July 16-20, 2020
Workshop Particpant Cap: 25
Join Us Online
We’ve reinvented our Summer Camp as an online experience, with five whole days of intensive instruction, mentorship, manuscript feedback, peer community and hands-on activities. We’ve been doing this for over 35 years, and within this year’s unique structure you can expect the same focus on craft, community & mentorship that we’ve always provided.
Join us for:
- An immersive experience rich in community, craft, and mentorship that will keep you inspired and accountable this summer.
- COMMUNITY: Meetups with peers in small group sessions facilitated by publishing professionals, and informal gatherings to discuss goals, art supplies, and more.
- CRAFT: Daily LIVE faculty lectures and demonstrations (6 pm EDT) followed by a Q & A session with each faculty member.
- MENTORSHIP: 1:1 feedback on a full picture book manuscript, or dummy, or ten pages of a longer illustrated text, or digital portfolio review, followed by a 20-minute video call to review the written feedback. In addition, peer review sessions with an art director or editor to share character sketches and discuss projects.
NOTE: All faculty demos will be recorded so that you can follow along during the live session, or watch and try your hand at the demonstration on your own time. You will have access to recordings for 30 days.
What You'll Learn & Experience
At our online Illustration Summer Camp, you will:
- Discover the professional journeys of each faculty member.
- Immerse yourself in illustration techniques and gain tools for storytelling.
- Explore the children’s book market with authors, illustrators, and art directors currently in the field.
- Attend a Q&A with an editor and an art director.
- Find and advance ideas through play, doodling, book dummies, character development, and more.
Attend If:
You’re new to children’s book illustration. You’ll get a one-to-one critique that will help you get ready to start submitting, and you’ll learn about what art directors expect when you do.
You’re an experienced artist who is curious about how to get started in children’s publishing. You will find out about the children’s market, learn about and get feedback from faculty mentors.
You’re a published children’s illustrator. Learn new illustration techniques! Find and advance ideas through play, doodling, book dummies, character development, and more.
You’re in need of some artistic inspiration. Join us for four unique demos, discussions on character, creativity, and more!
Resources
True Confessions of a Picture Book Illustrator
In two blog posts, Elizabeth Rose Stanton comes to some peace with her issues, including her “colored pencil problem” and her realization that “my supply of watercolors will probably outlive me.” Read Part 1, and then read Part 2. Be ready to laugh!
Steve Light: Creative Spaces
In this video from All the Wonders, you will get an insight into Steve’s illustration process, learn about the tools he used as a child, and hear wonderful advice for any aspiring artist. Watch the video.
Author-Illustrator Spotlight: Kathryn Otoshi
Great interview on Kidlit411 with Kathryn Otoshi about process and publication. Read it here.
Crafting Your Picture Book Dummy
Lisa Cinelli gives you step-by-step instructions for how to create a picture book dummy, ready for submission. Find out how!
Let the Book Come to You
Robert Blake shares his best practices for using journals and sketchbooks. Can you believe he has 25,000 pages in his personal sketchbook library? Read about them here.
Graphic Novelists Need to Write in Pictures
Matt Phelan shares his particular method for creating comics. Find out what it is
Get It Right With Research
Don Tate shares the process he went through to get the details right for his nonfictionpicture book biography about the creator of the Super Soaker water gun. Glimpse his process here.
Testimonials
“I’ve never found a more supportive or knowledgeable faculty at any other workshop or conference.”
“The mentoring staff members were amazing. All were open, honest, and encouraging. They didn’t just tell us what we wanted to hear – they told us things to make our writing sizzle.”
Instructors
Faculty
Kathryn Otoshi
Kathryn Otoshi is an acclaimed author/illustrator and speaker best known for her character-building book series, Zero, One, and Two. She goes to schools across the country to encourage kids to develop strong character assets, and helps teachers find customized, creative methods to engage students through art, reading and the power of literature. Her latest books, Beautiful Hands and Draw the Line, make important statements about connecting, reaching out and building community. Her upcoming book, Lunch Every Day, comes out in Fall 2020.
Faculty
Steve Light
Steve Light grew up in an enchanted place known as New Jersey. He went on to study Illustration at Pratt Institute, he also had the pleasure of studying and mentoring under Dave Passalacqua. Upon graduating he did some corporate illustrations for companies such as: AT&T, Sony Films, Absolut Vodka and the New York Times Book Review. Steve Light then went on to design buttons that were acquired by the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has Steve’s flying machine model for his book Zephyr Takes Flight on display in the museum library.
Through Steve’s experiences as a teacher he found his true calling as a children’s illustrator and storyteller. He has been teaching in the classroom for the last 14 years with children 3-6 years old. He has used this experience to help him publish many children’s books by Abrams, Chronicle Books and Candlewick Press. Steve’s books include: I am Happy, Puss in Boots, The Shoemaker Extraordinaire, Uncle Sam, Trucks Go, Trains Go, Diggers Go, Planes Go, Boats Go, Cars Go, The Bunny Burrows Buyers Book as well as The Christmas Giant, Zephyr Takes Flight, Have You Seen My Dragon?, Have You Seen My Monster?, SWAP!, Lucky Lazlo and Have You Seen My Lunchbox? Builders and Breakers, Black Bird Yellow Sun, Mama Tiger Tiger Cub. Up Cat Down Cat will be released May 2020. Road Trip, A Whiskers Hollow Adventure will be released February 2021.
Steve draws every day, usually with a fountain pen, and always has his sketchbook with him. Steve’s greatest joy is being able to share stories with children and introducing them to new worlds that they can only visit with their imaginations.
Faculty
Mike Curato
Mike Curato is the author and illustrator of everyone’s favorite polka-dotted elephant, Little Elliot. His debut title,Little Elliot, Big City (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, Macmillan), released in 2014 to critical acclaim, has won several awards, and is being translated into eleven languages. Mike loves illustrating and writing almost as much as he loves cupcakes and ice cream (and that’s a LOT!). Other books in the series include Little Elliot, Big Family and Little Elliot, Big Fun, with a fourth book coming out in 2017. Meanwhile, Mike had the pleasure of illustrating Worm Loves Worm by J.J. Austrian, and All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle. He is also working on several other projects, including his first graphic novel.
Faculty
Joe Cepeda
Preferring grace over style, message over technique, and story over extravagance, Joe seeks to create work with integrity and authenticity at its core.
Born and raised in East Los Angeles, a proud Angeleno, Joe’s serpentine road through college began studying engineering at Cornell and finished with a BFA in Illustration from Long Beach State. Only months from leaving school, Joe took his wares to New York and secured a book contract after his first meeting with a publisher. He’s been illustrating books ever since. Joe is the award-winning illustrator of more than thirty books for children while continuing to create images for magazines and other publications, as well as keeping an eager eye to the ever-changing landscape of illustration.
A sought-after presenter to schools and conferences, Joe relishes every new opportunity to share his experience and advocate for his craft.
Joe is the president of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, SILA.
Teaching Assistant
Merrill Rainey
Teaching Assistant Merrill Rainey is the creator and owner of LittleRainey Illustration & Design, which is a children’s illustration and design studio based out of Northwest Ohio. Merrill is an award winning illustrator, designer, and paper engineer. His work can be found in numerous children’s magazines nationwide.
Merrill is most known for his brand character work for both “Jack and Jill” and “Humpty Dumpty” magazines, as well as his cut paper illustrations, and paper toy creations. He is a two-time recipient of the Highlights magazine Pewter Plate award for best illustration, a four-time recipient of letters of merit for the SCBWI Magazine Merit award, and is the illustrator coordinator for the Northern Ohio chapter of the SCBWI. His client list includes industry names such as Capstone Publishing, Highlights, Ladybug magazine, Learning A-Z, McGraw Hill Education, Scholastic, and Spider Magazine.
Special Guest
Jen Keenan
Jen Keenan is the Art Director of Roaring Brook Press and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, imprints of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. Previously she was Associate Art Director of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. She has worked on award-winning titles such as Radiant Child, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, and Otis and Will Discover the Deep. She specializes in picture books as well as non-fiction. In her spare time, she illustrates, sings in a family band, and takes far too many photos with her dog and cat (Rocko and Converse respectively).
Special Guest
Kiara Valdez
Kiara Valdez is an assistant editor at First Second Books. She was born and raised in New York City (shout out to Washington Heights) and has been an avid comics reader all her life. She graduated from Williams College with a double major in English Literature and Japanese, and spends her free time reading, writing, and enjoying a long list of other hobbies she can’t keep up with.
She is interested in middle grade and young adult graphic novels doing with magical realism, memoir, #ownvoices stories (especially those from Latinx creators), and stories with LGBTQ+ characters and romance. The long list of First Second books she’s worked on include: the Cucumber Quest series, Check, Please! series, Bloom, Kiss Number 8, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, and Grimoire Noir.