Summer Solstice! What could be better after a full day’s work (or sunning & surfing — hey, we’re in San Diego!), or sight-seeing around San Diego, than hunkering down, and drawing pictureswith other passionate story-tellers?
It’s a unique opportunity when an illustrator can also write stories that other artists can render. This happened to Don Tate when he wrote It Jes’ Happened, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.
“…While I could have illustrated the story, my illustration styles weren’t the perfect match for the text. My editor wanted the art to be edgy, gritty. I wanted to go with an illustrator who had broader name recognition than myself. Greg Christie became one of our top choices.”—Don Tate
Remember this if you encounter a book editor who loves your story, but suggests that another illustrator provide the art. Don’t insist on all (doing both story and pictures) or nothing.
If a publisher is seriously interested in acquiring one component, make sure to ask why. Decisions like these are made for the good of the project.
From “It Jes’ Happened” by Greg Christie right-click to enlarge
Editors want your book to sell as many copies as possible. One practical consideration is name recognition. Newcomers tend to forget that buyers invariably prefer to request a familiar name or brand, even in bookstores or libraries. Or just the books with the medals on their jackets. Publishers also need to see how your name fares out there initially, in the mutual interest of nurturing a new career for the long term.
Since I’ve been receiving numerous emails with questions about my upcoming online class at UCSD Extension(January 7-March 9, 2013), I thought it would be good to combine them here.
Q: Can you give a little more info on how the class is structured?
Our goal will be to zero in on the book dummy itself, in terms of telling a story with utmost clarity.
We will explore the most effective ways of communicating story through images.
I must stress that this will not be a drawing class per se — in the sense that there will be no time to apply any drawing details, nor tight rendering.
In my experience, students (and many pros) have a tendency to focus lovingly on completing details and minutiae prematurely (before fully plotting the entire story), creating exquisite but static compositions at the expense of the whole. The story itself becomes incomplete.
By keeping our drawings simple, we will avoid becoming a stuck car tire, spinning mud.
From “Dies Kind Und Der Katze” by Bachér & Berner
Nailing key points like character creation; pacing, creating drama; graphic shapes and their importance; rhythm; making judicious use of white space. These are just some of the issues we will address.
Early study for Lydia, the protagonist in Matthew Cordell’s “hello! hello!”
We will be identifying art media(so many possibilities) used in today’s picture books, both traditional and digital. See a style you like? Ask about it!
The book dummy is the most important stage in the creation of picture books. Analogous to drawing architectural floor plans before building the house itself, this is the stage where all creative decisions on the picture book are made.
With your completed floor plan (the book dummy), you can move on to experimenting with the art media of your choice upon completion of this class.
This is why all drawings for our class must be done simply. We will complete three book dummies in nine weeks. In other words, stick figures are totally smart & OK!
All students are required to have an active library card. Everyone must borrow, read and share picture book selections, based upon a given theme for that week. Nowadays, any library book can be reserved online for later pick-up.
In addition, everyone will be required to have a photo-sharing account, like Flickr, Picasa, or Photobucket to store images. This is where rough sketches would be uploaded. Students link images to display direct onto the class blog or discussion boards. This is to insure we do not over-tax UCSD Extension’s servers, as images take up far more memory than text.
All class participants will have access to:
(1) A Discussion Board, where everyone shares thoughts about the weekly theme, as well as technical tips (Example. Best ways to create low-resolution scans and PDFs; recommended links).
(2) A Group Blog, provided for this class only via UCSD’s Blackboard software. Students will be divided into critique groups. Each group will have its own Group Blog, to ensure ongoing feedback and support on works-in-progress.
(3) Class availability, 24/7. You can work on assignments anytime. Just remember that new lessons will be posted every Monday morning!
Q: Can you give a little more info on how the class is structured?
Every Monday, there will be a new Announcement summarizing the lesson plan plus assignments for the week. Assignments must be completed and uploaded every Sunday @ 11:59 pm. Each new class week begins on a Monday.
Q: Will we get to share our work with other students?
Definitely! In fact, this is a must, and a major feature of this class! There will be critiques, discussions, and opportunities for feedback throughout the course. Rules and guidelines for procedure and protocol will be distributed.
Q: Will you be giving feedback?
Yes! I will be reading everyone’s comments —- with an eye towards encouraging everyone’s mutual support. And I will jump in as appropriate.
I will also list specific times when I will be online live to address immediate concerns.
Most importantly, students must have high speed internet to participate. To test your equipment, go here. To preview and sample our class’s online tools free, go here.
Questions? Post them below (‘Leave a reply’)! I look forward to meeting you, and building our Creative Online Community. Feel the buzz? Register here.
Think you can’t express anything with stick figures? You’d be wrong! Click here and enjoy!
There’s the combination of ebullient art, alongside wickedly funny text:“…She is a hearty partier and still a prankster. She is famous for painting a toilet seat in her dormitory red…“ Simply irresistible.
Why did both the Julia and Sphinx books jump out at me? I think it’s because both books underscore the act of process.
It’s as if Jessie wholeheartedly takes us along for the ride, while she researches her subjects. We get blow-by-blow commentary, at a fast clip.
A preliminary rough sketch
Playfully rendered, and partnered by lively hand-written text, each page feels like notes shared by your BFF, who happens to render doodles into color.Mais oui!
[A tangental note for my students: Much of the fun in creating picture books is derived from uncovering all the back story of your subjects. We gather all the juicy parts; the nasty bits; the settings; the unexpected gems. It's the resource of inspiration. —JC]
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For Julia’s story, Jessie combined her own love of cooking with travels to Paris. I had to find out more.
Joy Chu: Tell us about the genesis of the Julia Child book. Whose idea was it?
Jessie Hartland: It was my idea. I love to read biographies and I wanted to do a series of “graphic biographies” for children, my own way.
I pitched Julia Child as the first in the set.
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This was about 5-6 years ago, before Nora Ephron’s film, Julie & Julia. The response I got was “…no one cares about Julia Child anymore.”
[However] the film revived interest in Julia, and I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to do the book.
JC: Did you do many preliminary character sketches of Julia herself?
JH: I looked at lots and lots of photographs of Julia and watched all the DVDs I could find, then started sketching — from my head. I did a lot of doodling in cafes, and other odd places.
JC: Was there much back-and-forth on the progressive dummy? How many versions — including the ones you did for yourself?
JH: Yes—of course. Lots of back-and-forth. Many scenes needed to be clarified for the wee ones.
Preliminary rough: Julia and Paul Child’s early years in Paris. . .
. . . and its color version.
Some images I had as full-page got shrunk to a small panel.
Some tiny panels got blown up to full-pagers.
My two editors, Anne (Schwartz) and Lee (Wade), were wonderful to work with, the whole way. They would prod me with, “tell us more about…”
Same text content, with full-page treatment in lieu of small panels.
JC: Favorite medium? And do you work same size, or up-size?
JH: I tend to work up-size, just a bit. I paint in gouache, which is opaque watercolor.
JC: Did you provide your own scans? Back and forth on color corrections?
JH: They [the publisher] did the scanning. I don’t remember much in the way of color correction. However, there was lots to fix and clarify, what with all the hand-written text, made more complicated by the bits of French sprinkled in.
JC: Are you a foodie yourself?
Jessie Hartland channels Julia. [photo by Isabelle Dervaux]
JH: Yes, I love to cook. I grew up watching “The French Chef” on TV. My mother did not like to cook and it was fun to watch someone cooking who enjoyed it. At home we ate frozen vegetables, canned fruit and dreadful things made with soup mixes and such. As a teenager I got an after school job in my town’s only fancy-foods shop where I had my first croissants, baklava and French cheese.
Jessie Hartland’s book dedication inscription in Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child
While in art school I worked weekends and summers as a restaurant cook. Nowadays our family eats a lot of seafood caught by my 20 year old son, Sam: tuna, sea bass, bluefish, porgies, mahi-mahi and cherrystone clams. I grow tomatoes, cucumbers and raspberries and have a thriving herb garden.
JC: How did you get started, in brief — from school to the field?
JH: I went to the Boston Museum School, a very fine arts-oriented school, not commercial. It is affiliated with Tufts, where I took excellent academic classes.
After graduating, I worked briefly at a high-tech start-up, then moved to NYC and worked freelance doing production work for independent animators.
During lunch, I took my portfolio around and began getting illustration jobs and was able to quit the animation work.
As an illustrator, I found the assignments I most enjoyed were those asking for some writing and coming up with ideas.
When I was designing and installing windows—at night—for the Barneys department stores, I got the idea for my children’s book, “Night Shift.”
I had a fabulous gig for a couple of years, travel-writing and drawing a regular column for Travel and Leisure/ Family.
You could say moving on to writing and illustrating children’s books was a natural transition, but I think it’s really what I wanted to do all along.
JH: Another biography, this one of Steve Jobs. It will be targeted to older kids, though—and in black and white. A smaller format, and with many more pages. More focus on the writing and drawings—and I’m up for the challenge! He’s another fascinating character: rebellious, intuitive, ingenious…
I also have 4-5 other ideas in various stages of development. . . And I just found out for sure that there will be a third in the “Museum” series of books — How the Meteorite Got to the Museum — about the Peekskill meteorite.
JC: How delicious! Do keep us posted. And until then, bon appetít, Jessie!
[Inspiration can sprout from anywhere: "... thanks to my mom, Dottie Hill Hartland, for fabricating for Xmas 1965 the brilliant French café dollhouse (complete with tiny food and menus in French!), which got me started on France, cooking, and Julia Child."— Jessie Hartland, from her Acknowledgments note on the copyright page]
Today, we are checking in withOceanhouse Media (OM)to see what they’ve been up to since our last visit, in August. Prior to that, we first met with its founder Michel Kripalaniin February 2011. OM keeps evolving with each encounter. Their title list has expanded, in concert with the size of their offices.
Joy Chu: Would you share some stories about your latest projects? Your partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises continues happily! His 108th birthday was just this month (March 2).
Michel Kripalani: We have some very exciting titles coming soon. In the Dr. Seuss line, we’re about to come out with The Shape of Me and Other Stuff(release date March 21) . . .
…and Horton Hatches the Egg (release date April 4). We’re super excited for both of those.
Recently, we’ve launched the Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Collection #1, which has done really well. It seems that people are gravitating towards this idea of having multiple books in one app.
We’re going to follow that up with a Collection #2 (release date March 21); and also a Mercer Mayer Little Crittercollection. Finally, The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library series has been very well received, with the first two apps that came out; and we have a number of new titles in production as well. The team is incredibly busy and we have a lot of great omBooks (Oceanhouse Media digital books) coming in the next three months.
MK: The Smithsonian titles are great. We work with Soundprints, out of Connecticut, who is the publisher of the books. The books originally came in print form, with audio CDs attached.
JC: These titles are nonfiction-oriented — as opposed to the classic Seuss titles. Are your steps different when doing these books? Will the emphasis be more on sidebar material, in addition to terminology?
MK: The steps are not really that different. We always take the original source material and adapt it to interactive form as best we can.
For Dr. Seuss, it happens to be fiction and storytelling and in the case of Smithsonian there tends to be more scientific content. Our process is very similar. In terms of sidebar material, we use everything that’s provided to us.
Sidebar from "Oh Say Can You Say Di-no-saur? All About Dinosaurs"
Sidebar material from "Polar Bear Horizon"
JC: I’m excited you will be producing an omBook featuring one of my all-time favorite artists, Byron Barton!
MK: We’re extremely excited as well. The books are fantastic to begin with, and we’ve added a real fun level of interactivity that we think will be very exciting for toddlers.
The first release is Planes, launching on March 14. Additional omBooks based on Barton’s transportation books will be released in the next several months through our partnership with HarperCollins Children’s Books.
JC: You have another addition to your stable since our last meeting: omBooks affiliated with Kidwick Books.
MK:Kidwick Books are a perfect example of how picture books with great storytelling can be transformed into engaging, interactive apps.
The award-winning Leo the Lightning Bug as well as Ellison the Elephant and A Frog Thing are a wonderful addition to our omBook collection, with stories that encourage patience, perseverance, and confidence in young children.
Now that Oceanhouse has hit the ground running, will you continue producing omBooks as direct partners, special third party licensee arrangements, or both? In what percentage of each?
MK: For us it’s very straight-forward. We do the deal with whoever holds the rights.
If the author and illustrator hold the digital rights to their material, then we’re happy to do a direct deal with them. If the rights reside with the publisher, we’re equally happy to work with the publisher. It really makes no difference to us, and it’s a little bit hard for me to predict which way the rights will be held in the future.
JC:What do you look for when you take on either of the above business relationships? And would you define the term “Evergreen Title” in terms of book print quantity? What about web presence (ie, how many “hits”?); when this is included in a project proposal?
MK: Every book and every line is different. To date, as a business, we’ve been looking for evergreen titles from big brands. Clearly, Dr. Seuss, The Berenstain Bears and Little Critter all fall in this category.
So in general, we do tend to gravitate towards lines with multiple books, a dozen or more is attractive to us, and titles that have been selling for many, many years. Over time, I expect this will change, and we may start to explore books just because we think there’s a chance that in an app adaptation they’ll do particularly well.
JC: If an author/illustrator owns the complete rights to their currently out-of-print book, they would ideally show a written proposal. What should it contain?
MK: A written proposal is a great place to start. People can feel free to contact us via email (info@oceanhousemedia.com).
A simple summary is great. Perhaps deliver a few PDF images of some pages as well. We love to know what print runs and sales figures have been in the past.
To date, most of the titles that we’ve adapted into apps have sold well over 50,000 or more copies, some into the hundreds of thousands and even millions.
JC: Any other new news you can share with us?
MK: One other line that we recently launched that we’re really excited about is adaptationsof the Picture Me® Press books, which allow children to put their photographs into theomBooks.
In physical form, you’d put a 4×6 photo at the back of the book and see it on every page. But in app form(pictured here), we’ve found that it’s even that much more playful because you can use the camera on the device to take a picture or go get something out of your photo library.
Then we still add all of the interactivity, word highlighting and playful elements. It’s a series that we’re very excited about. Initial titles have done quite well.
On March 10th, 2012, Chris was presented with a special Medal of Honor from the DAR for his portrait work at the Women's Memorial at Arlington. He's wearing his US Coast Guard Auxiliary uniform
. . . for allowing us a peek into your multi-faceted life as children’s book illustrator, editorial artist, dad, fire-fighter, hurricane hunter, coast guard artist, and eye-witness to the myriad duties of service men and women, both here and abroad. And for embodying how change can effect profound insights into life, and art.
A Saudi-Arabian exchange student displays his note
What follows below is a Countdown Wall of Thanks to Chris Demarest, for sharing his artistic career with us.
Interspersed among these memorable images are a mix of photos; preliminary sketches; plus comments from Memorial visitors over the world.Enjoy.
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selections from the exhibit
The Greatest Generation: A Tribute by Chris L. Demarest
[click on any image to enlarge]
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Marie Mitchell, WASP. Stillwater, TX, 1944. One of the few women pilots who lost her life while serving her country.
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A WAVE, spinning T-6 propeller, Texas 1943
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Elizabeth Smith, WASP
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Ada Neil, US Army WAC nurse. This is Bobbie Miller‘s mom.
Griff Holland, P-47 fighter pilot pilot, Burma 1943. This portrait started my Greatest Generation series. He (now age 88) stopped by the Women’s Memorial to view his painting on display.
A Japanese-American family were looking at it, honored to meet the pilot in the painting — the same pilot who fought the Japanese in WWII. In a touching gesture, the woman gave Griff a paper origami heart.
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US Army Corporal/MP Stephen S. Bendetto, Egypt 1943
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Captain Helen Marlowe, USMC, an instructor in chemical warfare training at Camp Lejeune, 1943-45. She died of a “lung condition” at age 35 in 1947. She received the American Campaign and WWII Victory medals.
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A young B-24 navigator who survived some harrowing missions over Germany. His daughter viewed this portrait in person the other night. It was nice for the both of us.
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A WAC communications specialist
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Sgt. Max McClure, tail gunner and bomb loader
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This WAC still lives!
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An army nurse was always a welcome sight
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The 6888 (“Six-Triple-Eight”) Battalion. Such great faces. Every one has a story to tell.
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GI Langland, in France
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Henry Chu, machine gun and mortar instructor, US Army, Newfoundland, 1943. This is Joy Chu‘s dad.
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This is NPR reporter Renee Montaigne‘s dad (right) with his buddy, in Long Beach. Note the USO sign in the background. The friend was killed two months later at Pearl Harbor.
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Lorraine Rodgers WASP (now 91) at age 18, Stillwater TX, filling out her logbook, post-flight. Note the rolled up pant legs of her zoot suit, and penny loafers. Three cushions plus her chute allowed her to see over the instrument panel. What a pixie!
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US Navy ensign Ray. His daughter poses with his portrait.
The young boy with whom I posed with a copy of my firefighting book now has a new perspective on his grandfather, Ensign Ray.
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Charlie. For Merle and Marlis, my Canadian friends
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I spent an hour talking with a Polish American couple, Antonia and Stanley, who fought separately in the Polish Army. Stanley no longer had his WW2 photos. Here he is today, at 92.
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“Bing”
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In 1945, there was no serum for poisonous snakes. The habu was one of the deadliest and responsible for killing 125 soldiers in Okinawa.
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Capt Robert Wood, 11th Airborne, U.S. Army
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Ensign Ludtke
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Beauty knows no boundaries, even in war time Europe
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She is holding the bombing run camera. Say “cheese”!
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“Somewhere in Europe”
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“Sextant”
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There, in the darkness of the original photo, sits a puppy on the gas tank, previously unseen to my eyes before.
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Chaplain Liteky, US Army
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[Can you tell Chris likes dogs too? — JC]
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Fast forward to the present: Chris completed the following portrait of LCDR Regina Mills, whose memorial service was held at Arlington on March 8, 2012:
LCDR Regina Mills [click to enlarge]
Paul Dussault: I apologize for this huge post but I needed to do it. . . . This has been an UNBELIEVABLE week!
As some of you may or may not know, I flew off of CARL VINSON (currently deployed to the North Arabian Sea in support of OEF) this past Sunday (March 4th) via Bahrain, Kuwait, Washington DC and got back home to San Diego on Monday.
I then flew back to Washington DC with my lovely bride on Wednesday for the funeral of LCDR Regina Mills, which took place Thursday the 8th at Arlington National Cemetery.
For those who know me, you know how much she meant to me and how she will be sorely missed by so many. I found out about her passing while I was deployed, so I’ve had plenty of time to dwell on that and many other things in my life.
Her funeral was appropriately a grand event and after it, many of her family and friends gathered at Sines Irish Pub and toasted many times to her memory. She would have approved I’m sure.
The following day I wanted to be able to take Suzie around DC a bit as she had never been there without it being buried in snow. During our journey that day we decided to go to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Regina’s honor.
When we walked in, there were many beautiful and fitting tributes to the many women who have sacrificed for our nation. As I looked around my breath was suddenly stolen from me as I locked in on a painting of Regina painted from a photo of her on deck taken during our time together on NIMITZ.
I asked the docent there how I could get a hold of the artist to which she replied “He’s here right now, I’ll get him”.
A few moments later he (Chris Demarest) appeared and I began to tell him of my friendship with Regina, and quickly recounted some of the times we shared on the two ships we had served together, and the deep respect I possess for her, and all she had accomplished in her short life.
I know I was emotional, and all of a sudden Chris told me “take the painting, it’s yours, it is my gift to you”.
Needless to say, I had a meltdown right there in front of him and Suzie. I still cannot get over his kindness and I’m comforted by knowing down deep that this entire encounter was NOT accidental.
I’ve never been big on God, although I consider myself a “quietly spiritual” person, but there is no doubt that I was being guided by an outside force.
I like to think of it as Regina still watching out for me, just like she did while we served together. I will miss her always, but know I am better for having known her.
Thank you Chris, for your part in this story, and for the gift you so selflessly gave me without thought. I will never forget your kindness and generosity. As my wife so eloquently puts it: “You are healing wounds with your art.”
Keep doing what you do. For the rest of my friends, please check out his page “Military Portraits by Chris Demarest” on Facebook. The attached photo was taken by Suzie at the memorial after he gave me the painting.
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As this is an unfunded project, contributions of any size are welcome. For official recognition, mail to:
Chris Demarest Artist-in-Residence Women in Military Service For America Foundation 200 N. Glebe Rd Suite 400 Arlington VA 22203
If you have an image of a friend or loved one from WW II, the Korean War, Vietnam, or the Middle East you’d like painted, feel free to contact Chris L. Demarest directly. His fee is $500 for an acrylic portrait (16×20); fee slightly higher for oils.
For additional perspective on the Greatest Generation, check out this video by the daughter of WWII veteran Arthur “Dutch” Schultz , a paratrooper during D-Day [special thanks to Anne Rockwell for finding this]:
Click here for our Got Story?interview with Chris.
He works by creating visual imagery steadily, whether it’s on-the-go jumping off planes around the word, or while settling in different parts of the country. He also manages to fold adventure into everything he does.
He is author and illustrator of over one hundred titles. His upcoming book project is BASIC TRAINING, for Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press (publishers of his Arlington book), is due out in 2013.
Joy Chu: For years you’ve been known for books that feature your cartoon-style of drawing, including No Peas For Nellie, Kitman and Willy, The Animal’s Song, plus numerous series projects for school texts, poetry anthologies, board books, and much more.
You are possibly the fastest artist [in terms of drawing] I know. Every art director’s dream, deadline-wise! You even owned a red Miata during that period, and took professional racing lessons.
CD: That’s funny that you remember the red Miata. Yes, I bought that after going to race driving school.
You say I’m a fast “draw-ler.” That was several years back. I had the record for the fastest turn-around at the Boston Globe: Eight minutes from start-to-received fax, for a b/w illustration!
JC: I loved your line drawings [in your children's books], with bursts of bright watercolor, full of humor and wit!
Later on, you embraced a much more realistic, painterly approach. How and why did that happen?
Chris Demarest: I was a realistic painter/printmaker in college. I’d always been “drawn” to action images: skiers, ball game players, race cars, generally “boy’ things as a kid.
In college, the focus was more on the human form. The key to drawing is in both numerous life drawing classes and HOW to draw. We were never allowed to use anything but a sharp pencil. Anything less allowed us to cheat.
We all know how hard hands are to draw. So, in having to work with a fine line, it sharpened our eyes and taught us to draw not what we knew in general (hand = four fingers + thumb with lots of joints) but what we saw. A hand is like a face: It’s unique in size; shape; length.
Having that line skill made transitioning to line cartooning easy. I knew anatomy well enough so translating that into a cartoon human was simple— or let’s say easier.
I also liked the shift away from a painting that would take a couple of weeks to something that was done in a matter of minutes.
In 1990, I re-located from New York City to Vermont. That move changed my life. I had a family, and we happened upon the local town’s fire department’s open house. Thinking my son Ethan (he was one at the time) would enjoy visiting, I joined their all-volunteer department.
Over the course of two years, I developed a book on fire-fighting while working with them. It started out as kind-of-a Richard Scarry approach (using my own line work).
I like using the alphabet as a template when it works. But as I wrote the story it became edgier.
As the tone of the book changed, so too did the art. It went through a phase of Virginia Lee Burton/ Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel-like flavor.
My editor at the time told me that it was too scary (“Kids are afraid of fire”). That was when I sensed I had the wrong editor.
Long story short, I later met Emma Dryden. Her only comments after looking at the completed artwork then was “Add MORE fire. Add MORE smoke!” She was so on target!
JC: Aha!
CD: It had to be realistic, if I was going to talk about the dangers of fire and fire fighting.
That book became Firefighters A to Z, which subsequently was chosen as a New York Times “Best Book”.
Selected pages from "Firefighters A to Z" (click to enlarge)
I visited the US Forest Service Smokejumper base in Redding CA for research. Ironically, this was before the Coast Guard book and 9/11. At the jump base, I was never allowed to leave the ground. No shots from the air, only ground shots.
From "Hotshots!", done in pastel (click to enlarge)
I was fortunate to see them do a practice jump which was very exciting. Seeing people leap out of a plane at only 1500 feet is impressive. If one didn’t open a chute, the drop would take about eight seconds. That’s not much time if something goes wrong.
Left: "Mayday! Mayday!" cover. Right: USCG Air Station rescue workers (click to enlarge)
From "Mayday! Mayday!", done in pastel (click to enlarge)
This is where it got interesting. As unhelpful as the US Forest Service was with the smokejumper book, the US Coast Guard bent over backwards to help.
Gunner's Mate USCG "Adirondack" watercolor (click to enlarge)
Their first email response (after validation from Emma) was: “When can you come? We’ll take you up in the Falcon jet and the Jayhawk helicopter…”
Jen/Cobra watercolor (click to enlarge)
W-Whiskey (A-10 Warthog) from "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie: a Military Alphabet" (click to enlarge)
When I forwarded this to Emma, she immediately shot back with: “You get to do all the cool stuff while I’m stuck behind this desk.” Little did she know…
My editor Emma Dryden, on her flight with Air Station Cape Cod. After a 90-minute flight, going from terrified to quietly ecstatic. Doffing her flight helmet, she leans into me and exclaims "No more books about bunnies and ducks!" She got a chance to experience some of the adventures I've been on. (click to enlarge)
After the three firefighting books, Emma said: “What can you do with water?” After Mayday! Mayday! (and inspired by Sebastian Junger’s book The Perfect Storm), I wanted to cover hurricanes. So again, I wrote to my intended target, got clearance and made preparations.
The only difference is no one can predict the evolution of hurricanes. Whereas the Coast Guard could set a schedule for me, I had to wait to hear from the US Air Force Reserve out of Biloxi, Mississippi. The biggest problem is that it’s expensive to fly commercially at the drop of a hat. All summer, I kept missing storms because I couldn’t just get up and leave!
Hurricane Hunters Crew portrait (click to enlarge)
Finally in August, I made plans to visit the air base. Then if a hurricane rolled through, lucky me! As it turned out, the day after arriving in Biloxi, they called to say a flight was scheduled the next day [to witness hurricane work first-hand]. Finally I was able to go!
JC: You seem to be entering a new chapter now.
CD:Emma Dryden told me several times: “You have an uncanny way of reinventing yourself”. She stated that over ten years ago when Firefighters A to Z came out, and she said this to me again recently.
There were a few transitional books like Cowboy ABCand Lindbergh, where my art style reverted (from light linework) to realism. But with the firefighting book, I was also able to play the boy again, going out on actual adventures. Previously, my themes were imagined; this time they were all very real.
Griff Holland. This is the painting that started it all. (click to enlarge)
Cat shot (catapult). FA-18 Hornet launches. (click to enlarge)
At the first acceptance art ceremony, I met the Rear Admiral (mid-Atlantic). “Sally” became a good friend and ally who got me into places one normally isn’t allowed. I got to experience so many avenues of the Coast Guard because of her.
The "Monomoy" one of four patrol boats I lived on. (click to enlarge)
Then one cold and depressing day in February, an email from USCG Headquarters arrived. It began: “Dear Mr. Demarest. We’re contacting you to see about your availability to go to Bahrain…” Thus began a two month process of working both with them and the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet (Bahrain). It was an incredible journey and experience.
One of many sunken ships in the Kwar River (Kuwait) from the Kuwait/Iraq War (click to enlarge)
The Commanding Officer besieged by dragonflies. I'd heard about this phenomenon: Out of nowhere, hundreds covered the boat. (click to enlarge)
The Coast Guard sent me to the Persian Gulf living aboard patrol boats, to document their work guarding the oil platforms off the coast of Iraq.
This is a war zone. Night and storm rolling in against the backdrop of a 50 cal machine gun. (click to enlarge)
Nine paintings and drawings from that trip are in the USCG permanent art collection, Washington DC.
My day on the job with the medical evacuation team of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, landing on the interstate to transport an accident victim. (click to enlarge)
In 2007 I flew over twenty-five missions with DHART, the medical evacuation team out of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. An exhibit chronicled this period. An article I wrote up on the experience appeared in their publication, Dartmouth Medicine.
Working with the military prepared me for where I am now, working at the Women’s Memorial, talking to service people almost daily.
"Ada" (click to enlarge)
Pvt. Henry Chu (click to enlarge)
Ensign Ludtke (click to enlarge)
"Somewhere in Europe" (click to enlarge)
JC: And you were here in San Diego recently!
CD: I was deployed to San Diego to cover border patrol operations aboard a small cutter and in their rescue helicopter.
Headquarters sent me to San Diego to cover border patrols on both boat and helicopter. Like any mission, it’s hit or miss about seeing anything of note. As it was, there were no incidents.
Spending eighteen hours on the patrol boat Haddock I did get to see them practice rescue basket operations. I’ve seen it countless times from above in the helicopter but this was new.
This boat was an 85-footer as opposed to the ones in the Persian Gulf (110-footers) and the size difference was thirty five feet shorter. That meant it bobbed about like a cork.
To date, I’ve never gotten sick either on ships or flying but I was tested. Sleeping presents a problem when the boat pitches a lot. My concern was less about getting sick than falling out of the rack. Tucking myself in, literally, saved me from rolling out of the top berth.
Sgt Max McClure, tail gunner and bomb loader (click to enlarge)
JC: Tell us about your most recent projects.
CD: My most recent release, a picture book calledArlington: A Story of Our Nation’s Cemetery(Macmillan/Roaring Brook, 2010) honors the history of the grounds and those who made the ultimate sacrifice to their nation.
from "Arlington" (click to enlarge)
My father was buried at Arlington in 1989 and I got to see the whole show. Caisson, bugle sounding taps and the rifle salute. I also covered a USCG funeral.
By the time it came to do a book on the troops, I chose to cover it as Arlington’s history. That history in itself is interesting, as it ties George Washington to Robert E. Lee together, via bloodlines and marriage.
Somehow coming to the women’s memorial last year made it feel like I was coming full circle back to my father and his WW II military service, by working on portraits of WW II people.
The 6888 (Six triple eight) battalion. (click to enlarge)
My next project for the memorial is to create five life-size dioramas, one for each service branch, showing the contemporary work women do in the military.
Chris Demarest's office (in the shadows) Arlington House on the hill, Arlington National Cemetery (click to enlarge)
Working on-site has provided another avenue. Interacting with the public, who stroll the hallways of the memorial daily has often brought me face-to-face with those who’ve lost loved ones in the recent wars.
The Wall of Thanks, at the Women's Memorial (click to enlarge)
For them I created a “wall of thanks” which allows anyone to leave drawings and messages as a kind of therapy for all.
One note found on the Wall of Thanks, in reference to service women (click to enlarge)
It’s my greatest joy, being able to reach out to those emotionally hardest hit by letting them have a voice.
One retired Navy commander, who works at the memorial, calls me “Father Dave” because I remind her of a chaplain she was close to while she served.
JC: She calls you “Father Dave”? Why, Chris?
CD: In part, because of the conversations I relate to her [from my interactions], with people who’ve lost a loved one in war.
NPR reporter Renee Montagne's father (right) and his buddy two months before Pearl Harbor, Long Beach CA (click to enlarge)
JC: You are producing amazing portraits! They reveal a wholly new dimension to your body of work.
And those faces. They radiate layered stories telepathically when they stare back at us.
Are you looking for donors / patrons / corporate funding for your on-going efforts? On behalf of World War II portraits honoring the “greatest generation”? If so, where can prospective folks contact you?
CD: Yes, please. For official recognition, contributions of any sizecan be sent to:
Chris Demarest Artist-in-Residence Women in Military Service For America Foundation 200 N. Glebe Rd Suite 400 Arlington VA 22203
@ Everyone: For those who would like to have a portrait(WW II, Korea, Vietnam era) of a beloved veteran created, the fee for a 16×20 acrylic on canvas, the fee is $500(slightly higher fee for oils on canvas).
Illustrator and author members of the San Diego Chapter of SCBWI had the golden opportunity of attending an early morning hands-on workshop and presentation at their most recent monthly meeting, led by author/illustrator Richard Jesse Watson.
Since nowadays, character-driven stories are what agents and editors seek out, it makes perfect sense to corner your own characters with a Q & A. Why? Richard explains:
“It is a simple way to get to know your character. The results can be quite unexpected, if you let your character be themselves.
Richard applies his Q&A technique to one of SCBWI-attendee Katherine Ward's critters. Surprise: It's a party animal made entirely from masking tape!
Richard walked us through the process with a plan:
Q&A for Authors, Illustrators, Undercover Operatives 1. Make the sun shine.
2. Sit outside in your patio under a banana tree.
3. Invite your character to sit down on one of your comfortable rattan chairs.
4. Ask them if they would be willing to do a little Q&A.
5. If they refuse, fire them on the spot and go for the understudy.
6. If they agree, then start with the polite questions (favorite color, breakfast food, describe your pajamas…)
7. Once things get going, ask the harder questions (favorite cuss word, have you done anything you regret? who do you hate and why…)
8. It might be a good idea to park your car in such a way that you can make a hasty retreat [BTW, this is advice that is actually written into the rule book for FIFA soccer referees].
9. If you find yourself blushing, drink some cool orange juice. Remember, this is about your character, not you. Or is it? Damn you Freud.
10. Agree to meet again. Get the phone numbers of some of your character’s friends so you can interview them as well.
Richard Jesse Watson with Joy Chu and Edith Hope Fine, after his presentation
“Weren’t we the lucky ducks to hear Richard Jesse Watson?” author Edith Hope Fine declared afterwards, smiling. “To do a Q and A with one of our own characters. THAT got the brainbox moving, for sure!”
Now, it’s your turn to give it a try. Read on. . .
To demonstrate, Richard completed the following Q & A for the Countdown:
Joy Chu: Can you list your most recent books-to-date?
(click to enlarge)
Richard Jesse Watson: I am working on PSALM 23 which will be a companion book to the THE LORD’S PRAYER picture book that I did last year for Zondervan. And before that I illustrated a book, written by my son, Ben, THE BOY WHO WENT APE, published by Scholastic.
JC: Describe your usual work space for us.
(click to enlarge)
RJW: Chaos, Joy. Pure chaos. Pure, distilled chaos. Actually, more like pure distilled, concentrated, magnified, stratified chaos. (sigh) (Mucho projects, and muy books in various stages). There’s a bank of flat files, filing cabinets full of reference material, two drawing tables and a counter in the center for stand-up work; racks above for art storage. Looking out of every window there’s a view of the forest. I share my space with Big Sur, my moose.
Richard Jesse Watson's studio
JC: What is your usual medium, or -– if you use a variety; or are experimenting -– your preferred one(s)?
RJW: I lu-uv to experiment with medium. Books I’ve illustrated have been done in a variety of medium (sometimes mixed), including egg tempera, acrylics, oil, watercolour, serigraph, gold leaf, sumi ink on elephant dung paper. I let the story tell me what it needs.
JC: Where were you born or grew up; where do you live; does this effect your aesthetic style or sensibility?
RJW: It surely must have affected me that I grew up in the jungle as an orphan, my only friends being jaguars and monkeys. On a desert island some of the time. Banana leaves.
I also grew up in the Mojave desert and Pasadena. First, sidewinder rattlesnakes. Then roses, orange trees, night blooming jasmine. The Norton Simon Art Museum and Vromens Bookstore were favorite hang out place for me. Also the Pasadena Libraries were a sanctum vitum mirabilis of sorts.
JC: If you were not an artist/author what would you be doing for a living?
RJW: I would probably be a bag lady. I mean, if you are an artist or a writer, you are “all in”. You climb up all those stairs on the high dive and you crawl out to the edge and then you jump or go home.
Masthead from Richard Jesse Watson’s blog (click above to enter)
I could see being a chef or a baker, because then you could eat your art. Fresh baked bread. . . ohhh. . . (makes gutteral sound, eyes roll up in head).
art from The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake, written by Nancy Willard (above)
JC: What is your greatest strength and weakness as an artist/creator?
RJW: I hate this question. My greatest strength is melting things. Or making sparks.
My agent says I shouldn’t bad mouth myself, so I am reluctant to talk about my weaknesses, which are legion. But one of the worst is. . . hard to say, but my wife says it’s time to come out of the closet and just say it. So here goes, ready? One, two, three, get set, on you mark, Eeuumphh. . . Okay, I’m color blind (hears doors slamming all over the industry). I mean not all colors. I can tell the sky is green. Maybe I see colours the rest of you don’t. Hmmm?
detail from "The Magic Rabbit"
JC: When you are teaching, what is one thing you tell your students?
from "The Boy Who Went Ape"
RJW: Run away. Hide. Get a job. Calm down Richard. I’m still carving my initials in the dining room table after that last question. Students. I tell them to readreadreadreadread and drawdrawdrawdrawdraw. It is more fun if you say that like Gomer Pyle would say it. “Raydraydraydraydrayd”.
"I enjoy the ritual of applying the gesso and meditating on the imagery to come."
". . . I try several other gesso colors. . . "
". . . then experiment with silk screen inks in combo with the gessoes. . . "
"I did an under-painting of alizarin crimson with sap green. . . "
". . . adding some silk screened patterns. . ."
". . . more silk screening on top of the other patterns . . ."
" Hey, since we're here. . . . some more. . . "
". . . well, maybe just a little more. . . "
". . . I am always amazed by the wonders shown us by astronomers, especially . . . the different wave lengths of light not normally visible. I played a little with that . . . "
And I encourage students to give themselves permission to play. You experience real discovery when you play with medium, style, and ideas. A lot of books are conceived this way. Make every effort to cultivate your passion.
JC: Favorite Color?
RJW: Yellow. but only because it is the one that yells. I like all colors. Can’t we all just get along?
from "The Legend of St. Christopher"
JC: Favorite Gadget?
from "The Night Before Christmas"
RJW: I like my five horsepower grinder. When I was little, and my dad was babysitting me, he used to give me iron rods and said, “Go play with the grinder, Richy”. I would shower my little bare feet with sparks galore. I felt like Thor, god of sparks and molten bits of metal burning holes in my shorts and shirts.
Drawings from The Lion and the Mouse (below)
JC: Favorite App?
RJW: I like Penultimate for sketching (on the iPad) when I’m doing school presentations and for taking notes.
JC: Favorite TV Show?
RJW: I am not currently watching TV. But I loved LOST until they wrote themselves into a goofy ending.
frontispiece from "Tom Thumb"
JC: Favorite Books?
RJW: The Idiot, Treasure Island, Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, War and Peace, Grapes of Wrath, Life of Pi, Alexander McCall Smith’s books, especially 44 Scotland Street, the Harry Potter series, George MacDonald’s fairy tales, everything by Beatrice Potter, Shaun Tan’s books, William Joyce’s books and apps…
JC: Favorite Movies?
RJW: WHAT ABOUT BOB, GROUNDHOG DAY, THE DREAM TEAM, THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI, GLADIATOR, MASTER AND COMMANDER, WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, WAKING NED DEVINE, TREMORS, etc.
Tom Thumb's teacup tub
JC: Favorite Music?
RJW: Bach, Handel, Satie, Tchaikovsky, Delibes, Blues, Global, Eastern European folk dance music, Russian sacred choral works, Santana, Khaled, Ry Cooder, Andrea Bocelli, Ravi Shankar
from "The Waterfall's Gift"
JC: Favorite Fine Artist?
RJW: N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Motherwell, folk artists
from “Bronwen, the Traw, and the Shapeshifter”, by James Dickey
JC: Hero/heroine?
RJW: My folks, my kids, Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, Jesus
dinosaur illustration for SCBWI National Newsletter (click to enlarge)
JC: What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?
RJW: I have dropped a lot of boulders on my big toe. Poor toe. I’m sorry.
This art was created for the restoration of wildlife habitat, and the creative education of children.
The original painting was auctioned in February 2011 to benefit five schools in Jefferson County, Washington. Cards are available through this website: http://www.swanschool.net/plantathon.html
The Got Story Countdown is where we share tips for children's book illustrators.
We focus on items relevant to the hearts and minds of children's story-telling artists and their partners —editors, authors, art director/designers, and their cheerleaders.
We invite published illustrators and their partners (editor, art director/designer, author, or other associates) to answer questions about their process.
You are welcome to join in, as long as you stay on topic. Got Story?
When I was designing and installing windows—at night—for the 
