Creative Gifting

All around us, people are using their creativity to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical staff are finding new ways to treat patients. Grocers, farmers, restaurants, non-profits, and neighborhood groups are finding new ways to supply and deliver food and partnering to help vulnerable and struggling residents and businesses. Teachers and parents are finding new ways to educate children. We’re all in this together, but not equally; the reality looks very different even within the same city. I could go on and on, but I know you're all discovering new partnerships being created every week in your area.

Everyone is coping in their own way depending on their circumstances. Some of my author friends are writing up a storm, while others are literally and figuratively stuck in place. But creativity takes many forms, and I’m appreciating the various ways people are giving back when they've been gifted with safety and time at home - from quilting clubs making masks to chefs filming free virtual cooking lessons from their home kitchens. For those of you who attended my "Salted Book Launch Party" a few years ago and sampled my friend Laura's cooking, she's been sharing recipes and hosting daily Live at Five real-life cooking demos with limited ingredients, hungry teenagers, and the family dog barking in the background.

For some of us, being busy is a healthy coping mechanism; for others, our pace needs to slow. Here are a few of the ways our SCBWI-MI members are coping with the quarantine.

https://www.neallevin.com/

*  Remember Neal Levin’s Kiddie Litter cartoons? He created them many years ago when this blog was a newsletter printed on paper and snail-mailed to members around the state. Now, he’s created a number of quarantine cartoons. I had a hard time choosing just one to share here! You can see more on his Facebook page.












*  Author and SCBWI-MI Indie Coordinator/Shop Talk Administrator Dave Stricklen has been working on his 2020 ArtPrize non-partisan entry, The Spirit of America (come together and overcome together) about how we as Americans work together to overcome difficult times.

What to look for: The first view is how the painting appears to move as you walk by. The final stills show the detail when standing in place.

Did you notice? The doors open and close, the striped hallways stretch, and the spirit’s face follows you. Also, the shadows from the doors move as the doors open and the planes near the end move through the sky. If you ever get a chance to see it in person, be sure to move up and down (the face will also smile at you).

Many SCBWI members have created and shared activities to help teachers and parents with homeschooling kids.
*  Here’s one from author/illustrator, Amy Nielander.

CREATE A CHARACTER
Ages: Kindergartner to Adult

Families/kids can download a CREATE A CHARACTER activity sheet every Monday on my blog. Four BLOBS (inspired by real objects) are on each sheet. Kids can turn the BLOBS into any character they like using a medium of their choice. Amy will share her character designs on Friday (and encourages others to post their designs via social media using #theblobblog). Families can check the Blog Archive to see previous designs and Guest Artist’s artwork.This activity encourages creativity, imagination, design and problem-solving skills.

*  Here's a virtual 3D modeling class from author/illustrator/sculptor
Jeff Jantz:
"The organization that I work for is currently running interactive after-school activities through several different themed channels Monday through Thursday including an Arts and Craft channel, a Travel channel, a Health and Fitness channel and more. Also, homework help with certified teachers. I am working a lot with the MAKER channel, where we will be facilitating interactive engineering and design activities. Here's a link to our virtual page so you can see all the great things we have going on:
https://c2pipeline.wayne.edu/virtual  
I'm very proud to work for an organization that is so willing to make changes quickly to find ways to serve our students even in these uncertain times."

FREE Virtual 3D modeling class for kids. "3D modeling Mondays featuring TinkerCAD"
This Virtual class will be taught by author/illustrator Jeff Jantz and is sponsored by WSU C2 Pipeline in response to school closers across the country due to COVID 19. To join simply click on the Zoom Meeting link below during the scheduled time.

What is TinkerCAD? It's a 3D modeling program for kids. It can be used for 3D printing, lego builds or simply designing a project.

Who can participate? Kids and Teens age 6 and up. Kids who play Minecraft tend to catch on to TinkerCAD very quickly.

What's needed? An internet connection and a computer (preferably with a mouse). You can join Zoom from a computer or a phone. It would be best to set up a TinkerCAD account beforehand and explore it on your own before the class. To set up a free account go to https://www.tinkercad.com/

When? Every Monday, 3:30 to 5:00 PM eastern time, till May 25, 2020

How do I get on? Just follow this link during the scheduled time:
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYoce6srT8vprs6LnCE7o4kLrApEJfwrA 
Or use the Meeting ID: 825-674-345

Find more educational resources from SCBWI members in Michigan and around the world:

• https://michigan.scbwi.org/2020/03/18/scbwi-michigan-educational-resources/

• https://www.scbwi.org/digital-directory-for-remote-learning-resources/

*  You might have heard the inspiring story of how Ruth McNally Barshaw’s sketchbook journal of an SCBWI conference experience helped her find an agent and publish her popular Ellie McDoodle series. In recent weeks, Ruth has been keeping an "isolation journal" and sharing the sketches on her Facebook page. Her entries are full of humor and heart. Most of all, they speak the truth.

https://ruthexpress.com/

Thank you everyone for sharing your creative gifts in myriad ways. We'd love to hear more about what you're doing; please let us know in the comments. Whether it's working on the front-lines of healthcare or staying home and hugging your family members, we appreciate you. Here’s a gentle, encouraging post from Vicky Lorencen which sums it up beautifully: https://vickylorencen.com/2020/04/15/give-your-words/.

Stay safe and take care,
Kristin Lenz

Story Sculpting by Jeff Jantz

Growing up I always loved to draw and build things. I would sculpt dinosaurs and monsters from clay and cut apart my toys, carve, glue, and paint them until they became creations of my own. Elaborate backstories and characteristics would evolve from my creations. I would tell these stories to whomever would listen.

Now, I create my illustrations for my books using a technique I call Illustrative Sculpture. This is very similar to the techniques used in stop motion animation, just without the animation. As one might imagine, it is very time consuming and labor intensive. This may not be the most efficient way to create an illustration. For me, it beats sitting in front of a computer or a drawing table for days on-end..

A big part of the reason I started using the Illustrative Sculpture technique was something I heard at an SCBWI workshop I attended years ago. The great Matt Faulkner shared briefly with us how he often used sculpting as a form of character development. He said it was not only a great way to come up with fresh new characters but it also served as a great reference for drawing your characters from different angles. He mentioned it also helps with continuity from one page to the next.

I was still unpublished at this time and searching for my unique illustration style. I implemented that idea and began sculpting more and more as part of my process. Sometimes, it would be simple things; like a snake I wanted to draw for a dummy book I was working on. You would think a snake would be fairly simple to draw but I was going for a dramatic angle and the snake needed to appear to be close to the viewer on one part of the page and far away in another.  After several attempts and several wasted sheets of paper, I pulled out the modeling clay, rolled out a snake, arranged it the way I imagined it and snapped a photo. CLICK! With a reference, I was easily able to draw the illustration I could see in my imagination but couldn't seem to get on paper.

I also find sculpting as a form of character development to be very helpful. Most illustrators have had the experience of laying down dozens of sketches trying figure out what a character that's sneaking around in their imagination would look like. I still use a good old fashioned pencil and paper to sketch out initial ideas but I often find myself in a rut or with just a vague two dimensional understanding of the character. When I “sketch” with clay, the character starts to literally jump off the page. The funny thing is, during this process the character becomes more three dimensional in the figurative sense as well. As I’m sculpting, backstories, character traits, motivations and even feelings start to feel visceral as I forge an imaginary being in my hands.

I met with Matt Faulkner again a year or so after that workshop for a portfolio critique. I shared with him a couple of sculptures I had created.
“Maybe THESE are your illustrations,” Matt said.

At the time I brushed the idea off, but it stuck with me. Eventually it led me to where I am now in my artistic journey. I take the sculpting aspect of my illustration process to the extreme and create my work using not only clay, but wire, foil, metal, wood, repurposed objects, and even the occasional custom 3D printed items.

I don't recommend this process for everyone, but I do think other illustrators and perhaps even writers could benefit from pinching and pulling a lump of clay in an effort to see a story from a new perspective and develop a character that is trying to emerge from the depths of the imagination.



Learn more about the illustrations Jeff builds:

• Jantzer Studios website

• Jantzer Studios Facebook page

• The Jantzer Studios YouTube channel

Coming up on the Mitten blog: Nina Goebel has been busy coordinating with our new Featured Illustrator. Come back on Friday to read the Illustrator Interview and see our new summer blog banner!

Did you see our first Book Birthday celebration? PAL Coordinator Jodi McKay is organizing this new, ongoing section of our blog. Please email Jodi if you have a new book coming out this year.

And it's almost time for another round of Hugs and Hurrahs! We want to trumpet your success. Please send your writing/illustrating/publishing good news to Patti Richards by July 10th to be included.

Cheers!
Kristin Lenz

Meet Our New Featured Illustrator!

Thank you Jeff Jantz for creating our new banner and answering the illustrator questionnaire! Please click here to learn more about Jeff and his fabulous art work.