Patricia Keeler illustrator

Friday, March 2, 2018

My first trip to New York City to sell my three picture book dummies! How hard could it be?

My website is: www.patriciakeeler-author-illustrator.com

Facebook friend me at: PatriciaKeelerBooks Follow me on Twitter: @patriciakeeler

represented by Liza Royce Agency www.lizaroyce.com

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Copy of IMG 2878

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Sagrado Corazón de Dienstag
©Myra Hernandez 2006

It's a good thing Myra Hernandez started her life journey in the mountains of Peru working with a witch doctor, because it takes a kind of magic to put free books in the hands of hundreds of kids below the poverty line.

Last week Myra and I walked into the classroom and every child was holding Julio Leitao's and my book DRUMBEAT IN OUR FEET! I've done school talks before, but seeing that each child was gifted their own book, made the visit unique.

Myra and I helped the students make a water circle where we stepped into a puddle of river water and called out to our ancestors. We painted a dot on every child's wrist in memory of a lost relative. The children acted out a tale from the life of Nzinga, a famous African queen.

Next week Myra and I are returning to the classroom for a Draw-A-Thon. We are sketching side by side two different images. The children are guessing from our drawings:

1. Which elephant is from Africa? I am sketching an African elephant. Myra is sketching an Asian elephant. (Hint: You know, the little ears are a giveaway.)

2. How many types of instruments below are made from gourds?

3. Which animal is a REAL African animal? (Hint: A trick question, but can you name this unique animal?)

Answers:
1. Number 1 is an African elephant

2. Three instruments are made from gourds – shaker, xylophone, and a stringed instrument called a kora

3. Both 1 and 2 are animals found in Africa; animal number 2 is an opaki, a member of the giraffe family

You don't need to be published to help out in New York Public Schools with BEHIND THE BOOK. Volunteers are needed for research or writing or art coaches. Here is a link for more information on BEHIND THE BOOK. www.behindthebook.org

And if you do a book talk or volunteer, Myra might take you out to lunch!

I'm not haunted by ghosts, or scared of spiders or the dark.

But one thing keeps me up at night in fear . . .

no, not rabbits! it's beginning the illustrations for a new picture book.

All that white.

All those empty pages.

All the UNdrawn.

At Eastern PA SCBWI, I heard a great presentation by J Byron Schachner—Judy to her friends. (She's one of those people who is so friendly that you think you are 'instantly' her friend.) So going on that assumption, Judy has a method for climbing into those scary white pages. It's a Character Bible.

In one of Judy's Character Bibles the pants came first. Judy found a picture of pants drying on a clothes line. She thought it was a great shot of pants. Maybe put a raccoon in them? Hello, Dewey Bob! Later, she found a photograph of a raccoon in a pair of pants.

Permission given by J Byron Schachner to publish images from her Character Bible on Drawn To Picture Books.
© J Byron Schachner

Judy can spend a year or more creating a Character Bible before beginning to write and illustrate.

I'm developing a story about a Halloween witch, and am creating my own Halloween Character Bible. I'm learning;

1. By collecting images of witches and cats, I'm finding what feet, noses, hats, etc., I like, and those that don't work for me.

2. I can sketch my characters in various guises, not worrying about the final look of the characters yet. Here they can grow and develop.

Building my Halloween Witch Character Bible © Patricia Keeler

3. There are the common Halloween images like bats and spiders, but I'm finding pictures of objects I hadn't thought of, like brown moths and pumpkins wrapped in black lace.

4. While looking for witches and cats in shops, magazines, and online, I'm discovering new Halloween fonts and graphics.

5. I'm discovering new Halloween colors. Who knew pea green would be a scary color?

6. And surprising locations. The circus definitely works for Halloween images! Eeek!

Making a Halloween Character Bible feels like preparing the earth for planting. No wonder it is so hard for me to get anything growing. I've had little to grow new images from.

Here's my first sketch of a Halloween witch

and I don't even have a headache!