One Day at TLA – Part II: Picturing Greatness
As you may have learned in my previous post, two weeks ago I was lucky enough to catch the panel Picturing Greatness: Picture Books that Stand Out in a Crowd with Morgan Marie McMillian, Dan Yaccarino, Chris Barton, Eric Rohmann and Kevin O’Malley at the Texas Library Association’s annual conference. This panel was the highlight of my day at the TLA because it was reassuring to me that all is right in the picture book world and because these guys are really funny. It’s no wonder they are so popular with children.
Traditional versus technology is the topic of debate at most, if not all, book conferences these days. And this panel was no exception. They passionately discussed the future of traditional books in this futuristic world of ebooks, apps, and time travel. Oops. Not time travel. Obviously, at that point we can stop speculating on the future of books and just see for ourselves.
The standard argument of picture book traditionalists, that children will miss the feeling of the weight of a book in their hands, was thrown out the window by the futuristic Dan Yaccarino, who cleverly quipped “at one point in time there was someone who missed the weight of a scroll in his hands…And someday someone will miss the dong of their computer starting up.” Which kind of sent me into my own internal panic…computers don’t dong in the future? Dan Yaccarino, do you have a time machine you’re not telling us about???
So are picture books dead, as the New York Times tried to tell us a few scary months back? According to the panel, and I tend to agree with them, ebooks are just another vehicle for storytelling. Picture books will change, as they always have, and the market for them will change, but the two media offer children something unique from one another. Can we breathe a collective sigh of relief and agree that these will be two different yet equally viable markets for storytelling and picture making?
This reminds me of the discussion in my History of Printmaking class in college, when the professor told us about the public reaction to the widespread use of intaglio printing. Critics cried, “Painting is dead!” I was surprised by this because, let’s face it, these are two totally different media. How could one possibly replace the other? Well, the argument was that printmaking could deliver a faster, less expensive product to the masses, and many painters abandoned their brushes to work in this exciting new technology that could make them a quicker buck. Sound familiar? But in the end, they are both beautiful crafts that endure today. It’s not a perfect analogy, I know, but I take comfort in it.
As far as traditional illustration versus digital illustration, a similar consensus was reached. Though some panelists prefer the tactile sensations of brush to paper and others the unlimited options of stylus to tablet, most agreed that as long as the art tells the story in the best way possible, who cares how it was created? I think the medium of snot on crackers was mentioned, but as I am new to blogging, my reporting skills are still rudimentary. I promise to focus more on this type of important details in the future.
In the discussion of style, a couple of excellent points were made. We hear so much in the illustration field about style and I was glad to hear some top illustrators say this: go ahead and play, grow, experiment. Kevin O’Malley says that he changes his style to match each book. He feels his job as an illustrator is to marry the pictures with the text. Since every story is unique, why wouldn’t your art for that story be unique, too?
Dan Yaccarino made a distinction between style and technique that is spot on: the way you draw figures, animals, etc. and the way that you design a page is what defines your style. Think of it as a “drawing style.” Your style is unique to you and no matter what technique, or medium, you use it will show through. I think that’s a nice clarification. Often we get those two confused.
So go ahead and mix it up, people! Don’t sacrifice your artistic growth and a book’s uniqueness for consistency of style. Of course, if you don’t have any books under your belt, you do need to still focus on making sure that your drawing style shows through in your portfolio.
Other noteworthy comments from the panel include Eric Rohmann stating that a picture book is a collaboration with the reader. Most of us have in mind the collaboration that goes on between author, illustrator, editor, art director, marketing, and the list goes on, and we know (or hope) that someone out there is reading our books in the end…but do we spend enough time thinking about including the reader in our process? This was a nice reminder to keep the audience in mind and engage them in your books.
I will end with my favorite piece of anecdotal advice of the day, which came from Kevin O’Malley on the subject of critique groups. Rather than sitting around with a group of boring old adult authors or illustrators, drinking coffee and sharing feedback, Kevin likes to spend his time at the playground chasing after four-year-olds, yelling, “Read this!”
Should I try it?
One Day at TLA – Part I: A Busy Day
I spent Wednesday, 13 April 2011, at the Texas Library Association’s annual conference here in Austin, TX. It was a day packed with great information, wonderful people and fabulous books. In fact, I have so much to say about my first ever visit to TLA that I’m going to break it into 3 posts. Part I: A Busy Day is an overview of all that happened (and that I forgot to take photos of—hey, I’m new at this blogging thing.)
Upon entering, I was happy to hear a familiar friendly voice—that of fellow Girllustrator (my illustration critique group) Marsha Riti. She attended with some of her children’s literature writing classmates.
Though the TLA is run by and geared toward librarians, it attracts all kinds of other folks, too: writers and illustrators (published and unpublished, alike), teachers, students, and people who just love books. It’s a great chance for all to come together and discourse on what’s new, what’s needed, and what’s next in publishing. For those of us who are lucky enough to be published, TLA is a great chance to meet some people at our publishing house with whom we’ve usually only corresponded through email or phone before. And for those of us who are new to the city that happens to be hosting TLA, it’s a great chance to get out and meet some peers. From what I hear, TLA is the only regional conference that a lot of publishers attend, because it is such a large and influential group. (Yea, Texas!) Let’s face it, TLA is a great place to be all around! (Except possibly for the food—two dollars for an apple? Yeesh!)
First thing, we went to hear a great talk Picturing Greatness: Picture Books that Stand Out in a Crowd with Morgan Marie McMillian, Dan Yaccarino, Chris Barton, Eric Rohmann and Kevin O’Malley. So many poignant things were said on the panel, I’m going to write a separate post on the subject. Stay tuned for that.
Next, my husband Jeff Crosby and I headed over to the Boyds Mills Press booth to sign copies of Upon Secrecy, written by Selene Castrovilla and illustrated collaboratively by Jeff and me. Upon Secrecy, a tale based on true events of George Washington’s spy ring during the Revolutionary War, was published by Calkins Creek, the American history imprint of Boyds Mills Press, who is the publishing house of Highlights for Children. The Boyds Mills booth was manned (or womanned?) by marketing coordinator for Boyds Mills, Elizabeth Knight, and convention coordinator for Highlights, Laura Frazier. Both were quite lovely and we are very grateful to have been included in the event! Thanks ladies!
We forgot to take a picture during the signing, but here we are posing later with the advertisement for the event, while the amazing Layne Johnson signs copies of Farmer George Plants a Nation behind us in his fancy Revolutionary tri-corner hat. (I now know what is missing from Jeff and my signings—costumes!) We had the pleasure of getting to know Layne over dinner later that night.
After the signing, we scarfed down some fragrant yet pricey noodle salad, then popped in to meet some more locals at the Texas Sweethearts and Scoundrels ice cream social. The Sweethearts and Scoundrels are a group of local authors and illustrators with an omnipresence in the local kid lit scene. They formed the group (brilliantly, I think) with a common goal of marketing themselves and their books, and they do a fabulous job of it. Luckily, they are more sweetheart than scoundrel, so it’s always a good time when they’re around. Thanks for the ice cream, guys!
Next, we spent some time cruising the booths. We were excited to find a new book illustrated by our old SVA buddy, Andy Rash: Sea Monster’s First Day. I’m always happy to pick up a new book by Andy because I know it will be both funny and delightfully illustrated, and because Andy is an overall great guy. Our four-year-old daughter, Harper, loves Andy’s books as much as we do. She often acts out scenes from Andy’s Are You a Horse? with her toys. Plastic lion to cowboy: “I’m a man eating lion. Are you a man?” Reply: “Nope—I’m a cowboy!” Great stuff, Andy!
Harper, who attended the conference with us, is an absolute horse fanatic. As such, she was delighted to get a free copy of A Friend for Einstein from Hyperion, just for making a birthday card for the teeny equine. (One of the perks of attending a conference such as this—free books!) Also at the Hyperion booth, Jeff saw his F & Gs (an unbound proof called “fold and gathers”) for the upcoming Wiener Wolf (to be released July 2011)! It was really exciting for Jeff to see that his book is already being promoted before it’s even been released!
Another noteworthy picture book that I discovered at the conference was When Bob Met Woody (about Bob Dillon). It was written by Gary Golio, another local talent, whose Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow (about Jimi Hendrix) I absolutely love. I’ve made promises to cut back on my personal picture book library spending, but I think these two both deserve a place on my shelf. They uniquely introduce the early lives of their respective beloved musical figures with text and art that are musical themselves. What a great way to introduce children not only to reading and art, but also history, music and the passion of a musician.
This post is getting long and I haven’t even gotten to the cocktail party! But since I mentioned it, I might as well say that I had a lovely chat at said party with a couple members of my new writing critique group, Donna Bratton and Carmen Oliver. (At least I think it was lovely, I had had some wine by this time.) The group hasn’t met yet, since I’ve joined it–the dust is still settling from TLA and two area SCBWI conferences–but I’m really looking forward to getting started! Also at the cocktail party, Jeff schmoozed with the charismatic author Phil Bildner, who spends almost as much time in Texas as he does his home (and our former home of 13 years), New York City. Phil is a Texas Bluebonnet Award winner for his book, The Hallelujah Flight, and I’ve even heard rumors of a bluebonnet tattoo…You’ll have to check Jeff’s blog for a photo of him and Phil from the cocktail party!
Straight from the party, we were whisked off to dinner at Old Pecan Street Café by the Boyds Mills Press crew. Elizabeth Knight assigned our seats so that we were alternating librarians with creatives. This ensured that we got to spend some quality time chatting with nice folks from the other side of the library shelf, and also meant that Jeff and I couldn’t go splitzies on dessert. (I had to eat the whole thing! By myself!) Again, we were so engaged in conversation, we forgot to take photos! I loved learning about author Dotti Enderle’s passion for horror movies! Her YA novel, Crosswire, like other Calkins Creek books, is a heavily researched historical fiction, set in 1883 Texas. After listening to her recount her favorite suspenseful movie moments, I can only imagine the tension she achieves in Crosswire!
Being an author or illustrator can often be a lonely biz. Despite what others may think, it’s hard work with usually very little fanfare. Sure, I sometimes get to see the cute guy in the next cubicle, but it’s usually to hand off the toddler so that I can get some real work done. My one busy day at the TLA was like the office party that I never get to attend working freelance: I was treated to some fancy food and drink, learned what folks on the other floors actually do, and celebrated a mutual passion for the company that is publishing.
Please check back for One Day at TLA – Part II: Picturing Greatness and One Day at TLA – Part III: Dan Yaccarino is Awesome, But is he Stalking my Dog?
