Today, I have children’s book illustrator Alison Davis Lyne back as my guest. She has illustrated 10 titles for Pelican Publishing and edits the ART TIPS column for the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) newsletter. That’s quite a resumé, and I’m thrilled to have her here. 

NKA: Welcome back, Alison. You have illustrated both concept/story books and alphabet books.  What are the illustrating challenges with these two very different kinds of picture books? 

ADL: Hi Nancy. Thanks SO much for inviting me back to your lovely blog for another chat.

I've been lucky to illustrate many different kinds of books for children.   

My most recent project for Pelican Publishing is a more of a concept book, Little Things Aren't Little When You're Little by Mark Burrows.  Mark's lyrical text (he also writes songs!) tells different episodes in a child's life where things that seem little to adults are really a “big deal” to children. Mark's manuscript had, after the opening/intro stanza, 13 separate scenes, each had a child engaging in a described action, with the refrain: “Little things aren't little when you're little.” 

 

If your readers remember from my last visit, in our chat about spreading out text over the 32 pages of a book, they can easily see that Mark had indeed “done his homework” in how he set things up. The text starts on page 5, which leaves 13 “double page spreads” to illustrate  each stanza.  (A “double spread” is what the reader sees left to right when the book is opened, with the action being carried over both pages). With a bit-o-artistic license, I rearranged things just a teensy bit and went to work on planning the illustrations. 

For some reason, one of the middle stanzas describing a young child's first hair cut struck a cord, and I began my sketching there. I remembered an old commercial where a small boy is tearfully getting his first hair cut in an old fashioned barber chair. I got to wondering what would happen if that small boy started wiggling when the elderly barber started trimming.  And instead of “taking a little off the top” the barber got a huge swath right across the little boy's head.  In reaction the little boy might slide off the huge barber chair and put his hands over the newly bald spot.  I couldn't help but “draw” parallels between the elderly barber's, and the  grandfather's bald heads and the child's newly shorn head.  As a running joke, throughout the rest of the book, the little boy appears with his “reverse mohawk”.  Here's how the page spread came out.... 

 

Illustrating this kind of book is really a lot of fun....I can make up characters and settings to give my own kind of “flavor” to the lively text.   

NKA: Alison, you’ve helped us writers better understand how a picture book needs to be written to allow for the illustrations to be added to the text. We definitely need to write with the idea of action that takes place over 13-14 spreads. Thanks for your explanation and for explaining how you develop ideas for working with the text of a picture book.

Alison is returning next week to discuss her latest project. To see more about her published books, please visit http://www.lyneart.com/CHILDREN.HTM 

To see more of Alison's artwork, please visit http://www.lyneart.com

To see more about Alison's art  and art techniques, please visit Alison's blog http://lyneartblog.blogspot.com 

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

Norman Mailer High School Writing Awards: Highly recommended free contest for creative nonfiction by currently enrolled high school students awards $2,500 and a trip to NYC for the award ceremony. Contest is co-sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English and the Norman Mailer Writers Colony. Submit one or more entries, maximum 10 single-spaced pages total, through their online form. Sponsored by: National Council of Teachers of English

Deadline 4/30/2014

Submissions Guidelines at http://www.ncte.org/awards/student/nmwa

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ONLINE ART & LITERARY JOURNAL

It’s time to share your story. Waypoints is accepting poetry, fiction, art and photography submissions for our inaugural issue. We’re looking for the best from established and up-and-coming writers and artists. Submissions should include writing and artwork that embodies a sense of what the artist has encountered on her or his personal journey.  Waypoints will appear semi-annually, featuring the best work of established and emerging writers and artists. Published work is eligible for the Editor’s Choice award.

Deadline May 1.

Submission guidelines at http://www.waypointsmag.com/.

I’m so happy to have Alison Davis Lyne back this week. Alison is a creative illustrator with a stack of picture books claiming her art. She’s been working professionally since 1996. You can check out more of her work at www.lyneart.com. She writes the column “Art Tips” for the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Bulletin.

 Alison, tell us about your process of designing art for the text of a book. 

I begin by thinking about how the individual characters will look and act. That will often lead to a character study page like this: 

http://www.lyneart.com/BLOGNKAIllo2.jpg 

This is a character page from my most recent book, Little Things Aren't Little When You're Little written by Mark Burrows, and published by Pelican Publishing. 

All of this work is for “my eyes only,” and is used just like a writer's text outline, and character sketches. I then work up and send on final black and white sketches to the Art Director.  After doing any revisions that the Art Director requests.....I begin the “funnest” part of the job (at least for me)....painting the final artwork. 

You, as the writer, can polish your PB manuscript with this exercise. When you have reached a semi-final stage of your manuscript, you might take 16 sheets of paper, and number them front and back 1 thru 32.  Usually the text for a book starts on something like page 5. You might try to divide out blocks of text on the pages of your “book” spread over pages 5 thru 32. See if you can structure the action and rhythm of your text to flow easily over page turns and double page spreads.  This is “for your eyes only”, NOT to be sent to a publisher. 

This exercise can be a great way to smooth out some of the story line, word plays and rhythms. And it will “show” when an editor reads your manuscript. You can bet that editors reading your manuscript will be thinking along the same lines.....and that can't help but be a “good thing” when an editor is evaluating your manuscript for publication.

Alison, thanks for the great tip on how to structure page turns to keep the energy, flow and interest levels high in the text we write for our picture books. I look forward to another visit from you this spring.

Call for submissions for young writers:

Vademecum Magazine is a student-run high school literary print publication. The quarterly magazine publishes poetry, prose, and black-and-white photography that "illuminate aspects of the everyday that are frequently unseen, un-ogled, unappreciated." This is a non-paying market. Submission guidelines are here.
Submission guidelines at http://www.vademecummag.com/#!submissions/cihc

Call for submissions for adult writers:

 The American Kennel Club contest. Entries must be original, unpublished stories that have not been offered to or accepted by any other publisher. Only one entry per author.

The American Kennel Club retains the right to publish the three prize-winning entries in AKC FAMILY DOG, or other AKC publications. Entries may feature either a purebred or mixed breed dog. The maximum length is 2,000 words. Entries exceeding that length will not be considered. No talking dogs, please. 

Entries must be printed on 8 1⁄2″ x 11″ white paper, one side per page, double-spaced. Poor-quality or faded copies cannot be considered. The author’s name, address, and phone number must appear on the first page. The author’s name and the page number must appear on each successive page. 

All acceptable entries will be read by a panel of judges selected by AKC Publications. They will choose the winners based on the style, content, originality, and appeal of the story. All decisions are final. Winners will be announced in an issue AKC FAMILY DOG in 2014.

Send entries to:

AKC Publications Fiction Contest
The American Kennel Club, 260 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

DEADLINE: ENTRIES MUST BE POSTMARKED BY JANUARY 31, 2014

Check out more contests on my blog: http://nancykellyallen.blogspot.com/

 

 

Today, I’m so happy to have the talented illustrator, Alison Davis Lyne, visit my blog. She has illustrated picture books and has an art column in the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) newsletter.  

Just WHAT Does An Illustrator  DO?? 

When an illustrator is chosen to illustrate an author's PB manuscript, it's the beginning of a working partnership between the publisher, writer and illustrator. Most of the time the writer has already done the work of writing the manuscript and any revisions that the publisher suggests. When the publisher is satisfied with the manuscript, the Art Director and Editor will chose an illustrator that fits the tone of the manuscript and the publishing house's “look.” 

When I get a manuscript, I immediately begin reading and planning how I think the picture book ought to look. Every illustrator has a different work flow, but I usually start out by laying out the text of the manuscript on a 32 page “book chart.” I continually change it up as I also start very rough sketches, or thumbnails. You can see an example of how I work this below. 

 

The thumbnails take but a moment to change so it's easy to try out different ideas, and discard them just as easily if they don't work out. Very much like writers make up a outline of how they want the story to flow.....and can change it quickly with each plot change. 

Here are some of the books Alison has illustrated:

Halloween Alphabet

Thanksgiving Day Alphabet

Easter Day Alphabet

Kudzu Chaos

G is for Grits

Little Things Aren’t Little When You’re Little 
 

Alison is making a return visit next week. She will explain an exercise that writers can do to improve the action and flow of their picture books.  

Call for submissions for young writers: 

KidSpirit Online is a free teen magazine and website for kids that
empowers youth everywhere to tackle life’s big questions. KidSpirit
provides a creative internet publishing outlet for teens around the
globe to share original essays, poetry and artwork.

Submission guidelines at http://kidspiritonline.com/welcome-mission/

Call for submissions for adult writers:

Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine is an online publication for ages 13 and up. It publishes 2 pieces each month—story and/or poem. Authors receive a $25 gift certificate.

Details at http://www.fairytalemagazine.com/2011/12/new-guidelines-for-ec.html 

Check out more contests on my blog: http://nancykellyallen.blogspot.com/