New children's illustration classes and an oil painting class for teens starting in July!

Just a quick reminder that I have new children's book illustration classes and an oil painting class for teens starting in July in Bellevue and Seattle. Hope to see you in a class and please spread the word!

Here are the details...

Children's Book Illustration I
Immerse yourself in the world of children’s book illustration with
this introductory course. Through in-class assignments using a variety
of media, you'll learn basic techniques to complete illustrations for
young readers. Also learn the business side of children’s book
illustration, including what it takes to get your work seen by the
right people. Character consistency, portfolios, contracts, and other
topics are also covered. Craig Orback is an award-winning illustrator
of over 15 children's books. Basic drawing skills are helpful but not
required. Homework is required.

Bellevue College, Saturdays, 8 Sessions, 7/9/11-8/27/11,
10:00-12:30pm, $149
Go here to register

North Seattle Community College, Thursdays, 8 Sessions,
7/7/11-8/25/11, 6:30-9:00pm, $125
Go here to register

Beginning Oil Painting for Teens
This no pressure introductory course introduces teens to the basics of
painting with oils. Learn about materials available to painters, color
mixing and some basic color theory as well as composition. Instructor
gives one-on-one feedback in this fun, hands-on studio class. Please
bring supplies to the first class and be ready to paint!

Bellevue Community College, Saturdays, 4 Sessions, 7/16/11-8/6/11,
1:30-4:30pm, $169
Go here to register

Renewal

This past weekend I attended the SCBWI Western Washington conference for writers and illustrators. I have attended several in the past including the New York winter conference but never have I come away so inspired by others. I have a renewed faith in my chosen career and a desire to shake things up. Part of this excitement came from seeing the great illustrator Dan Santat talk about his career path and renewed commitment to picture books. We were all moved by his inspiring speech including Dan. His talk was that memorable.

During his presentation he mentioned a pivotal moment early on when he decided to change up his painting style. This is something I have been toying with myself for several years but was too afraid. I have been illustrating kids books for 10 years now working hard at getting better with my chosen medium (oil paint) . With my recent book "The Can Man" I was beginning to feel I was getting closer to the style I had envisioned for myself when I started out. I am not going to throw overboard my realistic, painterly style but I am ready to develop a second parallel track. During my downtime in between jobs I am commiting myself to taking some of my older oil paintings (as well as some new images) and reworking them in a new looser way aimed at younger audiences.

This isn't a crass stab at a bigger more lucrative market but a heartfelt artistic yearning to express myself in new exciting ways. I have always been drawn to this style of work and used to paint this way with watercolor in the past. Change and growth will feed my soul. After all I am in the book making business not the painting realistic at all costs business. Watercolor, pencil, gouache, and maybe some pastel and ink will be my new mediums. Mixed media in other words. Wimsy, freshness, looseness, simplification, line work and engaging characters (both human and animal), is a small part of what I am after. When I became an oil painter N.C. Wyeth and Gregory Manchess were a few of my inspirations. Now I am looking at among others, Trina Schart Hyman and the wonderful Amy June Bates for guidance on how to loosen up my line work and depiction of people.

Below is my first attempt at taking an older painting and playing with these new themes at the sketch phase. Now its time to shut up and put paint to paper. If I like it I will share it soon. If I don't, well I will just try again with something new. Its supposed to be fun after all!

More great Can Man news!

In the past few weeks I have learned that The Can Man is up for two state reading awards! In Pennsylvania it has been nominated for the 2011-2012 Keystone to Reading Book Award. In New York state it will appear on the 2012 Charlotte Award Ballot (in the primary category), the state award run by the New York State Reading Association (NYSRA). With both awards students will vote for their favorite and the winner will be awarded in the fall of 2012. Really excited that so many new kids will be exposed to our book over the next year. Also the book will be part of TD Bank's summer reading program on the east coast. Even more great exposure! The Mid-Atlantic loves The Can Man!

Old Grandfather revisited

Back in 2007 I illustrated a Tolstoy short story for a school textbook project. It was just one painting but I always felt I could have done a better job. My original sketch that I liked ended up being changed pretty heavily due to feedback from my client. So recently I repainted it the way I wanted to. Here it is...

My own Mount Rushmore is now complete!

In honor of President's Day I recently completed my painting of Mount Rushmore. Late last year I posted a blog entry about its inspiration, a sketch and color study. If you have the day off today enjoy!

Copies are in of Clara Morgan and the Oregon Trail Journey!

I recently get a stack of copies of my new book Clara Morgan and the Oregon Trail Journey written by Marty Rhodes Figley, our 4th book together. I am really pleased with how they art was reproduced in this book! If anyone is interested I can send out a signed copy including shipping for $20. Just send me an email to craig@craigorback.com.

It is a wonderful story of compassion and generosity set on the Oregon trail in 1864. Here is a description and thanks for your interest:

Eleven-year-old Clara Morgan traveled the Oregon Trail with her family. While her mother cared for the baby, Clara struggled with the cooking. Finally, she made her first batch of perfect biscuits. But she gave them up to a hungry American Indian who stopped by. Little did she know they would meet again. Would her family’s act of kindness help them farther down the trail? In the back of this book, you’ll find a script and instructions for putting on a reader’s theater performance of this adventure.

My first graphic novel book

In the last week I finished all of the art for my first graphic novel. It is a 24 page book with 45 individual paintings. To say it was a lot of work was an understatement! I'm not one to shy away from a challenge though and this was a fun creative one. With picture book projects I am used to editing double page spreads of story and text into large full size paintings capturing the essence of whats being said. With a graphic novel though you get to break down the action into little scenes and play more with composition, perspective and viewpoint. It feels a little bit like I would imagine a film director would feel when it comes to depicting action and playing with camera angles.

The art will later have bubbles and banners with dialogue and story added by the designer. I look forward to seeing it come together. Unfortunately for now I can't post the art here. I worked smaller than my usual oil paintings in gouache paint to save time and for easy detail work. Recently I bought a large format scanner so I was able to scan the final art myself and download it as digital files to their FTP site. Very convenient as the art never add to leave my studio. Clients are preferring that more and more these days so it feels good to change with the times. I hope you enjoy the art!