Giuseppe Castellano ArtDirector from Penguin Random House
Sensation #1: You get to hear about some people before you meet them in person. They have a presence on the web. Giuseppe Castellano the art director from Penguin Random House does a good job on social media. He also did a great job presenting. He talked about putting your personality into your art and gave information to help us raise the quality of our illustrations. He also gave great advice on web sites and getting your art out there. He was introduced by Shawna Tenney who had previously interviewed Giuseppe on the Oatley Academy podcast, Stories Unbound.
The illustrator’s at the Utah Southern Idaho SCBWI 2016 Illustrator’s Conference
Will Terry presenting on the Four Step Art Tune Up
Jake Parker presented with Will Terry. Friendly banter ensued.
Sensation #2 and #3: Will Terry and Jake Parker presented together with some friendly banter back and forth. They talked about four ways to improve your art. The good thing about Will’s presentation was the visual examples he used to really show what he was talking about. He taught in such a way that you really got it.
Jake Parker talking about his soon to be released Picture Book
Jake Parker demonstrating thumbnails with audience participation
Jake Parker put his money where his mouth was. He put us all on snap chat before he started his presentation. Jake has come up with some of the most ingenious ways to use social media. He demonstrated how he does thumbnails and drew a double spread from prompts from the audience. It was great to see his thought process and principles of art as he created the spread.
Giuseppe Castellano, Will Terry and Jake Parker during First Look
Giuseppe, Will and Jake participated in critiquing first look. You could see your art flash on the screen and get their first impressions of your art. You learned not only from your own critique but also from the others put up front.
Richard Ericksen Art Director from Shadow Mountain Deseret Book and his wife Gorgeous chat with Will Terry
Margaret Weber, Art Director from Covenant Communications chats with illustrators
We were excited to have Bob Cross from Gibb Smith, Margaret Weber from Covenant Communications Mckelle G. from Jolly Fish Press and Richard Ericksen and his wife Gorgeous from Shadow Mountain attend and take a look at the portfolios. There were chances to visit with the other illustrators who attended. There were also chances to ask questions of the presenters. I had things that I needed reminding of and learned things that will improve my illustrations.
Checking out the portfolios
It is great for us illustrators to get out of our studios and get around others who are working and creating art. It helps to improve not only our art work but the ways we work. A big thank you to the illustrating committee, Manelle Oliphant, Jennifer Eichelberger and Shawna Tenney, our presenters and to all the illustrators who joined us for the day. Keep on creating.
Giuseppe Castellano speaking on tangents
Giuseppe Castellano
Checking out the portfolios
Checking out the portfolios
Jake Parker, Will Terry chatting with Brooke Smart who won honorable mention in the 2016 New York SCBWI Conference
Questions? email sherry@sherrymeidell.com
Registration scheduled to open November 16th, 2015 at https://utahsouthidaho.scbwi.org/events/elevated-illustration-utah-southern-idaho-illustrators-conference/
Register by January 22rd, 2016 to catch the Early Bird Price
Go to http://utahsouthidaho.scbwi.org to register – go down to upcoming events and click on Illustrators Conference. That will take you to the registration page. Utah/Southern Idaho SCBWI Illustration Conference
“Elevated Illustration”
February 27th, 2016 at the Sons of the Utah Pioneers Building, 3301 East 2920 South,. Salt Lake City, Utah
Schedule:
8:30 – 9:00 dried bread and water, networking, set up portfolios ($5.00 for portfolio display bring cash if you want to participate) and grab a seat
9:00 – Welcome and announcements
9:15 – Giuseppe Castellano, Art Director Penguin Random House A Children’s Book Art Department: An Inside Look
Meet Giuseppe Castellano, a senior art director at Penguin Random House! Through an inside look into how he runs an art department for five different imprints, attendees will gain further insight into the business and practice of illustration. Giuseppe will discuss what he looks for in illustrators; and what methods he uses to find them. From copyright protection to finding your voice, this presentation aims to help attendees scale the mountain of freelance illustration.
10:15 – Will Terry, and Jake Parker will do a combined presentation with a ten minute break in the middle on 4 Step Art Tune Up – A complete inventory of your work. Will and Jake have presented around the country and are two of the most sought after presenters on illustration.
12:15 – lunch: hot bowl of soup and water (local art directors check out portfolios and have a bowl of soup)
1:15 – Giuseppe Castellano, Will Terry, Jake Parker
First Look Critique
2:15 – Illustrator to Illustrator
2:45 – 3:30 Panel: Giuseppe Castellano, Will Terry, Jake Parker Giuseppe Castellano, Art Director from Penguin Random House will be doing a limited number of 10 minute Portfolio reviews. The fee is $45.00
There will be a Portfolio display again this year. Notify Manelle Olipant at illustration@manelleoliphant.com if you have any questions and bring $5.00 the day of the conference to participate. You need to be registered for the conference to participate in the Portfolio Display.
Giuseppe will take a look at portfolio display and take contact information of what he is interested in. Local art directors are being invited to come and take a look at the portfolios. (Portfolios should be no larger than 11 x 14, bound portfolios with 15 images max -no original art-one set of contact information card such as postcard or business card) No digital portfolios. You can attach one or two book dummies to the portfolio attached with a string.
If you have published books they can be displayed on our published books table.
Giuseppe Castellano Art Director Penguin Random House
Giuseppe Castellano is an award-winning Designer, Illustrator, and Art Director at Penguin Random House; with over sixteen years of book publishing experience. He oversees the imprints of Grosset & Dunlap, Price Stern Sloan, Frederick Warne and Co., the Penguin Young Readers, and Cartoon Network Books.
Giuseppe has been invited to be a guest speaker, critic, and teacher at schools including: Art Center College of Design, Falmouth University, Maryland Institute College of Art, Northern Michigan University, Parsons, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design and many more. His web site is http://www.gcastellano.com
Will Terry
Will Terry has been a freelance illustrator for 23 years. He was horrible at math, english, and science…luckily he found art. After finishing his BFA project at BYU he began working for magazines and newspapers not far from where he grew up in Washington D.C. His early clients include publications such as Time, Money, Wall Street Journal and ads for Sprint, Pizza hut, M&M Mars, Fed Ex, and Master Card. He has illustrated about 30 children’s books for Random House, Simon Schuster, Scholastic, Penguin, Klutz, and Albert Whitman. He has created several indie ebooks that have sold tens of thousands of copies and has started a story app series with Rick Walton beginning with “Gary’s Place”. He also co-owns Folio Academy and svslearn.com – online illustration classes for children’s book illustrators selling in over 50 countries. Will’s web site is http://www.willterry.com
Jake Parker Illustrator
Jake Parker is an illustrator based in Utah. For the last 15 years he’s worked on everything from animated films to comics to picture books. He has lived in six states, working at the best studios with the most amazing and talented people in the country. Now he freelances out of his home studio. Check out his kick starter campaign at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jakeparker/skyheart-book-i-the-star-seed
Below is a list of some of his projects.
The Little Snowplow Candlewick (October 13, 2015)
Rocket Raccoon Marvel (March 3, 2015
The Tooth Fairy Wars Atheneum Books for Young Readers (July 15, 2014)
Nuthin’ but Mech, Volume Two Design Studio Press (June 15, 2014)
Explorer: The Lost Islands Amulet Books (October 15, 2013)
The Girl Who Wouldn’t Brush Her Hair Schwartz & Wade (September 10, 2013)
Nuthin’ But Mech Design Studio Press (August 15, 2012)
Apples A to Z Scholastic Press (August 1, 2012)
Registration opens November 16, 2015. Register by January 23rd, 2016 to catch the Early Bird Price
Go to http://utahsouthidaho.scbwi.org to register – go down to upcoming events and click on Illustrators Conference. That will take you to the registration page. Early Bird Prices Register before January 23, 2016:
SCBWI Members: $60.00
Students: $65.00
General Public $75.00 Portfolio Display $5.00 (bring cash the day of the conference)
Register after January 15, 2015
SCBWI Members $70.00
Students: $75.00
General Public $85.00
Portfolio Display $5.00 (bring cash the day of the conference) To participate in the First Look Critique, after you register, send a jpeg file of your illustration to jennifer@jeneart.com . Because of time constraints we may not be able to critique everyones art but we will try our best.
In Subject line put: SCBWI First Look Art
1. File format: .jpg files (no exceptions)
2. Resolution must be 300 dpi
3. Image size must be set so the longest dimension is 1200 pixels.
4. Each image file must be named as follows: scbwi, your last name, painting number (1, 2, ) .jpg extension.
Example: scbwi Sherry Meidell, 1st entry, “ghost train” would be: scbwimeidell1.jpg
5. Attach the image(s) to an email and send them to jennifer@jeneart.com
Come join us for a great day of illustrator comradery, networking and learning from some expert illustrators and our art director. Questions? email Sherry Meidell, Utah Southern Idaho SCBWI Illustrator Coordinator at sherry@sherrymeidell.com Bountiful Davis Art Center 91 North Main Street, Bountiful is having a show, “Illustrators Utah!” from February 26th through March 25, 2016. There will be a $`15.00 fee to enter. Art needs to be framed with wire on the back ready to hang. The art of Will Terry and Jake Parker will be showcased. The opening will be February 26th, 2015. Art can be delivered February 9th-13th. More Information at http://www.bdac.org
(Illustrator Volunteers: Shawna Tenney, Manelle Oliphant and Jennifer Eichelberger)
Utah Southern Idaho SCBWI: http://www.utahsouthidaho.scbwi.org
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators: http://www.scbwi.org
Illustrators, save the date for this conference. It is going to be a great conference with information that will improve your illustration and promotion abilities.
Drawing Sunshine 