Stephen's site : August 2010

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

"The Marzipan Pig" part 2

More artwork from the

"The Marzipan Pig"

Nothing to add just found two more storyboards and wanted to share them.

The only thing I can add is that I colored them with magic marker & color pencils

To see this scene of the pinky-orange hibiscus flower just "Click" and it will take you there enjoy the day!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

So once again I'm stepping back in time. The year is 1990 the place Michael Sporn Animation Studio NYC.
After my interview with Wendy Sargeant about the animation industry and a few other random happening in my life for last few days, It made me pause and reflect on were I was and why or how I allowed to lose contact with people I cared about. Good question maybe one day I'll give an answer.
But what I will share is this. For those of you who have HBO Family channel you may of seen on August 16th "The Marzipan Pig" it is a 30min adaptation of Russell Hoban book done for HBO.

One of my favorite jobs was being a "Color Stylist" I would take the story boards and start breaking down how a movie will get colored. This Story board was drawn by Tissa David in the animation world she is a big fish. A fantastic artist that I truly respect. I don't have the black & white version to share.
"The Marzipan" book is black and white so I had no color guide to work from and I think I'm in my early to mid 20's not a life time of experience that I thought was required to take on this job. I was living in Brooklyn at the time with its row of brownstones this type of reference was a great help looking into other people window (wha?) to see the color of the drapes and bits of furniture.

This is the finished background done by one of the following Background Artist that we worked with

Laura Bryson, Carol Kilbanks, or Charlotte Cary-Booth. The movie came out beautifully with the help of a lot of talented people. A must see! it is timeless story and it does not date itself one of my favorites that I worked on.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Happy 50th

Happy 50th
Anniversary
"Green Eggs and Ham"

what more can I say instead I decided to post a couple of video links

Saturday Night Live Rev Jesse Jackson reads "Green Eggs and Ham"

click on me for SNL clip

ABC News

& the animated version

Saturday, August 14, 2010

I'm in Australia!

well almost I have been interviewed

by Wendy Sargeant

" Aussiewriters"

I also want to say Thank You
Stephanie Burkhart

for having me be part of

"The Giving Meadow"

blog tour

It was a lot of fun to put together the post.

Now go read the interview, go buy the book and enjoy the rest of the blog tour & your day

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Giving Meadow on Tour with Stephanie Burkhart

"The Giving Meadow"

was a joy to illustrate, there is such a flow to the words that the images really just came to me very easily; putting it down on paper was another matter. But all the hard work was worth it.

A few things helped me make this book the best it could be.

1) Stephanie wrote a simple tale with a lot of heart and it did not require a lot of text to make it work, which gave me more room to create the illustrations without worrying so much about where the text will fit.

2) In June of this year I did a little post called "Maurice Sendak & The Giving Meadow" it was about how seeing the Maurice Sendak artwork on exhibit inspired me to take my own artwork to the next step. If you ever get a chance to be that close to someone who inspires you Do It!

3) Also, on a personal note, the reference material I used for the snake in the story came from my cousin Joey who owned the snake. He past away in a car accident only a day or two after I finished some of the first pages of the book when the snake comes into the story. I never got a chance to share it with him. But I will be able to share it with his son.

I just want to thank Stephen for having me today on my blog tour for my children's book, "The Giving Meadow."

Just a little about me: I was born in Manchester, NH but live in Castaic, California with my husband, Brent, and two sons, Andrew and Joseph. I have fond memories of Manchester, but have made California my home. I earned a BS in political science from California Baptist University in 1995.

I have been writing since I was 5, first making homemade comic books. Now, I work on creating short stories and novels. I spent 11 years in the US Army and over 7 years in Germany. Writing is a passion that still challenges me. The Giving Meadow is my first children's book and my first book with 4RV Publishing.

THE BLURB:
The Giving Meadow is about a caterpillar who hatches from his egg in the middle of a meadow. As he travels through the meadow, he meets new friends who learn the value of sharing.

THE INSPIRATION:

I go to Blessed Kateri Catholic Church (in Santa Clarita, CA) and I'm involved in our Sunday Preschool program. We call it Little Church. The program works with 3, 4, and 5-year-olds. I help to teach the 3's along with 3 other talented ladies, Shirley Chang, Maureen Dunahoo, and Mary Tesselaar. Every year I help to write the Easter play for the children. In 2009, "The Giving Meadow" was our Easter play.

After I wrote it, I showed Vivian at 4RV. She's also a moderator at Writing.com and I wanted her feedback on the story. She offered it a contract! I was tickled pink. It was a nice, unexpected surprise. I can't thank Vivian (Gilbert Zabel, publisher, 4RV Publishing) for believing in the story and wanting to bring it to life.

GOODIE TIME: Leave a post here on the blog. I'll pick two lucky winners to receive an autographed postcard of the cover. Winners will be drawn out of a hat, and I'll return on AUG 13th to announce them.

Next STOP Crystalee Calderwood on August 13th

Were else you can find Stephanie Burkhart on the Web:
Blog site ,Website, Facebook, & Twitter

To Purchase a copy of "The Giving Meadow" please follow one or all the links below:

4RV PUBLISHING:, BARNES & NOBLE:, and Amazon