanted to share them because they make me smile. I had a great time painting this book. All images are acrylic on illustration board. Click on an image to see it larger.

Posted in Children's Books, Illustrations- whimsical | 2 Comments »

Many Are Sketched, Few Are Chosen

February 23, 2011 by davidslonim

Acrylic and charcoal on board

Here’s the finished cover art for A DOG’S LIFE, shipped yesterday to Roaring Brook Press / Macmillan in NY. The editor and art director chose this from about six or seven sketches. Here are a few -

charcoal on copy paper

Sharpie pen and pencil

pencil on copy paper

Whenever I speak to kids I always stress that a professional artist doesn’t sit down and bang out a nice image in one shot. Time and effort are invested in trying several ideas, then choosing the best. The teachers always nod vigorously. Most kids would rather be a snowman in a sauna than revise.

Real writers revise. Real artists erase. Professional artists and writers spend most of their time on stuff nobody will ever see. “So kids”, I tell them, “don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it right on your first try. Neither do I.”

charcoal on copy paper

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If you’d like to schedule a talk at your school, please contact me at david@davidslonim.com.

Posted in A Work In Progress Blog, Children's Books, Creative process | Tags: Children's Books, Creative process | Leave a Comment »

A DOG’S LIFE art finished

February 3, 2011 by davidslonim

Art for “A DOG’S LIFE” is finished, shipping to Roaring Brook Press on Monday.

It’s a whimsical look at all things canine- behavior, breeds, hearing, smell, history…

Why dog’s roll in smelly stuff…

prehistoric ancestry of common breeds…

how humans and dogs relate to each other…

Final art is the end result of a long process of sketching, trying out ideas, choosing the best, refining them and finally painting them.

Now – on to the next project!

Posted in A Work In Progress Blog, Children's Books, Illustrations- whimsical | Tags: Children's Books, Illustrations- whimsical | Leave a Comment »

Advice to An Aspiring Children’s Illustrator

February 2, 2011 by davidslonim

The following is an interview with an art student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA majoring in Illustration:

1. What specific skills (Artistically) in your opinion do you find most essential for your success in illustrating children’s books?

Empathy. You have to genuinely love people and be able to put yourself in their shoes. The ability to tap into universal human experience is a gift. If you have it, it needs to be nurtured, coached and developed. Find role models, mentors and peers who can help you grow. Read poetry and good stories and look at great works of art that move you and make you want to go create stuff.

You have to love sequential story telling, with an understanding of how images contribute to character and story apart from the text.

You need to be able to identify the emotional tone of the story and create art that enhances it.

Technically, you need to be able to draw — the ability to create a unified visual world with its own internal logic. It may be whimsical, serious, abstracted or realistic, but it needs to be visually unified and compelling to look at.

Be willing to work hard, trying multiple solutions for any given image. Most of my images involve 10-30 sketches, not counting black and white miniature paintings and mini color paintings before going to final art. Like a film director doing multiple takes of a scene and then choosing the best, we also need to do the hard work of finding the best solution.

I’m reading a book by Leonard Bernstein which has a chapter explaining Beethoven’s methods. Beethoven would try up to 20+ versions of a given passage of music before settling on the right answer. Bernstein’s point was that the quality of “inevitability” which characterizes Beethoven’s music was something he paid for with sheer perseverance.

The same is true of Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper, and many, many other master painters. They did countless studies in preparation for the final statement. Most of art making is this kind of digging for gold. The greats don’t just sit down and bang out a great image. They work for it.

2. What specific skills (Business Related) in your opinion do you find most essential for your success in illustrating children’s books?

Never miss a deadline. EVER. Be easy to work with. Take feedback like a grown-up – grateful that the art director or editor want to help you excel. The story is king.
If it serves the story, do it.

Success in business is at least 80% working well with people. Be kind, express gratitude, be reliable, be friendly. And do good work.

3. What affiliations and/or organizations do you find the most prominent and beneficial to the children’s book illustrator?

The most helpful thing for me has been speaking at schools and universities. I’m not currently a member of any organizations.

4. Do you attend conventions and/or conferences regularly? Which do you find the most beneficial for yourself and the aspiring children’s book illustrator?

I don’t attend conventions or conferences. I’m raising four kids, so I try to minimize time away from home. I also don’t want to be overly influenced by current trends or the “hot new thing.”
Making books is a chance to explore my honest reactions to life, and I don’t want to miss out by trying to follow somebody else’s answers.

5. What ways of self promotion have you found to be the most successful?

This is important, because publishers will only promote a book which is already successful, if at all. To my knowledge, none of my books have been promoted by the publisher beyond inclusion in their annual sales catalog.

The most important thing is and will always be doing good work. Almost all of my opportunities have come as the result of either repeat business or someone having seen a book I had already done.

My web site, blog, Facebook page, and speaking engagements are the main things I do to promote the books.

6. What is the competitive price range for the work of children’s book illustrators?

It varies widely depending on experience, reputation and track record. You normally get an advance against royalties, with a royalty of 5% of retail (artist only) or 10% of retail (author/ illustrator). If the book earns back the advance, you then earn royalties.

7. What methods are used to calculate the prices?

They will tell you what they are offering. If you need the money, say yes!
On a few contracts recently I have asked for a little more than they were offering, after doing 12 books and having a proven track record.

8. Do you have any advice, thoughts or insights for the aspiring children’ book illustrator?

Expect rejections. Work hard. Experiment a lot. Figure out what you most enjoy doing.

You will probably need another source of income. Maybe for a while, maybe forever. You never know.
But if you are doing books because it’s what you were born to do, that’s not important. What’s important is that you dig around in your own soul, find the gems down there, and get them out into books for other people to enjoy.

Children’s books create an opportunity for children and their parents and grandparents to come together and make memories that will last a lifetime. It’s an incredible privilege to be invited into a child’s world that way.