I have been mostly bedridden this entire week. It sucked. Although I have little physical work to show for my week. I am ready to bust out of the gate starting... now.
Not a lot of physical things happened, however, I was able to think and see a lot.
What I did:
- Read and re-read lots of children's (and not so children) books: 3hrs
- Took a walk through a playground with a broken camera: 45 mins
- Emailed a lot of people: 1hr
- I don't know if this counts, but went to the David Handler/Maira Kalman lecture and waited in line to get my book signed/meet them!: 3 hrs
- Researched David and Maira's work: 2 hrs
What I encountered/discovered:
The first thing I learned, was that my immune system sucks. Maybe it was from the shingles, or maybe from not sleeping. No worries. I think I am caught up.
I like re-reading books a lot. Especially picture books. There are usually extra details in the background that always come out and surprise you. Little things that would seem insignificant but end up making the story seem even more charming and real. I have been thinking a lot about how I can use these details to make my pictures/story more whole. In my latest pagination revision I tried to make it very clear that each place that Kay visits is a part of her everyday life, and it only becomes more special and fascinating with these glasses. For example, perhaps instead of making the cat front ground when she is laying on the ground, it could be chasing something in the background for a few pages... just a thought. I will be playing around with this.
I went to take a walk through Burn's park without the snow on the ground. Alas. I need to buy a new camera. Mine is officially retired. The fresh air was nice and there were actually a couple kids there who I creepily watched. I wanted to get a better feel of how kids play.
Emails. Housekeeping. Nothing too spectacular there. I was supposed to stop in the AAPL this week to talk about a reading for my IP finale, but obviously leaving the house wasn't an option.
David Handler and Maira Kalman are my newest book crushes. I dragged myself to the lecture Thursday evening, feeling a bit better, but dreading the make-up essay the most. To my surprise, the speakers were more than I could have ever hoped for. Not only were they funny and fascinating creative people, but they rekindled so much fuel for my project. Sometimes I forget why I am doing this project... then I see artists like them and I remember. I am inspired and I am reenergized. I didn't exactly feel like staying to get a book signed, but there was no way I could pass up an opportunity to meet them... and meet them I did.
The best piece of advice I got was from Maira. I thanked her for a wonderful lecture and told her she was inspiring and when I told her I was writing/illustrating my own book, she says: "you probably saw us up there and thought, 'they have no idea what they're doing. I can do that too.'" Maybe she was being sarcastic, as she can be, but somehow it was comforting to believe that I don't have to know everything right now. I'm still allowed to make mistakes and discover.
What's Next:
Get my butt into gear! I will have a color version of my storyboard by Tuesday and by Thursday I will have all my revisions done to start painting!
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