This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Nashua, NH. The above image is the painting I created for the poster contest. It won SECOND PLACE in the published category. I was extremely pleased. The first place winner was friend and fellow Tugeau 2 artist Kathy Weller (see her poster here), so I was not sad to lose the top prize.
I met and re-met with lots of cool picture book people (like Robert Squier, Andy J. Smith, Kathy Weller, Anne Jewett, Kim Jacobs, and Jim Hill) and got a nice, informative portfolio critique.
Also got to meet author Cynthia Lord, the keynote speaker, who is very funny and sweet in person and was nice enough to sign a book for me. Illustrator Floyd Cooper also gave a keynote and demonstrated his cool oil liftout technique.
This year, I also attended the illustrator’s intensive workshop that focused on the graphic novel. The faculty included illustrators Anne Sibley O’Brien and Gareth Hinds, and art directors Chad Beckerman from Abrams (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), and Phil Falco from Scholastic (Bone). They provided a great crash course about the creation and marketing of graphic novels.
Lots of info to absorb, and lots of inspiration to take in. Thanks to all the volunteers and organizers who make this such a great event each year.
