Bookworm Literary Festival: Bridget Strevens-Marzo
On last Wednesday morning, we were at the Bookworm (yes, again) to see illustrator Bridget Strevens-Marzo. My Brigid fell in love with Mini Racer only the previous week, and the book was a great introduction to us to Strevens-Marzo's work.
The Bookworm events that include some workshop component always are the most successful with my kids. While Myles considers himself too old for picture books, he loves the instruction from illustrators. I still allow Brigid to dictate me her stories if we are working with an author since her own independent writing has yet to catch up with her ideas. Both kids get something out of the program when there is work to be done at the end.
More after the jump
Like I have said in previous posts, in the children's programs it is especially great for the kids to hear the various paths people have taken before getting their work published. Bridget Strevens-Marzo was one of those who likely knew all along that she was going to do something involving art, and even with her parents' encouragement. Her father was British painter John Strevens.
As a writer and illustrator, Strevens-Marzo has many books to her credit. She lived in France for a while, and so she wrote books in English for the French market, like Bridget's Book of English. She also designed several doodle books.
Strevens-Marzo walked us through her illustrations for Mini Racers. She gave the kids a look at her process, too, in planning the illustrations to accompany someone else's words. There was a lot of planning.
She has a new book coming out later this year called Tiz and Ott's Big Draw, a book in which the main characters draw, doddle, and splash their world around them. Again, she took the children into the planning process.
And the stages of revision! Even illustrators have to submit multiple drafts of their work.
Strevens-Marzo then walked us through her process for drawing simple characters, starting with a round head, then adding simple shapes for nose and mouth. She said at the beginning she doesn't even decide what kind of person or animal it is---she lets the doodle guide her. The eyes she leaves toward the end, allowing the eyes to help her see if there is a story there between the characters on her page.
"Who are your characters, and what do they want?" Brigid whispered to me, exactly as I described in March's beijing kids.
Brigid wrote three panels about a mother and a baby and a unicorn costume (yes, in just three panels), which she proudly shared with Strevens-Marzo.
The Bookworm events that include some workshop component always are the most successful with my kids. While Myles considers himself too old for picture books, he loves the instruction from illustrators. I still allow Brigid to dictate me her stories if we are working with an author since her own independent writing has yet to catch up with her ideas. Both kids get something out of the program when there is work to be done at the end.
More after the jump
Like I have said in previous posts, in the children's programs it is especially great for the kids to hear the various paths people have taken before getting their work published. Bridget Strevens-Marzo was one of those who likely knew all along that she was going to do something involving art, and even with her parents' encouragement. Her father was British painter John Strevens.
As a writer and illustrator, Strevens-Marzo has many books to her credit. She lived in France for a while, and so she wrote books in English for the French market, like Bridget's Book of English. She also designed several doodle books.
Strevens-Marzo walked us through her illustrations for Mini Racers. She gave the kids a look at her process, too, in planning the illustrations to accompany someone else's words. There was a lot of planning.
She has a new book coming out later this year called Tiz and Ott's Big Draw, a book in which the main characters draw, doddle, and splash their world around them. Again, she took the children into the planning process.
And the stages of revision! Even illustrators have to submit multiple drafts of their work.
Strevens-Marzo then walked us through her process for drawing simple characters, starting with a round head, then adding simple shapes for nose and mouth. She said at the beginning she doesn't even decide what kind of person or animal it is---she lets the doodle guide her. The eyes she leaves toward the end, allowing the eyes to help her see if there is a story there between the characters on her page.
"Who are your characters, and what do they want?" Brigid whispered to me, exactly as I described in March's beijing kids.
Brigid wrote three panels about a mother and a baby and a unicorn costume (yes, in just three panels), which she proudly shared with Strevens-Marzo.
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