The conference today began with James Dean, who is famous
for illustrating Pete the Cat. James was humble, warm, and funny. “I have 5
cats and 4 litter boxes. Those are my credentials for doing what I do.” If it
were only that easy!
James’s talk resonated with me. He grew up drawing, but
worried that trying to find his way in art was “irresponsible,” so he quit
sketching and studied engineering. He
picked up his art materials again at age 35, and quit his engineering position four
years later. After self-publishing his 2 picture books, a friend sent Pete the
Cat Loves his White Shoes to New York where it was picked up. And the rest, my
friends, is history!
A few other interesting comments:
“Give
your kids a vision of being something—even if it’s the wrong thing.”
“You
are never too old for a fresh start.”
“Last
night I felt really old. I got to spend about an hour and a half with Jon
Klassen.”
James is a quiet man who exudes gratitude for what life has
brought him. It felt like an honor to hear his story.
Following James, Julie Paschkis spoke. Julie has written and/or illustrated so many
exquisite books! When illustrating someone else’s story, she
says she reads a manuscript several times, but does not sketch. First, she
waits and lets her unconscious mind work on it.
An interesting thing about her process is this: While I
believe that most illustrators would tell you that they sketch out an entire
book before doing anything else, Julie completes one finished illustration and
lets that piece “ set the tone” for all the coming pages. Sometimes, she says,
that final piece doesn’t get used, because it somehow doesn’t work and must be
redone, but that’s okay. It’s a good reminder to creatives to “respect the process.” The process is working for Julie!
A few other interesting comments:
“I’m a
crossword puzzle fanatic.”
“Starting
something is the hardest part.”
“Make
mistakes, make false starts and good starts.”
“Everything
leads to something else—even the projects that don’t work out.”
Another great day!
