Tag Archives: illustrators

Attention Picture Book Writers: SCBWI-L.A.’s Mentorship Contest Is Now Open!

04 Wednesday Jan 2023

Posted by in Author's Perspective, Contests & Grants, Mentorship Contest

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by Sarah Gottlieb

About this time last year, I was drowning in “champagne rejections.” I had a wonderful but complicated idea and had spent a lot of time working on a manuscript and query letter. What was causing agents to write complimentary emails but not take the plunge? Or worse, to say, “Call me if someone makes you an offer!” I knew I had a great idea—the agents said as much—but I didn’t know why they wouldn’t bite. 

I thought of all of the writers I’d met and wondered if a mentor could help. I checked SCBWI-L.A. to see if they had any information on mentorships and, to my delight, this very mentorship contest was open for submission. AND the mentor was Joseph Taylor, the editor of MUSE, the children’s science magazine. I couldn’t believe my luck. 

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10 Inspiring Kite Tales Quotes from 2022

28 Wednesday Dec 2022

Posted by in Author's Perspective, Illustrator's Perspective, Tips and Tools

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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. 

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#KTIllustrates 3rd Annual Contest: And the winner is…

07 Wednesday Dec 2022

Posted by in #KTIllustrates

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Thank you to all who participated in our annual #KTIllustrates Contest! While the judges had a tough time choosing between the entries for the prompt, “When we begin to play,” the vote went to the image that captured the spirit of the prompt the best. The contest was open to any form (spot, spread or cover design) and in any medium, so long as it kept the interpretation of the prompt as it would apply to children’s books.

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Calling All Illustrators: Be a Mentor in 2023! But First … a Word from This Year’s Mentor

26 Wednesday Oct 2022

Posted by in Contests & Grants, Mentorship Contest, Tri-Regional News

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by Joseph Taylor

Editor’s Note: Mentorship proposals are now open to PAL Illustrator members of the Los Angeles Region for the 2023 Mentorship program! Read on to find out more about this rewarding experience and how you can help champion the next mentee!

A few months after starting a new job as editor of Muse magazine, I got the chance to focus on book writing with 2022 SCBWI-L.A. mentee Sarah Gottlieb. I was grateful to SCBWI-L.A. for offering a mentorship focusing on nonfiction for the first time and delighted to get the chance to work with Sarah.

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3rd Annual #KTIllustrates Contest: Call for Entries

05 Wednesday Oct 2022

Posted by in #KTIllustrates, Contests & Grants

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Calling all Illustrators! Kite Tales invites you, our illustrator members, to participate in our annual #KTIllustrates Contest: we give you a prompt and you show us your best take. The illustration can be in any medium, for any age range, and any genre. It can be conceptual or literal, spot or spread, as long as it keeps the idea of the prompt as it would apply to children’s books. (If you’re inspired to create a cover illustration instead, go for it!) All are welcome, as long as the final entry follows the guidelines posted on the entry page.

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Interview with Emily Asaro, Winner of 2022 Twitter Banner Contest

10 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by in Contests & Grants, Illustrator's Gallery, Twitter Banner Contest

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In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest, illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: FLIGHTS OF FANCY. 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.

We’re excited to announce Emily Asaro as our winner! Emily is an illustrator who grew up in a small beach town in southern New Jersey. She has spent most of her life by the sea and currently calls the West coast home. She has won the SCBWI-L.A. Illustrator’s Day 2019 Portfolio contest and the Illustration Mentorship contest and shows her work at galleries all over Southern California.

Read on to learn more about Emily, her tips and tools, and what inspires her work.

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Write for Kite Tales!

29 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by in Community Corner, Great News!, Toot Your Horn!

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Have a topic you’d like to share with your fellow kidlit community? Want to share your process and inspire other writers or illustrators? Or maybe you have a list of incredible authors you’d like to interview but no idea where you can publish it? Let Kite Tales be your outlet for creative community and discussion!

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When the Writing (or Drawing) Gets Tough: How to Plow Through the Block

25 Wednesday May 2022

Posted by in Author's Perspective, Illustrator's Perspective, Tips and Tools

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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.

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Illustrator’s Day 2022: Welcome Laura-Susan Thomas!

16 Wednesday Mar 2022

Posted by in Illustrator's Perspective, Illustrators Day

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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.

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Interview with #KTIllustrates Contest Winner: Andrea Yomtob

26 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by in #KTIllustrates, Illustrator's Gallery

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A native to Southern California, Andrea Yomtob worked for twenty years as a Computer Animator/FX Artist at Nickelodeon and Film Roman, until she found her love for writing and illustrating picture books. She has created the winning piece for our 2nd Annual #KTIllustrates Contest, announced last month.

Andrea enjoys combining mediums like watercolor and collage with her digital animation skills. Today we find out more about her passion for illustrating for kids.

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