Storytime! Graphic Novels for Kids of All Ages

Storytime! Graphic Novels for Kids of All Ages

June 26 – November 14, 2010

Cartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) CAR-TOON
(415) 227-8666

Tuesday to Sunday, 11am – 5pm
Closed Monday and on the following holidays:New Year’s Day, Easter,
Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Admissions
$7 – Adults
$5 – Students & Seniors
$3 – Children (ages 6 – 12)
FREE – Children (age 5 & under)

Over the past decade, graphic novels have exploded in popularity with children and teenagers. The Cartoon Art Museum’s latest exhibition, Storytime! Graphic Novels for Kids of All Ages, features the work of ten influential cartoonists whose work broke new ground in bookstores and libraries.

Their graphic novels are promoted as product for the children and young adult marketplace but these innovative graphic novels are captivating to readers of all ages.

Co-curators Andrew Farago and Larry Marder have placed a special emphasis on the creative processes used by the individual artists. Visitors are invited to peek over the shoulders of the creators and follow along from the first sketchbook doodles all the way to the printed page.

Highlights of Storytime! include:

• *A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of acclaimed children’s book creator Mo Willems as he shares production art from his book Elephants Cannot Dance!
  

• Classic tales from Little Lulu, drawn by Irving Tripp and written by Virginia Hubbell, including never-before-seen thumbnail sketches and typewritten scripts.
  

• Larry Marder’s Beanworld, a compelling fantasy with profound insights into themes of ecology, culture, and art; a most peculiar comic book experience.
  

• Stan Sakai’s Eisner-winning samurai epic Usagi Yojimbo.
  

• Smile (A Dental Drama), the new autobiographical graphic novel set in San Francisco, by Raina Telgemeier, artist of the Baby-sitters Club graphic novels.
  

• Harvey Award-winning cartoonist Lark Pien’s children’s books Mr. Elephanter and Long Tail Kitty.
  

• A sneak peek at Dave Roman’s upcoming comedic sci-fi graphic novel Astronaut Academy.
  

• Eisner-winning creator Hope Larson’s newest graphic novel, Mercury, an engaging combination of history, romance and magical realism.
  

• Jeff Smith’s epic cartoon/fantasy BONE, which redefined the world of graphic novels. Smith’s contribution to Storytime! appears in the latest BONE graphic novel, Tall Tales, published by Scholastic.

Programming featuring Storytime! artists will take place throughout the duration of the exhibition. Details regarding these events will be announced as schedules are confirmed.

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Next time, I'll fill you in on the Secret Origin of Storytime! and how it all came to be.

TuesdayTantalizing Teaser!

Getting there.

Hand made in the Berkshire Hills
ByTheLakeArt

Beanworld: Hither and Thither!

I've been so busy lately I've been neglecting my usual outlets to communicate with the world that exists outside of the four walls of the inner sanctum of my studio. Had some 'puter troubles too. Those are never fun.

My mail box has had stuff piling up for a while now and it's time to break the log jam and share some things with you over the coming days and weeks. Let's start with this:

This is graphic is from an essay on energycollective's blog titled "The Big Big Picture" written by Michael Tobis.

As he wrote:

"This is my crude attempt at the Big Big Picture (thanks to Larry Marder for the name) of our actual circumstances, focusing on climate. (There are other slices through it that are equally daunting, and they have similar shapes.)

The point is to think of the world as a feedback control system, with nature as the plant, humans as the feedback loop, and economic behavior as the actuator."

I'm a cartoonist not a scientist.
Everything I do seems to be grounded more in sense of touch rather than logical thought but my work often seems to strike a resonant chord amongst members of the scientific community.
(This would stun and amaze my high school science teachers I assure you!)

Anyway...the piece has some truly interesting ideas and is well worth a read!

Brian McDonald at Hellsquid International posted an insightful piece about various aspects of the history of Beanworld that are often overlooked:

"It sounds a bit silly on the surface, but again, if you look at the details, how every little piece fits together, and nothing is wasted, you see the hidden depths that Marder has put into this work. Not only into the ecosystem, though. Marder has put pieces of his own life into the book. "

And one last thing.
This will get its own secret origin blog post but the word is out on this.

The First Time I Drew Professor Garbanzo and the 23 Realities!

I recently came across this curiosity in the Beanworld Archives.
As far as I can reckon, it's the cover that I sent to Eclipse Comics for the solicitation of Tales of the Beanworld #21.

It's a relatively finished piece with all the PMTs in place as if I had intended for this to be the actual art I would color later by hand cutting adhesive screen tone with an X-acto knife on clear acetate overlays. One acetate layer for each color of the four colors of the printing process (black, cyan, magenta, yellow) to be turned into film negatives and then made into plates ready for printing. Having started my career in a film stripping room at a printer, I knew I wasn't particularly skilled at angling screens to prevent moire patterns. But I was knowledgeable enough to compensate for that by always using only one screen pattern over a solid color. Doing so greatly limited my palate but it worked most of the time--excluding the awful pink cover of TOTB #9 which makes me cringe to this day!

Comparing the cover above to the one below, I can see why I redrew it. I simplified the composition by eliminating the other "shards," remembered the "dream pattern" shading I used in earlier issues and changed Proffy's expression to one of more puzzlement.

I get a kick out of discovering these lost pieces.
Hope you do too.

Hey kids! It's Tuesday Tantalizing Teaser time!

A panel from "Something More."
Here's a hint.