My 2012: A Look Back

2012 has beens my year for challenges and acronyms. I participated in Julie Hedlund's 12x12 all year, Paula Yoo's NaPiBoWriWee in May, Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo in November, and Linda Silvestri's SkADaMo in November. In addition to all of these, my debut picture released November 15th. It was a lot of challenges and a lot of work. In case you don't know what these acronyms stand for, here are some quick definitions:

12x12 - Write 12 picture book drafts in 12 months. I did it. Thank you Julie Hedlund.

NaPiBoWriWee - National Picture Book Writing Week, Write 7 picture book manuscripts in 7 days. I did it and with 12x12, I wrote 18 manuscripts this year. Thank you Paula Yoo.

PiBoIdMo - Picture Book Idea Month, Come up with a concept for a picture book storyline every day of the month of November. I completed this challenge this year and last year. I used many of last year's ideas to create drafts for the first two challenges on this list. Thank you Tara Lazar.

SkADaMo - Sketch a Day Month, Create a sketch every day in November and post them on your blog. I posted 23 sketches on this blog. I actually created one every day but could not post some because they are part of a picture book dummy for a NaPiBoWriWee story I wrote in the 2011 challenge. This was my first year doing  this challenge and it was a lot of fun. Can't think too long when you have to produce a sketch and post it that day. Thank you Linda Silvestri (who also created the 12x12 badge you see at the top of this post.

As if November wasn't busy enough with writing a draft for 12x12, coming up with an idea for a story everyday for PiBoIdMo, and creating a sketch everyday for SkADaMo - a picture book that I wrote and illustrated launched on November 15th. FLAP! is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, and my website (if you want an autographed copy). See image of FLAP! cover on the sidebar.

Now that I have thanked the four talented women who led these challenges, I need to thank the other writers and illustrators who participated in these challenges with me. Thank you. I read many of your pitches, critiqued many of your stories, reviewed many of your sketches. You are all very talented and supportive and I appreciate the communities created within these writing groups.

But wait! There's more! Because of exposure through 12x12, I was invited to join a group of writer's who had books coming out in 2012 and share marketing advice and efforts. Thank you Picture Book Pluggers. I also created a business called AH Designs in which I create swag for authors and other professionals - including bookmarks, business cards, postcards, coloring pages, book formating, etc... Thank you Susanna Hill for helping to get this ball rolling.

One More Thing! Through the connections I made in 12x12, I also started an online picture book critique group called Flowing Words with several talented writers and illustrators. Thank you to those writers for sharing your manuscripts with me and for helping me polish my writing.

Whew, now I can breathe for a couple of weeks until 12x12 in 2013 begins this January. Are you with me? There is nothing more motivating that a group of writers struggling along with you and telling you that YOU CAN DO IT.

Author/Illustrator - Brenda A. Harris

Each week this May and June (and possibly longer if I can catch these super busy artists), I will feature Author/Illustrators. In the genre of children's literature, there are authors, illustrators, and author/illustrators. This last group does it all and I want to know more about them and their creative process.

My name is Brenda A. Harris and I’m a writer/illustrator/artist.

How long have you been creating art for children?

Well, I’ve always been an artist .  When I was just a baby, my grandfather (an artist) used sit me on his lap, and teach me how to draw people.

How long have you been writing for children?

 I’ve always been a storyteller.  Being the oldest of four children, I liked making up stories for my siblings. Whenever my littlest sister was ill, I liked to help her feel better by telling her stories.  Later, when I had children of my own, I wrote and illustrated stories for them.  I’ve always believed children can fall in love writing, if they discover the magic and power writing gives it’s creator. With that thought in mind, I helped my four children fall in love with reading, writing and art.

Has your art or writing been published yet?

Hardly.  In 2006 I published my first book. It was mandatory.  I was in school getting my teaching degree and the prof gave us a project - produce a children’s book.  I enjoyed producing and self-publishing it. I wish I’d had more time to  work on it.  That was when the writing/illustrating bug bit me.

In 2007, I started teaching in an elementary school. I began to write and read out loud my stories to my students.  I desperately wanted them to see, that library books begin by writing down stories we create.  Another one of my goals was to have students co-write and produce children’s books.  They did. They wrote, illustrated, and even made the book covers for their stories.  The school staff stapled and laminated them.  Then, the books were placed in the school library for students and teachers to read. Even now, I am so happy to have been given the chance to work with my students in this way.

After four years of teaching, I decided to devote myself fulltime to writing and illustrating stories. My husband agreed, and we set a tight budget. I joined SCBWI ( Houston chapter) and learned to self-publish.  I now have an eBook on Amazon.  It’s an illustrated children’s chapter book.  The characters are animals whose habitats can be found in Texas.  I so enjoyed doing research on the animals.  Wildlife rocks!

Where do you like to do your artwork? 

I work wherever I feel most comfortable at that moment: sitting on the floor/table, standing, kneeling, etc.  For example, when I’m tracing my sketches onto my final drawing surface, I tape the sketch  to a window.  The sunlight helps me trace the images onto my art paper, as I stand.

Do you prefer digital or traditional media to create your artwork?

There is something so beautiful and organic about traditional media.  It just sings.  It’s like poetry to me.  Then, when I work with digital, it’s so e- a- s- y!  I just love it.  What can I do, but bounce back and force from traditional to digital.  Sometimes, I even combine them.

Can you describe your creative process for us?

First, I come up with an idea for an illustration. I research the plant, animal, location, etc.  If the illustration involves people, I go into DAZ Studio 4 and use a Poser like program to position and shape a digital mannequin.  I paint it and add lighting.  Once I’ve finished the digital figure, I trace it onto art paper.  Now, it’s no longer digital.   I sketch the background and any other characters.  I retrace in ink.

Second , if I choose, I can scan my sketch into the computer and bring up my scanned image using GIMP.  I play with the color palette in GIMP.  This helps establish  my color scheme.

 Last, I decide whether to use traditional (oil/pencil/ink) or digital media to complete the illustration.

Which comes first, the story or the illustrations?

I’m a visual person, so I think it’s the illustrations.

To learn more about Brenda go to:

My art portfolio is on the www.scbwi.org website.  Make sure you search for Brenda A. Harris. (There’s another illustrator named Brenda Harris!) 

My blog is www.drawacircle.net . 

I’m also on Twitter at @abrendita .