November 1st Treasure Trove
Posted by Jan Brett in Jan Brett Posts on November 13, 2009
I hope you can come to visit,
This Friday I’m starting my book tour for the 20th Anniversary edition of THE MITTEN and the new JAN BRETT’S SNOWY TREASURY. I’ll be visiting cities in Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Indiana. If I’m at a bookstore near you, I hope that you’ll come, I’d love to see you! You can find information on all of my tour visits in the Tour section:
http://janbrett.com/2009_fall_tour.htm
New this week is the complete 2010 Jan Brett artwork date calendar featuring artwork from my 2010 spring book THE EASTER EGG. Download a free calendar and get a sneak preview of the next book:
http://janbrett.com/calendars.htm
Get a start on your Christmas cards. You can download as many free personalized Jan Brett Christmas card as you would like:
http://janbrett.com/pdfcards/main_page.htm
It’s a pleasure to be in touch.
Sincerely,
Jan Brett
October 19th Treasure Trove
Posted by Jan Brett in Jan Brett Posts on October 19, 2009
Winners!
Congratulations to all of the schools and libraries who have on a free copy of JAN BRETT’S SNOWY TREASURY. I’ll be mailing everyone’s books this coming week. Here is a list of all of the winners:
http://www.janbrett.com/contest_2010/free_book_contest_fall_2009_winners.htm
I’m looking forward to meeting the Grand Prize winner of the Lunch on the Bus contest. You can find out the Grand Prize winner and all 100 THE MITTEN tote bag winners at:
http://www.janbrett.com/contest_2010/lunch_on_the_bus_contest_winners.htm
Happy Halloween!
~ Halloween Place Mat
http://www.janbrett.com/place_mats/halloween_place_mat.htm
~ Halloween Book Marks
http://www.janbrett.com/bookmarks/bookmarks.htm
~ Halloween Email Postcards
http://www.janbrett.com/vcards/gbrowse.php?cat_id=45
~ Hedgie Carves a Halloween Pumpkin Coloring Page
http://www.janbrett.com/hedgie_carves_a_pumpkin_coloring_page.htm
~ Hedgie’s Costumes Coloring Page
http://www.janbrett.com/hedgie_costume_coloring_page.htm
~ Hedgie as a Pirate Coloring Page
http://www.janbrett.com/hedgie_as_a_pirate.htm
It’s a pleasure to be in touch.
Sincerely,
Jan Brett
October 2009 Hedge a gram
Posted by Jan Brett in Jan Brett Posts on October 19, 2009
 Twyfelfontaine, Namibia, Africa |
Hi, This is Jan Brett, and this is my October hedge a gram. I like to tell about what I’m doing in my professional life as a writer and illustrator. It is not always what people expect. I love to wake up in the morning and know that I will be spending my day working on a children’s book. It’s easy to get attached to the ideas and characters. My book project is in some ways predictable and in some ways not. When my husband and I were in Namibia, Africa we visited a World Heritage site, called Tryfelfontaine where 4,000 year old African artwork can be seen carved in the rocks. The mountains are in a sparsely populated landscape that is unlike any other place I’ve seen. I didn’t know that when I came home a new story would become evident. It took a while to percolate. |
 Twyfelfontaine petroglyph in Namibia, Africa  Herero women in Namibia |
Now that I’m over half way through my book, the story is unfolding like I had envisioned. Because of the way books are published though, I am skipping ahead and illustrating later sections of the book and illustrating the jacket. It’s good to have an organized mind to do this, and that is a challenge for me. I would prefer to start on page 1 and go along page by page. One of the good things about working with a team at the publisher is that I have the input of talented and experienced people. For example, a book designer has many different type faces to choose from, including the display type which help form the character of the book, especially for the jacket. The jacket is often the reason that a person wants to look inside. It’s good if it can capture your attention and then make you curious enough to read it. Good display type helps. |
 The letter “O” from Jan Brett’s Twelve Days of Christmas |
Sometimes the designer will make up their own type face, embellish an existing alphabet or hire a calligrapher to draft the letters. I have always loved illuminated manuscripts of old, where the calligrapher decorates a letter very specifically often using a special code. Sometimes flowers, insects or animals entwined around the letters have obvious or sometimes secret meanings. One of my favorite books as a child was THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. The title was rendered as if it was of beaten gold, and the capitals were set with luminous gemstones. It’s useful to go to museums and study local crafts in order to come up with something eye catching and authentic. Juggling ideas about the display type, and how the printed word will fit into my art, is one of the things I like most about being a children’s book illustrator. Often, if I draw a portrait or a landscape I feel like I should also add a little block of type. I hope you will experiment with creating some different alphabets or the first letter of your first name. Often, one thing leads to another and you’ll be surprised to find that you’ve begun to tell a story. It’s like magic, and I think that is why so many stories start with a curious set of events, like Alice falling down a rabbit hole in ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Good luck with your creative projects. Bye for now, Your friend, Jan Brett |
October 5th Treasure Trove
Posted by Jan Brett in Jan Brett Posts on October 6, 2009
Win a free book!
Today is the start of the Win one of 1,000 Free Books for your School or Library contest.
http://www.janbrett.com/contest_2010/free_book_contest_fall_2009.htm
New this week is a video on my chicks and my artwork
http://www.janbrettvideos.com/video/video_main_page.htm
Here’s another fun video, How to Draw a Chick.
http://www.janbrettvideos.com/how_to_draw_a_chick_high_bandwidth.htm
It’s a pleasure to be in touch.
Sincerely,
Jan Brett
Download a Free Jan Brett How to Draw Video – http://janbrett.com/video/video_main_page.htm
Read all about Jan Brett’s books and get the best bookstore prices –
http://www.janbrett.com/bookstores/hedgies_lets_go_shopping.htm
This message was sent by Jan Brett, Post Office Box 366, Norwell, Ma, 02061
Comments, thanks from Jan Brett