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\nIt’s the first Sunday of the month, which means it’s time to feature a student or up-and-coming illustrator. Today, Jessica Boehman<\/a><\/strong> visits, and I’ve actually wanted her to visit for a long while now, but … well, it gets busy in 7-Imp Land. I’m glad she’s finally here. <\/p>\n
Jessica also teaches art (and art history) in New York, but she talks more about that below. It’s a pleasure to feature her art today, which manages to be both fresh and timeless. Let’s get right to it, since she also tells us a bit about her work. Please note that you can see more of her art at her site<\/a><\/strong>, at Facebook<\/a><\/strong>, and on Instagram<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n I thank her for visiting. <\/p>\n I\u2019ve come back to illustration after a first life as an art historian. The work on my Master\u2019s and Ph.D. for Art History was so long and arduous that I swore that, once I earned my doctorate, I would get back to drawing and illustration, which had been my undergraduate major. That\u2019s the adult version of that story, but the kid version is this: My mother taught us to love books. I have a big family, so illustrated books were in the house long after we had outgrown them, and we, in turn, read them to our younger siblings. So I grew up loving books, and I especially liked the idea of being able to draw in a sketchbook. All five of my siblings are creative types, so it felt natural when I was young to choose art. That seemed to be the Boehman way. Most of all, I was always telling stories. I still do. Those two loves merged in illustration. I\u2019m very traditional: I do all of my work by hand, except for minor digital additions. I prefer the dry media, like pencils and colored pencils, for their layering capabilities, their rich color output, and for the control they offer. But this summer, I\u2019ve been having fun playing around with ink or mixing ink with colored pencil and paint, and I think both india and acrylic inks will feature heavily in my new work. My full-time job is as an Assistant Professor at CUNY\u2019s LaGuardia Community College in New York City, where I teach Art History and Studio Art. It\u2019s a dream job for someone like me, as it satisfies both sides of me, and it allows me to work in the same town as my husband, Mike.<\/p>\n My art history training (specifically in Renaissance and Baroque art) has taught me to read images very carefully and to try to imagine the world in which that artwork was produced, which makes it fun for me to try to imagine what it would be like to be inside of the world that my illustration creates. The period I study was very interested in close observation, so I suppose that, too, has translated into the detailed way that I make my own artwork. But lately, the actual act of teaching has been the most inspiring. Watching my students be brave enough to step outside of their comfort zones and to push themselves when I push them has given me the courage to try things I might not have before. Their boldness teaches me to see through fresh eyes. I take a lot of inspiration in roundabout ways from my cultural heritage. I\u2019m half-German and half-Italian, and so I really connect with folk and fairy tales on a deep level. I love how they teach us to look for the magic hidden in everyday life. I try to add something of that unexpected wonder in all of my drawings.<\/p>\n [My favorite illustrators are] the classics: N. C. Wyeth<\/a><\/strong> for mood color and exquisite composition; Maurice Sendak<\/a><\/strong> for the delicate power of his pen and for the raw honesty of his stories; Adrienne Adams<\/a><\/strong> for her lovely color, memorable characters, and creepy moods; and Trina Schart Hyman<\/a><\/strong>, because she made the world so romantic. Currently: everything Shaun Tan<\/a><\/strong> creates gives me the shivers. I\u2019m in awe of the way this generation of women artists, like Isabelle Arsenault<\/a><\/strong>, Melissa Sweet<\/a><\/strong>, and Rovina Cai<\/a><\/strong> imagine their illustrated worlds. Lately, I\u2019ve been looking just as much at comic book and graphic novel artists. Bill Watterson<\/a><\/strong>, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes<\/em>, is the artist I use most frequently as an example in my classes. I remember drawing from his books when I was young, and I still study him now. His comic is a master class in illustration.<\/p>\n Recently, I have been experimenting with some short comics, with wordless stories, and with writing my own short stories that will give me the freedom to work in a variety of styles and moods. The end goal for these is my first, upcoming solo illustration show. All images used by permission of Jessica Boehman.<\/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 1)<\/strong><\/font> This poem<\/a><\/strong> by Carrie Newcomer. What does that remind you of, dear kickers? I should probably wait to share it next week, because we’ll have been kickin’ for 500 weeks then, but oh well. Won’t hurt to see it twice. <\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> This<\/a><\/strong> new Oatmeal<\/em> comic. <\/p>\n 3)<\/strong><\/font> This<\/a><\/strong> football player. <\/p>\n 4)<\/strong><\/font> Invitations. <\/p>\n 5)<\/strong><\/font> I’m going to the Boston area this week for work, and I’m going to make some stops and visit friends and children’s lit colleagues on my way in.<\/p>\n 6)<\/strong><\/font> Showing my girls So I Married an Axe Murderer<\/a><\/strong><\/em> this weekend. This means I then had<\/em> to show them this<\/a><\/strong> old college video. (The old-skool “Fun Flicks” technology at the beginning is cracking me up.) I guess this is circa 1994, well<\/em> before YouTube (but this originated on VHS). I remember that lip-syncing the poem—instead of the top-40 songs everyone else was doing—was my idea (I had a comedy crush on Mike Myers<\/a><\/strong> during the SNL<\/em> and post-SNL<\/em> years), and I had to teach everyone the words right before we filmed. They, of course, were very game. I lost touch with the tall friend there, but that’s Eisha (who founded 7-Imp with me) on the left and my friend, Michael, to my right. (I could always embed the video here, but I’ll spare you.)<\/p>\n 7)<\/strong><\/font> Speaking of YouTube, ALSC has posted the videos of Sophie Blackall’s Caldecott acceptance speech; Matt de la Pe\u00f1a’s Newbery speech; and Jerry Pinkney’s Wilder speech. They’re all here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n BONUS:<\/strong><\/font> This illustration from Juana Medina<\/a><\/strong> (in response to this<\/a><\/strong> news item from this week). Thanks to Juana for permission to share that. BRING ON THE TACO TRUCKS. (Click to enlarge) It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means it’s time to feature a student or up-and-coming illustrator. Today, Jessica Boehman visits, and I’ve actually wanted her to visit for a long while now, but … well, it gets busy in 7-Imp Land. I’m glad she’s finally here. Jessica also teaches […]<\/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-4143","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\/4143","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=4143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4143\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nOne of the short stories I\u2019ve been working on is a fairy tale written by my author brother, Joshua Boehman. I\u2019m also preparing some storyboards, based on my original stories, that will grow into dummies, one for a gross poem about a sandwich that I wrote for my nephews, another for a story about a little girl who enters a storytelling contest, inspired by a childhood memory.
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\nMy hope is that my artwork will find a good home in some illustrated children\u2019s or middle-grade books. Stay tuned for something completely different! I\u2019m excited to see what comes next. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nWhat are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"