“Maya was Grumpy” Book Launch!

May 14th, 2013

(In steps and photos..)

Contact favorite local children's book store that you've dreamed about having a book in for YEARS. (ask if you can bring cookies) 

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Enlist help of talented baker sister to bake lion, elephant and giraffe sugar cookies.

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Put small children to work

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Learn to decorate cookies (with sister's guidance) 

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Make a few just for fun. 

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Prepare gift bags with stickers..

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and cookies! 

Print out Activity/Coloring sheets, 

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Pack bag with extra stickers (especially for kids who can't have cookies) visual aids and favorite pens for signing. 

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Get to store 20 minutes early and take lots of pics of books and signs. 

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Be very grateful that the incredibly helpful and awesome staff has everything ready and wait (a tad nervously) 

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Courtney reading

Read.

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Draw. 

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Sign books..

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make ridiculous faces ;)  

Leave extra cookies with helpful staff.

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Take pic in front of store.

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Go home and eat cake!

If you’re Grumpy and you know it…

May 8th, 2013

Make a Grumpy face! 

Want to win some "Maya was Grumpy" swag including a signed book, stickers, bookmarks, a GRUMPY pin, a tote bag AND your very own mini stuffed lion to share your grumps with? Then enter this contest! 

 

Maya-was-Grumpy-Swag

 

 

All you have to do is find your favorite illustration of Maya being grumpy in "Maya was Grumpy" and make the same face. Then take a photo and send it to me at contest@pippinmathur.com. The crankiest, grumpiest, grouchiest faces will get showcased on my blog or website and two winners will be chosen to receive the Grumpy goody bags.

Get your entries in by June 4th, 2013 and the winner will be announced the week of June 10th! 

I recruited a few of my favorite Grumps to help you get in the mood. 

Grumpy-Gallery 

The story of Maya

May 6th, 2013

Last Wednesday was the official release date of "Maya was Grumpy" ! I'm so excited to be able walk into some of my favorite stores and see my first book on the shelves.

The story of how Maya came to be published by Flashlight Press is not a short and sweet one. But, it was worth the wait!

Eight years ago, in 2005, I emailed Shari Dash Greenspan at Flashlight Press a link to my portfolio. She replied that "she'd keep (my work) in mind" and to send her periodic updates, especially with grandmas." In the fall of 2006, I sent her my first version of Maya's story and she suggested some (great) edits and we went back in forth in several emails, but she ultimately passed. 

We kept in touch about once or twice a year and I sent her other story ideas and kept working on my portfolio.  Then I had twins and thanks to the utter exhaustion that two newborns created, I didn't really create anything for a bit. In 2009, when they were about a month old, Shari emailed asking about Maya. I sent her the latest version and a revised dummy a few months later. She passed again, noting that this would be my first book and that I would need a bit of guidance along the way. (Boy, did I ever. No matter how much you think you're ready, your first book is a huge learning curve) 

I occupied myself with staying sane with newborn twins and then one cold, miserable January day in 2011, I received the most marvelous email asking if it was still available and if so, Flashlight Press would like to publish it. 

Beginning around May of that year, the work began. Thank goodness for Shari's patience with not only the process of illustrating but also the learning curve of moving from traditional media to a trad/digital mix.

So, in eight years, with the help of one incredible editor, the countless revisions on my art and technique took Maya from this: 

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to this: 

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and this

 

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and this

 

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The Next Big Thing- A Global Book Blog Tour

March 22nd, 2013

I was tagged by two amazingly talented friends, Jannie Ho and Elizabeth Rose Stanton,  to participate in the Next Big Thing, a global Blog tour about children's books that started in Australia. (Go check out their posts about current and upcoming releases!) 

 

 

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I'll be talking about my debut picture book, "Maya was Grumpy" which is out at B&N and Amazon now and will be available everywhere May 1st. 

 

Where did the idea come from for the book?

My three year old was stomping around the house one morning, sharing the fact that she was in a sour mood. I had my sketchbook close by, so I grabbed it and and drew a picture of a grumpy little face with crazy, curly hair. (yes, it's totally based on my daughter's crazy curls) 

What genre does your book fall under?
Picture Book

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I'm going to go with an animated version because of Maya's emotive mane of hair. ;)  

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When Maya wakes up in a grumpy, grouchy, crispy, cranky bad mood, it's up to Gramma and her imagination and sense of humor to save the day.

Who is publishing your book?
Flashlight Press.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
This one was pretty fast to initially write, it only took a few weeks. (Of course, acceptance and revision took much longer) 

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Alexander and the No Good Very Bad Day 

Sophie Got Angry 

(two personal classic favs) 

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
My daughter (see above)  and my grandmother, who was truly awesome. 

What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
The illustrations are  swirling, bright, splashy manifestations of Maya's emotions as well as her hair, which grows and expands along with her mood. 

 

Now, to tag a few incredible writer/illustrators who have books coming out in the near future: 

 

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Christine Forshay- illustrator of, "Goodnight Baseball" (and more) out now.

 

 

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Molly Idle- author/illustrator of "Tea for Rex" (and more) out April 2013.

 

 

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Kelly Light- illustrator of "The Quirks" (and more) out in June 2013. 

 

 

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Leeza Hernandez- Illustrator of "Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo" (and more) out in October 2013

A Constant Work in Progress

March 15th, 2013

 

I discovered watercolor in college. The fine arts department of my university promised that you would be an artist when you graduated and they fulfilled this promise by requiring you to take multiple levels of at least three mediums in addition to the beginner courses you had to take. Thus, I tried oil painting and acrylics and printing and knew they weren't my thing. Then I tried life drawing and B&W photography (this was old school peeps, with film!) and liked them. Then I tried Watercolor. Ah….Watercolor. My love, my joy and my sanity saver. I loved painting giant abstract pieces for hours, just allowing my subconscious to flow along with the water and paint.

So, no surprise that I would use watercolor in my illustration, right? And as digital illustration came into the scene, I just knew…knew that it wasn't my thing. I love many, many digital illustrators' work and am amazed at how people use it and make it better with each and every book. But, I had my watercolor. And that was enough. And I needed to sit at my desk and paint. I am not exaggerating when I say I dream in washes occasionally.

But, then I got my first book contract. I was so happy, so thrilled, so ecstatic to be working with Flashlight Press. When the contract came and stated that they preferred images delivered digitally, I figured no problem. I will find a large format scanner or a photographer and get it on the computer and send it to them. 

I did not know what I was doing. I contacted some local businesses and found the scanning prices to be downright scary. When I found a local place, the scanned images were wrong. Wrong color, wrong tone, just awfully wrong. So, I contacted a friend who had a wonderful, professional camera, did research on how  to photograph the images to get a certain a dpi that would work for printing and I painted and photographed and put them in Photoshop and was quite proud of myself. Then, I got an email from my editor. The images would not work. They were too small to print at the size they needed and looked blurry when they were stretched. To say I freaked out is an understatement. I was doomed! I would have to pay MEGA bucks to get my images scanned at a fine art place. I had a tiny scanner but knew nothing about piecing images together and didn't have the time to learn. Doomed, doomed, doomed. I called my husband, explained what was going on and told him how ruined I was. My husband (who is the left brained one in this relationship) said, "Don't you have a lot of friends that work digitally? Ask them." 

Oh yeah! Huh. Good idea. So I posted on my illustrator group and emailed two friends who do lovely digital work and within minutes I had learned how photoshop has this wonderful automate thing that merges your images for you. Amazing and Brilliant these digital friends of mine. So, I tried it, and through a lot of late nights and practice and many, many, many mistakes and lots of questions, I learned how to scan, merge, and clean and tweak and even upload my work to an ftp site. And my work, it looked brighter, bolder, cleaner, more true to life. I was officially converted. I was not a traditional or a digital artist. I was a combo. And I really liked the results. I can be messy and wild in my watercolor and then clean and polish in photoshop. 

Maya 14 example originalMaya 14 after ps final

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                  

Now, I have a ton to learn in photoshop. More than a ton. A billon of tons of things. But, I thought my watercolor skills were okay. I mean, I still had a lot to learn. I had this "style" and knew how to achieve this certain "look". (Any artist who doesn't believe they have a lot to learn is off the mark. In my opinion, that is art, the learning and exploring and experiencing through a visual medium.) But, I knew which watercolor paper I liked and which paints and brushes, etc..

Until a critique came back. You know when something is niggling at the back of your mind? When you look at your work and know that something could be improved and you work and adjust but still there is something that could be changed but you have no idea what they hey it is? Well, I had a critique that nailed my current issue. (There will always be issues, I'm just speaking of the most recent one here) and it was my beloved cold press. My toothy, absorbent-y, wild wash allowing paper might be a bit too bumpy for the feel of a story that I had written and was trying to illustrate. ( I loved it for Maya and do think it was the paper for that wild, emotive color and hair.) But what did I think about trying a different type of paper? At first, I balked. But then, I dug some old paper out and tried it. And…..I liked the results. It was still watercolor! It was different than what I had remembered from school.It could still flow and blend but had a different feel. 

And so, in the last two years my style has changed pretty dramatically. And is still changing. The change to digital was dramatic enough that I completely changed my style of work and my portfolio. (Shout out to the patience of my editor here) The addition of the different paper (and white backgrounds) means that I will have two slightly different styles of work on my site. Here is an example of one piece that has changed as I have learned to adjust both my traditional watercolor style and learned how to work in photoshop a little bit more everyday.

Gro 06-07 color snippet

Gro boat 3 snippet