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Articles by "Meridth McKean Gimbel"
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10:20 PM , , , , , , , , , ,

Lauren Rille 
Hi there creative friends! I was at an Illustration Intensive this last weekend, hosted by the SCBWI-San Diego Region, featuring the the insightful, and totally entertaining, Associate Art Director,  Lauren Rille, from Simon and Schuster.

(You can follow her on twitter, and if you would like a sneak peak at her design savvy, check out her blog.)

I love going to conferences, but I especially love going to illustration intensives. The purpose of an intensive is to bring you back to art school (only the knowledgeable professor is replaced with an insightful art director). The assignment is suppose to replicate what working with an art director is like.


Months before the intensive, Lauren sent us the text to a picture book. She asked us to create a thumbnail dummy  (or teeny tiny drawings that map out the pacing of the book). From those thumbnails she asked that we send her 2 roughs (or more finished drawings) of the spreads that we wanted to illustrate. Once we turned those in, she would email us a critique. We were to bring the revised thumbnails and 2 final spreads to the intensive, to be critiqued as a group.

The text we got was a sweet and very young picture book called Baby Love by Angela DiTerlizzi and illustrated by fellow Mentee Brooke Boynton Hughes. I'll be honest, I pulled a few hairs out trying to think how I could illustrate the text differently, especially since Brooke did such a gobsmacklingly wonderful job.


After drawing what seemed like a million and two families with babies, I finally decided to put this family in space... going on a spacewalk, with them bringing their baby home to sleep at their colony on Mars. (Everything is better in space, right?! ;)


Here's what I sent in:

Stick figures in.... SPAAAAACE!!!

This is one of the roughs I sent in. (I do my roughs... extra rough.)




Doesn't this sweet face make you weep?!

Lauren responded with a very helpful critique. She mentioned one reason she had prompted our group with this particular text was because babies are so hard to illustrate; people often get the proportions wrong. So I decided to do some more "research" on babies and ended up waxing nostalgic, thinking of my kid's infancy. Something that I noticed is the lack of neck and the adorable potbelly. Lauren also said babies barely have any eyebrows or eyelashes.

So armed with a refreshed knowledge that babies are not  just miniature adults, I went back to the drawing board and sketched another million babies. 






I redid my thumbnails and revised my roughs.



My sketches are starting to get tighter here. 


Next, I scanned my drawings in, printed them out on Arches 140lb, and painted with watercolor. 



Then I scanned the watercolor in and painted in some digital layers.



Finally, after all our blood, sweat, and tears, we went to the intensive, and had our illustrations critiqued. This is what I submitted:

(You can click on them, to see closer,  if you have ancient eyes like me.) 


If you are not already a believer, I strongly urge you to start doing illustration intensives. (You can check out if there are any intensives in your neck of the woods here.) I've been to many of them in different regions, and I've always learned something about myself as an artist, or about how art directors interact with illustrators, or even whether or not my style is right for that particular art director or publishing house. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

Alrighty friends, thanks for dropping by and happy illustrating!


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Meridth McKean Gimbel is a freelance writer and illustrator who loves anything art related, story infused, and chocolate covered. When not working on her illustrations or writing stories, she is busy building a time machine so she can hang out with her pirate buddies and find buried treasure. 

Follow her work at:
 Portfolio | Blog | Sketchblog | Facebook professional/ personal | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
Twitter Facebook

4:00 AM , , , , , , , ,
I have warm fuzzy memories of when my babies first started looking into my eyes. We are hard-wired to connect to one another, to understand one another, by reading facial expressions. If we want children to connect to the illustrations in our stories, it's imperative that we create characters that clearly convey specific emotions. So here's a list of some tips to help give your characters that emotion and expression.

Keep an eye on the eyes.
The first place your eyes usually go to when looking at an illustration is... well, the eyes. So we really have to get them right. Avoid creating a character with dead eyes, or where your character's eyes stare straight into space. (Unless your character is a zombie, of course. Then I'd say a dead eye is apropos.) It's also important to make sure that both your character's eyeballs are pointing in the right direction. Unintentionally crossed eyes can be confusing.

Eyes both pointing in the same direction,
because Carson Ellis is a rock star.
-The Mysterious Benedict Society

The eyebrows have it. 
The emotion your character, expressed from their eyes, is continued and emphasized through the eyebrows. The closed eyes of the girl below, with her wide reaching smile shows us her happiness, but the raised eyebrows show a touch of surprise or delight. But do watch out for floating eyebrows, which can be distracting. It helps to draw a superhero-like mask on your character to see if the eyebrows appear connected to the eyes.


    
                        by Meridth McKean Gimbel (that's me :)














Mind the mouth.
The mouth can be another way to emphasize or clarify the emotions your character is communicating. Below we see Merida's eyes and eyebrows are showing shock, and her mouth is small and reserved, showing fear. Her mouth is complimenting the emotions that we see with the rest of her features.

Brave Concept Art- Daniel Muñoz

But lets look at another example. Below we see the eyebrows of the little girl. When looking at just the eyes and the eyebrows, we might think she looks concerned, maybe scared? But when we also look at her smile, we see that she is trying to look sincere, sweet, and innocent. The eyebrows and the smile need each other to make this visual story work.


Dave McKean -
The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish

Pick the right nose.
The nose can occasionally stretch in extreme emotions and can be helpful in emphasizing an expression. Look at how King Fergus' nostril is flaring up. We can tell, with his eyebrows, that he is afraid. The flat line of the eye shows seriousness and the flared nose shows grit and determination.

Brave Concept Art- Daniel Muñoz


Yes, even a bushy eyebrow can show emotion.


The face is fleshy.
Its good to remember that the face can be flexible. Our faces are full of muscles, bones, and fat. Look at how high Norman's forehead is pushed from his eyebrows in his shocked expression (#2). His open mouth also lowers the jawline. In his bottom concerned/disappointed face (#3) there is a frown that moves the jaw up from the resting face (#1).


       
1.ParaNorman Concept Art-
Pete Oswald
(Resting face.)
2. (Shocked face.)

3. (Concerned/disappointed face)


Asymmetry is interesting. 
No face is perfectly symmetrical. I find it more interesting when a smile spreads halfway up one face, or you see one eyebrow rise higher. Asymmetry can add to a character's individuality. Just remember to keep it consistent. Typically a character will always favor the same side of the face.

Annette Marnat - Kat Incorrigible

Keep it simple.
Pat Cummings once said that when we create picture book illustrations we need to create them for three different audiences; kids that are sitting in the laps of their parents, kids reading on their own, and kids that are being read to in a classroom. When I say keep the emotion simple, this is for that kid in the classroom. Kids need to be able to read an expression from at least a few feet away from the illustration. Below we have a disgruntled mom. We can see her eyebrows raised in frustration and disappointment, and her angry, pursed lips. In the full illustration below, even though the expression is small compared to the rest of the image, we can still see the facial gesture because of the simplicity.


Mark Teague - How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight

Take mental notes. Observe from life.
So when my kids have a meltdown, I try to remember what their face is doing (without staring too much, because that does not help during a meltdown). Also, I always have a mirror or camera handy to see what my face would do when feeling mad, sad, glad, etc.

       
             This is what I look like having a meltdown ;)

Practice, practice, practice.
I'm hopeful that I'll be perfect in my next life, but for now I am content in working my little tail off so that I can continue to learn how to fully emote what my characters need to express. Emotion is key to storytelling, so this is something that I will always focus on.



Suggested tools:      

-Your face! (How very convenient.)
-Pinterest - This is a great place to find reference for facial expressions and all sorts of other fun scrap. 

So many gems on pinterest. But beware, it's a rabbit hole.
 -The Grimace Project - If you are not sure how you would like to draw a specific emotion, have fun playing around with the 'Grimace Project.' You can adjust the scales to make the face show different expressions. 

It's pretty fun. And helpful. 


                                

What are some of your top tips for creating great facial expressions? I know you all are savvy illustrators, so please post if you'd like to share.

Thanks friends for dropping by and happy illustrating!

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Meridth McKean Gimbel is a freelance writer and illustrator who loves anything art related, story infused, and chocolate covered. When not working on her illustrations or writing stories, she is busy building a time machine so she can hang out with her pirate buddies and find buried treasure.

Follow her work at:
Portfolio | Blog | Sketchblog | Facebook professional/ personal 
| Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
Twitter Facebook

9:28 AM , , ,
Meridth McKean Gimbel was the recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2015 Summer Conference. Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Meridth to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.





Did the feedback you received during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the 
direction of your illustration?  Are there any specific examples you can share?

A little bit of both. I recently discovered (thanks to a previous critique from Laurent Linn) that I wanted my portfolio to reflect my two interests: illustrating for picture books and middle grade. It was nice to know that the direction I’m heading in, for my portfolio, makes sense with my art style. Brenda Bowen had mentioned that one of my illustrations could be used in a graphic novel. I have always loved graphic novels, so the idea of doing a graphic novel for a younger audience is really appealing to me. Peter Brown really liked my work that had a more handmade feel, and told me that the industry is moving in that direction, so I should emphasize that in my work.  Also I had been really concerned (because I had been told by some other professionals) that my portfolio was so diverse and my styles were so different, that they would work against me. The mentors were all really supportive of the variety in my portfolio and told me that it wasn’t a problem to have several styles. (But if you do have several styles, have at least 5 pieces from that style, to show that you can be consistent.)


What kind of projects are you working on now?

I’m working on expanding my portfolio to reflect all my interests. I am a writer as well as an illustrator, so currently I’m working on a book dummy for my Messy bed story (about a Veruca Salt type character that will never ever NEVER clean her room). I’m also working on a middle grade, that is an urban fantasy based in Sleepy Hollow. I have a book full of ideas, but I’m trying to focus on a few (so I don’t just start projects, I finish them).




Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future?

I would love to work on picture books, magazines, chapter books, middle grade, and graphic novels for kids as an illustrator and/or a writer.




Is there one really helpful piece of advice that you’ve gotten since pursuing illustration?  Any one piece of bad advice?

When I interned for Brett Helquist, it was really refreshing to know that in art school, he didn’t feel confident about his drawing skills. He mentioned that he was one of the “worst” students, but that he worked really hard and improved. I totally identify with that. I feel very aware of my weaknesses, but I target them, and work on them until they improve. I love working hard.

He also mentioned that it took him 7 years of dropping off his portfolio at different publishers, until he broke into illustrating. I’m at the point in my career where I do a lot of freelance design work. But I think, in order to break into the industry you need to; work hard, know the business, network, and a have little serendipity. 

As for bad advice, in the beginning of my pursuit of illustrating for kids, a professional told me that my style wasn’t cute enough for trade books. Everyone has their own preferences of styles they like, and gravitate towards. I may not be everyone’s flavor, and that’s okay. But I have to be the best me I can be. I was a weird little kid, and my hope is that my artwork and stories can connect with the other kids that have similar interests.




What was one of your favorite quotes or lessons from the SCBWI Summer Conference?  

So I wrote a whole novella of notes at the conference, and then a second novella of notes from the mentorship. (Thank you Mentors!!) I still feel I will spontaneously combust with all the ideas and thoughts floating around from that epic weekend. Here are a few quotes that I found inspiring and/or super useful:

       “It’s not about finding an idea, it’s about using it.” ­ Adam Rex
       “It’s not about drawing well, it’s about communicating an idea.” ­ Dan Santat
       “Tell the one true story [you] need to tell, that only [you] can tell.” ­Dan Yaccarino

Also, Laurent Linn had mentioned, in the mentorship, that if you have a really weak piece in your physical or online portfolio, that art directors are worried that you don’t have good judgment. They don’t have the time to hold the hand of a new illustrator. Your portfolio needs to reflect that you are perfectly competent.




What were some of your favorite books when you were a kid?

Okay, so answering this is a bit like asking which of my kids I like the best. But since you asked, here we go:  


  • ­Anything from Roald Dahl (my favorite was probably The Witches illustrated by Quentin Blake)
  • ­Anything from Edward Gorey (The Epiplectic Bicycle)
  • ­Anything from Arnold Lobel (Owl At Home, Mouse Soup, Frog and Toad)
  • ­A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me: A Book of Nonsense Verse by Wallace Tripp
  • The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (although this came out when I was a teen)
  • ­Dorrie and the Blue Witch by Patricia Coombs
  • ­Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban
  • ­Cinderella by Hilary Knight 
  • ­The Pumpkin Giant by Mary E. Wilkins and Ellin Greene (I did a post about this one on my blog.)
  • ­The Hat by Tomi Ungerer (I also did a post about this one.)
  • ­Something Queer at the Library by Elizabeth Levy and Mordicai Gerstein
  • ­Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman
  • ­The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and many of the books in the series by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by W.W. Denslow
    •       Okay, I’ll stop now.




    Where can we find you online?

    You can find me in a lot of corners on the web. Please come visit me:

    Portfolio | Blog | Sketchblog | Facebook professional/ personal | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest



    Thanks Meridth!

    MKRdezign

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