Friday, February 8th, 2013
Little Quack is TEN!
How a purple gorilla, a gust of wind and some words
of sense from my wife lead to Little Quack
I don't know if I believe in fate. But I believe things happen for a reason. I'm sure of it. If it hadn't been for a painting of a purple gorilla, a gust of wind and a few words of sense from my wife more than ten years ago, I might not have ended up in publishing.
During the winter between 2000 and 2001, I was nearing the end of my rope. I'd been sending work off to publishers for years and had received more than my share of rejections. Though I'd received a few encouraging calls and letters from editors, art directors and agents, I didn't seem to be getting any closer to a book deal. I'd quit my job a year and a half earlier and was free-lancing to make ends meet.
My free-lance work grew quiet that winter, so I used the time to pursue publishing with everything I had. I wrote, drew and painted day and night for months. When that spring rolled around, I'd finished dozens of new paintings. I knew I couldn't wait anymore, it was time to go to the publishers. This would be my last ditch effort. I either had to get a book deal or change what I was doing.
I contacted every editor and art director that I'd been sending my work to on a regular basis and told them I had a portfolio of new paintings they hadn't seen and I was coming to New York. I asked each if they'd meet with me. To my surprise, every one of them said yes. So I scheduled meetings for a week in May and began the process of putting together my portfolio.
It's crucial to get your portfolio right. You don't want to have too many pieces, or too few. You want strong work- in color and composition, character and narrative. And you only want to include your very best pieces.
Because they're mounted in a portfolio and you're traveling with it, you never take original paintings. Instead, you make high quality reproductions. I didn't have a good color printer at the time (they weren't as inexpensive or as high quality as they are today). I used the color copier at Kinko's to size and copy each of the twenty or so pieces I'd selected. But there was one painting I was on the fence about. It was a picture of a purple gorilla. I'd named her Gladys. I even had a story about her, but she seemed so far out there, I didn't think publishers would be interested. I decided to include her and went ahead and made a color copy of the piece.
Two weeks before my trip, I chose a crisp April day to put it all together. Each picture had to be cut out, sprayed (on the back) with a sticky adhesive and then mounted on a portfolio page. The spray I was using is very strong, so I had to spray it outside on newspapers and then pick each page up by the edges, carry it inside and stick it down in the portfolio. Everything was going great... until I got to Gladys. I took the picture outside, laid it face down on the newspapers and gave it a good coat of spray. When I picked it up, a gust of wind came up out of nowhere, took the picture out of my hands and it landed, sticky-side-down, on the grass. I couldn't believe it. It was only a copy, but it was ruined. And since I was unsure about whether or not to include it anyway, I took it as a sign. This was fate. It couldn't have been clearer to me. Gladys was not supposed to be in my portfolio, so I left her out. I finished spraying and assembling the rest of the portfolio without incident. When my wife, Cheryl, got home from work that night, I told her I'd finished my portfolio. "Let me see," she said.
She paged through, carefully studying each piece and the order I'd chosen. And when she got to the end, she said, "Where's Gladys?" I told her about what had happened with the wind and how I'd decided to leave the piece out. "You can't leave Gladys out," she said. "You have to make another copy and put her back in." Here was my wife going against fate. Fate wasn't nearly as vocal as Cheryl was. So I drove back to Kinko's, made another copy and put Gladys back in.
I still wasn't sure about my decision until I got to New York and walked into the offices of Simon & Schuster on my first day. I'd had some contact with Kevin Lewis and his assistant, Alyssa, before. I'd been sending them work for more than a year and they'd shown interest in a story, only to reject it later. We talked a bit before we sat down. I reminded them of the story I'd submitted and some of the pictures I'd sent in previously. We made small talk as they flipped through my portfolio. Kevin mentioned how much he liked my work. He asked about a few details and what I was after story-wise with some of the narrative details in the pieces. And then he got to the page with Gladys. He looked up at me with these absolutely piercing eyes and I was trying to prepare myself for what he was about to say.
"Have you been holding out on us?" he asked.
"What?" I said, a little shocked. "No, why?"
"Why haven't we seen this before?"
"I just finished it," I said.
"THIS," he said, "This is what we want!" I almost didn't believe him.
That meeting ended up lasting an hour and a half. Steve Geck, the Editorial Director, soon stepped into Kevin's office and we had a nice chat while he looked through my portfolio. Kevin and Alyssa talked about a new manuscript they had called Little Quack by Lauren Thompson. They said they'd been considering another illustrator, but I was perfect for it. They didn't offer it to me right away. It took months to get everybody at Simon & Schuster on-board with the idea of bringing an unpublished and unproven artist in to illustrate a trade picture book. But they offered it to me later that summer and I was working on sketches for Little Quack by fall.
Little Quack was published ten years ago this month. Was it fate that I would illustrate Little Quack? I'm not sure I believe in it. And I don't believe in luck, either. I think we make our own luck. But if I did believe in luck, I would say I'm lucky I didn't give up when the rejection letters poured in one after another all those years ago. I'm lucky I hung in there and kept working even though the odds were against me and there wasn't a single sign that I would ever be published. I'm lucky that I didn't listen to all the people that told me this dream would never come true. I'm lucky my free-lance work grew quiet that winter and that I had the time to paint all those pictures, both good and bad. It really helped me develop my work. I'm lucky the wind came up out of nowhere on a brisk April day and took a picture of a purple gorilla out of my hands. And I'm really lucky that my wife, Cheryl, had the good sense to trump what I thought was fate. And I'm so very lucky that I walked into Simon & Schuster and met Kevin and Alyssa on the day I did.
Fate? Luck? You can call it what you want. I get to spend my life making books and it's exactly where I'm supposed to be.
Friday, February 1st, 2013
Fun on a Friday!
It was just announced... Waking Dragons is a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards! Chosen by a panel of judges from across the state that includes writers, teachers, librarians, booksellers and others from the literary community, Waking Dragons is one of four finalists in the "Children's Literature" category. The winners in all categories will be announced at an awards gala in Minneapolis on Saturday, April 13th. I'm honored and thrilled that our dragons are finalists (they'll be thrilled, too, after they've had their breakfast). Many thanks to the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library!
And speaking of dragons... we just heard some exciting news. Waking Dragons has gone into a third printing! Thanks to all the knights and young readers out there who have been helping their parents wake the dragons every day.
And speaking of young readers... Hot Rod Hamster had a fun day on Wednesday, January 16th. As a part of "Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida," Pre-K classrooms across the state of Florida read Hot Rod Hamster at precisely 9:30am. Politicians, race car drivers and teachers alike took part in a coast-to-coast, rip-roaring day of Hamster reading!
(Special thanks to Lisa Sahr for providing this photo)
And one final note for the day. I always love to hear from my readers. I received a nice email recently about Brady, who lives here in the Twin Cities. He received a very special stuffed bear for Christmas and immediately named him after a certain favorite book character in Romeo and Lou Blast Off (see above). Ever since, Brady has been busy creating his own adventures with his new favorite bear. I was so excited to hear that. I used to do the exact same thing as a boy. Books are launching pads for the imagination. There's no greater gift you can give a child.
Happy Friday!
Friday, January 25th, 2013
Looking for Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln is my favorite president. He always has been. You only have to look at the long list of rejections and failures he overcame to become president, the things he achieved while in office and the disappointments and tragedies he continuously endured during his life to recognize his greatness.
I recently discovered that I have something in common with Mr. Lincoln. I'm 6'4" tall and 180 pounds- the exact same height and weight that Mr. Lincoln was. I was more than surprised when I discovered this fact. I'm tall, but I always assumed he was taller- he's such a larger than life figure and made a profound impact on this country and the many generations that have lived since.
I thought it might be nice to share a little slice of wisdom from our nation's greatest president...
"And in the end, it's not the years in your
life that count. It's the life in your years."
May your's be full!
Friday, January 18th, 2013
The Night Suit
The painting above is called "The Night Suit." I painted it in 2010. I like to write about my paintings when I put them out into the world. I feel like it gives the viewer a glimpse into what I created and why.
I've always been fascinated by the creative process and what possesses an artist to create the work he or she creates. It's endlessly fascinating to me to hear why Picasso had no choice but to turn to a radical idea like Cubism, what Jack White is after with every song he's ever written, how George Lucas chose space as the setting for his Star Wars films and why J.D. Salinger was so desperate to get published early on, but ultimately disappeared into a secluded life of writing.
The life an artist leads can tell so much about why he creates the work he does. But the truth is, we don't always get the benefit of that information. As a creator, I don't get to be there when my books are read or a painting is experienced. I don't get to sit next to each reader and explain what I was trying to achieve with a particular scene or tell them why I ended up creating the character I did. I have to do my best to bring the work to life and leave the rest up to the reader. In books, the combination of the story and pictures is usually enough to make sense of it and enjoy it.
A work of art that isn't intended for a book, however, doesn't get presented in a context and there's often no explanation at all. If you were to happen upon "The Night Suit" in a gallery or on a random page online, you wouldn't have any idea what it was about. It would be left to you to decide. Part of the art of making these pictures is letting the viewer bring their own set of experiences and curiosities to it. Interpretation is as individual as the lives we live.
The great artist, Balthus, who died in 2001 was insistent that his artwork be seen and not read about. When they were mounting a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Tate Gallery in the United Kingdom in 1968, he famously sent them a telegram saying simply:
No biographical details.
Begin: Balthus is a painter of whom nothing is known.
Now let us look at the pictures.
My painting, above, is called "The Night Suit." I painted it in May 2010. It doesn't matter why. I hope you enjoy it...
Friday, January 11th, 2013
Two BIG Milestones
and a little house cleaning...
Don't adjust your computer screen-- we've been doing a little updating. We needed a fresh new look to start the new year!
2013 is a milestone year for two reasons. It's the tenth anniversary of my first picture book, Little Quack, and it's also the tenth anniversary of this website. I have a lot to write about and share in the coming weeks and months. But before I do, a little house cleaning is in order... and no, I don't mean that kind of cleaning (although the studio could certainly use a good once-over). Before we get on with the business of creative fun in the new year, there were a few projects that were squeezed in the cracks in 2012 that I simply haven't had time to mention.
2012 was an action-packed year. As you can probably guess from the pile of sketches in the picture above, we're working on a new Hot Rod Hamster book for Scholastic Press. It's an absolutely crazy book full of fur and fun and I'll talk a lot more about it soon.
Besides starting this blog and going off on a big book tour for Waking Dragons, I had the great honor of being a judge in Scholastic Book Fairs' "Kids Are Authors" contest. There were so many amazing entries from elementary students all over the United States. Anyone that writes and illustrates books professionally knows it's a monumental task to complete a book from beginning to end. The two grand prize winners Two Dollars, One Wallet and A Kid for Jack were published by Scholastic Book Fairs last fall. Congratulations to not only the winners, but all the young writers and illustrators who entered. You should be very proud of your accomplishments. To read more about "Kids Are Authors," click HERE.
There's another FUN project I worked on for Scholastic Book Clubs, but I can't share it quite yet. I will very soon. I promise.
And finally, last spring I was contacted by the Office of Admissions at Iowa State University. They were developing a very special three-dimensional permanent installation "wall" that would highlight various aspects of the university and showcase alumni who were making impacts in the many corners of this wide world. They wanted to include me. I'm honored and humbled to be featured with such extraordinarily talented scientists and achievers including George Washington Carver (yes, he attended Iowa State). Included in my box is a short biography, an original sketch of Little Quack and a copy of the book. The wall was completed last fall (see pics below). Though I haven't seen it in person, you can visit it in the Soults Family Visitor Center in the Memorial Union on the Iowa State University campus.
There's a whole lot more coming soon! Thank you, as always, for reading.
Friday, January 4th, 2013
Happy 2013
The turn of the year is always a great opportunity to take stock and mark a new beginning in your life. Nearly everyone has something they want to change. Do you? Will 2013 be the year you do it? Here's a little something to think about as you set your own goals for the year...
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Happy New Year!
