At New Stars for Young Stars 2012, with Pedro Martinez. PEDRO MARTINEZ!!
Spring Training is still a month away, but you can get your Red Sox fix at an amazing event taking place at Jillian's in Boston tomorrow, Saturday, January 19, 11:00 am to 1:30 pm. It's an autograph signing event called "New Stars for Young Stars", a unique chance to meet up-and-coming Red Sox players like Ryan Kalish and Anthony Ranaudo, as well as 2-time World Series Champion, Doug Mirabelli, and many more. All proceeds from the event will benefit The Jimmy Fund.
I signed books at this event last year, and I'm truly honored to be a part of it again. Everyone in attendance will receive a copy of my book, There Goes Ted Williams, and I'll be there to sign them. Ted Williams was involved with The Jimmy Fund from the very beginning, and he was the single most influential person in helping to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
In addition to autograph signings there is a buffet lunch, sports
memorabilia sale, opportunity drawing, silent auction, and a bowling
contest to help strike out cancer. It's a wonderful event for a great cause.
Tickets start at $89 and VIP tickets are $250. All proceeds from the
2013 event will benefit The Jimmy Fund.
The Charlotte Zolotow Award is given annually for outstanding
writing in a picture book published in the United States in the
preceding year. Up to five honor books and up to ten highly commended
titles may also be named each year.
The award is for writing, so really this honor belongs to my esteemed collaborator, Doreen Rappaport. So I'm just along for the ride, but I'll still celebrate!
For the twenty children who lost their lives at Sandy
Hook Elementary School on Friday, and for the brave teachers and school administrators who died trying to keep them safe:
blurry photo of me reading The Gingerbread Pirates at the 2009 Polar Express night at Barnes & Noble in Portsmouth, NH
As the illustrator of two Christmas books ('Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Gingerbread Pirates), this is always a busy time of year for me. I've got three fun holiday events planned for this weekend. Here's where I'll be...
Friday, December 7
6:00-9:00
pm. "Matt Tavares Catches a Ride on the Polar Express". I'll be reading and signing my Christmas books at Barnes and Noble in Newington, NH, part of their
annual Polar Express night. I read at 6:00, then there's a reading of
The Polar Epress, and lots of other fun stuff (like free cookies and
hot chocolate!) This has become an annual tradition for me and my family, and it's always a lot of fun.
Saturday, December 8
12:00-2:00 pm, reading and signing my Christmas books at the Rowley Public Library in Rowley, MA. I'll do a drawing demonstration, and you can decorate (and then eat) your own gingerbread man!
Sunday, December 9
1:00-3:00, book signing at The Hill House, 127 Mount
Vernon Street, Boston, MA... right in Beacon Hill, the setting of my
version of 'Twas the Night
Before Christmas. This is the weekend when Beacon Hill is being decorated for the holidays, and it's always a fun time to be in the city.
So if you're anywhere near Boston, Portsmouth, or Rowley, come say hi (and get some Christmas shopping done)!
I'm getting ready to head to California for the opening reception of the 21st annual Children's Book Illustration exhibit
at Chemers Gallery. It's a group show featuring original
artwork by 5 contemporary children's book illustrators: E.B. Lewis, Sylvia Long, Chris Sheban, Boris Kulikov, and me. I'm honored to be a part of this amazing lineup of illustrators! So if you're anywhere near Los Angeles, please join us at the gallery on Saturday, December 1, 1:00 to 5:00 pm. And even if you can't make it to California for the exhibit, you can view all the artwork online, here. Just contact Chemers Gallery if you're interested in purchasing any artwork.
A few of the illustrations that will be part of the Chemers Gallery exhibit
For this spread, I started with this verse of the poem:
Over the river and through the wood, When Grandmother sees us come She will say, Oh dear, The children are here, Bring a pie for every one.
I decided to show the grandmother looking out the window, watching the family arriving in their sleigh. Here's my sketch:
The idea was to show the scene from right outside the window, so we see the grandmother inside, and we see the reflection of the family in the sleigh. I knew it would be tricky, but if it worked, it would be a great way of showing all the different elements of that moment.
My art director loved the sketch, so then I started painting. Here's my finished painting. Well, the first version of the finished painting...
So I put this up on my wall with all my other finished illustrations and moved onto the next picture. I was pleased with how it came out. But then something happened that made me question it. Any time anyone visited my studio and looked at the artwork on my wall, they stopped at this one. Sometimes people said they liked it, but then there would be a moment of confusion, where they'd say, "Wait a second... so is she... oh, I think I get it..."
People liked the image, but apparently they couldn't quite tell what they were looking at. Was it a reflection of the grandmother, or a reflection of the sleigh? I realized that maybe the picture was a bit confusing. So I decided to add more frost to the window, to make it more clear. Here's how it looked after I made some changes:
I liked this one better... or at least I thought it showed more clearly that we are outside, looking in at Grandma who is inside, and we see the reflection of the horse and sleigh. Done and done.
But then I had another idea (uh-oh...). What if I showed the scene from inside the warm, cozy house? What if we're looking out the window with Grandma, and we see her reflection in the glass? Hmmm...
I liked the idea. But honestly, I didn't like the idea of starting completely over, after all the time I had already spent on this picture. But the more I thought about it, I figured I should give it a try.
I started over, and I made a whole new painting. Here it is:
And that's the one that ended up in the book. I think it works better this way. I like the contrast of the warm interior and the cold, snowy outside. And the curtains make it completely clear that we're inside, looking out.
It's always hard to go back and do something over, especially after I've already spent 5 or 6 days on it. But it's almost always worth spending that extra time to make sure I get it right.
And there was a silver lining here- when I was just about done with this book, a tour group from The Mazza Museum in Findlay, Ohio came to visit my studio. I showed them both versions of this illustration and explained this whole story. The people from the museum loved the paintings, and ended up buying both! So now both of these illustrations are part of the permanent collection of the Mazza Museum! So it all worked out.
Here's another behind-the-scenes look at Over the River and Through the Wood:
