{"id":1968,"date":"2010-07-18T00:01:34","date_gmt":"2010-07-18T06:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1968"},"modified":"2010-07-18T00:01:37","modified_gmt":"2010-07-18T06:01:37","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-176-featuring-ruth-paul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1968","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #176: Featuring Ruth Paul"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“They squeal, they squirm, they bellow and bark …
they don’t seem to like being fed to a shark.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge.)<\/center><\/p>\n

I was fortunate enough recently to get a copy from Scholastic New Zealand of author\/illustrator Ruth Paul’s<\/a><\/strong> latest picture book title, Two Little Pirates<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (April 2010). Now, none of her titles have made it to the States yet, so I hadn’t heard of her books, but when I saw this title, I was immediately smitten with her style. As you can see from the illustrations she’s sharing with us today during her 7-Imp visit, she’s got a rich, warm palette, and her comforting, curvy lines pull one in. Two Little Pirates<\/em> tells the story of a couple of imaginative boys and the raucous way in which they awaken their Mom—I mean, Mum—and Dad — as if pirates attacking a ship: “The dawn slips in on a dragonfly’s wing, in through a porthole to wake up the King, and in through the misty remains of the night, come two little pirates preparing to fight.”<\/em> The illustrations, rendered in watercolor and colored pencil, are full of movement, playful perspectives, and expressive characters — especially poor Mom and Dad, awake way sooner than they wanted to be. <\/p>\n

I say all the time here at 7-Imp that I love to shine the spotlight on international illustrators, and I really do. I especially enjoy the opportunity to introduce readers to folks not otherwise published here in the States. Here’s Ruth to tell us a bit about her work — and, incidentally, her wonderful environmentally-friendly home… <\/p>\n

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Ruth:<\/font><\/strong> No one in your country will have seen my work, apart from some lovely people from the Mazza Collection at the University of Findlay, Ohio<\/a><\/strong> {Ed. Note: Hubba whoa! I want to see that}<\/em>, who have purchased some of my original illustrations. Three of my books—The Animal Undie Ball<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, Superpotamus<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, and Two Little Pirates<\/a><\/strong><\/em>—are selling through Scholastic Canada now, so I’ve made it to that side of the world but not across the border. Yet. <\/p>\n


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“They jump, they spin, they roar and they whack.
They holler and hoot as they launch their attack.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


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“The pirates laugh at their doolally rants,
but the King catches one by the seat of his pants!
On the toe of the other the Queen takes a grip,
and they dangle them both from the side of the ship.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

When I had my first son ten years ago, I started writing my own stories to illustrate — not because having children inspired the stories, but because I could work from home with hours that were family-friendly. I’ve completed five books in that time, and I’m about to illustrate another for release next year. It’s hard to make a living out of picture books in a country with as small a population as New Zealand. Our initial print run for most picture books is 3,000 copies or less, and royalty advances are only sometimes offered, so the standard of practitioners can vary enormously. To make a book financially viable, you usually need to have numerous print runs within New Zealand or sell overseas. Our immediate partner market is Australia, and most of my books are simultaneously published there. The Animal Undie Ball<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, a rhyming story about why animals don’t wear underwear, is now being translated and published in Korea. I really wish I had the skills to read it in Korean!<\/p>\n


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(My biggest kick: being sent photos like this of preschool kids performing The Animal Undie Ball<\/em>, a fabulous reminder of why we make children’s stories and perfect for putting artistic angst in its place.)<\/center><\/p>\n

I usually work from a studio on my farm in Makara, Wellington, which has an old wood-fired cooker for heat and currently has a dead sheep hanging in the bathroom. (Okay, too much information.) We live in a straw-bale house, in the middle of a huge paddock, with no mains electricity. Instead we have solar panels and water wheels. And internet. At the moment, however, I have a fantastic job assisting with costume illustration on The Hobbit<\/em> movie, thanks to local-boy Peter Jackson<\/a><\/strong> bringing Hollywood to my home town. It’s an honour to have the work. Weird having to get out of my pyjamas before lunchtime, though. <\/p>\n


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I always write a story first, then sketch it out second. I do all the normal stuff, thumbnail, scribble for ages, then refine. I have never felt that I had a “style,” but when I look back at previous work, I guess I have developed one after all. I’m working on a story at the moment about a time when I was little and thought I had no personality. I knew everyone else had one, but I couldn’t see or imagine mine. I guess style is like that. <\/p>\n


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{Here is} one unpublished illustration from a story I have been mucking around with about Mother’s Day. You can see I’m trying to restrain my colour palette. I think it works for this story:<\/p>\n

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Many thanks to Ruth for stopping by. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that I feel sure that she would be very willing to talk to<\/a><\/strong> any American publishers or agents in the U.S. about stories-to-come. Ahem. Yes, I’m trying to play matchmaker here. I do that a lot, don’t I? <\/p>\n

Illustrations used with permission of Ruth Paul. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n

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As a reminder, 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New folks are always welcome. <\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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My one big kick this week—though I had a good time hanging out with friends, including being happy hostess to one over for a yummy ‘ol carb-heavy dinner, topped off with chocolate fudge pie—is art:<\/p>\n

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Illustrator Jody Hewgill, who visited 7-Imp in 2008<\/a><\/strong>, sent that to me this week. It’s an Earth Day 2010<\/a><\/strong> poster she was commissioned to do for the State Department. Here<\/a><\/strong> is a great blog post at her site about the project. (At the very least, go see THE CHIPMUNK PHOTO, but you’ll also get to see the painting larger and in more detail, get to read all about her research for the poster, and get to see a rough sketch of it.)<\/p>\n

I love this poster. If I wouldn’t wrinkle it by doing so, I’d hug it tight. <\/p>\n

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NOTE: Absolutely do not miss the blog, Ripple<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, created by illustrator Kelly Light<\/a><\/strong>. Kelly writes:<\/p>\n

After the oil spill in the Gulf, I sat and watched the footage of the oil-covered animals. I saw hard to look at images of pelicans, sea turtles, dolphins, and so many more injured by the oil spill. I was completely stunned by what I saw. I was so upset that I just sat in my studio, pencil in hand, feeling helpless.<\/p>\n

As illustrators for children, we draw so much inspiration from animals. It’s not about the politics, it’s not about the corporation, it’s about the animals. So I took my pencil and doodled a few sketch-cards and put them on my blog to sell. I wanted to benefit the people who were already down in the Gulf cleaning the animals. My cards sold, and soon so many of my kidlit illustrator friends were chiming in to help that I started Ripple<\/em>. It’s a blog that posts sketch-cards donated by the artist as an incentive for people to donate directly to one of two non-profits. <\/p>\n

This is meant to be about small acts. The artists give a small piece of art. The donors give a small donation. With so many people helping in this way, our small acts can joing together to make a very big difference. Together, we don’t have to feel helpless; together we can do more than we could alone…<\/p>\n

I want to make July “The Great American Illustrator Month.” With a higher profile, more artists, and more awareness, we can truly make a huge ripple in the oil soaked waters of the Gulf. So far Mo Willems, Jarrett Krosoczka, Dan Santat, Tom Warburton, Stephen Silver, Melissa Sweet, Bob Boyle and more have given a sketch and caused a ripple in the oil-soaked waters of the Gulf.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The two non-profits Kelly mentions are here<\/a><\/strong> and here<\/a><\/strong>. Thanks to Kelly for pointing us towards the site. <\/p>\n

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What are YOUR<\/font> kicks this week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“They squeal, they squirm, they bellow and bark …they don’t seem to like being fed to a shark.”(Click to enlarge.) I was fortunate enough recently to get a copy from Scholastic New Zealand of author\/illustrator Ruth Paul’s latest picture book title, Two Little Pirates (April 2010). Now, none of her titles have made it to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}