William Marchant

GOOD READS - From Dinosaurs to Amazing Grace!

My mom, the elementary school librarian, brought me a few new books to take a peek at yesterday...

The first was Judith Viorst's Lulu and the Brontosaurus, illustrated by Lane Smith.  I didn't read the whole thing--a lot of words this one--but, I paid close attention to the pictures.  It was good to see Smith going back to more of a hand drawn approach (just black and white drawings) instead of his usual computer perfected illustrations.

The second book was The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound: A Birdies Journal, by Sallie Wolf, designed by Micah Bornstein. This one has really great pictures. A mixture of sketchy drawings with watercolor along with a bit of "collaging" or handcrafted cutting pasting. The story is told through a bird's journal entries (if you couldn't tell by the title.) Very clever and a great read.

The third book was Jerry Garcia's Amazing Grace.  This book features the Amazing Grace lyrics by John Newton along with a CD with the song performed by Garcia, David Grisman, and Tony Rice...the band of Garcia's bluegrass days.  The pictures are Garcia's paintings and sketches, which really make the book something special, not just for kids.  

Besides the wonderful drawings, the best part of the book is the introduction written by, widow, Deborah Koons Garcia.  Fantastic stuff!

So go run to your library or local independently owned bookstore and grab these gems!

Catcher in the Rye Revisited

I was getting a lot of hits on this blog for a post from last year about my high school painting based on J.D. Salinger's famous novel The Catcher in the Rye.  (READ THAT POST HERE)  So, I decided to revisit the "loss of innocence" theme and update the work.  

Above is the result, which I'm pretty happy with!  Check out the full size version on Flickr...you get a lot more of the finer details in the larger version.

I kept a lot exactly the same (well, mirrored), because I felt that my painting in high school did a great job of illustrating the themes and motifs in Catcher.  But there are also a lot of differences.  Besides just the style, I took out the "cloaks" I had the kids wearing in the original painting.  The other major thing is that I have no one actually falling off the cliff in the new illustration.  I felt that it was more fitting to Holden Caulfield's mental picture of "if a body catch a body coming through the rye;" that he keep every one from falling rather than just watching them plummet.

Another key thing I did was add my interpretation of Holden Caulfield.  No one knows exactly what the character looked like except for the late Mr. Salinger.  But I wanted to offer my view of Caulfield, red hunting hat and all.

I might do another post later on explaining all the symbollism, but for now please let me know what you think below...this thing means a lot to me and I would love to hear your take!

DECEMBER UPDATE: W Marchant Ilustration & Design

My blog hasn't been updated for a while so I figured it a good idea just to explain why.  Why is because I've been busy as EVER!  While I've gotten only rejection letters back from a few of my picture book submissions...the design side of things has been great!

One thing I've been busy with is a lot of renderings and other design for a company in New York called Populate: Drawing People In.  I can't really talk about the projects I did for them because each involves 2011 ad campaigns for some major companies.  But I will say that a major soft drink company, a leader in dress pants, and a technological giant have some really cool campaigns coming soon and I am glad to have had a hand in pitching them! 

Other projects that I can only "mention" are the work I did for the CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)...but there is some neat stuff going on there too!

Some stuff that I can actually talk about, for one, is all the stuff I've been doing for MSI (Motor Service, Inc.).  I've been handling a rebranding of their company since early this year, which has included everything from new business cards, to truck decals, to merchandising items, to carbonless forms.  It has been a well-rounded project to say the least.

With all this design work, I feel lucky to get away from the computer screen every now & then...and some recent t-shirt screen printing orders I've gotten have helped that! 

Also, in whatever spare time I get, I have been developing a mini-comic or zine that is nearing completion (that's the cover above).  I will be targeting some underground comic stores and indie bookstores to sell some of these things so look for them soon!  If you want to pre-order a copy just shoot me an email.

And the last thing is always my side project RockScratch...I'm always adding new stuff there so check it out.  I'm running a 20% OFF Holiday Sale...so now's a good time to take a look!

Well, I think that covers most of what I've been doing lately...I'm going to get back to it, but have a happy Christmas season!

Bis dann!

Is the App the Future of the Picture Book?

When it comes to the children's book market, trying to get published the old fashioned way is tough.  Especially nowadays.  I know that I am stating the obvious, but ambitious authors/illustrators, such as myself, need to hear that as much as possible.  Personally, I like hearing it because it makes me try harder.  Also, it forces me to accept the possibility (rather likelihood) that I will never be published the old fashioned way.  So, I am compelled to consider other options such as self-publishing. 

But wait...isn't self-publishing just a lower form of "doing it the old fashioned way"?

If I'm going to self-publish, why not be cutting edge, ahead of the times...a pioneer!  I'm talking about going electronic.  GASP...is he really talking about ignoring the tradition, the beauty, the personal experience of print media!?!

MGHL - Robert Andrew Parker Exhibit

I first discovered Robert Andrew Parker through a picture book about Jackson Pollock that he illustrated called Action Jackson and have loved his work ever since.  So I was very excited when I was told about a great Wash U exhibit opening soon...

The Modern Graphic History Library of Washington University in St. Louis is rapidly completing the cataloging of Robert Andrew Parker's commercial work (he gave us all of his commercial work, reserving his fine art work for distribution to his family). We've scheduled a local Communication Design alumni reception for Thursday, October 28th at the MGHL to celebrate the collections' accessibility to the public.

  Bob has agreed to attend and make brief remarks. The originals he has given are astonishing.  This celebration of one of the Illustration Industry's most successful artists will be one you do not want to miss!  It is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Lane Smith's Curious Pages Explanation of "It's a Book"

In this FANTASTIC blog post, Lane Smith talks about why he wrote "It's a Book," how he came up with the illustrations, and his lifelong influences as an author/illustrator/humorist.

I truly found this fascinating so I just wanted as many people as possible to see it...

LOOK AT THE BLOG POST HERE

Also, check out the book, "It's a Book," at your local library OR GET IT HERE!

An Illustration Makeover:Reworking "That One Big One"

In the past year, I've gone through several stages with the children's book that I've been working on called That One Big One.  Every time I had a critique or discovered something new, it changed.  The rhyme wasn't working so I made the rhyme tighter.  Then I decided to drop the rhyme all together and tell the story straight.

Well, now I am in the process of reworking the illustrations.  As painful as it was to admit to myself that the illustrations weren't working (because it was also admitting that I had wasted 3 months illustrating the entire thing), it had to be done.  So now I have come up with a style that is much more "me".  With my first illos, I refused to use the computer (Photoshop) as much as possible.  I went for a more "hand crafted" look, which I still like, but I don't think I mastered it in this particular project.  So for the reworks, I am using the computer a lot more...something that I have come to embrace as the medium of my era.  Lane Smith, my idol, embraced the digital medium...so why wouldn't I!

As you see in the page spread above, I am trying to keep the characters looking very much the same, only more clean and finished.  Also, based on a SCBWI critique, I am adding more perspectives in each illustration...whereas in my previous illustrations, I simply showed each scene/character "straight on."

I plan on doing 5 or 6 page spreads before putting together more submission packages.  So check back soon for my progress!

Free Coloring Page & Caption Printout

I'm trying something a little different here...below, you can download the full-sized image you see at the left and either print it out to color it in, or do your magic in Photoshop (or MS Paint or whatever program you prefer).  Also, add a funny caption to the characters...but PLEASE keep it G or PG rated as my hopes are for your kids to contribute to this also.

Then just post either your new image (or a photo of your hand colored work) on my Facebook Fan Page for the world to see!

If I get enough responses...the next one will involve a prize for my favorite!

Click Here to DOWNLOAD COLORING PAGE!

(After the image appears, just right-click and select "Save Image As...")

The Art of Reading

I was lent this book a while ago and finally got around to giving it a genuine flip through (reading some of it, but mostly just admiring the pictures like always).  In the book, The Art of Reading, forty illustrators celebrate the 40th anniversary of RIF (Reading is Fundamental, the largest non-profit literacy organization in America) by talking about some of their major influences. 

Basically, they discuss books that they feel are highly necessary for developing young readers.  Everyone from Eric Rohmann talking about how Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág inspired him to leave things to the imagination of the reader, to David McPhail telling the story of how The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Hughet Bishop and Kurt Wiese turned him onto reading as a young child. 

The highlight of the book is where William Joyce discusses (albeit briefly) his major influence, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.  "I got lost in that book and haven't come out since," Joyce states.  After reading Joyce's George Shrinks for the first time, I immediately thought of Where the Wild Things Are...and I don't think I've gotten out of either book just yet.  Joyce's illustration on page 60 of The Art of Reading (illustrated specifically for this book) perfectly depicts the amount of influence Sendak's book had on him.  I wish I could add a pic of this illo, but will not as to avoid copyright issues...plus, it's more the reason for you to check out the book!

Moral of my story: It will be hard for the lender of this book to get it back from me!

GET THE ART OF READING ON AMAZON.COM NOW!

A Fitting Musical Tribute to Shel Silverstein

I figured this appropriate because it combines two things I love: Good music & picture books...

A tribute album was recently released called, Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to Shel Silverstein.  It caught my attention because Silverstein is one of my favorite children's author/illustrators.  What really got me though was the musicians/bands that contributed to this album...such as My Morning Jacket and Dr. Dog!

Can't wait to check it out...

CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF ON AMAZON.COM