Paper, scissors ... picture

Acres of swishy swashy grass, tons of squelchy, squerchy mud and an assortment of particularly ferocious bears were much in evidence when SCBWI member Hazel Cuthbertson and drama student Mark Tatham presented a one-hour illustration workshop at the Alliance Française in Johannesburg in February.

Hazel gave the kids the basics about how to translate the movement, emotion and energy of a story using shapes, colours, edges, and space, and then Mark launched into the classic children’s story “We’re going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen.

With only coloured paper, scissors and glue at their disposal, the kids, aged from 4 to 10 years old, set about creating their own pictures to illustrate the story. The results were amazing – bears complete with sharp snouts, fearsome teeth and deadly claws emerged from the dark murky depths of caves and vast expanses of mud. Some budding illustrators rejected the purely representational route and still managed to fully capture the essence of the story – like the 6-year-old who just used two crunched up wads of paper on a dark background to signify the bear’s eyes peering out of the dark cave…enough said. Intricately snipped swathes of grass and rolling rivers seemed to be favourite images, but some kids were totally mesmerised by the array of colours and never got beyond sticking this bit to that bit, 4-year-old cutting skills being rudimentary for the most part.

But lots of fun was had by all, and some amazing art resulted – kids, as always, are full of surprises.

Illustration Workshop

Open Studios of 2010

Illustrators and writers visited one another's studios during 2010 and learnt about how different people worked. Each illustrator / writer generously shared individual experiences, knowledge and techniques. This SCBWI project provided an incredible opportunity to learn from one another and helped to weld together a supportive group in Gauteng.

March

Paddy (Marleen Visser) showed how she works by hand as well as on computer. She talked about some of the paintings in her house and where they've been exhibited.

April

Julia du Plessis showed how she uses kokis and works by hand. She talked about her work in graphic art and cartooning.

May

Yvette  de  Beer talked about how she had been influence by a wide range of books, showed her ceramic work and talked about her paintings.

July

 

Adelle van Zyl shared some of her technical expertise in using computer programs for illustrations.

August

Rob Owen talked about some of his experiences as an illustrator and described how he works.

September

Hazel Cuthbertson described her journey towards working in children's books. She used Molly Bang's book, Colour This, to talk about how size, shape and colour are used in

 illustrating.

October

Joan Rankin showed some of her early as well as later work as an artist and illustrator. She inspired writers and illustrators to continue to be creative and challenge themselves.

Thank you to all these wonderful people for being so welcoming and generous in opening their houses and studios to others.