Thursday, June 30, 2011

What is up with the WEATHER?


The new picture book, "Carla's Cloud Catastrophe" has been released.  Beth Bence Reinke's delightful, "WHAT IF" kind of story comes from a question that children may often ask.  "What if, one day, all the clouds fell from the sky?"




Carla's solution to the problem is the perfect ending to a fun filled adventure.  The book is available from 4RV PUBLISHING LLC and Amazon.com as well as any and all bookstores. All you need to do is give your bookstore the 
ISBN  ( 978-0-9828346-0-2 )number 
for them to order the book.  OR, you can go directly to the 4RV Publishing site and get your copy.

What on earth will the Mayor of Clarksville do with all those clouds?  Carla knows!


I always get excited when a book I was chosen to illustrate is released. This book has great appeal for boys and girls alike.  It is always a pleasure for an illustrator to receive a manuscript that has so many ideas for illustrations that you have to choose from the dozens of images that pop into your head as you read the manuscript.  It also meant that I had to stretch a bit to create some of the images.  My research included asking permission of certain people to use them as subjects in the book.  It also meant a trip to our recycling center and town DPW to get photos and sketches of heavy road equipment.  I was fortunate enough, at the same time, to have an entire road crew working on our road.  The machines they were using were perfect sources for some of the illustrations.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

SUMMER THEATER CAMP

Each summer an amazing musician stages and directs a fantastic play in our community. It is put on by the children in our community and nearby towns as part of the Summer Theater Camp in Peterborough,NH.
Mary Ann Fleming makes magic each year with children from grades 2-5 and a handful of teenagers who help with lighting, costumes and more. This year's play will review the life of PT Barnum and will feature  an intergenerational cast.



For the play I created  a number of oversized posters for parts of the backdrops and other scenery.  These are what I have done so far. One of our daughters, a very talented artist in her own right is completing the set of posters and I will put those online later when they are finished.

I don't want to throw the posters away after all this work... actually months of work, so we are going to offer them for donations to the Summer Theater Camp... or auction them off, whichever works best.

There will be quite a few and they are rather large.  Most are over 3 feet wide and some are taller than that.  They are based for the most part upon the vintage circus posters I was able to find in my old circus catalogs from when my dad took me to the circus and when I and my dad took our children (his granddaughters, ) to the circus.



I really liked the wording on some of the posters.  It has a timeless feel for a the spectacle that was the circus of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey.


I had to hang these in the hallway to get a good place to put them up so the area was a bit crowded and I cut off some of the lettering in the shots, but all the letters are there and the posters look good from the distance the audience will be from the stage and sets.



For the paintings we are using acrylic paints, computer printed lettering and painting the letters into the posters with the closest match to the background paint.  Since they are seen from a distance it works well.  I used brown craft paper to paint on because I have a lot of it in a big roll and it takes the acrylics very well.



I don't want to tear the posters off the flats after the play, but will carefully remove them, and if anyone is interested in having one, they can make a reasonable donation to the summer theater camp.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Weather Alert : The clouds are coming

Another bit of fun in this review for Carla's Cloud Catastrophe, by Beth Bence Reinke.  If you like weather, are fascinated by clouds and have an imagination, this book will please you and the children in your family.
Published by 4RV Publishing LLC, the book is available for pre order and will soon be in bookstores as well.

One question: could it happen? 

 And if it did, would Carla's plan work? 

Does this illustration give you any clues?


This picture book is so much fun to read and so filled with imagination that even the youngest children in your family will be able to "READ" the story all by themselves.  And, grown ups, you won't get tired reading to them because I have a feeling they will want to hear it over and over again.


The illustrations posted here are copyright to 4RV Publishing LLC and Ginger Nielson.  Please do not copy or borrow these images without express written permission of the publisher.

Illustration Friday ~ Midsummer Night

©Ginger Nielson 2011

This is an image I had just finished. It is more of a study piece than something I will be using. It has evolved from a sketch that was much larger, but I condensed it for the sake of the characters.

I do, however, plan to use this sketch, but as a daylight illustration.. and a fairly large one at that.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

My Storefront


Very often I am asked if a print of an illustration I have created is available for sale.  Most of the time it is part of a book, and cannot be offered for sale.  However, there are some illustrations that are available.  I have put them in a STORE on my website.  Most are separate from any book I have illustrated, and more items will be added later.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

To my Friends...

I have decided to leave the Facebook community but will keep my blog, my portfolios and my Linked In connections.  You can always reach me via email or phone if you have my number.  There is a contact area on my website and I welcome any communication.

My work requires a bit more of my time, and I will be concentrating on the assignments I am accepting.
Although I miss communicating on a day to day basis with my art community friends I know that we can still keep in touch.

My email:  gingernielson@gmail.com
My portfolios:   www.gingernielson.com  and via the links on my website

Friday, June 10, 2011

Illustration Friday ~ Swept



Oh, if only it was that easy to have the cares of the day swept away.  And who is ringing the doorbell?

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The illustrator ..... the picture book.... and the reviewer

Illustrations are such a large part of picture books, that I often wonder why so many reviewers fail to mention the illustrator.  They are responsible for a great deal of the interpretation of the author's vision.  Illustrations add great depth to the overall story.  Some of the finest picture books are almost or entirely wordless.

A satisfying picture book opened in the lap of a child or adult is like a mini art gallery.
The reader can visit places only imagined ...  and do so over and over again.