Interview with: Rohan Eason

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art, artist as brand, artwork, digital media, drawing, illustrator, illustrators journal, innovation, social media, technology, this week in digital media on blogtalk radio

Rohan Eason Interview

When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors?

My Parents are both artist, my grandad was a sign writer and my uncle was a Royal Academician, so there was certainly the seed of an idea, that art was something in- spiring and imaginative, something I could delve into even from a young age. I remember in primary school I was drawing fully formed figures and faces, while the other kids were still not joining the sky to the ground, and that was because I was so interested in looking and recreating what I saw. I remember my teachers at High School never knew what to do with me, which way to steer me.

Rohan Eason Illustration

They were brought in one day to the heads office, with my art teachers, and the discussion, was as to what i wanted to be, an artist or an illustrator. The idea I couldn’t be both didn’t make sense to me,  that there was even a difference didn’t seem something I would ever concern myself with. To      be an artist was my dream, it was the poetic journey through torment and discovery, love and hate, as an artist I could make illustrations or artworks, they were one of the same. Its an age old argument, and  I think I will always think of myself as an artist first, but the work I make professionally is illustration, and thats the difference.

What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences?

I was born in the industrial city of Middlesborough, on the same road as the football stadium, Ayresome Park Road. It was a great community, every- one knew everyone, doors were open all day. Then we moved to a small town in Lincolnshire, and everyone said I talked funny. I got very quiet and introverted, and didn’t really enjoy the whole school thing. I think most kids are bullied, and i wasn’t any different, bullying comes in different forms, and I just happened to be the sensitive type that couldn’t really deal with the constant push and pull of friendship circles. My parents both worked so I would often not go into school, instead staying home and drawing or reading, anything to not face a school day.

But those days made me more interested in look- ing at life from a removed viewpoint, in a way there was no other way I could look at it, as I had removed myself. When i reached art school I had already decided that there were two ways to live your life, take part, or take notes, my artworks were my notes. A constant running dialogue, a description of what the other people did, but not what I did.

When I left University with an art degree, everything fell apart, life came flooding back in, and I couldn’t cope. The idea that I would go on just making art, came crashing down, when I couldn’t afford food or rent. Music got me through this time, companion- ship with my band mates helped me find a structure and drive again, and I was finally creating something that related to my life, while I took part in it.

From Rocker to Artist, how did that happen? And how did you progress?

It was around 2002, I was playing lead guitar in a band called Cyclones, having left University with a BA HONS in Fine Art, and having not really done much artistically for a while, other than I would sometimes do a quick sketch. The girlfriend of the lead singer, Rina, saw a drawing one day, and suggested I come see her boss, who owned a high end fashion boutique in Notting Hill. The owner Annette Olivieri, decided I had a little some- thing, and chucked me a bag in white kid leather, “tattoo that” she said. So I found pens that would work on leather, and I tattooed the bag. The draw- ing was black and white, and involved very detailedflowers and hair. Annette was impressed and gave me a leather jacket to do, so I did, this time with a horned girl, feather wings and flowers centre back. From there I went on to create fabric prints and artworks for Annette’s label for the next 2 years. I did private commissions, one was sent to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, and later created my own glove collection, with the first pair of dress leather gloves going to Yoko Ono. Two shoe collections followed and a spattering of other commissions, but I believed my career lay in fashion. This didn’t last long, fashion is not the nicest industry to work in, and I quickly felt like I was back in school, the bitchy back stabbing, the creative theft, and the broken promises, left me a thoroughly broken man. The upside was the pens I used for the leather, Rotring Rapidograph became my pens of choice, and the style I developed in this period with it’s intricacies and magical detail, and obsessive qualities became my illustrative style. My first children’s book came soon after I quit fashion, a collaboration with the great writer Geoff Cox, and music mogul Stuart Souter, saw a wonderful return to children’s books of old. Dark and frightening, with a psychedelic undertone that resonated with the peers around me, Anna and the Witch’s Bottle was critically acclaimed, released through Black- maps Press, it was a beautiful cloth bound hard- back, and it finally brought me attention for my artwork.

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Interview with: Jack Foster

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artist as brand, artwork, cartoon, cartoons, digital painting, drawing, illustration, illustrator, illustrators journal, innovation, Levinland studio, painting, pen and ink

Interview with Jack Foster

When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors?

When I was in first grade, the teacher, Sister Rose, asked the class to draw a self-portrait. I drew myself walking home from school. At a parent teacher conference, Sr. Rose showed the picture to my mom and told her that she thought I had artistic talent because in the picture, I was leaning forward as I walked against the wind and my tie (yes, we wore ties to school back then), was blowing over my shoulder. Sr. Rose told my mom that knowing how to draw was just a small part of art. Perception was the rest. So my mom hung my self-portrait on the fridge and told me what Sr. Rose said. I knew that I liked to draw, but the encouragement I received from my mom and Sr. Rose ignited a passion in me that has never died down. My dad on the other hand was a hard working sheet metal worker and tried to discourage my art and pushed me to focus on a trade where I could make money.

To this day, I’m not sure if the motivation to succeed as an artist came from trying to prove my mom right, or trying to prove my dad wrong.

What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences?

I was a very quiet kid, the eldest of seven. We were raised just northwest of Chicago. I loved baseball. Every day during the summer, we would walk around the neighborhood with our bats, balls and mitts, gathering the “regulars” together for a game. In grammar school, I was a bit above average, but excelled in art and would volunteer to do posters for library events. In the evenings, my family would gather around the TV. I would take the Sunday paper comics, which I guard- ed with my life all week, lay them out across the kitchen table and trace them or draw them freehand. Drawing a daily comic strip for the newspapers was my dream. So naturally

some comic strip artists became a big influence in my art, which is still obvious in my work. Mort Walker was my biggest influence in my early days. He drew a strip called Beetle Bailey and another called Hi and Lois in which he teamed up with Dik Browne. The strip is still going today being produced by his sons Brian and Greg along with Browne’s son, Chance.Of course Walt Disney was a huge influence. I read his biography at a young age and wasfascinated by him. And the fact that he grew up in Chicago was even more of a “draw”. When I was about 13 years old, the Muppets came on the scene. I loved how Jim Henson could get his puppets to show facial expressions with just eyebrows and a mouth. Jim Henson has really influenced the large eyes, bright colors and char- acter design in my work. 

Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you?

Throughout the years of submitting  to the newspaper syndicates, my  style changed drastically. I would  send outpacket of 30 strips every other week, and when they would be rejected and returned, I would redo the strips, altering my style a bit. Some rejection letters would be the standard “No, thanks. Good luck.”  But once in a while an art director would give me some advice. One director pointed out that my characters were “too cute” for the   comics. So of course, I tried to ugly them up a bit, but they kept coming out cute and kept getting rejected. I submitted for 25 years, so you could imagine the metamorphosis my style went through. Ultimately I landed on my own style which was the most comfortable for me to draw, made the most sense to me and was easily recognizable.

There isn’t any of your political artwork on your site. Why is that? What inspired the change in the direction of your work?

Yes, you are right. In my pursuit to be a comic strip artist, I took a job as a political cartoonist. It didn’t pay much, but I thought it was a foot in the door. I did it for a few years, how- ever, even though I have a good sense of humor, satire didn’t really suit me. I have filed away all my political cartoons. Maybe one day I will revisit them. Even though my politi- cal cartooning stint didn’t open any comic strip doors for me, working for/with an editor did give me valuable experience in the publishing world, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything

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Interview Excerpts: Drew Bardana

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art, artist as brand, artwork, digital media, illustration, illustrator, illustrators journal, innovation, social media

Interview Excerpts: Drew Bardana

“I’d love to be able to support myself fully with illustration sometime in the near future. That’s the ultimate goal. It takes time to make a presence and build a client base. Patience has been key. I’m having fun with my illustration journey and learning lots along the way.”

When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors?

It was in high school when I started taking art seriously and considering it as a career option. An advisor at a portfolio reviewsuggested illustration as a focus for my work. I took the advice and pursued illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art. My family was very supportive in the decision.

What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences?

I grew up outside of Portland, Oregon. I was creative as a kid, always drawing and making things. Like most 90’s kids, I was very inspired by Pokemon and began drawing all of the characters.

Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you?

My style has naturally developed over the past 5 years of working as a freelance illustrator. I’ve put effort into keeping the way I draw and create digital illustrations consistent. This allows my work to be recognizable and ensures clients that I can produce different kinds of images with the same look and feel.

Illustrator Drew Bardana

You do a lot of actively colorful art work. How did that happen?

It’s a stylistic choice, for sure. When I first started right out of school, my color sense was super dark and overly saturated. I was working for some weekly newspapers and magazines and noticed that my illustrations were printing too dark. I then started using brighter colors and liked the results much better.

Has the computer affected your work? Do you work traditionally and digitally?

I work in both traditional and digital media. Right now I’m working more digitally than traditionally. It’s much faster when trying to meet deadlines! That being said, I’ve created digital brushes using my own art marks. I’ve also created a large collection of drawn and painted shapes and textures to drop into my digital work. This allows me to work digitally, but keep the hand drawn elements, too. It’s fun to take a day and make a mess of traditional media and then scan it all in to use for later.

For the entire interview follow this link

TIJ: The Best Interviews of 2019

The Best Interviews of 2019

We are so inspired by the 8 illustrators highlighted in this issue of our online publications. We could’ve included many more but these stood out for various reasons. Veteran illustrators Wendy Edelson, Rhonda Voo and Bruno Mallart gave us much to think about and much to be captivated by in their interviews and artwork. Master Street artist and muralist  Chor Boogie shared his fresh take on “Modern Hierglyphics and giving back to the community. His artwork adorns many buildings in Northern California and they are inspiring and beautiful to see as is his commitment to teach underprivileged kids. Younger artists Julie Mellan and Julia Sideva are part of an kidlit international art movement this is clever, inventive and colorful. Their backgrounds ad thoughts are inspiring to other illustrators just starting out. And finally last but not least is writer/poet/cartoonist Rolli. When he’s not consuming ten plus cups of coffee a day he’s busy creating absurdist and ingenious artwork and poems. We truly appreciate each and everyone of their contributions to our growing publications.

 

An Interview with Ilustrator/Publisher Lon Levin

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children's book illustrator, digital media, digital painting, illustration, kidlitart, levinland, Levinland studio

I’m quite aware that sticking an interview with myself on this website  is a little self-serving but I believe it’s also constructive. I started the Illustrators Journal because I was interested in how other illustrators work, live and go about their lives. I wanted to connect with them, know them and do right by them. We artists work alone most of the time, and in some cases don’t sleep much or when necessary do “all-nighters”. So reading about each other’s lives is a good way to connect and to know that you’re not alone. So here goes…

How does your work take form?

I start with an idea then thumbnails sketches. The sketches are very crude but they serve as a guide.
Once I have an idea I either collect scrap, use stock or take pictures to support the poses and the look and feel I’m after. I build a rough look in photoshop then switch to Illustrator. I usually sketch over the rough art in Illustrator with a stylus. Then I started rendering using tools in Illustrator. The ability to use layers to separate elements makes it easier to resize or rebuild individual areas without disturbing the entire image.

You were an art director, so you ve worked with many illustrators. It seems like you might have a leg up on other illustrators knowing how they think. How does that affect your work as an illustrator? 

It doesn’t. My time as an art director is over by choice. I love creating imagery that enhances whatever project I’m working on. I want the art director to guide me and give me feedback. Besides things have changed so rapidly in our industry my knowledge of what an art director does these days is very different than it was back 5-10 years ago. 

 

Do you do experimental work completely different from your published work?

Always. In fact I think in many ways that confuses potential clients and/or reps. I know they like to see consistency in an illustrators work. If you show one piece that’s different from 12 others it places doubt in their minds, which I find odd. To me versatility is a gift. It’s what made me such an effective art director and kept me on a roll when I worked as a freelancer.

 

How long do you see yourself doing kid lit art? Do you have any ideas for books you intend to write and illustrate?

I do kidlit art all the time. If I don’t have a paid project I create my own. It gives me a chance to explore new techniques and styles. I have ideas for books and I’ve written a few but I’m not pushing that part of my creativity right now. I’m leaning towards creating large paintings that are more intuitive and not planned. When I start out I don’t want to have a plan of what I want to do. I want to see what forms then shape it as a sculptor would.

Anything new you’ve wanted to do for a while that you are excited about?

The Illustrator’s Journey and Podcast!

My publication partner, Gregg Masters and I have stepped up our efforts to make the Journal a destination publication. I am always searching for great stories, ideas and illustrators to interview. I’ve been very lucky and I’m very thankful that artists worldwide have taken time to speak with me and reveal a little about their life and artwork.

I have some other longer term projects like my semi-biographical graphic comic novel “The Kid From Beverly Hills”  and a series of gallery paintings as yet untitled.

I also created a new publication called REAL CREATIVE. The format is essentially the same as The Illustrators Journal but it encompasses all creatives whether there’re Actors, Musicians or kitchen designers! I still go behind “the curtains” to get to know people.

Digital Illustration by Lon Levin

Do you do your work using traditional materials or do you do work digitally or both. How has working on the computer helped or hindered? Do you do any social media marketing?

I do use traditional materials, specifcally pencils and water oils. I sketch out on cold-press boards and paint into the drawings. Mostly, however I work digitally. It’s more liberating because the concerns an artist would have working traditionally are not a problem working digitally, specifically changes, or alterations. I can also experiment a lot quicker and easier. Additionally I can get real close to my art and fix details which traditionally would be very difficult to do.

Working on the computer has helped me quite a bit, especially timewise. I can do things a number of different ways to cut time which would be impossible traditionally. The only hinderance I perceive is there isn’t a physical piece of art. Somehow I think there are still clients that place a special value on art they can touch and feel. It seems more real to them.

I do tons of social media marketing. It allows me to reach out and communicate to many more people than I ever could call or meet in person

How long did it take you to establish yourself in the kid lit area? Was it hard for you or did it happen very easily?

I’m still establishing! This is tough question for me. I’ve illustrated 15 or so children’s books but none that have broken thru. Most of them are done in a style I no longer work in. I do like some of the work in “There’s A Kid Under My Bed” and wish I still had the art but a Canadian art collector bought them all. I’m working towards getting that one great project that’ll be a break through for me, the publisher and the writer.

How has your wife reacted to having an artist as a husband. Do you talk about your work together?

My wife is a saint. She puts up with my ADD behavior and my very active imagination. As long as I do my chores (washing dishes, making the beds and taking out the garbage) she’s happy.
Actually we talk about everything and though she’s not an artist she is very creative and has great ideas. She is also a brutally honest critic. I couldn’t do what I do without her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interview with KID LIT writer/Illustrator Kristi Valiant

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artist as brand, children's book illustrator, digital media, illustration, illustrators journal, innovation, kidlit, kidlitart

I recently became familiar with Kristi Valiant’s work and how valuable she is to Kidlit. So I thought I’d post her interview and some of her bio on TIJ website. Of course I will try to get her to talk with me for an article in the next issue of TIJ Ezine.

The whimsy and color of her illustrations and the movement of her characters are so appealing and fun you can sense the delight she gets when she goes about her work. I’m so happy to see another user of a computer to do her work. Forward thinking and steep in tradition here’s Kristi’s own bio.

In fourth grade, I got in trouble for drawing too much during class.
After graduating magna cum laude from Columbus College of Art and Design as an Illustration major, I worked in the graphics department at an educational publisher. Now I write and illustrate children’s books.
I wrote and illustrated PENGUIN CHA-CHA (Random House, 2013).
I’ve illustrated the following:
PRETTY MINNIE IN HOLLYWOOD (written by Danielle Steel, Doubleday)
PRETTY MINNIE IN PARIS (written by Danielle Steel, Doubleday)
THE GOODBYE CANCER GARDEN (Albert Whitman)
CORA COOKS PANCIT (Shen’s Books)
THE LITTLE WINGS Chapter Book Series (Random House)
DO YOU LOVE ME MORE? (Standard)
OLIVER’S FIRST CHRISTMAS (Accord)
DANCING DREAMS (Accord)

Some of my favorite things in life are my husband and daughters, dark chocolate, hot fudge pudding cake, collecting picture books, reading, swing dancing, musicals (especially Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), monkeys, penguins, and my faith in Jesus.
I grew up in Wisconsin, studied in Ohio, moved to Texas, taught English for a summer in China, and now live in Indiana with my husband, daughters, and a room full of hippos and monkeys. I tend to draw a mouse, hippo, monkey, and penguin somewhere in each of my recent picture books.

I create my art in Photoshop using a Cintiq display and pressure-sensitive pen. I find that working digitally allows me to be creative and edit easily, without the hazard of spilling dirty painting water or drinking it by mistake.

Are These Sands Crabs, Insects or Creatures From Outer Space: Does It Matter?

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beach, crabs, digital painting, illustration, illustrators journal, levinland, sand crabs

This painting is from a children’s book without a home yet. It’s called Emma and Digger. It started out as a sand crab adventure story, yet I fear that since Emma and Digger don’t exactly look like sand crabs that perhaps they should just be little beach creatures and call it a day. I’ve gotten feedback that these are insects or sand crabs don’t look like that.

If you’re working on your own projects I’m sure this has happened to you. You get excited about the work and suddenly after the fact you realize you’ve done something that doesn’t make sense…or does it?

I think sometimes people cannot let go of what their perceptions are to see the bigger picture. Here it’s about losing family and friends and creating your own life and completing the cycle. Not about whether Emma and Digger are sand crabs, insects or from outer space. Thoughts??

Happy Birthday Rosalind Allchin!

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artist as brand, artwork, childrens books, illustration, illustrators journal, innovation

Rosalind is a terrific illustrator and storyteller as her book The Frog Princess can attest to.

The creator of The Frog Princess, a delightful fractured fairy tale, Rosalind Allchin describes herself thus: “I think I’m an illustrator who writes stories. I start off with some kind of visual image, probably of a character. Although I’ve never had any formal art training, I’ve always been interested in the visual arts. When I was in my teens, we used to go family camping in Europe, and visiting the art galleries in Italy was a wonderful introduction. However it’s only relatively recently that I’ve taken up a brush myself.”
Although presently a resident of Ottawa, Ontario, Rosalind was born in West Sussex on the south coast of England on March 26, 1949, the second of four children and the only girl. “We all went to the local primary (elementary) school, and those years I remember as a lovely period in my life, full of painting and reading stories.

In talking about her approach to illustrating, Rosalind says, “I tend to complete each picture before moving to the next one. Sometimes there are perspectives that I can’t work out. For example, the picture on page 14 in which the Frog Princess is jumping down from the royal balcony took me ages. I actually made little sculpture clay heads of the prince, his bodyguard and the queen. Faces look so different from different angles. I’ve learned of the magic of mirrors. Sometimes a drawing just doesn’t look quite right, but it ‘s difficult to see quite where the error lies. But viewing the drawing differently, through a mirror, magically jolts the perceptions and the problem is revealed.”
Picture books, even fractured fairy tales, require research. “Out of interest, I borrowed a lot of library books on costume. Over five hundred years of medieval life, styles changed dramatically, not to mention differences between classes and between countries. I’ve actually mixed periods.”
“I work a lot, but I guess I’m really slow. I go up to my desk every day except one day a week when I pot, a wonderful therapy. I rent space in a studio which is nice because I meet other people. I have a wheel and am hoping in the near future to buy my own kiln. It’s good to have something constructive to do when I’m having problems writing or drawing. I have a lovely attic space where I work. I’m gradually acquiring all sorts of amazing things, like a scanner which will make sending off manuscripts easier. I used to photograph the art or get color copies made which is very expensive.”
“I have four or five stories more or less written up. I find the writing quite hard in terms of creating language that is clear and simple and yet interesting. It’s so easy for it to fall flat. My initial writing tends to be much too long winded, and I am getting better at ruthless cutting. As soon as I’ve got the story idea worked out, I play around dividing it into pages and thinking about the pictures and how I can have a different action or setting on each page. Right from the start really, I’m working the two things together.”

Source: Profile by Dave Jenkinson/Canadian Review of Materials

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Why Bilingual Books Are Important

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african american, artist as brand, artwork, digital media, digital painting, Dr Suess, hispanics, illustration, kidlitart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few years ago I was assigned to create around fifty spot illustrations for a series of educational booklets. As part of that assignment I was asked if I could illustration other ethnic types other than white. “Of course” was my response. Once I had past the sketch phase I was told the sketches of African-American and Hispanics I did were too ethnic looking and needed to be less so. I took that to mean more white. After several rounds of alterations my work was approved. However it illustrated to me a fundamental problem in our society. There are some companies and people who are afraid of the “other” and do not want to offend them. Most of these people I suspect have very little contact with ethnic groups other than their own. That’s unfortunate to me because the differences is what makes our world interesting. The more we interact wit the “others” the less we fear them and the better our society will be for it. NOW,…more than ever it is important to reach out and get to know each other. Only when we understand the needs, wants, experiences and hopes of other ethnic groups will we have a fully integrated society.  Ok how how does this relate to Kidlit? Simple, it starts with kids. Max Benavides’s article says it better than I could so here it is…

The books they read and the books parents read to their kids need to reflect our society as a whole. Many Americans are familiar with well-known mainstream children’s books such as the Dr. Seuss series, Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are. But what about Americans who come from another culture, speak another language or are bilingual? What children’s books are there for them and their families?

This group, until recently, was especially missing from children’s literature, often referred to as kidlit in the publishing world. These are the families whose parents’ first language is Spanish and whose children are learning English in school. When you add in the fact that the majority of the 54 million Latinos in the U.S. are bilingual and yet very few children’s books are bilingual you have a tremendous gap in books that can speak to this community and its culture, particularly the parents. That means they don’t see themselves in the children’s books distributed at their schools, stocked in their local libraries or sold in bookstores. The effect of this invisibility and absence in children’s books is dramatic and negatively affects the self-esteem of these children.

Nationally, nearly 25 percent of all K-12 students are Latino and the percentage is only growing. In California, the most populous state in the country, Latinos comprise 53 percent of all students in K-12. Latino families like these—who live all across the country from the Southeast to the West Coast—are often bilingual with Spanish being the main home language for many.

And, guess what? Until now there have been very few children’s books for this huge population of children who want to see themselves and their families in children’s books.

Finally, one publisher is doing something about it. In the early 2000s, Katherine Del Monte founded Lectura Books and since then has been publishing bilingual books aimed at this large and increasingly expanding population. Her desire has been for parents and their kids to learn together how to love literature and to see themselves in the literature. These families are often marginalized in our society and their stories untold. To remedy this, she started Family Stories for Parent Involvement.

“We all want a literate society,” says Del Monte. “The question is how do we get there? How do we do we reach millions of families who speak Spanish at home and help them learn English, learn how to read, and to build vocabulary. Reading is the essential building block for literacy and if we don’t create bilingual books for these families, our society will lose the edge that literate and educated citizens bring to the country and its economy.”

Based on her research and personal experience, Del Monte decided to tell their stories in a combination of both English and Spanish. To date, she has published 25 bilingual books including Letters Forever, a moving story about a young girl in San Antonio who exchanges letters with her grandfather who lives in Veracruz, Mexico. She dreams of seeing him again one day and when she becomes 18 she visits him in Veracruz. It’s a story of love across the generations and the power of culture and music.

Another title published by Lectura Books is The Shark That Taught Me English. Written and illustrated for elementary students, it tells the story of a girl named Sophia who only speaks Spanish and how she learns English with the help of a shark image that her teacher uses in class. Once she begins to learn English, her self-confidence grows and by the end of the book she is teaching English to her father. Del Monte’s books have won many awards including the Moonbeam Award, the Independent Publishers Award, the International Latino Book Award and been listed on the Texas State Reading List.

“My goal is to show the stories that are overlooked by mainstream publishers,” explains Del Monte. “I want to publish bilingual books that connect families to their stories. Rather than allow this audience to be an afterthought at best, I want to showcase the brilliance and wisdom of their stories. No one in the U.S. is doing this today. You simply can’t ignore a quarter of all the children in our schools. You can’t ignore their parents simply because they don’t speak English, are immigrants and work in low-paying jobs. True diversity in book publishing will only come by publishing in English and Spanish for the 37 million people in our country who speak Spanish.”

This is not a new concern. In 2014, a hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooksbecame a social media phenomenon when two authors of color, Ellen Oh and Lamar Giles, tired of the lack of diversity in kidlit, launched the hashtag and a movement was born that brought awareness to the stunning lack of diversity in American children’s literature.

Flavorwire recently reported that, “In 2013, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center in Wisconsin cataloged 3,200 children’s books, constituting a majority of all children’s books published that year. Of these, only 68 — about two percent — had black authors. A slightly larger number, 93, had black protagonists. The numbers are either comparable or worse for Asian Americans, Latinos, and American Indians, and show stagnant or regressive movement.” They also noted that a 2014 Publisher’s Weekly salary survey included questions about race and ethnicity and it found some dismal results: of the people working in publishing 89 percent are white and only three percent are Hispanic or Latino, 3 percent Asian and one percent African-American.

The bottom line: although the U.S. is growing more diverse every year, you would never know it from children’s books or from the publishing industry itself. For that reason, Lectura Books plays a key and necessary role by publishing books that are culturally relevant to children and families who are often ignored. The long-term outcome will be to produce literate young people who go on to college and contribute to our society and its economic vitality. That’s how you build a literate society.

Follow Max Benavidez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MaxBenavidez

Max Benavidez PhD, Adjunct Prof., USC Annenberg, Assoc VP, CMC

Addams, Gorey, Schulz & Seuss Headline March 21 Auction

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artist as brand, Charles Schulz, Charlie Brown, Dr Suess, drawing, The Addams Family

Dr. Suess and Friends

Three of the greatest cartoonist and kidlitart artists of all time. And you can grab a piece of history if you are in New York when the auction for their work takes place. All three have inspired me since my youth and I still read Peanuts whenever I see it. The wisdom in each of these greats still rings truest if you can’t make it to the auction google their work, read their books or cartoon strips and fill yourself with creativity that is the top of what can be achieved!

New York— On Tuesday, March 21, Swann Galleries will hold an auction of Illustration Art, featuring original works of art intended for publication.

A run of original illustrations for the popular Babar series includes the top lot of the sale—the ink and watercolor design for the cover for the third book, Le Roi Babar, 1933, by Jean de Brunhoff, is estimated to sell between $20,000 and $30,000. Further beloved children’s characters include an illustration for Ludwig Bemelmans’s 1956 Madeline and the Bad Hat, titled “He said – ‘Let’s play a game of tag’ and let a cat out of the bag,” valued at $7,000 to $10,000. The sale will also offer works by Maurice Sendak, as well as several storyboard illustrations from Walt Disney Studios, including Ben Ali Gator and Hyacinth Hippo waltzing the Dance of the Hours for the 1940 classic Fantasia, estimated at $800 to $1,200.

Also available are several original drawings by Dr. Seuss (aka Theodore Geisel), led by A Gentle Sport, Forsooth, a charming ink, watercolor and wash dragon first published in Judge Magazine’s April 1929 issue, and a 1930s cartoon for Life magazine titled The Skier and the Walrus (each $8,000 to $12,000).

The largest selection of works by Edward Gorey ever to come to market showcases 12 works by the beloved master of the macabre. The cover for a circa-1950 unrealized work titled The Worsted Monster is valued between $8,000 and $12,000. Additionally, there are costume and set designs, as well as numerous sketches and published illustrations for book covers, which include Chance, a Novel by Joseph Conrad and Cobweb Castle ($3,500 to $5,000 and $6,000 to $9,000, respectively).

Charles Schulz and Charlie Brown

Two Peanuts strips by Charles M. Schulz include an early work, titled Here comes the big Polar Bear stalking across the snow!, 1957, featuring Snoopy and Charlie Brown, as well as Mister Sensitive, 1974, depicting Snoopy and Lucy (each $6,000 to $9,000).

One staple of Swann Galleries’ Illustration Art auctions is a robust section of cartoons and covers for The New Yorker. This spring’s selection includes original works by Peter Arno, Charles Barsotti, Ilonka Karasz, Saul Steinberg, Tom Toro and Gahan Wilson, from as early as 1933 to as recently as 2016. Charles Addams is represented by Z Line Subway, a 1979 cartoon into which he snuck Uncle Fester, Wednesday and Grandmama from The Addams Family ($6,000 to $9,000).

The Addams Family

In addition to the previously mentioned work by Charles Addams, the sale boasts new-to-market works consigned by the Tee & Charles Addams Foundation, including a cartoon depicting the entire Addams Family ($6,000 to $9,000), and a 1957 cover for The New Yorker titled Scuba Galleon, estimated at $8,000 to $12,000.

Early magazine covers by Erté include Sports d’Hiver, which graced the Harper’s BazaarFebruary 1933 issue, valued here at $8,000 to $12,000. Erté is also represented by several of his original set designs and costumes. There are additional early covers by McLelland Barclay, Umberto Brunelleschi and Georges Lepape.

A raucous selection of pulp is led by Harold von Schmidt’s oil painting to accompany a 1935 story in Cosmopolitan, captioned “But my husband—” Cleone gasped. “He’d kill you!” ($10,000 to $15,000). Further selections include Earl Moran’s pastel A Sweet Job, circa 1940, estimated at $6,000 to $9,000, and the oil on canvas Over My Dead Body, 1932, by Remington Schuyler, which was the cover illustration for West magazine ($3,000 to $4,000).

There is a strong run of original works by Al Hirschfeld featuring three iconic pen and ink caricatures depicting Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, commissioned in 1997 and each valued at $7,000 to $10,000. Hirschfeld is additionally represented by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, a gouache painting that was used as the cover for The American Mercury magazine in 1946 ($3,000 to $4,000).

From the nineteenth century come two floral ornaments by Aubrey Beardsley for Le Morte d’Arthur, 1893-94, are led by Spiky Leaves on a Stem ($6,000 to $9,000). A rare pen and ink drawing by the master, Squatting Devil Fishing, for the title page of The Bon-Mots of Sydney Smith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1893, is estimated at $4,000 to $6,000.

The auction will be held Tuesday, March 21, beginning at 1:30 p.m. The auction preview will be open to the public Friday, March 17 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, March 18 from noon to 5 p.m.; Monday, March 20 through Tuesday, March 21, from 10 a.m. to noon.

An illustrated auction catalogue is available for $35 at www.swanngalleries.com.

For further information or to make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction, please contact Illustration Art Specialist Christine von der Linn at 212-254-4710, extension 20 or cv@swanngalleries.com.

Image: Lot 258 Charles Addams, Scuba Galleon, watercolor and gouache, cover illustration for The New Yorker, September 1957. Estimate $8,000 to $12,000.