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File Drawers and Old Assignments!

2/24/2021

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In my never ending attempt to get my studio and files organized, I came across reference photos I had stored away for “The Zippity Zinger”.  One of ten Hank Zipzer book covers I illustrated for Penguin Young Readers Group, Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver.
 
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​My assignment for the series was to show the antics of the main character but with a twist, I couldn’t reveal his face or expressions!  ( My favorite thing to paint! )  So body language and action had to convey what was happening.  The character couldn't be recognizable so I needed to create an angle that disguised his features, which meant I usually had to sketch Hank from the back.

​It was a fun challenge!

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I always started my assignments by doing a series of thumbnails/small drawings of possible character poses.  Then I looked for my model. On this series I used my nephew/godson Chase as a stand in for Hank Zipzer.  Chase was always a good sport and managed to get close to the ideas/sketches that I showed him. He always came to the shoots with a true acting spirit!


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​I took a series of photos for reference and from there did several sketches. The publisher picked the sketch they liked the best then adjusted the setting, ( I did another sketch with a city view, see the finished cover above ) and started to paint.  
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I love doing portraits.  Though that didn’t happen for this series it did for many of my other covers, picture books and assignments. 

For instance, Robin Hood was my pizza delivery guy! In the same picture book King Richard was a man that worked in the local post office. I’ve painted a box boy, a grocery clerk, students, delivery people, lots of acquaintances, friends, family etc. etc. etc.!  Wherever I see a wonderful face I'll stop and ask if they would be interested in posing for a book!  It's one of my favorite things!!!

Carol Heyer
​carolheyer.com
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​The Importance of Life Long Education

2/16/2021

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Back when I was in High school I regularly took Art classes and really wanted to attend an actual art school. I started out at a 2 year school Ricks College in Southern Idaho to take care of my generals and all the while I had a number of art classes to continue building my training towards becoming a Disney Traditional Animator. My Dad was a teacher and while I didn’t want to follow in his footsteps his example of getting his doctorate gave me a great example to obtain a college education. After Ricks I took a break to do a Disney College Program in Orlando which I thought would be a great chance to network, but mostly became a way for Disney to obtain cheap labor, although I was able to sneak into the Animation Studio for a self-guided 3 hour tour, but that’s a story for another time.  From there I was able to find out about the Academy of Art in San Francisco which gave me a solid traditional drawing and animation training.

I thought that was all that I needed at the time, I started a job search a month or two before graduation and focused on sending out portfolios and going to regular networking events, but my drawing had become minimal since my focus had moved to job search. Unfortunately that was the time that Traditional Animation died out so a lot of the training that I had focused on became irrelevant, so after a while I realized that I needed to refocus on educating myself and build my skills. I’ve come to learn that there are two aspects to educating oneself, self-education and teaching others.

Self-Education

Over the years my personal education has taken many forms, one of the biggest is smaller schools, like Charles Zambilla’s The Animation Academy, Stephen Silver’s school out of his home, Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, Animation union classes, Concept Design Academy and others. All of these have done a lot to improve my drawing and other art skills.

Another source of education that I pursued since I don’t worry about what others think of me is to approach masters of their craft for feedback and other advice, I can’t tell you how many times when I was younger that I would get into the autograph line at Comic-con for Gendy Tartakowsky, Craig McCracken or other animation designers or directors and asked them to look at my portfolio and all but one graciously did. I would also go to them if they had an artist table selling stuff. I would ask teachers after class for feedback also and a few of them mentored me further.

Live figure drawing has also been a great source of Education; Bob Kato’s The Drawing Club in Alhambra has been my favorite along with CTN in Burbank. (CTN has been doing a lot of online zoom sessions along with others) My focus in the last few years though is to go regularly to the LA Zoo to draw, pre-covid I got to where I was going 5 days a week and since covid with the zoo open and closed off and on I have migrated to the William Hart park in Santa Clarita, the petting zoo is closed, but you can still see the animals through the cages since the park is open on select days and if you walk up the hill, you can see Bison! I have also been visiting some of the stables and horse rental places around the area of the LA Equestrian Center in Burbank, I found one stable in particular where the owner has been happy to answer all of the millions of questions that I had. Also the San Diego Zoo and many others have zoo cams that one can draw from. Aaron Blaise’s video subscription classes, been very informative also.  I don’t know what I would have done without having continued to seek out artistic education, which has led to my desire to do the thing that I had been advoiding and following in my Father’s footsteps and teaching others what I had learned.  

Teaching Others

Back when I was in art school there was a friend that I would hang out with and it was one of my things to study artistic anatomy books and to make copies and she’s wasn’t great at it so I would regularly teach her stuff during breaks in our figure drawing class. I found that the more that I shared and taught her the better that I got because I had to understand each principle though enough to not only understand it myself, but well enough to simplify it so that she would understand it. Later when I left school and my family moved down to the LA area in Thousand Oaks a friend of mine referred me to a former Nickelodeon Background artist who was teaching a class in the evenings at a small art school in the Thousand Oaks area off of the 101. So I started assisting her, helping high school kids with their art and eventually in some Park and Rec classes in the Elementary school. After a while, later I started volunteering in my own kids classes teaching them to draw their favorite characters.

I had been a Stay at Home Father and my wife had been pushing me to find side jobs, so rather than take a restaurant or store job (nothing wrong with that for those who do it) I wanted to find something where I could use my art skills so I left a business card at the local Park and Rec center and they asked me to create a class and because of this I was forced to take all of the education that I had learned and a lot of the exercises that I had learned and distill it all into an 8 week class that I could repeat every semester. My classes were popular enough that I was able to teach at 5 different elementary and a charter school and I ended up creating an animal and creatures class and a buildings, vehicles and robots class, along with some private students at the library. (Currently because of Covid I just have the private students via Zoom and we go over any topic they want to since we have covered all of my main 3 classes). All of this teaching has helped my knowledge and ability on the topic to increase greatly.

I am so grateful for the importance of continuing to learn and then to teach others what I have learned. There are always opportunities to learn new things no matter what point in life you are and there’s always people that you can teach and that act will increase one’s own knowledge. 

Portfolio: https://paulburrows.carbonmade.com/
Instagram: ​https://www.instagram.com/hoofprintspb/
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Where Can Ideas be Found?

8/4/2020

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I’ve always found the Google Doodle logo heading on the Google site to be charming, and was happy to accidentally find Google’s Doodle Archive, at google.com/doodles#archive.  I discovered illustrator/writer inspiration there, and an idea treasure trove.

Hurrah for giving the guest artists name credit on the site as well as a mini Q & A with questions such as What was your creative approach to this doodle?  Why did you choose this approach? and Are there any technical tricks you used, that you can share?  Many of the artists have shared preliminary sketches, or photos of their process, as in artists Jack and Holman Wang’s felt-art-plus for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s 148th birthday celebration.  On the section This Doodle’s Reach is a map of the world showing that the doodle was seen ion sites around the world where Little House on the Prairie is known and loved.

Included on the site is artist Matthew Cruickshank’s doodle of Sir John Tenniel, who illustrated Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.  The legendary animator Tyrus Wong’s 108th birthday was commemorated by doodler Sophie Diao.  And Amaka Igwe, award-winning Nigerian writer/film-maker, was doodled by Data Oruwari.

The illustrators are from all over the world, working in a variety of styles and techniques.  Doodles go back to the very beginning of the company when they first played with changing the Google logo to celebrate the lives of eminent persons, birthdays, and anniversaries—including the ice cream sundae!  There are short bios or write-ups about the honored subjects, enough to grab the interest and make you want to know more... 

Maybe there’s an idea for a non-fiction biography or a new illustration technique to be found among the more than 4000 doodles created by a team of very talented illustrators and engineers.  The Doodles open up the world to our discovery of people that may not be known to us.

And exploring Google Doodles is fun!

Diane Browning

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Bob's Day Congratulations on Cookie & Broccoli

7/10/2020

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Link to Bob's book on Indie Bound a website that supports independent bookstores
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780593109076
Bob's page on Amazon 
https://www.amazon.com/Bob-McMahon/e/B0896VYRMY?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1594349341&sr=8-1
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After the Critique...

6/21/2020

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            Don't you just love a scornful, word ripping, art-crushing critique?
 
          No? Me, neither. My insecurity expects Flush-The-Piece-Now and my insane optimism hopes First-Draft-Perfect!!! Even though reality falls somewhere in the middle, I still have to push through my fear.
          Every critique can be scary when I've put my heart into every word and brush stroke. Early on, even constructive criticism felt totally negative—personal signs of failure—no matter how kindly delivered. But even as I shed some tears, I told myself,  Next time, I'm gonna nail it...
           At some point, I inched my ego aside, focusing more on refining my craft, trusting my critique group's feedback. Recognizing the genius of many of their recommendations. And my work greatly improved.
          Today, I get through the post-critique blues by remembering:
 
1. Before I start my revision, give myself a few days to pack away negative self-talk (Again I failed...) and those knee-jerk reactions (What do those hacks know, anyway?)
 
2. As a writer/illustrator, I have my own unique voice and vision. It's tempting for well-meaning  co-members to push me towards their own genre and stylistic direction.
         
3. Consider the group's helpfulness. Each writer/ illustrator group will uniquely evolve over time. If criticism overpowers the positive, the group moves from healthy to toxic. Longstanding groups practice truth, grace and encouragement, mutually pushing each other towards excellence.
 
          After each critique, I still remind myself, Next time, I'm gonna nail it! And a good group can help you accomplish that—with some gentle hammering. (Ouch. Nope, keep going. This pain is good...)
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What we can do . . .

6/9/2020

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"Welcome back!" the sign-in screen says as I begin a new post. It's been a while. A worldwide virus. A worldwide civil rights protest. A mourning in our family among so many others'. And a time to struggle forward. So the little greeting stretches a smile across my face at the same time as my eyes well up.

Silly, I know. But crying's good. It staves off depression and fuels desire for change, despite the limits of a world compressed to my mom's and my homes, phones, books, screens, walks and grocery stores. Donating what I can to causes, grieving/healing with my family, and personal work are things I can do.

So. Aside from weeding and cleaning, I'm writing, sketching, painting, scanning, designing, or researching a little, every day. Anything to move forward even just a bit.

I hope you are finding your way through this time, too.
~Siri
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Carrots!

5/15/2020

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Once in a while you feel like you may never attain your goals.  Many of mine are quite lofty!  I always think that something great is hovering and I equate it to a beautiful orange carrot dangling from a string, just in front of me. Albeit, just out of reach! 
 
Recently I’ve started to think that carrot has withered a bit and turned a little brown!  Ha! That is my fault, because I haven’t finished my picture book projects or started that latest fantasy series. You can’t have success if you don’t send things out of the file drawer and mail them they remain hidden and nothing spectacular will ever happen!
 

So I’ve been dusting off unfinished projects. Doing a book dummy or two and sifting through sketches for new fantasy work.  Also going through boxes and drawers of art supplies. It’s exciting and invigorating.  A fellow Illustrators’ Table artist and friend CHRISTY BOTKIN REEVES did this sketch below for me. I keep it on my desktop! It’s what I picture now, still dangling in front of me. A beautiful orange carrot. Maybe a little closer and, like this drawing, a lot brighter!
 
Carol Heyer
http://www.carolheyer.com


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Sheltering in Place

4/1/2020

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FEBRUARY Illustrators' Table

3/25/2020

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This is a little late but I thought I'd share a few photos from the February Illustrators' Table  meeting. Even though I'm partial to Ground Hog Day, I thought Valentine's Day Decorations might be more appealing! Not to mention candy kisses abounded.


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Sitting at the February Table ( left to right back row )  Kat McDonough, Anne Boydston, Diane Browning, Dan Hanna, Paul Burrows. In the front row, (left to right) Mary-Jo Murphy, Siri Weber Feeney, Christy Reeves, Bob McMahon. And of course I was there, Carol Heyer, taking the pictures!

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Dan Hanna showing artwork to Diane Browning

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Paul showing a book he brought to share with all of us. (L-R) Bob, Christy, Siri and Mary-Jo.
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Kat and Anne!


Every month we have different members gathered around the table.  Sometimes a few, sometimes everyone. No matter how many, or who gathers around the Illustrators' Table we always have fun lively discussions. 

Each month seeing  all the amazing art inspires me to get back into the studio and create! 

Carol Heyer
​http://www.carolheyer@carolheyer.com

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Inventory, Organize and Create

2/21/2020

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by Kat McD.
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A few years ago my studio table started to shrink.  My accumulation of
​art supplies was overwhelming my space to make stuff.. I am guilty of having a lot of different artistic interests.  Instead of ignoring my muses I decided to organize my space so that I can “round robin” from one inspiration to another. If you are an artist who travels in a single lane or a multi lane highway like me, taking the time to inventory and organize your space can save you money, and time in the long run. 

First I needed to inventory my supplies and group my materials. I admit this was daunting, but worth the time.  While some supplies cross over, I chose to group mine by interest. Clear plastic bins and a label maker are a must.  The following are the categories I needed to consider.  

Block Printing, Beading, Bookmaking, Drawing, Painting, Collage, Sewing, Knitting, Clay, Wood, and Concrete.  
Office Supplies, Completed Art Pieces, Fair/Shows Materials.

 Not all of my materials fit in my studio. So I also created a map of each bin and it's contents. For example, my fair materials and finished items don’t need to be at my fingertips on a daily basis, so they are kept in my hall closet and a storage cabinet in my living room.  My knitting supplies are kept in my storage footstool but my yarn stash is under my bed. 

Fading inspiration or growing frustration does not lead to great art making.  To keep my creative output flowing, knowing what I own and where it is kept is pretty obviously a good place to start.  But hey, just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean we bite the bullet and go for it. Taking inventory of my “stuff” was a bit overwhelming.  But now I know what I own and where I keep it.. Whom of us hasn’t purchased doubles of supplies? Or let a project fade because procrastination was less overwhelming than searching for materials?  Have your stash ready and accessible when you want to start that project.  

I drive a twelve lane highway of creativity.  The school of YouTube is always in session and I love taking classes. As my interests expand, I follow the philosophy of “use what you’ve got.” Now If I add to my stash it’s cuz I really really needed too. :)   I can move from one creative lane to another smoothly. When the inspiration taps me on the shoulder, I’m ready. 

Save money, save time, save space, save an idea before it slips away. 

Kat McD  >’y’<  
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See more of my art in the links below.


Etsy Beachy Shop
Etsy NoNappingStudio
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