A nice turnout for this year’s class

I always look forward to being part of the Art Iowa Workshops, and this year’s was a huge success. The workshops provide continuing education for educators in cooperation with Grant Wood AEA. My class this year had an emphasis on writing and illustrating children’s books.

Writing and illustrating are rather similar. There is a protagonist or main character and center of interest, a little drama, humor, and a moral, always with a happy ending. We looked at the character from several points of view and maybe “became” the character for authenticity.

I really enjoyed helping class members develop their storyboard illustrations. They started out by doodling and then the ideas began to surface. Some of the teachers took their storyboards back to their classrooms to have their students help with the ending.

A pop-up book and watercolor pages created by educators
attending the workshop. Students were encouraged
to use their medium of choice for their illustrations.