08 Wednesday Feb 2023
Posted in #KTIllustrates, Illustrator's Perspective
Kite Tales welcomes artist Imelda Hinojosa to share her inspiration and process with the community in creating her work. Her piece for #KTIllustrates2022 displayed a joy for movement and color that best displayed the idea of the prompt: When we begin to play…
Congratulations again to our winner and read on to learn more about Imelda and to view her wonderful work.
Continue reading11 Wednesday Jan 2023
Posted in Author's Perspective, Illustrator's Perspective
Tags
Anzu the Great Listener, authors, Benson Shum, illustrator tips, illustrators, picture books, writing tips
Benson Shum is a Southern California author-illustrator of more than five children’s books. His latest, Anzu the Great Listener, came out January 10. It is the sequel to Anzu the Great Kaiju (2021) and a Kids’ Indie Next pick for January/February 2023.
Kite Tales: Welcome to Kite Tales, congratulations on Anzu the Great Listener! What was the original inspiration for Anzu?
Benson Shum: Thank you so much! I always loved the world of Kaijus, the idea that these monsters tower over cities and are larger than life. But I wanted to know more. What was going through their heads? Did they all want to be destructive? What if they’d rather talk to their city rather than destroy it?
Continue reading28 Wednesday Dec 2022
Tags
authors, Barbara Bietz, Britta Lundin, Emily Asaro, Faith McClaren, illustrators, Jessica Chrysler, Jorjeana Marie, R.S. Mellette, SCBWI community, Toni Gallagher, Victoria Fulton
As calendar year 2022 winds to a close, here are some things I have noticed this season: friends and family gathering together more frequently, people traveling for vacations, and folks going out to the movies again.
Do you sense it, too? That life in general has recovered some of its vivid color? And that our own—and our community’s—creative focus has reawakened?
Call it a holiday gift. (It is!) But renewed spirit has also been a trend all year long. Read or re-read these 10 favorite quotes and stories from Kites Tales 2022 to see—and to get ready for a “trending terrific” 12 months ahead.
Continue reading25 Wednesday May 2022
You may have heard about writer’s block, or have gotten stuck mid-way through a story or a sketch. Maybe you’ve redrawn the same scene multiple times only to have to throw away the paper after you’ve erased right through it. These times can be tough, and it’s hard to pick up that pencil and keep going. But that’s what you’ve got to do.
Continue reading16 Wednesday Mar 2022
Posted in Illustrator's Perspective, Illustrators Day
Tags
digital illustration, digital tools, illustrator tips, illustrators, Laura-Susan Thomas, SCBWI events, SCBWI members
SCBWI-L.A. Illustrator’s Day is coming around the corner and we have a wonderful presenter lined up, ready to dive deep into the craft of digital art making with you!
Please welcome Laura-Susan Thomas, a digital artist extraordinaire with experience creating art on a grand scale as a Walt Disney Imagineer where she was able to embrace her inner 10-year-old every day, working on designs for Paris, Orlando, and Tokyo theme parks. She has had her work featured in the LA Times Kids’ Reading Room and Babybug Magazine. A professor of Fine Arts at the Allan Hancock College, she is also the Gallery Director at the Ann Foxworthy Gallery and the Illustrator Coordinator for the SCBWI-CenCal region.
For Illustrator Day, Thomas will share with us different strategies for working creatively with technology. The workshop will delve into two of the main applications artists use for creating on the computer and will have a little “sandbox” time for participants to begin experimenting in the medium as well. If you haven’t signed up yet, please visit the regional events page to register.
Continue reading29 Wednesday Dec 2021
Tags
Amy Rubinate, authors, Elana K. Arnold, Eric Smith, Erin Dealey, Henry Lien, illustrators, inspiration, Jorjeana Marie, Kristen Nordstrom, LeUyen Pham, Rieko Mendez, Sara Schonfeld, SCBWI community
Another year has flown by, and while we have borne the loss of some great creators and publishing influencers, we still have a tremendous community of children’s book writers, illustrators, and translators to look towards for inspiration. We have had many words of wisdom shared on Kite Tales this past year and it is a great pleasure to share them again with you now.
Writing for children requires grit and self-reflection; a sense of play and an openness to the changing world. As creators, we can find inspiration in change and embrace our own strengths and weaknesses to make something greater than we thought possible. Take heart and have patience, we are all on this journey together.
Continue reading10 Wednesday Nov 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Illustrator's Perspective
Tags
Graphic Novels, illustrator tips, illustrators, LeUyen Pham, picture books, Shannon Hale, writing tips
Southern California author-illustrator LeUyen (pronounced Lay-Win) Pham is the 2020 Caldecott Honor winner and a NYT, Indies, and USA Today best-seller. Her successful collaborations include illustrating Julianne Moore’s Freckleface Strawberry series and Shannon Hale’s The Princess in Black chapter book series. LeUyen was also co-collaborator on Hale’s popular Real Friends middle grade graphics series. And there’s much more—over a million books in print more!
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! You wrote and illustrated your latest picture book, Outside, Inside (Roaring Brook Press, 2021). The book beautifully addresses how weird it was when everyone suddenly had to be inside. Even though the pandemic isn’t mentioned until the back matter, the way we felt during that time is clearly communicated. Was it harder writing this book than some of your others?
Continue reading22 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted in #KTChat, Illustrator's Perspective
by Anne Bollman
Editor’s Note: Author and illustrator Anne Bollman will be available to chat with you on Twitter on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, from 12 pm to 1pm (PDT) for a live #KTChat.
It was 2018 and I had a dream of becoming a children’s book author and illustrator. I had almost a decade of experience illustrating for products, from greeting cards to dinnerware and even obscure things like doggy-poo bags. I had written a book about a dog (my favorite thing to illustrate), created a dummy, completed rough sketches of the entire book and illustrated a few spreads. I met an agent at a trade show, showed her my pitch and within a month I had signed with a publisher. My dream was coming true!
Continue reading21 Wednesday Jul 2021
In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest, illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: NIGHT FLIGHT. The winning contestant’s artwork is featured on the Los Angeles Region SCBWI Twitter profile until the next contest, with a feature article published here on Kite Tales. Illustrator Hannah Shafiroff won this year’s contest!
Read on to learn more about Hannah, her tips and tools, and what has kept her inspired through the pandemic.
A recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach, Hannah Shafiroff lives in the South Bay and can often be seen with a sketchbook in tow. Her heartwarming and magical illustrations can be found at HannahShafiroff.com and on Instagram @ThatGalWhoDraws.
Continue reading03 Wednesday Mar 2021
Posted in #KTIllustrates, Illustrator's Perspective
Tags
#KTIllustrates, Candle Light, contest, Illustration, illustration contest, illustration prompt, inspiration, PolkaDotWhaleStudio
In SCBWI-L.A.’s first #KTIllustrates contest, illustrators were given a few lines from an old nursery rhyme to inspire them: “If your heels are nimble and light, you may get there by candle-light.” The entries could be in any form (spot, spread or cover design) and in any medium. The winner receives a gift certificate to ArtSupply Warehouse and is featured on the Los Angeles Region’s social media pages.
Congratulations goes to Sienna Youngsun Kim, our winner of the #KTIllustrates 2021 contest! Read on to learn more about Sienna and to view her wonderful work, filled with whimsy and delight.
Kite Tales 