Today was the first day for this forum--and the first time I've attended an art conference. Well, there was probably more discussion about the writing half, but when it comes to children's books, the art and the words are hard to separate. Eric Rohman, an illustrator and writer, had some really constructive things to say about this, and several of the other speakers said about the same thing. When you illustrate, you need to tell the author's story, but you tell another story of your own as well. Rohman's example was his book, "Last Song." It's a children's picture book about saying goodnight to the sun, moon, and stars. But the pictures illustrate a bunch of happy squirrels playing with each other. These squirrels were completely uncalled for! Apparently, you can pair words and pictures that don't necessarily fit!
I myself have been trying to be more metaphorical and less literal in my representations. Ruth Katcher, an editor at Egmont, said the same thing as Rohman but used book passages as examples instead. For instance, in one memoir (that I don't remember the name of), the author writes about sifting through coffee grounds in the trash to find his daughter's lost tooth in order to describe his feelings over the loss of his child. You can't just start off talking about your loss and anger with God; you have to take specifics of physical detail to allow the readers to connect, then tie it into the main point.
Katcher used the term, "magical realism" several times. I don't know if she meant it the way I have decided to think about it, but it will be helpful I think in the future. I take it to mean that the reader/viewer must calibrate his/her senses to the story's idea of normal. It is the illustrator's and the author's job to facilitate this transition.
Some other people of note that I was able to meet include Gene Nelson (2-year Caldecott board member) and Candace Flemming (esteemed author extraordinaire)! Looks like I'm in for an equally awesome day of instruction tomorrow as well!
I myself have been trying to be more metaphorical and less literal in my representations. Ruth Katcher, an editor at Egmont, said the same thing as Rohman but used book passages as examples instead. For instance, in one memoir (that I don't remember the name of), the author writes about sifting through coffee grounds in the trash to find his daughter's lost tooth in order to describe his feelings over the loss of his child. You can't just start off talking about your loss and anger with God; you have to take specifics of physical detail to allow the readers to connect, then tie it into the main point.
Katcher used the term, "magical realism" several times. I don't know if she meant it the way I have decided to think about it, but it will be helpful I think in the future. I take it to mean that the reader/viewer must calibrate his/her senses to the story's idea of normal. It is the illustrator's and the author's job to facilitate this transition.
Some other people of note that I was able to meet include Gene Nelson (2-year Caldecott board member) and Candace Flemming (esteemed author extraordinaire)! Looks like I'm in for an equally awesome day of instruction tomorrow as well!
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