scbwi

Little Red Riding Hood

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Baird_Roberta_tomie72 little red roberta_72Every year I seem to do several versions  of my entry for the SCBWI Tomie Depaola award Contest. this year was no exception. I did two completely different settings for Little Red Riding Hood prompt. The passage I used was “Her grandmother lived in the woods, about half an hour’s walk away. When Little Red Riding Hood had only been walking a few minutes, a wolf came up to her. She didn’t know what a wicked animal he was, so she wasn’t afraid of him.”

In the end I sent the Central Park Little Red Riding Hood, but I always wonder if I should’ve sent the other one/ones. Which one?

 

Southwest Texas SCBWI Workshop with Richard Jessie Watson

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SCBWI workshop assignment. Not for resale or download
SCBWI workshop assignment.
Not for resale or download

On October 19-20,  I went to the workshop, “The Exquisite Act of Balancing Text and Art with Richard Jesse Watson.” hosted the SCBWI SWTX chapter.

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In the weeks prior to attending the workshop the  attendees where given an assignment. We were asked to illustrate a paradigm shift featuring the beloved  A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh characters.

“What day is it?”
“It’s today.” squeaked Piglet
“My favorite day,” said Pooh.
I decided to send them to the future… to a land were there was a shortage of honey!  “Oh Dear!”
Here in this illustration, they’re beginning their quest to find the land of Abundant  Honey.  No more tummy grumbles!
The workshop was really fun and inspirational.
Richard Jesse Watson, is a great speaker, a kind and encouraging person, and of course an amazing artist!
Check out his beautiful books and other works here!

 

2013 SCBWI Houston Conference

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The conference was great!

The speakers were informative and friendly, and did I mention funny?  I love it when a speaker infuses their presentation with genuine humor.

The critiques filled my head with new possibilities and directions.   This year, there have been so many changes in my career, with having an agent and a couple of books in the works, that the conference held special meaning to me. Where once I faced a critique with a case of nerves, causing me to forget everything said to me, this year I knew the questions I wanted to ask. I heard what they had to say.
This was the time to ask.

So this year those nerves were but a case of the butterflies…..

Then to top it off, I got to meet fellow illustrators in the real, that I only knew from Facebook. It was so much fun to hang out with friends who “get” why you do what you do!

So tomorrow when I start back to work, I have renewed outlook, but today…. I’m just going to chill and let all those ideas bouncing around in my head settle and form complete paths.

Tomie dePaola Illustrator Award Entry ~The one that ALMOST was and the one that WAS

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yearling_RobertaBaird

 

 

 

When the Tomie dePaola Award contest was first announced. I was very excited and filled with ideas. The prompt choices were Tom Sawyer, Little Women and The Yearling.

My first go at it was this one for The Yearling. While I liked working on this, Tomie’s words kept ringing in my ear, “I want to see an image, a style, a vision that I’ve never seen before – all in glorious black and white!”

Hmmm… I will add this to my portfolio but  I had another idea.   So I ended up submitting the one below.  This is my take. I love little furry creatures.
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To see the other entries and there are so many fantastic entries, follow the link below!

http://scbwicontest.blogspot.com/

 

Diandra Mae, a fellow Houston illustrator has been diligently adding entries to the Unofficial Gallery of the Tomie dePaola Award blog. Thank you Diandra for taking the time out of this busy holiday season!

2012 SCBWI Tomie dePaola Award

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With the 2012 Tomie Depaola Award ready to be announced on Monday, January 9, 2012, I thought you might like to take a look at a good share of the Unofficial Gallery of the Tomie dePaola Award entries.  This was put together by Diandra Mae a contributing artist and fellow Texan!  You’ll be delighted at the different interpretations of P.C. Asbjörnsen’s story, Chicken Licken. Check it out!

Heres mine!


Unofficial Gallery of the Tomie dePaola Award

2012 SCBWI Tomie dePaola Award Entry ~ Sinking

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“The sky is falling, the sky is falling!”

This is my entry for the SCBWI Tommy dePaola Award. It was great fun to work on it! If you click on the image you can see the details better.

The text Tomie chose this year is from Chicken Licken by P.C. Asbjörnsen.
So they went along and went along until they met Turkey Lurkey“Good morning, Goosey

Loosey, Ducky Daddles, Cocky Locky, Henny Penny, and Chicken Licken,” said Turkey Lurkey, “where are you going?”
“Oh, Turkey Lurkey, the sky is falling and we are going to tell the King!”
“How do you know the sky is falling?” asked Turkey Lurkey.
“Ducky Daddles told me,” said Goosey Loosey.
“Cocky Locky told me,” said Ducky Daddles.
“Henny Penny told me,” said Cocky Locky.
“Chicken Licken told me,” said Henny Penny
“I saw it with my own eyes, I heard it with my own ears,
and a piece of it fell on my tail!” said Chicken Licken.
“Then I will go with you,” said Turkey Lurkey, “and we will tell the King!”