D. C. Everest Students Create Hmong Children's Book

Interesting! I went to school at D. C. Everest.

Pigments

How Watercolor Paints Are Made.

I am also currently reading Bright Earth. An excellent and informative book so far.

Father's Day

This is a commissioned portrait that someone had me do for a Father's Day gift to his parents.

Underground Comix

Today we went to an exhibit of Underground Comix at the Chazen Museum of Art. Great, weird, and interesting work. I liked seeing the originals up close. Last year we went to a similar - but much bigger - comics exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

We wondered if the artists ever thought about their work ending up in a nice, quite museum.

The Line Game

From Anthony Browne, children's author, illustrator, and laureate:

My brother and I used to play a game that we thought was our own invention, until realizing that it is played by children all over the world. One of us would draw a shape and the other would turn that shape into a picture. I think all children should play it to encourage drawing.

I worked from home when my children were growing up so was lucky I was around to read to them. I spent time drawing with them too, and yes they played the game I 'made up' with my brother.

This struck me because, well, my three siblings and I played this game when we were little, and I too thought we were the only ones who played it. We called it "The Line Game," and would continually pass around the paper with each kid drawing a line until the whole thing turned into a picture. Or until it turned into a fight ...

Read the whole article here.

Sketch of the Day

Maurice Sendak Turns 81

A friend reminded me this morning that it is Maurice Sendak's birthday today:

It's the birthday of the children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, (books by this author) born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1928. His parents were Polish immigrants, and as Maurice was growing up, many extended family members died in the Holocaust. So his parents were constantly grieving for their family back in Poland, and they were worried about Maurice, who was a very sick child. He almost never went outside — most of what he knew about the world outside his bedroom came from visiting family members, from the view through his window, and from books. His dad read to him before bed every night, and his mom was constantly hovering around, making sure he was all right. So when he eventually became an illustrator, he oftentimes painted a moon in the background as a symbol of his watchful mother. He started drawing, got a job in high school drawing the Mutt and Jeff cartoon strip into comic books, and went on to art school. When he was 19, he illustrated a physics book, Atomics for the Millions (1947). Then he worked for years designing the window displays for FAO Schwartz while he took night classes at art school.

And eventually he started writing and illustrating his own books for children, books about normal kids who end up in surreal settings where strange things happen, books like Where the Wild Things Are (1963) and In the Night Kitchen (1970). Maurice Sendak has illustrated more than 90 books. He said: "You cannot write for children. They're much too complicated. You can only write books that are of interest to them."

My Style

Here is an iPhone application that Joel and I worked on. He did the designing and drawing, and I watercolored.

June 6th, 2009

Drawing Day was this past Saturday, June 6th.

I didn't participate however, because I had something more important to do - be at my dear twin sister's wedding!