Mishka

About Mishka

http://www.millefiori.net

Posts by Mishka :

Christmas Shaped – The Eighth Annual Holiday Contest

12/6/2018 By Mishka in General, Other Challenges, SCBWI, SLH, Work, Writing Tags: Geometry, Holiday, Writing Contest

In between all the busyness, I got hit with an unusually random idea for Susanna Hill’s Annual Holiday Writing Contest yesterday morning. I’m really not sure where this idea came from. I promise I was trying to write something else. Something poignant and timely. But, um, no.

Anyway, this probably has something to do with me building math curriculum off and on for K12.com for a lot longer than I ever studied it in school. SOMEBODY “up there” has a sense of humor. Math was ever my worst subject but I have learned to love it.

The illustrative collage up top isn’t original art. I don’t have time to make something from scratch today, so a quick collage will have to do for now.

The rules: Write a children’s holiday story (children here defined as age 12 and under) about A Holiday Hero not to exceed 250 words

Here’s my entry:

Square is tired of being just the side of a gift box.

He’s meant for greater things.

Like big green Cone, the Christmas tree.

Or operatic pentagram, always shining at Cone’s apex.

Square is unsure. He’s always been part of a team.

Maybe he can lead the rectangles and circles in building a train?

The annulus around Cone’s base broadcasts big news!

Pentagram is missing! No geometric has seen her anywhere.

There can’t be a Christmas tree without a star!

This is square’s chance.

He will be the star atop the christmas tree!

Square begins to climb, weaving his careful way between colorful spheres and ellipses.

This is difficult.

Square slips and slides down the angle back to Cone’s base.

A rectangle calls to him, “Hey, we need a sixth over here for this prism! Lend us a corner?”

Tempted by the familiar task, square tells himself he can only form a diamond anyway, not a star.

“NO! I will do this!”

Square begins his climb once more.

Half-way up, he slips again but a vertex reaches from somewhere and catches his corner.

It’s another square.

“I wanted to be the star too,” she says, “But I don’t think we can do this solo. Can we go together?”

The squares near the apex but only one will fit.

Square has an idea. He rotates 45 degrees.

“Align your centerpoint with mine!”

With one last leap, they make it!

Together, they are an octagram.

And an octagram can be a star.

Inktober 2018

11/7/2018 By Mishka in General, Inktober, Other Challenges, Shakespeare Tags: Inktober, Shakespeare

Inktober 2018! I did it!

Yes yes I know, I didn’t exactly adhere to the rules but I DID start and finished with Copic Multiliner black and Dr. Ph. Martin white. And then I colored them all in with colored pencils.

The point really was to challenge myself. I decided to work on storytelling by aligning the Inktober prompt words with scenes from Shakespeare’s plays. Limiting the space to 2 x 3 inches helped me to work on improving perspectives, angles, and framing without feeling overwhelmed by a big blank piece of paper. I was also able to gauge how long a full color illustration this size took to finish. A few risks – as in “stop thinking about it and just go for it!” payed off and my confidence level improved. I think I still need to simplify a little, fine-tune my color choices and keep practicing techniques. I also noticed my character’s eyeballs are not consistent from piece to piece but seem to work with the mood of what I was drawing. I did manage 31 drawings in 31 days so I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself.

I also learned a bit about words and Shakespeare. Many of the prompt words were not common vernacular in Shakespeare’s time, only dating back to the early 1800’s. Some words were in use but meant something completely different, and Shakespeare actually invented one of the words!

All of my Inktober illustrations are in the gallery below, but I’m arguing with the technology trying to caption them. For now, I can have a slideshow or I can have captions. So I gave up and just went with slideshow, although hovering over the thumbnails will show you the keywords and quotes. If you’d like to learn more about the individual illustrations, each of my Instagram posts contains the Inktober prompt word, the name of the play and quote that I illustrated and some other microbloggy details on the hashtag, #inktobershakespeare.

As always, all of my pieces are available for purchase as originals, prints, or greeting cards. Just ask me!

Illustration, Really: My Art at Johns Hopkins Montgomery County through November 9th

10/17/2018 By Mishka in Cards, Children's, Crafts, interviews, Shows

My art is on display Johns Hopkins Montgomery County campus in Rockville, Maryland through November 9th in the lobby of 9605 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD 20850

My work is on display along with multimedia artist, Olga Bauer’s beautiful and introspective pieces. Thank you to my fellow artist Sherill Gross for this show opportunity.

And an interview:

In the JHU Montgomery County Newsletter:

http://mcc.jhu.edu/news/new-art-exhibits-on-display

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, and visual artist living in Reston, VA with my husband, two small kids and one large, furry cat.

Born a fourth-generation New Yorker, I spent my formative years in Arkansas, my teen years back in New York, and my twenties in Los Angeles.

I earned a BFA in theatrical design from Syracuse University in 1993 and completed continuing studies in children’s illustration at UCLA in 1997.

How’d you get into art and decide to become an artist?

I’m not sure I ever wanted to be an artist. I think it’s always been what I am, how I move through and deal with the world. Bad things happen, good things happen, and I’m driven to create. It’s a mode of communication and self-expression. Having a creative outlet helps me to get through the things I can’t control in my life.

I come from a professional but creative family. Being a creative was supposed to be a hobby. That might have been the smarter career choice, financially.

What kind of art do you do? What materials do you use?

Story is at the heart of my work. It’s illustration, really.

I love having control over the little worlds I create — each little image in each little story. I create vignettes and slices of life the way I want them to be.

Right now my primary medium is colored pencil, but I love experimenting with everything. The medium is a part of the story too, and can enhance or detract from what I’m trying to communicate.

What is your approach for creating a work of art? What is your inspiration?

Sometimes I start with detailed sketches which I digitize and composite on the computer. If I’m using dry media like colored pencil, I’ll print in light k-tones directly onto art paper. If the media is wet, like inks and paints, I’ll use a light box. Sometimes I don’t sketch or digitize at all but just jump right in. Each medium requires a different approach.

Is it cliché to say that inspiration is everywhere in the world around us? To be honest, I can be inspired by anything at random if I’m in the right mindset. I tend to have too many ideas at once and too many projects in the works at any one time. I’m scatterbrained. I’m not yet sure if that’s a bug or a feature.

What do you hope viewers of your art experience upon seeing the exhibit?

Art has the power to change and influence people’s moods and how they relate to the world. If I have that power at all in my work, I’d like to think I use it do to good. This is why my work is mostly colorful and peaceful. I hope some of it is thought provoking in its own way. Nothing big and grand, but I’m aiming to add a little more light into the world.

Daffodils in the City
Buy Original
Prints/Art Cards @ InPRNT
Personalize-able greeting card @ GCU
Available for license

Illustration, Really: My Art at Johns Hopkins Montgomery County through November 9th

2018 SCBWI Narrative Art Award

9/22/2018 By Mishka in Children's, General, Other Challenges, SCBWI

Below are all three images from my 2018 SCBWI Narrative Art Award entry. The theme is “Misunderstood Monsters” in honor of the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

I had no intention of using my experimental charcoal sketches AS the finals. I’d bought the charcoals as part of my 100 Days Project, experimentally messing around with media and techniques. I thought the charcoals might be a step for loosening up my drawings and ideas before doing the finals in a more likely medium– colored pencil or inks. I don’t think I’ve actually worked in charcoal in earnest since I graduated high school. But I saw that I was running out of time and personal projects always have the lowest priority.

Also, I’m pretty sure I bent the rules doing panels instead of single illustrations, and my image dimensions are woefully out of the standard. But I think that’s ok because I really did this for myself. I’ve had this story rattling around in my brain since February when it popped out of my head in Susanna Hill’s “Making Picture Book Magic” class.

Inspired by Caliban and Prospero from Shakespeare’s The Tempest but set in the middle of the 20th century, this story is decidedly NOT a picture book. It’s probably better suited, at least, for middle grade. Since it’s about a boy who draws but doesn’t really read, I envision it formatted a little like Brian Selznick’s, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, interspersing images and story text. I hadn’t tried doing panel narrative illustration in, probably, about 20 years, so I wanted to see what I could do in a graphic novel format.

It was definitely a learning experience. I can see many things “wrong,” and things I’d like to neaten up or do better. I kind of feel like I’ve turned in a draft. But deadlines are deadlines. In general, I’m pleased with the results and what I learned from the process and that counts too.

The winner will be announced on November 17th.

Critiquing Picture Book Dummies – A Checklist

7/27/2018 By Mishka in General, SCBWI, Writing

Several times each year, my friend and colleague Terry Jennings organizes a CritiqueFest for the MidAtlantic chapter of the SCBWI.

This is a free event and is described by Ellen R. Braaf, our Regional Advisor, as “… an opportunity to meet with other writers, get feedback on a work-in-progress, learn about the critique group process, and perhaps even find a few kindred souls with whom you can continue to meet. ”

Once-again, Terry asked me to facilitate the session for a group of illustrator-authors. Like last time, several participants submitted book dummies, however there was one woman who planned to attend as an illustrator-only. In the past, I’ve used my own cobbled-together versions of various picture book manuscript checklists to help me with my reviews, but these checklists deal with the manuscripts and not the art.

I went looking around the interwebs for information about book dummies and found several posts on what should or shouldn’t go into a portfolio, several on promotional postcards, and some helpful advice about the technical aspects of creating book dummies—but only one post that addressed the art of the dummy, and I couldn’t find a critique checklist at all.

So I decided to put together my own worksheet. I asked around in a couple of places and got input and feedback from my virtual studio-mate, Tami Traylor; the members of Kidlit 411; The Illustration Department; and Smart Dummies creator, Dani Duck.

I tested my worksheet out in my reviews this week and I think it worked pretty well, so I’m sharing it here in case you’re working on a dummy and need some reminders for self-review, or your illustrator critique group members are adding dummies to their portfolios, or any another reason, really.

Although I included a section on individual image composition, it is meant to address the individual sketches specifically as part of the whole book, and is not intended for robust single-illustration critiques. I did not include critique etiquette guidelines in my worksheet because many good resources already exist. Remember to play nice in the sandbox, and make good art.

Copies may be shared and printed for personal, educational, and non-commercial use. If you share this worksheet I’d appreciate the credit, and if you use the worksheet, I’d love to hear your feedback!

Download: PB_Dummy_Critique_Sheet_2018

Additional Information:

50 Precious Words 2018

3/4/2018 By Mishka in General, SCBWI, Writing

Because I seem to be writing more these days than drawing, here’s my entry for Vivian Kirkfield’s 50 Precious Words contest. TONS of amazing tiny stories are in the comments of Vivian’s contest post.

As my professional word for the year is VOICE, I figured why not write a little thing about that?

My super virtual studio-mate, Tami Traylor was inspired to make this adorable illustration to go with it. And then she entered the competition too! Yeah!

“What do YOU Say?” – 50 words.

Hoot
Chirp
Warble
Squawk
All the animals can talk.

Oink
Baa
Gobble
Moo
Your voice is important too!

Buzz
Quack
Ribbit
Neigh
You know what you want to say!

Honk
Squeak
Bellow
Roar
So, what are you waiting for?

Hiss
Woof
Caw
Meow
Sing out loud then take your bow.

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