(as in previous years, I am including a few sketches I did of people and random doodles, please note that everyone depicted looks better in person and I did have a few "off" moments)

I read over my previous NY SCBWI posts and realized that I always start with transportation. This year I had no problems with transportation. Can you believe it? At least not with transportation on wheels or tracks- walking on my own two feet was the issue. The lesson learned is that you should never break in new shoes by walking to the metro at 6:30 am on a Friday morning. Especially if you have forgotten how slippery it is to wear tights with said new shoes.



I did make it to the hotel however. I hobbled in around 7:30, collected my folder and hid in a corner so I could take off my shoes while I collected my bearings. I was sighted by the supremely talented Ruth. She really is one of the sweetest, most talented (those sketches are amazing, as are her books) people I know. After a few minutes, Lezza burst (more like danced-I really want to feel such energy one day-it looked like fun) on to the scene. We met at a conference in 2006 and have been online and occasional irl friends ever since. She was a self-appointed live blogger for the conference and did an incredible job. Check it out here.



Before I get started on the actual events, I want to give a shout out to the following uber-talented, will all be published (a talented few are published) some day artists/writers that I met at various times on friday. Heather, Jannie, Kim, Jenn Morris, Alicia, Evera and Debbie (no blog yet, she's working on it) I was lucky in that John Rocco and his lovely wife, Aileen came over and said hello. Both are immensely talented and have beautifully published books. Go check out each illustrator's blogs, I'll wait.









Next up was Holly, who founded Pippin Properties. I was intrigued when I found her agency a few years ago. After all, she did steal my very unique name that I am quite found of. When I learned she was inspired by a story by William Steig about a pig called Zeke Pippin, I forgave her and vowed to find that book. (I have yet to actually look however) Her tips were that everyone must begin with a blank page, be kind to yourself, the worst thing that can happen is that you stand still and believe, believe and believe.

Next up was Tracy and John from Marketing and Publicity at Scholastic. They did this intersting session where they recreated a few "typical" meetings over a year that explained how they decide to market and where.

Arthur Levine

There was an entralling panel discussion with Arthur Levine, Bob Brown, Kate McClellans & Cecila Yung. I was so entralled I didn't take a single note. Go over to Leeza's play by play to check it out. After lunch some schedule shifting and a brief stand in by Tommy dePoala, where he critiqued the portfolios very quickly (some were good, most not so good) Harry Bliss arrived. I have seen his work on the pages of the New Yorker but have never done any futher research. Ladies and Gents, this guy was funny and very honest. I liked it.

There were a few sessions on copyrights and saving your work for archives interspersed in there. While these sessions were interesting in their own way, I came away from the day wishing for a bit more interaction.

A workshop or portfolio critique would have been a nice way to fill the afternoon for me. One highlight of my evening was getting to meet Tomie de Poala in the flesh. Through Leeza, we were invited to the bar where I was able to just sit and listen. He is truly a funny, kind person and he even took a photo with me! (you'll have to go to Leeza's blog to see it)

After that, we wandered upstairs and waited for our portfolios. Once we were able to retrieve them, we wandered dowstairs. (and counted our cards to see how many were taken. I was okay with the amount, not thrilled, but not totally bummed either) We chose a random spot by a wall and looked through each othere portfolios. We were soon joined by other members and had a great time looking at each others work. Some of the great work that I saw that is not listed above is: Monica, Jesse, Joey, and Gina. Until we were asked to leave by the hotel staff.

Leeza and I shared a hotel room that night . I have always wanted to stay at the location so I don't have to hurry or stess about getting back to the family location and even though the fire alarms went off for an hour and a half it was worth it.

Saturday to come.....


p.s. my spell check is broken and I am tired, sorry for all typos.

Labels: SCBWI Conference

I'm sitting here feeling pretty miserable. I have a cold, it is that nasty mixture of rain and ice outside and I am feeling the post conference blues. I know that this is a pretty common phenomoen but it still blows. (my buddy Leeza-who is one of the peppiest people on earth- is also feeling it, go give her a virtual hug, will ya?) The mixture of seeing such incredible art, meeting other people who share your dream and hearing inspirational stories from people who are "living the dream" should not make you want to hibernate. But it does.

I wonder if it is like that across the board? Do writers feel this way too? Do people who have published a book still get the conference blues? Could it have anything to do with having to go back to normal life? Is it due to Feburary-which always gets me down anyway? Do tell me people, have you ever felt this way? Am I being overly dramatic on a cold evening becasue I know I will soon have to go face the ice and snow which caused me to bust my rear this morning?

I have my sketches scanned and am organizing my thoughts. I'll post my notes soon. I promise they will be a bit more uplifting. Sunshine coming soon.

Labels: SCBWI Conference

new business cards designed, ordered and delivered

images chosen for portfolio and all but 3 copies made




outfits chosen

I know I will hang out with my pal, Leeza, and am supposed to meet Lil Kim and Debbie. I plan to meet some other illustrators in the marketplace Friday night to chit chat and look over each other's portfolios. If anyone else is going , let me know or just come up and say hello!

Labels: SCBWI Conference

So, I'm back from the conference. Below you'll find my wrap-up, links and sketches. It was inspiring, creative and an awesome networking oppurtunity, same as last year.

The biggest glitch (besides a minorly major tidbit below) was my inability to navigate around New York. I have been to the big city a few times now and one would think I had learned the ins and outs of transportation. That would be a poor assumption. I was cursed, ditsy and just unlucky when it came to the various transportation venues available from Queens to Manhattan. Everyday I discovered a new way to enrage the transportation gods and ensure I was either late, lost or paying an arm and leg. Read more and tell me you don't agree.

Friday:
Transportation: I woke up early Friday morning, cuddled the Pud and walked to the subway in Queens. No problem, easy peasy. Got lost under Grand Central but asked the right person where to go and eventually found my way out of the building. It was 8:30 ish it took a bit of time to get a cab. I was quite pleased with my cab-catching ability. I simply walked up to a cab at a stop sign and used various hand gestures to see if he was available. He was so I and slid in the back seat ready to roll. Fast forward to a lot of traffic, a meter that was going higher than expected and a cyclist bumping into the car and knocking off the mirror and I start to get a little stressed. My blood pressure continued to rise as the driver and cyclist got into a screaming/punching match through the driver's window while I sit in the back seat stunned into inaction. The driver finally goes forward, cutting across four lanes of traffic trying to kill the cyclist while apoligizing to me at the same time. He then pulls over 5 blocks from the Hilton and starts yelling to a cop. I sensibly decide to get out of the car, hand the cabby the fare as he continues to yell and I walk to the hotel. I call my husband and repeat some of the language I had just heard while describing my feelings toward cab drivers.


Onto the conference:

I'm late, grab a coffee and muffin and slink into Mac Cool's discussion of Graphic novels. Very well presented history of the graphic novel and beautiful examples of techniques, compositions and progression of the craft make me calm down a bit. I try to balance my portfolio, coat, scarf, gloves, coffee, muffin and sketchbook so I am not able to take notes. I get inspired just listening to the talk and dream of making a quirky graphic novel featuring crime fighting grandmas.

I spot Heather at the end of the talk, give her a hug and share my morning trivals. I also get to meet the adorable Roz, Sweet Patrice and bubbly Laura Logan. I get around to looking at my schedule see that my next session is with G. Brian Karas and get very excited. I have his website saved and often look at it for his simply drawn but amazing chacaters.

I am lucky to share this session with Laura and Heather Laura has a beautifully soft, gentle style. She is also bubbly and warm and a mother to a 4 year old so we bond. Heather uses simple, quirky shapes wonderfully and has a similar sense of humor so I thourougly enjoy this session. Brian gives a slide show and presention first. He advises us to know our characters. Know their history, what happened to them they day before and know them inside and out. Give them personality through their limbs, outfits and expressions. This doesn't mean they have to be complicated. He shows many examples of simply drawn characters that convey a lot of personality.



The assignment was given to create a mini dummy based on a letter of the alphabet. I get L so I sketch a story about Louie is gets lost. Brian is very down to earth and kind and walks around the room helping out with flow, composition, whatever we need.

We break for lunch and I wander around until I meet a reginal advisor and John Shelly who is a British illustrator living in Japan.

After lunch, I head back into Brian's class, work on the dummy some more. After the session is over, I head out into the hallway feeling a bit forlorn that I hadn't found my conference buddy Dee. I am lucky enough to bump into Ruth , author /illustrator of Ellie McDoodle and creator of the best sketchbook of the NY conferences. A few minutes later Dee pops around the corner, we squeal and we head to the next session with David Diaz. I also bumped into Amy Farrier, whom I know though illustration friday as Dahlgirl.

For this session, we were given an assignment a few months prior to the conference to complete a 3-4 dummy spread with the same character. I chose my Grump book and stuggled mightly with one of the paintings. We have a sort of group critique. David (who is super laid back with a great sense of humor) gives me a few technique tips that I desperatly need.

Next up is Betsy Lewin, illustrator for Click, Clack, Moo Cows that type. She gives a great talk, shows up a bit of her process, work space, work day and past illustrations.


Transportation: It is time to head out so I head out into the cold. I was intially going to take a cab to Grand Central but decide to take the subway instead. I get tremendously lost but with the help of my brother-in-law I get on a train heading south. I get off after one stop, wander around a bit more, find a kind stranger, avoid a British red-coat mime and get to GC. From there I wander around until I find the main hall, ask when the next train is heading to Stamford CT. (for hommade indian food, yum). I forget which track I am told, ask again when I buy my ticket and get directed to the wrong track. I don't realize I'm on the wrong train until I get very comfortable and hear the final boarding call listing the stops. I don't hear mine, so I ask a few people, get different answers so I get off the train. After a bit more wandering around, I find a conducter who points me in the direction of the right train. I arrive a bit late but feel pleased that I am able to somewhat navigate (survive) the subway.

Saturday:

I wake up a bit late and am lucky that my brother-in-law is kind enough to drop me off at the hotel. I drop my showcase submission, cards and easel off and head to the main ballroom. I mee Dee and start to look for Johanna Wright. We have e-mailed and swapped before and I am looking forwrd to meeting her in person. We had agreed on a general meeting place but the area is swamped. I approach a lady with long dark hair and find out it's not who I'm looking for but am lucky enough to be overheard by Johanna. We gather our things and head into the ballroom for the first speech.

Linn Olver welcomes everyone and gets people pumped and laughing with her great sense of humor. Then Susan Cooper ,author speaks and advises us to read, read, read for the sake of your imigination, use your subconcious hauntings to inspire your writing and keep a notebook of ideas and look at it frequently. A note on rejections, her first book was rejected by 23 publishers.
Susan Cooper

We then go to our break-out sessions. I ended up in Mass Market for Writers (I think I meant to choose YA) and learn a lot about what mass market really is. There is no advice given for illustrators but it is an intersting lecture nonetheless.

I meet up with Johanna and Dee for the luncheon and we get to hear Ann Brashares, author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. (yes, she does wear jeans) She talks about bringing humor into tweens lives, dealing with all aspects of the emotional spectrum and knowing when to end a series.

Time for our second Break-out session. This one is picture books for illustrators. It becomes a question and answer session covering a lot of the basics of publishing. It was a bit frustrating to only hear about things that can be learned from a publishers' web-site or in a book but the art director was very kind and is someone I would like to send my work too.


Next is the market panel consisting of one of the owners of Bytes, Books and Beyond, and buyers from Borders and Barnes and Noble. I expected to be bored but it was interesting to hear the marketing/buying side of the business. I meet Andi Carter who has a great graphic style on her card and opening page.
We had a surprise appearance by Jane Yolen who talked about how to love revision.

It was almost time for the Showcase and I was dragging my feet just a bit. I had no aspirations of winning but knew I would still be a bit bummed at not being chosen for the final 10. Well, it turns out that the procedure had changed and the winners would not be announced until Sunday and there would be three winners instead of a top ten narrowing down into three. (I went with Granny and the Grump, thank you so much to everyone who gave me their opinion)

Now that I knew I didn't have a chance, I decided to scope out the competition. I breezed through the aisles completly impressed by artists like Avi Katz, Mary Peterson, Sarah Stern, Lisa Fields and Stacey Previn to name just a few.

Then I came to my painting. There it sat, waiting to be judged by my peers, editors and art directors. Only, it had the wrong name. Yes, the wrong name, the wrong name, and the wrong buisness cards. I think I sqeaked, gasped and squealed that that was not my name. I located an advisor, she pointed me to a nice guy (sorry nice guy, thanks for your help, but i forgot your name) who was prepared to create a make-shift name tag for me. Luckily, Johanna had been thinking clearly and had looked around until she found my name. We switched the paintings to the correct name places and business cards and I tried to calm down. (the other artist walked up about this time and discovered the snafu).


So, I was a little freaked. But I was (lucky for me) one of the first people through the line so hopefully my dream editor/art director didn't pick up the wrong buisness cards. I meandered around the conference some more and met Kristen Darbyshire. She was the winner of the Showcase two years ago and is extremly nice and funny so buy her book.

Transportation:
The showcase wrapped up around 7:30 and I headed home. Johanna (a former native) gave me excellent intructions on how to take a cab home succesfully. Despite her adivse, I ended up getting into a private car and almost bursting into tears when the ride turned out to be thirty dollars more than it should have been. At this point, I really missed DC.

Sunday:

Transportation:
The hubby dropped me off at the subway. (the closest station was closed) I got on the right train. I just got off a stop too early. I found myself standing on a streecorner at 8:30 on a Sunday morning with no one in sight. I never knew New York could look so empty. Relying on my expierence of asking strangers for directions, I stop the first friendly looking lady. (I always ask women it seems) Turns out it is Dianne de La Casas who I heard give a wonderful story performances at the conference last year and who won the LA "Idol" Conference contest in August of 2005 . She is hilarious and after stopping to ask for directions we make our way to the conference.

Once again I meet Johanna and Dee and we find seats near Ruth and Heidi. The winners of the showcase are announced and it was for Wilson Swain for third place, Lisa Falkenstern for second and John Rocco for first. I had met John at the conference last year and chatted with him and his lovely wife Aileen and even cuter baby at the showcase. The Tomie de Paola awards were announced and Brian Gerrity received the gift certificate and Tomie gave special notice to my online pal Roz and Patrice.

The first speaker was Brian Selznick, author/illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret. He talked about using the form of the book to deliver the story. He showed some wonderful examples from his latest book where he uses the turning pages to create suspense and a sense of time.


Break for Brunch and to look at the Publishers displays then back to the ballroom.

The last speaker was Katherine Patterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia. She talked about how there are no guarentees, how we need to dare failure and mediacritoty. She reminded writers that they are the only people who can tell their stories truthfully and beautifully. She was truly inspiring and I nearly cried when she told the basis of her book. If you ever have the chance to go see her speak, go.

transportation: let's just wrap this one up by saying that if anyone tells you to meet them at the jefferson heights station note that the sign says roosevelt stop in the large letters you can see from the train.

So, all in all a wonderful expierence. I think I'm ready for LA.....maybe next year.

Katherine Patterson

Labels: SCBWI Conference

In one month and a week it will be time for my second SCBWI NY Conference. I am excited and a little overwhelmed so I thought I would post my to-do list here so I could keep track of everything I need to do.

1. Get postcards made
2. Create piece for showcase
3. Re-do web-site
4. Add portfolio pieces (re-do several pieces)
5. Complete assignment for Illustrator day


At least I have my buisness cards and I know what I'm going to do for the Illustrator Day assignment.

Who else is coming?

Labels: SCBWI Conference

On Saturday I went to the annual fall SCBWI Conference in Austin, TX. I lived in Austin when I went to UT, met and married the hubby there and the Pud was born there. So, I have a special connection to the city and miss the odd quirkness of the capital of Texas that is like no other place in Texas. I was a member of SCBWI while in school there and made a few friends who I was able to see again.

One of these was Nancy Okunami, she was regional advisor when I joined and is a hilarious, encouraging person as well as talented writer. I arrived early, so I meandered around a bit until 8:30 when my conference buddy Dee, showed up. We sighted each other from far away and as always had a blast throughout the conference .


The first speakers were Bruce Coville and Tony Sansevero. They are the writer/illustrator team from "I was a Sixth Grade Alien" series. Bruce is an amazing speaker (as well as writer of 90 books for kids and young adults). He inspired me with his passion for his craft. Some of his tips were:

1. Write a book at the kids level but remember that they are smart.
2. Let them get lost in this world you've created.
3. Do your homework.

Next up was Tony. He has a studio set up in Austin where he works on numerous illustrating projects, from children's books to fine art. He showed photographs of his studio, his process (photographing models), his mail-outs (including snapshots from his school visits) and his beautiful dragons. He advised illustrators to:

1. Be involved in many different areas of Illustration
2. Live and breath your work
3. Be honest to yourself about the quality of your work. Dissect each piece, if anything is weak, toss it out of your portfolio.




Next up was Lynne Polvino, associate editor of Clarion Books, with tips on escaping the slush pile. Some of her tips were:

1. Research Guidelines
a. Find the names of people accepting submissions
b. Submit to Junior level staff
c. Submit work they accept.


She also had a great quote from Andy Warhol," While you're waiting for people to decide what they think of your work, create more. "



After that was Lunch and meeting up with Dee, Gene Brenek (former critique buddy) and Heather whose work I have always admired online and who is a super sweet person.

There was an Illustrator Track and a Writer Track after lunch which I think is an awesome idea, because sometimes I want to hear things geared just toward the artist.

Don Tate was the first speaker. I read Don's blog on a daily basis and it was super cool to hear the man in person. For his presentation he led us through his career from technical school (beautifully detailed line drawings) through educational work, different styles to trade books. I love hearing about an individuals journey to being published so this was a great talk. There were not very many of us (illustrators) there so it made for more of a discussion atmosphere.

After that, Suzanne Cruise, art licensing agent (also Don's agent) spoke. I've never really considered licensing before but she gave so many helpful tips and handouts plus her firsthand experiences that I wish my work was more suited to that kind of stuff.

So to wrap it up, a well planned conference for illustrators and writers with helpful tips and lots of encouragement with new connections. And that my friends are what conferences are all about.

Labels: SCBWI Conference

This is a summary of my days interspersed with some images from my sketchbook. All real people look a lot better in person. I've left out a lot but tried to include the moments that were big for me.



On Friday I caught the Express train from Stamford Conn. to Grand Central. I was lulled to sleep in the clean and sleek car. (I had only slept for four hours the night before, never travel with a two year old and expect her to sleep through the night the first night). I felt metropolitan and cool with my portfolio and skirt and boots, I had my good luck elephant charm from Tricia and I was ready to take on the world.

I arrived at Grand Central Station and followed the crowd into the main area. For those of you who have never been there, it is incredible. It is a giant hall with a rotunda decorated with a cerulean blue ceiling with constellations illuminated by lights.

After walking in circles for a bit, I found the exit for taxis and spent fifteen minutes trying to hail a cab during pouring rain. I finally jumped into one as he was unloading a passenger. We chatted all the way to the hotel and he told me all about his trips to Punjab.

We pulled into the hotel $4.50 later and I walked through the rotating doors into a busy, lush lobby and was directed upstairs. I stood in line and met Mary who is an artist with a background in textiles. After registering I found coffee and muffins and was walking around a bit glazed when someone called my name. I looked up...up...up to see that the lovely Amy Morenohad found me. She escorted me into the conference room where I met Ruth and Dee, Michelle and Manuela. After many hugs and excited squeals, we took over a row and waited for the fun to begin.

(tomie)

After the welcome speech, Tomie dePaola held a "Newbie" Panel consisting of Rebecca Doughty, Sean Qualls and David Ezra Stein. Tomie is hilarious, comforting and honest with a great sense of humor and he wears awesome turquoise glasses. Each artist talked about how they got there start. Rebecca was a fine artist, Sean sent out massive mailings consisting of 1000 cards and David was discovered by his teacher, Pat Cummings. It was great to hear the discovery stories from people who made it.

Next up was the highly entertaining Pat Cummings. She is a professor at Pratt and has illustrated over 30 books. She shared with us her 9 major epiphany which, I'll sum up as: you can make money, trust yourself but don't be afraid to ask for help, write about your passions and there is no limit to your imagination.

(cecilia)

We then had assigned workshops. I signed up for Analyze Yourself with Cecilia Yung (Art Director and Vice President at Penguin Young Readers Group).
I first considered this a bit of a disappointment as it is very subjective to look at other people's work. But I learned a few things, 1. I need to show continuity of character 2. you pretty much either like my work or you think it sucks. 3. I might want to look in other fields, like older kids and editorial. (which makes complete sense since Quentin Blake's illustrations for Roald Dahl are some of my favorites.)

I was pretty much exhausted at this point but joined a few friends like from my online illustration group at the Comfort Diner and had a wonderful time. If you ever meet Ruth, ask her about her college roommate.

Saturday rolled around and about two stops outside of Stamford I realized I had left my table-top easel in our car. I tried not to freak out and this was to really, really hard but there was no way I was going to cry in Grand Central. Luckily for me, as soon as I got to the hotel I ran into Dee who is definitely a former girl scout and we fashioned an easel out of foam core. (This was after I found a piece of cardboard out of a trashcan, I tried to be discreet but was later called on it by the exuberant and hilarious Leeza. )

(david almond)
There was a wonderful speech by David Almond. He is an incredible inspiration and encouraged us all to imagine our books on the shelf and stay playful among many other things.

(joann)

I had two sessions with art directors. Elizabeth from Scholastic showed us how the art director improves a book and Joann from Clarion gave tips on having a killer portfolio. These included different perspectives, illuminating weak pieces (if you are not sure, take it out), drawing animals and people with proper emotions (the little things, ears laid back on a mad cat and how a kid stands when he waits.) Before one of the workshops I sat behind Michelle who Dee had introduced me too and the recognized the lady sitting next to her from the previous day. She had this beautiful British accent that most Americans lust after (including myself) and was very funny. She looked at my name tag and squealed, asking if I was Courtney Pippin-Mathur. I answered yes and she introduced herself as Lezzy. We have e-mailed back and forth a few times and it was so cool to be recognized by the art on my business cards.

After a few more speakers, it was time for the New York Showcase. The winners were chosen by the time we went in there and I was not one of them.

(alter ego pointing to stinky pile of poo. This is how I felt for a few minutes)


I allowed myself to feel bad for two minutes then I realized how fantastic the competition was and was blown away. I chatted with Heather Van Vleet, Dee, Leezy and Amy and had cheese, bread and wine. It was a swanky set-up and it was fantastic to see so much art. Let me tell you, there were people there who were ten times more talented than me that didn't get chosen.

The winners were incredible and unique and I was inspired to make my work that much better. The grand winner was Erin McGill.

The highlight of the next day was during a contract workshop given by Marc Brown. As we were listening to his great advice to read contracts however slowly it takes you to understand them, hire a lawyer to help you, to set up every contract as if will be your home run and put in escalation clauses. I noticed the name tag on the guy sitting next to me. It was John Rocco. I recognized his name as a previous Showcase winner and leaned over and told him I loved his work. At the end of the talk he asked to see my portfolio. I showed him and it turns out he was one of my peer reviewers from Cecila's workshop. He had said that I needed to find the right person (that my work was different and somone would love it) and to consider editorial and older children . He showed me his favorite piece and complemented my use of color. It was so cool! It was great to meet someone in person whose work you love and who had succeeded and he or she likes your work. After I got home and checked out his website, I learned that his wife was also at the showcase. She was another one of my favorites, her name is Aileen Leijten.

(starstruck)



The final speaker of the day was Nikki Giovanni who is a passionate speaker and poet who puts a fire in your belly. She went through every page of her award winning book, Rosa, and told us the backstory and why she chose to say certain things.. I took away from her speech not to sit on your laurels, never be a man of your time, create change any way you can and believe in what you do.

On the drive home, I was telling Saurabh about the highlights and I realized how many contacts I had made, how much exposure I had received, how much incredible artwork had seen and all of the great advice I received. Previous to that I felt overwhelmed and unsure of the things I had absorbed. I just needed time to process all of the information.

Now to put all of this to work.

Labels: SCBWI Conference