Gingerbread Man Comparison

Check out my For Parents, Teachers, and Librarians section on my web site, http://www.roxanechadwick.com. I've just posted a comparison of nine different versions of the Gingerbread story. From my years as a librarian doing storytimes for children and my studies in children's literature, I've picked my favorites, the ones the young children will love. And I admit I had a reason--the necessity of a gingerbread story to go along with a special ornament.

FLY-ing

FLYing, Illustration Friday's topic this week, is perfect.

For this is the week that our illustrator's group called "ART FLIES" sends out our first group promotional mailer.

"ART FLIES" stands for ART For LIttle eyES.

We're a group of illustrators specializing in art and

illustration for children.

Wrapping Paper Bears

Shapes Shapes Shapes!

They can swirl in your head, swim behind your closed eyes, and appear in snowdrifts and shadows. The shape of the great white seabears --so sleek yet so powerful-- fascinates me, both in its positive and negative space. And as I was wrapping a gift to a friend in some boring blue wrapping paper, I wondered how polar bear profiles would work wrapped around my gift. So I designed my own polar bear wrapping paper. You can decide if it works. Anyhow, it was fun.

Enjoying the Process

Sometimes, it's easy to get caught up in the product. One more polar bear picture. One more portfolio piece. One more pen and ink sketch. One more dummy.
But all it takes is a day painting with a child who has no interest in the product, only interest in the glorious process: the smell of the paint, the feel of the brush, the squish of red between two fingers or on the floor. It reminds me of the pure joy of art--the process.

No cigars but a Bubble Pipe Bear

Checking Out the Competition

Of course, I had a brilliant idea for a picture book about polar bears. (All inspiration feels brilliant until I try to put the stellar idea into 32 pages of text or art. Then the idea changes progressively to excellent, good, fair, bad, impossible.)
And so, like all author/illustrators who also happen to be librarians, I began checking out what polar bear books were out there. Why work on a story that has already been done? It's better to try something unique.
The first picture book I found was Winston of Churchill:One Bear's Battle Against Global Warming by Jean Davies Okimoto and illustrated by Jeremiah Trammell. The wry delicate illustrations depict a bespeckled, cigar-smoking bear leading a protest against global warming. There are clever references to Winston Churchill that most children will miss, but adults will enjoy them and can share them with kids.
While more didactic than my idea, the cheerful bears and delicate illustrations with one especially lovely morning scenic will please readers and get the message across.
One down--it won't compete with my idea.