Tag Archives: SCBWI

Art Break Wednesday: Registration is Open for SCBWI Southern Breeze Illustrators Day!

Posted on by
4

 

Interested in Children’s Book Illustration?  Whether you are just starting out or you are a seasoned pro, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Southern Breeze Region is hopping with talent, resources, and folks to get to know.  Led by Illustrator Coordinator Elizabeth Dulemba, with assistance from Kathleen Bradshaw, the region offers ways to develop your craft and network with industry professionals throughout the year.  (Click here for the Southern Breeze Illustrators Corner.)

One of the most ambitious events is always Illustrators’ Day, jam-packed with talks from leaders in the field as well as feedback on artwork.

Robyn Hood Black, Jo Kittinger, special guest Greg Christie, Elizabeth Dulemba, special guest Peter Brown, and Kristen Applebee enjoy the SCBWI Southern Breeze 2012 Illustrators’ Day in Atlanta.

Held previously in September, the event is moving to the Friday just before the Southern Breeze Springmingle conference in Atlanta, the last weekend in February.

(Note:  I will actually be in the building but involved in the other Friday option that day – a verse novels intensive with Nikki Grimes!  But I look forward to meeting some of our Illustrators’ Day guests and taking a look at portfolios, etc.)

Here’s the scoop on the 2013 Illustrators’ Day:

Friday, February 22nd, from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Century Center Marriott (the same location as Springmingle).

Cost: $65 per person for SCBWI members, $70 for SCAD or AIA students, and $85 for non-members. Audit options will be available to regristrants after the first 30 slots are filled.

Organizers are looking forward to the new date and digs.

“We hope that with this new change, our illustrators will want to stick around to enjoy the advantages of the entire conference weekend, although it’s not required,” says Elizabeth Dulemba. “We will also be overlapping some of our speakers.”

Binders Art Supply will host a Portfolio Viewing Cocktail Party from 4:00pm to 6:00pm for local Art Directors, gallery owners, instructors, etc. to drop by and view attendees’ work. (In other words, you’ll want to stay later, says Elizabeth! Please include take-aways with your portfolio – business cards, postcards, bookmarks, tear sheets, etc.)

“We will also have a display table just for book dummies along with the portfolios,” adds Elizabeth.  “We’re offering amazing new opportunities for our illustrators to learn more about the business of children’s books and perhaps get some good leads for freelance work.”

The  incredible line-up of speakers and mentors includes  Chad Beckerman, Creative Director for Abrams (Abrams Appleseed, Abrams Books for Young Readers, and Amulet Books) Dianne Hess, Executive Editor at Scholastic and Blue Sky Press,and Will Terry, illustrator and innovator.

Illustrator Mark Braught will mentor the first 12 registrees (first-come, first-served) with an assigned project before the workshop. The goal:  to create a finished piece ready to show on Illustrators’ Day during the Portfolio Reviews.

Portfolio Reviews: The first 30 registrees will display their work and receive feedback from this illustrious faculty in a public overview manner (timed – no more than 2 minutes).   (Attendees should follow the Portfolio Guidelines on the Southern Breeze site.)

NEW! Dummy Display: This year a designated table in the portfolio viewing area will be dedicated to the display of picture book dummies.

Registration is now open!
For more information, for links to all these great speakers, and to sign up, click here.
For questions, contact  Elizabeth O. Dulemba: http://dulemba.com elizabeth at dulemba dot com.

Art Break Wednesday: Painter and Illustration Contest Winner Beth Rommel!

Posted on by
15

 

This past spring, I had the lovely good fortune to fall into a wonderful artists’ critique group.  We met through our amazing SCBWI Southern Breeze region.  I’ll share more about our small band in future posts  (Beth Rommel, Kathleen Bradshaw, Prescott Hill, Paula Puckett, and yours truly).

Beth Rommel

Beth came to see me at Mule Camp!

TODAY, I want to celebrate our “fearless leader” – or, at least, the one of us brave enough to host us in her home each month and keep our calendar on track. Why are we celebrating?  Because BETH ROMMEL just won first place in the SCBWI Southern Breeze 2012 illustration contest, as announced this past weekend at our fall conference in Birmingham!  Woo-hoooo!!!!!  The contest was judged by Debra Kaplan, Vice President and Executive Art Director at Penguin Young Readers.  (Yes, you should be impressed!)

Beth came to the Atlanta area in June 2011.  She grew up in Louisiana, and her work has been widely exhibited in Texas and the Southwest, and in Florida, where she later lived.  Her work experience includes graphic design, editorial, production, public relations, and education.  Now you can find Beth and her wonderful paintings here in Georgia!

The prompt for this year’s contest (coordinated by our own Kathleen Bradshaw, by the way) was:  “PJ tried and tried…”

Wouldn’t you know it, Beth was not able to attend this weekend because she was the special guest at another art event in Atlanta featuring her oil paintings. So I snapped a quick picture on my iPhone of her work up on the BIG screen:

image ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a better picture of her painting:

“PJ tried and tried to make friends with the horses.” ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

Beth kindly offers this peek into how she created her winning picture:

I am so surprised to have won this because as a painter my style is very different from traditional children’s book illustration, which I really admire.

In coming up with a way to complete the prompt “P.J. tried and tried” I spoke with fellow artist Prescott Hill who said he was trying to remember things he had done as a child.  I was always doing something with horses in my childhood, riding them, showing them, trying to catch them in a field, make them my friends (carrots and apples always helped that process). 

Because of that constant contact their form is intuitive. It is well embedded in my Visual Catalogue, a term I coined recently. (I define it as a registry of the images kept in one’s mind. The images are derived from experiences of all descriptions.) I wanted to convey the feeling of being in a field surrounded by horses, some are friends, some are a little wild, some threatening, and others completely ignore you. This whole cast of characters I knew as a child. Wearing mismatched clothes was not an issue in the country early in the morning when all I wanted to do was get outside and get on a horse. In my dad’s big jackets or a flannel shirt I would walk the wet fields in Louisiana trying to track down these creatures and hope they wouldn’t run away before I could catch one for the ride home.

I used a palette of mixed media: acrylic paint, white ink, collage papers on coldpress 140 lb. watercolor paper. The original is proportionally twice the size as the final printed piece as I work better in a large format. I have tried to imagine what it would have been like to see my horses on a large screen at the conference! I sure wish I had been there; thank you again for sending me the photo. I am walking on air.

Thanks so much for this behind-the-scenes look, Beth!

Here is a taste of some more of Beth’s vibrant works.  These are all oil paintings.

portraits: Co-Directors of the World Shakespeare Project. ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

Admired Woman. ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

Nancy and Andy. ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Chicken was Back Again. ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

Can’t wait to see what else Beth has in store.  You can keep up with Beth at her new art blog,  bethrommel.com.

What feelings does Beth’s artwork evoke in YOU?  Let her know in your congratulations in the comments!