art

Book Challenge: Rule Britannia, Numerous, Illustrations

What's On the Bookshelf?

Day 19: Book that turned you on

I like books that force me to read other things, be it to get a better understanding of the setting, or just because I’m interested. I have a small library of books about Nelson’s navy, purchased and acquired because of my interest in that time period, spurred on by Patrick O’Brian and CS Forester.
Day 20: Book you’ve read the most number of times

To be honest, I have no idea. I’ve read the Harry Potter books scores of times. Lord of the Rings, same thing. Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander…all of these books I’ve read at least seven times.

Probably the first Harry Potter book, though. I think I’ve read that one twenty times at least. I’m not sure. I’ve lost count.
Day 21: Favorite picture book from childhood

I loved Jan Brett’s books, like The Trouble with Trolls. Her illustrations are beautiful. Lively, energetic and funny, what more does a children’s book need?

That, of course, is a secondary storyline often featuring a hedgehog. This storyline is illustration only, and takes place in the margins of the book. So adorable. I still love looking at the books, reading them, and admiring the paintings.

Outlining. More like guidelining.

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

I am a proclaimed pantser. No plot, no problem is my motto. But I think I may have just been converted to this newfangled thing called an ‘outline.’

Lately I’ve been trying my hand at outlining a story. I sat down, merrily plugging in the acts and plot points, figuring out what was to happen when. After a couple of hours of work, I was satisfied. I hit print, so I’d have a copy of the outline for my writing by hand.

You should see my outline. Its covered in scribbles, Xs and notes. Reworkings of events. But its been incredibly helpful, keeping me on target. I’m the sort of person who doesn’t write out one crappy draft (NaNoWriMo excepted). If the beginning doesn’t work, I’ll rewrite it until it does. I think I wrote the opening scene six or seven times, and realized that it would work better if I cut it the first four pages entirely, jumping straight into the action. Once I figured this out, I could move forward. The same has worked for later scenes, reworking until it fits.

I worried that outlining would take the spontaneity out of writing. It hasn’t. If anything, I’ve found that its encouraged the unexpected, in terms of conversation, and character development. Because I know where I am going, I can take my time getting there.

I am going to need a machete to clear out the unessential stuff, but I won’t know what’s essential until I’m done. For now, I’m enjoying the ride, map in hand.

Not actually the plot of the story.

Original Art: T. E. Lawrence Edition

Sheer Art Attack
T. E. Lawrence

T. E. Lawrence, by BCW

So, I broke out my paintbrushes this weekend, and decided to paint T. E. Lawrence. Why? Well, he’s my current historical research interest. I just finished Michael Korda’s biography of him, Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. That man was pretty fascinating. Even the stuff he did after Arabia. Enlisted in the RAF (and Army, and RAF again), developed marine craft for rescuing downed pilots, and kept up correspondence with some of the era’s greatest minds.

So yes. Will soon be reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom, just taking a mini-Lawrence break for the time being.

I’ve decided that I’m just going to combine Sheer Art Attack with this blog, it’ll be easier to me to maintain.

Back to the painting: It has a few issues. Lawrence’s shoulders are too narrow (well, the guy was 5’5″ and at one point during the Arabia campaign weighed 80 pounds, so…) and his jaw is too square. In the painting, his eyes are actually blue.

Literary Characters A-Z! Help, please!

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

The illustrations will be better than this, I swear.

I’m compiling an a-z list of literary characters. I want to illustrate it and make an alphabet book. Because this project combines three of my favorite things: Books, Illustration and Graphic Design. Any suggestions? I’m looking for mostly classic characters, book characters. I won’t use strictly movie or television characters, they need to have originated on the printed page.

If you could talk to any deceased historical figure, who would it be?

General Geekiness

I was listening to the radio station and they were discussing who you would want to talk to once you get to heaven. Family not permitted.

The listeners said everything from Jim Morrison (is he really dead?) to Marilyn Monroe (what happened?) to Lee Harvey Oswald (was there another gunman?)

Which got me thinking. Who would I want to talk to? If I had to choose one, who would it be? I’m defining historical figure as: “anyone who contributed to history and the creation of the current culture.” Which is what the radio station used.

The more I think, the more names I come up with. First to pop into my head were Winston Churchill, Roald Dahl and Alfred Hitchcock. With a little more thought, Sandro Botticelli, Dante Alighieri, Victor Hugo and Eugene Delacroix wandered on in (I’m hoping I have a Babel Fish for this).

But why not Jim Henson, Queen Elizabeth I, or Patrick McGoohan? Andrea del Sarto? Or Steve McQueen?

I’m leaning to Botticelli, Delacroix or del Sarto. We can talk art shop and it’ll be pretty sweet.

I clearly cannot make up my mind. I have the same issue when trying to answer the “If You Could Have Dinner with any Five People, Who?”

The problem with having so many interests is, well, being so interested. I’m not sure if I’d want to speak with an artist (visual, written or an actor), or a politician.

Which begs me to wonder: can I just go on a historical figure speed dating circuit?

Books that Matter: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McClosky

Books that Matter

Not my usual choice. Make Way for Ducklings is my favorite children’s book. It’s a cute story about a family of mallards who go to live in the Boston Public Garden.

I love this book for the illustrations, not so much for the story. The ducks are adorable, the city itself given such character. I grew up by a pond, so we always had ducks swimming in our backyard. Going into Boston as a child inevitably meant visiting the Public Garden, where there is a statue of Mrs Mallard with her ducklings.

But the illustrations! As a child, just as today, I would spend hours looking at the pictures, seeing how such character would come through in the illustrations. Understandably, it won a Caldecott award.