Author Archives: Will Terry

MY RESPONSE: WHERE ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS?

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Where Are People of Color in Children’s Books?

Walter Dean Myers, didn’t relate, he was black reading books about white kids.

DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of FolioAcademy,LLC or every artist there in. We can’t help it if Mr. Will Terry has an opinion after all. ~your best friend, Wayne Andreason; Mgr.

 

The New York Times recently posted an article entitled: “Where Are the People of Color in Children’s Books?” Walter Dean Myers, the author shared his experience growing up reading books that he didn’t relate to because he was black and most of the books he read were about white kids. It’s a very thoughtful article that provokes many questions.

My mom didn’t ‘pass’, & wasn’t allowed to attend a white school

I thought I would share some of my experiences as an illustrator relating to ethnicity in children’s books. I grew up in a white suburban neighborhood just north of our nations capital in Maryland. I always identified myself as white even though my grandmother on my mother’s side has native american blood in her ancestry and my mom is suspected of having an African American father. It wasn’t until I was in college that my mom felt comfortable sharing that as a child she wasn’t able to attend the white schools because she couldn’t “pass” – a term meaning you were classified as having a mixed-race heritage.

There’s color in my Genes but I think of myself as white

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CHILDREN’S BOOK ARTIST VISITS YUBA CITY SCHOOLS

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Giving assemblies on reading and illustrating for picture books

Here is the skinny from Yuba City CA – giving assemblies on reading and illustrating for picture books. This was me barely making it over Donnor Summit before it got really bad.

I gave about 4-5 assemblies each day for 4 days – it was really fun watching kids get excited over my work. It’s hard for me to get a reaction from my own kids – they’ve seen behind the curtain. I love to do school visits.
At the end of each assembly I painted one of my characters in Photoshop on the screen – kids got really quiet watching a drawing come to life.
For some of the older classes I gave some drawing lessons.
We took some goofy pictures…
This is Craig and Leslie Reading – Leslie set up all the schools and made all the arrangements – She did so much to facilitate these presentations – I can’t thank her enough!I also got to visit my sister Beth and her husband Michael. Beth is a famous blogger in the Bay area – her blog: fakeplasticfish talks about living life while using a lot less plastic.

Drawing Inspiration: Will Terry in Yuba

I even made the local paper!

Donner Summit was kind to me on the way back.  😎

Painting & Illustrating; Making the Switch to Digital Art & Loving it

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What do you think of my digital art?

Went digi just four years ago and loving it 

early digi Illustration

Up until about January 2010, I only fooled around with painting in Photoshop. I started out by painting backgrounds for my paintings in Photoshop due to the advice of Jim Madsen  but never really tried to fully render a sketch or an Illustration. I remember the day after Christmas that year was a day for putting together toys, searching for more batteries, playing Acquire, watching Avatar, and squeezing in a little time to experiment with Photoshop. This is what I came up with.

I made this sketch for a book that got canceled (bummer) but since I liked it I decided it would be the guinea pig.So, I’m looking for you to exercise your critiquing abilities – what do you guys think I could have done to make this a better piece? Not the following, but the boy, or is that a girl? by the tree.
A few day later, more digital artwork

A Love affair is born

Here is an excerpt from my journal shortly after my first date with Photoshop:
“I have a new secret love affair and I’m pretty sure my wife will be down with it… until I spend too much time with her. Her name is Photoshop and she’s so cute! The way she responds to gentle clicking – her color – and those deep dark shadows! Her pixels drive me wild!” ~Will Terry

in the end I’m so happy with the process
Mexican Dinner
I wish I could take the credit but I must send a shout out to Jed Henry who wet nursed me through the process. Oh there were a few choice words at first – a tear here and there but in the end I’m so happy with the process he helped me with. Thanks Jed!
This was an old sketch I dug out to fool around with – he was originally sketched for a Rosa’s restaurant painting I did 6 or 7 years ago. El Senior Monteban – quite dapper and oozing with confidence.

Editorial Illustration: Time

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So I Illustrated the word: Time

I’m pulling this from the dark corners of my archive

Back when I did a lot of editorial work I created this. It reared its acrylic head again a few years back when I pulled it out of the flat file and entered it in an Illustration Friday deal for the word time. And now it shows up one more TIME.

Just wanted to post something a little different. It’s about time, don’t ya think?  : )

I Used to Struggle as an Illustrator & I Still STRUGGLE with My Art

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If You only knew How Much I Used To Struggle!

 In fact, I still STRUGGLE with my art.

Fish King

To this day I still have a problem drawing in front of people. I have no problem painting in front of a group but I’m so unsure about my drawings I get really self conscious.
This fish for instance goes through a really rough loose stage that changes form many times before I start to see things I like. Often I don’t like where it’s going and have to start over from scratch – that would make a really fun demo wouldn’t it? (sarcasm intended)… and the fear of that happening is paralyzing – so I don’t often draw in front of my classes.
A lot of our artist friends that are realy good at what they do, don’t want to do a course for folioacademy because they are afraid of the camera, they don’t want the world to see them struggle.

Developing Your Art Skill Takes Time

I know I’ve talked about this before but I really want you to know two things:

1. This art thing that you want to get good at takes a long time – a lifetime really.

2. It’s really fun when you start to put all the pieces together and start creating images that gather an audience!

Assignment: Create a “Fish King Character”

King Fish line artI gave an assignment to create a “Fish King” character in my Imagination and Visual Literacy class at UVU and invited my students to send me images to post – some of them took me up on this invitation. I hope they realize that they draw better than I did when I was going to college. In fact, I was put on “probation” as a provisional student for being such a horrible artist. I was one of the few that didn’t get a studio space my junior year and I was on probation, I had to improve or I wouldn’t be in “the Program” my senior year. So I spent my Junior year being a lesser student. Yes that was stressful and depressing. And scary, to spend three years in University just to be told that “I can’t be an artist”.

Here are some preliminary sketches.

Oh yeah – it was my son Aaron’s idea to put fish hooks in his lips – credit where credit’s due!

Evolution of a Fish King.

King Fish line art c

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s What My Students are Drawing

King Fish line art d

I love the diversity you can see in their work. By nature artists want to be different. Artists want to show the world something they’ve never seen. Check out Dallin Orr’s and Todd wilson’s work.

I don’t mind admitting it, some of my students are a lot better artists than I was at their stage in the game.

 Here are a few warm up sketches I did.

King Fish line art b

SKETCH of a Sketch Book

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“The best sketch book is the one you have with you” ~Wayne Andreason

My friend, Wayne always says that the best sketch book is the one you have with you. I always say, “Don’t leave home without it!” ~Karl Malden
If you know me, you know, I don’t like to read but…
Because of my involvement with the California Teachers Association and the many school visits i do, my mind is often on reading and it’s importance in the development of the lives of children. And even though I don’t love to read, I don know that it is important. In fact, I might even say that reading is fundamental. RIF 
“Give a hoot, read a book.” ~Herschel Krustofski
At foliio academy we concentrate on art and illustration. We believe that many a child begins to enjoy reading because of the illustrations that come with the books. So the irony is, we artists who hated reading, grew up to help children learn to love reading.
This above picture is a little doodle I did while my wife was at the doctor’s office.
“You have a sketch book, don’t leave home without it!”
(but please, sketch responsibly.)

speed painting a GIANT just for fun

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 An old Painting I Did For Fun

I wanted to do a painting of a dream that I had as a kid….
make sure you watch the ending  : )

A little lesson in acrylics but watch fast because it goes fast. 

The worst (and best) thing about painting with acrylics

0007 giant

The worst thing about painting in acrylics is that it dries fast. The best thing about painting in acrylics is that it dries fast. The worst thing about painting in acrylics for me while doing THIS painting was filming it and working around the camera.

Notice the painting process, Start with the Darks

As you can see, or could see, or did see, if you actually watched the video, I first tone the canvas, (AKA gessoed board in this case) with a dark yet rich color. Then I paint in a little more dark, and you will note that the dark acrylic colors are transparent, while the lighter colors, (aka colours) are opaque. And that is a good thing, so you can see you lines, a little, and transparent shadows are nice. Plus it is good to cover up what you want with those light colors.

Slowly build it up with lighter and lighter paint

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Online Art Schools vs University

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Art Lessons Online or University?

lizard SVSsm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

– I’ve been asked about the difference between online courses like we have at Folio Academy, interactive online schools like SVS and attending an illustration class at a University or art school -(I will give you my opinion next week, March 28, 2014) – I’d love to know what you think. One thing I will say is that we have quite a few art teachers at art schools and Universities using our videos to enhance the learning experience. We aren’t any better than those teachers, and they aren’t any better than us, well not a lot better. Often teachers want their students to hear the same things from other teachers and in different words. I do the same thing when I’m at University – I often show videos from other artists and teachers to reinforce the principles I’m teaching.

 

 

Illustrations & Artwork for My Own Book

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writing and Illustrating my Own Book

“Get used to disappointment” ~Dread Pirate Roberts

These are some character and environment sketches for a book I wrote and tried to get published. I’ve already scored one rejection on. We learn by our failures right? But in the publishing world you need many many failures, rejections, refusals, dis-approvals, and disasters in order to be a success right? (just say yes) I’ve written many a children’s book my friend and so far the score is, Publishers 15 – Will Terry 0.
Enjoy it while it lasts publishers – for one day I shall laugh at you for buying one of my manuscripts…MWAA HAA HAAA!

 

 

 

:) folioacademy is awesome.  (<<< subliminal message)

Making Our Story App, “GARY’S PLACE”, Was it Worth It?

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Is it worth it to put all that time and effort into a story app that probably won’t sell?

It’s Time to reveal the sales for Gary’s Place, my children’s story app.

garys place 01Twenty some years ago when I was going to school, the illustration students had an ongoing debate with the fine art students about money and art. The illustrator’s argued that illustration was art in spite of the commission and art direction. The fine artists said “By nature an assignment takes the artist out if their vision – so it’s not art that’s being created.” I think both sides were right and wrong depending on the individual project but I think it sets up an interesting way for artists to evaluate the value of their work.

 We’ve only sold a few hundred apps at $2.99

This is the blog post where I reveal my sales for my Gary’s Place children’s story app. Even though we have gotten a handful of 4-5 star reviews –  we’ve only sold a few hundred apps at $2.99 each in the past two months. This is no doubt disappointing for many of you who are planning on making an app and retiring, and I won’t pretend it’s not a little disappointing for me too but it’s only part of the story. Okay more than a little, but…

Since 2010 I’ve sold over 60,000 e-books.

I’ve sold tens of thousands (60k to be exact, well, to be close to exact) of my ebooks starting back in 2010, and that, I concluded was mostly due to market timing – aka “luck”. Now that we’ve had about 4 good years of story app and e-book creation, the marketplace has obviously gotten a little noisy or crowded. But, most of the noise is coming from e-books and low quality story apps.

I still believe that an audience can be cultivated over time with a great story and good art. My long term game plan is to keep working on the series of Gary apps and Rick and Aaron are equally committed. Each new app released points back to the earlier ones and thus each new app becomes a marketing piece for the early ones and the early ones will hopefully intrigue consumers to purchase the new ones.  The total project should gain traction over time. (I hope)

Why would an Artist take such risks with their time and effort? 

Over the past 6 months I’ve received questions such as: Will you be able to make enough money? Aren’t you worried that your self publishing will be looked at as a downgrade in the publishing world? Seems like a tough road are you sure this is a good decision? Many people aren’t recouping their time and costs what will you do differently? The marketing seems like the hardest part – are you ready to spend twice as much time marketing your apps? What’s wrong with you? Are you mad?

These are all good questions, all but the last two, but none of them address the most important aspect of creating art such as: Are you having fun with it? Are you creating the art you want to make? Do you think children and parents will respond to what you’re doing? Are you committed to doing this for several years? If it doesn’t make any money will the enjoyment be enough compensation? The answer to all these important is YES!

We artists need to ask ourselves the right questions. 

I don’t think most people ask the right questions of themselves in regard to their art. They’ll question my decision to venture down this road while they themselves have been working for years trying to get picked by a publisher – that sounds like a tough road too. They’ll question how much money I’m making with my apps while they aren’t making much or any money with their artistic ventures. One question I’m never asked is: What are you doing different to engage parents and children? I think people don’t ask this one because they are afraid that they can’t create something remarkable. I’m afraid of that too and we do spend a lot of time discussing it and working on it!

It’s not a successful climb unless you enjoy the journey. ~Dan Benson

I can’t think of many successful companies or products that came from following a proven method. Most success stories share a lot of personal struggles and negative criticism. Apple came from a couple of guys following their dreams of tinkering with computers the professionals insisted that thought nobody would want a personal computer. Stan Lee kept Marvel comics going when everyone told him there was no market for comics. If U2 hadn’t won a $500 contest and had the guts to risk it all on their art, they wouldn’t have been able to record their first demo tape. The stories of artists working on their dream projects and finding success with them years down the road is endless. Yes I hope to be one of them. I’m a dreamer. I work to be able to afford to work on speculative projects.

 

Should an artist even be talking about money?

But what am I talking about money for? I’m in this for the sheer joy that it is to find time to tinker with a new medium that allows me to express creative ideas in so many new ways! That’s the gold! I just wish you could spend that at the grocery store. lol.

But perhaps this kind of speculative project is in my comfort zone because I’ve had a few successes with my own projects in the past. Starting a freelance illustration business was supposed to be nearly impossible. Making my ebooks was a total unknown in 2010 but has generated a tidy profit. Making and selling illustration video tutorials on my website that lead to starting Folio Academy with Wayne, which has been a wonderful addition to my income. That has lead to starting SVS online teaching with Jake Parker which is also been an amazing project. Each one of these projects has been born out of a labor of love. I love creating art and teaching.

Trust me, you don’t want it to be easy. 

There is no such thing as great talent without great will-power. ~Honore’ de Balzac

So can money corrupt your art? I think so – if you base your artistic decisions on money you may never explore the projects that your audience will love the most. If you play it safe your art will be more predictable. If you follow the “proven” method you’ll find yourself competing with many who can do what you can…that seems risky to me. You are unique. You have an artistic fingerprint that nobody else can generate. I’m not willing to make all of my artistic decisions based on financial compensation. But I have to consider it in order to maintain my art ventures.

If this thing we call art was easy it wouldn’t be of much value. If it were easy to make lots of money as an author or illustrator it wouldn’t be special. Trust me – you don’t want it to be easy.

I will keep you posted on Gary’s sales. 

We should be releasing Gary’s Worms sometime towards the end of March! I’ll continue to give updates on sales throughout the year because I do think that it’s valuable information if not to understand the potential both for risk and reward. I’m a realist. I know you have to eat to live but artists also need to create to live. The trick is to make sacrifices to afford the time to create in your down time.

Make no mistake – Gary’s Place has cost me much more than time. I’ve turned down numerous freelance projects to afford the time to work on Gary…and now that this blog post is finished I’m going to dig in!

See the process in the previous step by step how to make a story app blogs.