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It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means a student or just-starting-out illustrator here at 7-Imp. Today, I welcome Brooke Boynton Hughes<\/a><\/strong>, who has already illustrated one children’s book and is working on a handful of others now but is still relatively new to the field. It’s a pleasure to share some of her artwork today. Let’s get right to it, especially since Brooke gives us a few words of introduction. <\/p>\n Brooke<\/font><\/strong>: I’ve wanted to illustrate children’s books ever since I was little. When other kids my age were moving on to middle-grade books, I was still poring over picture books. I loved reading, but I was especially enthralled by visual storytelling. As a kid, I spent a lot of time drawing and becoming engrossed in whatever visual world I was into at the time. There were a couple of years where I drew almost nothing except for tree houses, and there was the year of underground rabbit houses. The imagined worlds that I created in my drawings felt really real to me. I guess I loved, and still love, residing in imagined worlds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I attended Colorado State University where I earned a BFA in printmaking. In 2006, I received an MFA in figurative art from the New York Academy of Art. I concentrated on drawing and relief printmaking and made a lot of woodcuts that focused on folktales. Today, I use pen and ink and watercolor on Arches 140lb hot press watercolor paper to create my illustrations. <\/p>\n In 2005, while still in grad school, I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators<\/a><\/strong> and began attending their conferences. I’ve learned so much from SCBWI and have met most of my close friends at SCBWI conferences. <\/p>\n This summer I’ve been working on putting the finishing touches on Baby Love<\/em>, written by Angela DiTerlizzi<\/a><\/strong> and published by Beach Lane Books. Baby Love<\/em> [pictured below] will come out next Spring. <\/p>\n I’ve started on the illustrations for the second book in a middle-grade series, called Cupcake Cousins<\/em>. The first Cupcake Cousins<\/a><\/strong><\/em> book, written by Kate Hannigan<\/a><\/strong> and published by Disney-Hyperion, came out at the beginning of May. I’m starting on the illustrations for a picture book titled MORE!<\/em>, written by Linda Ashman<\/a><\/strong> and published by Random House. I’m also working on two book dummies of my own stories and am getting ready for this year’s SCBWI Summer Conference. <\/p>\n Some of my favorite books when I was little were The Little Moon Theatre<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Irene Haas<\/a><\/strong>, Where’s Wallace<\/a><\/em><\/strong> by Hilary Knight<\/a><\/strong>, The Clown of God<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Tomie DePaola<\/a><\/strong>, and The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher<\/a><\/em><\/strong> by Molly Bang<\/a><\/strong>. Oh, and I can’t leave out How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Russell Hoban<\/a><\/strong> and illustrated by Quentin Blake<\/a><\/strong>! And just one more: Come Follow Me<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Gyo Fujikawa<\/a><\/strong>. I spent so much time with that one that the binding broke and the cover fell off. <\/p>\n Thank you so much for sharing my work, Jules!<\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Thanks to Brooke for visiting. Because she gave me permission to pull more images from her website, I’d like to share these, too. The last two are my very favorites: <\/p>\n [Ed. to Add: For more information and artwork, don’t miss Brooke’s recent interview at Kidlit411<\/a><\/strong>.]<\/em><\/p>\n All images used with permission of Brooke Boynton Hughes.<\/em><\/p>\n Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 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 kickers are always welcome. <\/p>\n It was a distressing week in children’s lit, due to the very sad loss of Walter Dean Myers<\/a><\/strong>, and it was a distressing week for women’s rights in national news, so let’s work extra hard to find our kicks, shall we? <\/p>\n 1)<\/strong><\/font> Though it’s challenging to get work done at home (since I always work from home) during the summers, I’m still enjoying more time with my girls — and especially more time for reading with them. <\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> Remember how last week I was too tired to even leave kicks from re-organizing stuff in our home (mostly books)? Well, it feels good to be re-organized. <\/p>\n 3)<\/strong><\/font> I love, in particular, what Sergio Ruzzier<\/a><\/strong> has to say in this interview<\/a><\/strong> about reading levels and children reading what they want. <\/p>\n 4)<\/strong><\/font> We’re enjoying this CD:<\/p>\n See? Here’s the best song:<\/p>\n<\/a>
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\nAnd the cover art is by illustrator Marcellus Hall<\/a><\/strong>!<\/p>\n
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