Tottie and Dot Blog Blast

          This is Tottie...                                      and this is Dot.

They have their own book where they live... side by side.                                                                                                    

Tottie and Dot are the creation of author/illustrator team, Tania McCartney and Tina Snerling. And today we are part of the Blog Blast celebrations across the web as we join Tania and Tina in launching this adorable picture book into the world. Grab a spot on the picnic rug.

Marshmallow tea, anyone?

Look who we have here! We're so lucky today to have snaffled a few moments with illustrator, Tina Snerling.

Hi Tina! Did you have far to come today to sit Under the Apple Tree with us?

Not at all. I recently moved to a beautiful acreage just outside Brisbane, complete with chickens and a vegetable patch, which has been my dream!                           

Sounds wonderful! I loved your illustrations in An Aussie Year. When did you first start drawing?

I have been drawing as far back as my memories go. When I was little, I was obsessed with paper. Back when computer paper used to have the perforated edges and holes down the side! My Mum used to get the used paper from her work and I thought it was like Christmas come at once.

Ah, you're younger than me! The earliest drawing I still have is on butcher's paper. What's the earliest drawing you can remember doing?

I won a 'young artist' award in grade 1! It was an illustration of a spring garden with bunnies I believe!!!

How adorable. I guess it was in crayon. What’s your favourite medium now?

Digital Illustration. I also enjoy pastel, but don't get to do it enough!

Are there any illustration techniques or styles you would still like to try?

I have been drawn more towards watercolour lately - I would love to work more in this medium in the future. I am also experimenting with papier mache, photography and digital illustration combined in the one image - it's very time consuming but so exciting to see it all come together!

I'm guessing you've been inspired by other illustrators. Who are your favourites?

M. Sasek, Oliver Jeffers, Sanjay Patel and Charley Harper.

It's always interesting to hear about illustrators' backgrounds. What training did you undertake to become an illustrator?

I originally undertook studies in fashion and textile design, where I got to experiment a great deal with still life drawings. Being challenged to draw models and poses in minutes before the next pose taught me to really understand posture, positioning, and the human form. I found this translated extremely well when trying to capture characters in children's book. After my studies, I became a children's clothing and textile designer; this is where I really have fun and hone my skills on digital illustration. I have also undertaken studies in graphic design and multimedia, where I learnt invaluable skills when it came to creating book layout and design.

That certainly would've given you a good foundation for a future in children's book illustration. What’s next for you?

As well as illustrating my third book with Tania McCartney, let me just say that we will be working together for some time to come! Stay tuned!

We're looking forward to more from you both! Where can we see more of your work?

My website is currently under major construction (typical of a designer to leave their work until last) but you can see my work at the following;

http://www.tinasnerling.blogspot.com.au/

http://www.scbwi.org/members-public/tina-snerling

And lastly, where would you go right now if time and money were no object?

France - it is always France! A French château with a beautiful outlook for inspiration, complete with a little French bakery down the road.

Sigh, me too!

To visit other blogs on today's 'Tottie and Dot' Blog Blast see the schedule here.

Snap Magic's Cover Release

When you work towards a project for years (writing) and months (illustrating) it can be difficult to finally introduce your 'baby' to the world. Letting go of something you have been passionately working on for such a long time is often an angst-filled moment. But I couldn't be prouder of how the cover for my new release, Snap Magic, has turned out. Here it is:

ISBN: 978-0-9925753-0-4

The illustration/artwork and design vision are my own. Anthony Puttee of Book Cover Cafe brought it all together beautifully. He's terrific to work with; I especially like the font he found and the background he created to my brief.

In another post I'll show my original illustration and sketches. And who's keen to read the blurb?

The professional editing and design of this creative work was made possible with the support of

The Regional Arts Development Fund – a Queensland Government and Gold Coast City Council partnership 

to support local arts and culture.

My Top Ten Tips for Story Writing

Below you'll find some quotes by me as editor of the Junior Redlitzer Anthology 2014, published in the Redlands City Council's Redlands Magazine as well as my Top Ten Tips for Story Writing. 

"Think of a character, give them a challenge and delve into your imagination for ways to overcome it – you are now well on the way to becoming a junior Redlitzer finalist." 

"What young writers have to keep in mind firstly is that the Redlitzer is a short story competition. There is only so much that can be covered in 1000 words." 

"But we want a complete story from start to finish, not an essay. So make it active more than descriptive, jump straight in."

Angela, a former teacher, says the best way to start is simply put ideas down on paper "no matter how crazy."

"It's when you start firing your imagination that you start to get ideas that are original," she says. "And remember that as a short story it is just a snapshot in life - a very short timeframe."

Photo by Melanie Holtsman

My Top Ten Tips

1. Find inspiration for stories by: reading newspaper features; finding objects on the beach; childhood memories; old diaries; two randomly chosen nouns (like sausage/queen); using story starters (eg. http://www.literacyshed.com/the-story-starter-shed.html) etc...

2. Decide on who will be the main character of your story and keep the secondary characters to an absolute minimum of two or three. Give your character a name, something they love and something they have a fear or loathing of (eg. love of a family pet and... fear of heights.) 

3. Give your main character a problem, which they must solve or overcome - or at least struggle with within the 1000 words. (eg. the beloved family pet is stuck in a tree.... main character must overcome fear of heights to save it.)

4. Brainstorm/mindmap your main character's problem and possible outcomes. What does your character want more than anything? Think up crazy obstacles and solutions. Weird, funny, fantastical are all good.

5. You may plan your story first and then write it, or the other way around. Absolutely NO sub plot in a short story.

6. Keep your story within a short time frame. It is like a snapshot of the life of your character. 

7. Your first sentence is the hook. Jump right into the drama and action. Dialogue is also a good place to start, or thoughts. Introduce the main character's problem as soon as possible. Don't start with description.

8. The middle of your story should show your character trying to overcome their problem/ achieve their goal with obstacles in the way.

9. The resolution of your story may have a twist - short stories often do. Surprise your reader!

10. When editing, think about the tense, the point of view (ie. first person or third person) and grammar. Cut out all the bits that are telling or describing too much. Show your character's emotions through dialogue, thoughts and actions.

The Redlitzer Junior Anthology will be launched at a gala event on Saturday, October 18, 2014 at which the Editor’s Choice Award for the best story will be announced.

Redlitzer Junior Anthology 2014

I'm busy working on the final copyediting of the ten finalists' stories for the Redlitzer Junior Anthology 2014. As this year's editor I had the privilege of running a full-day writing and editing workshop with the finalists last month at the Victoria Point Library in Redlands City. With the help of judges and mentors, Louise Cusack and Marianne de Pierres, the junior writers worked on their rewrites in three small groups.

The day began with a warm-up exercise and editorial feedback on their stories. Overall the 10-14 year olds used consistent point of view, good opening hooks, strong endings/twists and imaginative world building. General weaknesses were paragraphing and the setting out of dialogue. I wonder whether schools are teaching paragraphing with an empty space between each. That's fine for websites, emails, letters and report writing, but creative writing and the publishing world require true paragraphing.

We then looked at Editing a Scene, working on a Scene Overview sheet after a reading of the first scene from my upcoming children's novel, Snap Magic. The junior writers had to fill in questions on characters, purpose, action, setting, sensory details and hooks in relation to their own story.

This was followed by Strengthening a Character. After showing the junior writers examples of my character profiles, they worked on their own, looking specifically at emotions, abilities, personality, physical attributes and mannerisms.

Finally, before they began their rewrites, we worked on Strengthening Plot and Structure. Using a Story Plan and Story Editing Checklist we read and discussed the parts of a story, the goals, obstacles and resolution.

Somewhere in between all this we also managed to fit in a huge cooked breakfast and lunch at the cafe next door!

Tomorrow I'll be putting up my Top Ten Tips for Story Writing (for junior writers). Tune in again!

Book Cover Modelling

My mother-in-law is very proud to have entered a new modelling career at the age of 83. She was the hand model for an illustration I worked on for my latest book cover. In the illustration an elderly neighbour offers the main character a magic sphere for her 'trick or treat'.

I was having trouble drawing the hand and had found some good visual references online, but none were from the right angle or perspective. Then it dawned on me that staying in the spare room was my very own 'hand model'.

Voila! Here are the results below.

And here is my mother-in-law hard at work. Gotta love her!

Children's Picture Book Portraits

In an effort to have fun, play a little and increase my portfolio, I am offering very reasonably priced Picture Book Portrait commissions. 

Working from photographs of children and their favourite things, I create a one image visual narrative straight from the pages of a make-believe picture book. The child becomes a character within their own one-page story.

The portrait is worked in watercolour, graphite and coloured pencil on 300gsm artist quality watercolour paper. 

In the example below I combined baby Milly's favourite blanket, beach hat and inseparable companion, Charli.

Just send me a query through the contact page on my website.

Kate Greenaway Medal Winner Jon Klassen Shares his Process

I love to learn about the illustrative processes of some of the world's best children's book illustrators and share them on the blog. Today I have a special treat for you...

The winner of 2014's prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal is Jon Klassen for his book, This is Not My Hat – both written and illustrated by him.

On the children's books page of The Guardian Jon Klassen kindly gives us a page-by-page video tour of the book in person, explaining his illustrative method and reasons behind his decisions for each page. Watch it here: Jon Klassen's Video Tour of 'This Is Not My Hat'

I was fascinated to learn that he paints the images first in black ink on white paper, scans them into the computer and then inverts them before colouring. That's how he gets the rich black backgrounds.

Also, enjoy the book trailer below.