Teaching at SVA’s Illustration Summer Residency

Since graduating from the masters program at the School of Visual Arts in 2009, I haven’t given 

much thought to teaching. Primarily, I’ve focused on my own illustration career in the children’s book market, with a bit of editorial work. So far so good, I’d say, as this year has me working on more books than ever. But when my favorite (and toughest) instructor in the Illustration MFA, Viktor Koen, asked me to join the faculty of SVA’s Summer Residency, I jumped at the chance.

The Summer Residency brings together students from around the world to spend a month studying in the discipline of their choice with professionals working in New York City. Here’s a quote from the website on the illustration program:

“With guidance from award-winning illustrators, participants will complete a body of work comprised of images created for assignments, as well as personal projects, aiming to showcase their individual style and aesthetic direction. The goals are to advance to the next level of artistic practice and to attain an enhanced position in the illustration marketplace.” 

For my class, students will create a series of images to accompany a narrative text, to be encompassed in a book or visual essay. If you’d like to read more about the Summer Residencies and for information about applying, visit the School of Visual Arts website here.

It will be a high-intensity month of June. I look forward to meeting this group of international professionals, guiding, and watching their work evolve. The Residency culminates with an open studio exhibition, a few images from which I hope to share here in a future post.

BIG NEWS: I have an agent

There are certain milestones in every career that serve as a kind of validation for the course you’ve chosen. I reached one of those this week, and am proud to announce that I now have a literary agent: Marcia Wernick of Wernick & Pratt.

Just shy of five years ago, I finished graduate school, switching careers from design to illustration. It has been a whirlwind getting it all going, but despite my twenty-plus years in children’s publishing, I’ve learned a lot managing it all on my own. This year promises to be my busiest year thus far as an illustrator, and also marks the moment when I realized I needed some help. 

Wernick & Pratt has a great reputation in the industry, and represents some of my favorite artists of the moment, including the brilliant Mo Willems, and recent Caldecott Honor winner Aaron Becker, among others. I could go on and on, but if you want to learn more about them, visit their website here. Meanwhile, for all book inquiries, please contact Marcia. Now, back to the drawing board!