Writing and illustrating workshop: Create the setting for your story

Writing and illustrating workshop: Create the setting for your story

Venue:  Johannesburg (address to be sent to respondents)

Date: Tuesday 7 March 2017

Time:    10:00 – 15.00

Cost:  R50 SCBWI members, R100 non-members

RSVP: To Jenny at SCBWI.SA.Gauteng@mweb.co.za

About the event:

Donna Wyckoff-Wheeler, writing teacher, will facilitate the workshop on setting. Using movement to create setting – inspiration from the previous meeting. Elements of setting: physical and social geography, mood, season, ambiance, time (macro and micro aspects), people, objects, technology, lighting, relationships  etc.

About the facilitator:

Dr Donna Wyckoff-Wheeler, who offers courses in writing, is an alumnus of the Ohio State University, where she specialised in Applied English, folklore and narrative studies.

This event is for illustrators and writers.

Pre-Workshop Task – Bring to Workshop.

Use some aspect of “motion” to create a fragment of “setting” for a book entitled: The A-frame House on Baker Street.

Writers:  500 word outside limit, less is fine. Do not describe the house directly, although you may include mention of the house if you like (but this is not essential). The setting you create needs to use some concept of motion to support some aspect of the story at this particular point in the narrative – context, character, or plot. Remember, each of these elements involves multiple aspects of contextual details. Yes, I’m being vague just to allow you to play with the concepts. Work toward any genre (including poetry) and any target age. You don’t need to know the whole story at this point.

Illustrators: One art work (any medium or style, rough or finished) that might appear at some point in a book entitled: The A-frame House on Baker Street. Incorporate some idea of motion into the illustration. As you don’t know the “story” at this point, you can image any genre, length or age group you like. 

Jozi Book Fair

The Jozi Book Fair was held from 1-4 September at the Wits Science Stadium, a lovely open and sunny venue surrounded by tutorial rooms. The theme  was “Youth Rising” and young people were in evidence everywhere, singing, dancing, acting and talking about books and reading. 

Young people were invited to send short stories  in to a school competition. Ten of these were selected by Jenny Hatton, Mohale Mashigo and Joan Rankin for publication and the book was launched at the fair.

SCBWI had a stall at the Jozi Book Fair. 

SCBWI members were invited to display their work and assist at the stall. This was all organised by  Matina Genkova-Mpofu.

Joan Rankin sat at a nearby table and helped young people to be creative. Many went away with their own little books which they had illustrated.

Thursday and Friday’s programme for school children was followed by workshops for the general public on Saturday and Sunday. These included ones for aspiring and established  writers and illustrators of children’s books such as the one offered by Joan Rankin and Jenny Hatton: Stealing Ideas – learning from the experts. See the website www.jozibookfair.org.za  

Alan Durant, author of over 100 books for children and young adults, was a special visitor to the fair and his workshop on picture books was a highlight for many.

Workshop: Stealing ideas - learning from the experts

Venue: Johannesburg (address to be sent to respondents)

Date: 7 June 2016

Time: 10:00 - 15:00

Cost: R100 SCBWI members, R200 non-members

RSVP: To Jenny at SCBWI.SA.Gauteng@mweb.co.za

About the workshop

Joan Rankin will share ideas on learning from artists and then Jenny Hatton will discuss techniques used by well-known writers of picture books. This will be followed by a practical exercise.

All welcome - members and non-members. This event is for illustrators and writers.

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Photoshop workshop

Adelle van Zyl, illustrator and graphic designer, showed participants techniques and steps she used to create illustrations for Rympies vir Pikkies & Peuters.

The demonstration covered the following:

Scanning line drawings, ensuring correct quality and colour settings

Removing background, enhancing colour and touching up of line drawing using Photoshop - working with a stylus and tablet

Creating textured backgrounds in Photoshop - working with layers and the clone tool

Adding shading, highlights and detail in Photoshop - working with transparency and brushes.

Photo by Teresa Truda

Characterisation through puppetry

Joan Rankin, 

well-known and award-winning illustrator and writer of children's books 
presented a workshop on using puppets to develop characters.

Participants were given a set of questions to ask of their characters. 
The answers were discussed.

Great fun was had by all. 

Photos by Teresa Truda

Printmaking workshop

Janina Pechova will facilitate a two-day workshop.

Venue: Johannesburg

Date: 12-13 November 2013

Time: 10:00 - 15:00

Cost: R400 SCBWI members, R700 non-members

RSVP: By 4 November to Jenny at SCBWI.SA.Gauteng@mweb.co.za

Booking is essential. Only a small number of participants can be accommodated.

Participants will be doing monoprints and engravings (dry point etching) Monoprints are artworks done with oil paints or watercolours on a perspex plate and then the images are transferred onto wet paper. As the name implies, only one print can be made from the same plate. Drypoint etching can be done on a metal plate, where, depending on the type of plate, up to 200 prints can be pulled from one plate. Dry point will be done on an acetate, which is quicker and easier, but only about 5 prints can be pulled. These images are monochrome but colour can be added by various means after printing. Creating nature prints - using found and natural objects we can create prints by running them through the etching press.

All three techniques can be combined into one artwork.

Janina will supply the basic materials: perspex plates, acetate, cleaning material, various texture making materials and rollers. Participants need to bring: oil paints, brushes, plant material, (old lace, mats etc that would print an interesting texture, gauze) old pens or any tools that will make interesting lines, old rags (cotton), etching needle or a sharp tool similar to this for scratching into the plate (more than one tool is useful if lines of different thickness are required) ,rough paper for proofing.

It would be good if participants brought sketches of images that they are intending to make. Janina will show examples of images from books of wellknown artists.

Janina Pechova is an artist, illustrator and writer. She lectures at the University of Johannesburg. She has published two books, The Little Five and Field Guide to Lesser Known Spooks and Magical Beings.

Drawing: The body language of children, people and animals - Joan Rankin

On 9-10 May 2013, we had a fantastic workshop facilitated by Joan Rankin.

Although many of the illustrators present are experienced and widely published, it's so refreshing to get together in this kind of workshop and work on creativity.


We each received a file containing a number of exercises.

On day 1 we drew with pencil and brought in colour on day 2.

We explored facial expression and body language.


We shared and discussed the work.

And worked some more!








Joan inspired us with her "Hat story".

Teresa Truda

Adelle van Zyl

Paddy (Marlene) Visser
 

We looked at many different techniques on both days and tried them out.








We examined positioning on the page.


Many memorable illustrations were produced.






Although I'm not an illustrator, I was so inspired by this workshop and by being with friends and colleagues.





And in Joan's words ...

Although this is a Critique group meeting, all are welcome!

Venue: Johannesburg (Address will be given to respondents)
Date:  6 March 2012
Time: 9 for 9:30
Cost: R300 for SCBWI members, R400 for non-members
Bookings: By 24 February 2012 to Jenny at SCBWI.SA.Gauteng@mweb.co.za

David Chislett will facilitate a half-day session focussing on how to position yourself to succeed in the publishing industry.

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

Illustrators and Writers Retreat in Gauteng

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) (Gauteng Branch) will be holding a Retreat at a secluded venue in Gauteng on the theme:

CREATE, DEVELOP, REVIEW ...

The Retreat will be led by two established practitioners:
Joan Rankin (illustrator) and Donna-Wyckhoff Wheeler (writing specialist)

The workshops and discussions will cover topics such as plotting, characterisation and setting, giving you an opportunity to take a fresh look at your craft in the light of stimulating discussion.

Next really BIG event

Exhibition by Illustrators and Writers of Children’s Books University of Pretoria