{"id":2496,"date":"2013-01-11T00:15:55","date_gmt":"2013-01-11T06:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2496"},"modified":"2013-01-11T00:19:03","modified_gmt":"2013-01-11T06:19:03","slug":"laying-the-foundation-for-a-great-picture-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2496","title":{"rendered":"Laying the Foundation for a Great Picture Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One of Jonathan’s early studies from the book<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

I love this post so much, and it’s all thanks to author\/illustrator Jonathan Bean<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Last week over at Kirkus<\/em>, I wrote about his newest picture book, Building Our House<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux this month. (That link is here<\/a><\/strong>.) I discussed why I really like this book, but today I’m here to follow up with some art from the book. <\/p>\n

I always do this, as I get twitchy if I don’t get to share art. (Pictured right is a cutting from one of the book’s spreads.)<\/p>\n

However, Jonathan also went out of his way<\/strong><\/font> today (I’m yelling that in excitement) to share early studies, sketches, some process shots, and even photos of his family building this house back in the ’70s. There’s even more than all that.<\/p>\n

For all this, I raise my coffee mug to Mr. Bean. Sharing lots of images that show us picture book fans (me and my imp’y readers) how a book was made is how you win over this blogger. Shoot, I’ll even buy him a cup of coffee if I ever meet him in person. And a cookie, if he wants one. <\/p>\n

Let’s get right to it. There’s lots of good stuff to see here, especially if you like his style, his art, his books—all of the above—as much as I do. <\/p>\n

Note: Jonathan also visited <\/em>The Horn Book recently for their five-questions series. That link is here<\/a><\/strong>. Best part? Roger Sutton asks, “What is the most useful home repair tip you know?” to which Jonathan replies, “I know from personal experience that humming a soothing melody helps unclog a drain.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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* * * Early Studies * * *
(Click each to enlarge)<\/font><\/strong><\/center>
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* * * Storyboards * * *
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* Photos (1970s) of House’s Construction *<\/font><\/strong><\/center>
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Jonathan<\/em>
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* * * Some Process Images (Cover) * * *
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* * * More Process Images * * *
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“Our big crew moves everything into the house.
When Mom and Dad are busy, I show the crew where things go.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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* * * Another Set of Process Images * * *
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“Once the moving is done everyone goes back to their homes,
but my family stays right where we are.
It’s our very first night in our new home.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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* * * Editor Feedback * * *
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* * * Watercoloring * * *
(Click each to enlarge)<\/font><\/strong><\/center>
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\nJonathan<\/font><\/strong>: For this project, I had the line work printed on watercolor paper and then watercolored them in, like a glorified coloring book. A blessing, because I could redo them, if needed. A curse, because I could redo them ad nauseam, which I did! I didn’t end up using any of those beam.jpgs for the book. I’m hard pressed to explain why, now.<\/p>\n

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* * * Final Art * * *<\/font><\/strong><\/center>
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Front endpages<\/em>
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“Today is moving day. We left our old house in the city
and are moving to the country.”<\/em>
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“My family makes up a strong crew of four and we have a truck named Willys.
My brother helps Dad carry the tools. ‘The right tools for the right job,’ says Dad.
I help Mom carry plans. ‘A good plan for a good house,’ says Mom.
Willys carries everything else.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n


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“On a clear, cold night Dad sets the corners of the foundation by the North Star. One wall will face north to ward off the wind, one east to welcome the morning,
one south to soak in the sun, and one west to see out the day.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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“When the concrete hardens, the form comes down and the foundation stands solid.
My brother helps Dad inspect the lumber.
‘Strong lumber for a strong frame,’ says Dad. …”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“A frame-raising party! Everyone visits. My grandfather and grandmother, my aunts and uncles and cousins, my other grandfather and grandmother, my great-grandfather, our neighbors, and the workers from the sawmill and quarry
make up a big frame-raising crew.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n


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“But this year the first frost arrives early. The cold rains fall early. The icy winds that carry the heavy snow blow early. The bad weather slows our work but doesn’t stop it.”<\/em>
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Photos of the House’s Beam Replacement (2012)<\/font><\/strong><\/center>
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The house’s floor plan<\/em>
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BUILDING OUR HOUSE. Copyright \u00a9 2013 by Jonathan Bean. Published by Farrar Straus Giroux, New York. All images reproduced by permission of Jonathan Bean.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of Jonathan’s early studies from the book(Click to enlarge) I love this post so much, and it’s all thanks to author\/illustrator Jonathan Bean. Last week over at Kirkus, I wrote about his newest picture book, Building Our House, released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux this month. (That link is here.) I discussed why I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2496","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=2496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}