{"id":4623,"date":"2018-05-06T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-06T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4623"},"modified":"2018-05-05T18:28:16","modified_gmt":"2018-05-06T00:28:16","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-585-featuringup-and-coming-illustrator-shanda-mccloskey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4623","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #585: Featuring
Up-and-Coming Illustrator, Shanda McCloskey"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nIt’s the first Sunday of the month, dear Imps, which means we look at the art of a student or debut illustrator. Today it’s the latter. Shanda McCloskey’s<\/a><\/strong> debut picture book, Doll-E 1.0<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Little, Brown, May 2018), is on shelves now. It’s the story of tech-savvy Charlotte, whose parents (worried she may be “too techy”) give her a doll for her birthday. (“I was thinking you could play house or doctor with it,” her mother tells her.) “How do you use it? Are there instructions?” Charlotte asks. She’s dismayed that the doll just sits there. Charlotte is itchin’ to build something new. Needless to say, Charlotte is pumped when she discovers that the doll (who says “Ma-ma” repeatedly) has a set of two batteries \u2014 a power supply! <\/p>\n

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When Charlotte’s pet dog, Blutooth, interferes with Charlotte’s new friendship with her doll, things take a turn for the worse. But Charlotte’s creative, technically-bent mind and her ingenuity save the day. <\/p>\n

McCloskey visits 7-Imp today to tell me a bit more about these endearing characters, Charlotte and Blutooth, and to talk a bit about the making of the book. I thank her for visiting. Let’s get to it!<\/p>\n

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(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
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\nShanda<\/font><\/strong>: My name is Shanda (rhymes with panda<\/em>). My debut book, DOLL-E 1.0<\/em>, just released! I\u2019m proud my book is in the company of many great STEM, STEAM, maker, and girls-in-STEM books that have \u201cawakened\u201d from the movement. Each person has unique thoughts and ideas that only they can express, and there is (or soon will be) a book for every type of creator and thinker to cherish.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m somewhat techie and my husband is a web developer, but I wish I had a more in-depth knowledge about coding and robotics. So, I lived vicariously through the making of this book. <\/p>\n

Below are some preliminary sketches. Charlotte, the main character, started out as a blonde, because my oldest daughter is a blonde, and it seemed fitting to push against the \u201cdumb blonde\u201d stereotype. But it didn\u2019t fit the character as I worked. Once I landed on the Wonder Woman-inspired blue-black hair, there was no going back.
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Shanda: “My favorite piece! This really got me excited.”<\/em><\/center>
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Shanda: “My youngest daughter ‘petting’ Blutooth. (Fun fact: The dog\u2019s name was almost Megabyte. But I had been calling him Bluetooth from the beginning, so we changed the spelling to Blutooth with no ‘e’ because of the trademark.)”<\/em><\/center>
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Final art from book: “Charlotte’s head was always <\/em>in the cloud.
Tinkering. Toggling. Coding. Downloading.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/em><\/center>
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Some final art from the book<\/em>
(Click last image to enlarge)<\/center>
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Final endpapers (without color)<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
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\nAs my art director, Jen Keenan, and I worked on the cover for this book, we found that there was a fine line between it looking fun\/inventive and like a torture scene! See for yourself . . .
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\nFinal cover:
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\nMuch better!<\/p>\n

Another fun fact about me is that during the creation of this book, I developed early cataracts and had to have cataract surgery in both eyes at age 35. So, I have plastic lenses in my eyes, making me somewhat bionic now? Maybe a little? <\/p>\n

I\u2019m currently working on my second book with Little, Brown that will be a companion to Doll-E 1.0<\/em> \u2014 about a boy and his drone. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been fun recounting all these memories, sketches, and facts for this post. Thanks so much for having me here!
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\nDOLL-E 1.0. Copyright \u00a9 2018 by Shanda McCloskey. Published by Little, Brown and Company, New York. All images reproduced by permission of Shanda McCloskey.<\/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

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> Bionic illustrators! <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> New song from one of my favorite bands, The Innocence Mission<\/a><\/strong>:
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