Jo Myers-Walker's Blog

(Click image to visit
Anne Marie’s website)

Anne Marie Kraus and I gave a talk at the Iowa City Senior Center about collaborating on her book When I See Through My Eyes, and I learned to make a PowerPoint presentation for the event! Anne Marie read the story aloud and I showed the PowerPoint sketchbook, demonstrating how I used illustration to develop the characters in her story, and the research that went into it.

The talk went well, there was a book signing, and we had fun and met interesting people. Anne Marie and I both have an interest in storytelling about diversity for children. We think if we can teach tolerance and understanding through our work, we can make a difference.

Some slides from my PowerPoint presentation

Storyboard:  I added figures in
lines to develop the characters

   
Pages from the updated book

As I mentioned in my earlier post, creating the first version of Carol Jo’s Daydreaming Tree made me realize I needed to put more planning into placing the script on each page.

I usually sketch with pencil and then
paint with black watercolor, finding
the values (I even added a little salt).
Painting with one color helps me
find the best composition.

To update the book, I started drawing small black and white sketches, planning where the images and words would go before I started painting. Then I began to revise the story, bringing clarity and new perspectives. It took about a year, while I was working on other illustration projects for other authors. The new version tells the story from a Franciscan perspective about reconciliation.

Students have asked me how to illustrate a story and it is much like what we do as we paint, a story evolves. Some books don’t have scripts, it is all in the illustration. If you bring in a character in your story we can illustrate it from several points of view.

The opening of IN Tandem Arts & Authors was exciting for me because of its combination of the written and visual arts. (Update March 15, 2025:  IN Tandem has now closed. Thank you to everyone who stopped by, and to IN Tandem for the opportunity!) I enjoyed a workshop taught there by Mary Helen Stefaniak of Iowa City, author of The Six-Minute Memoir:  Fifty-Five Short Essays on Life. She pointed out that if you write or paint, you are not sleepwalking through your life; you are recording in detail those moments you want to remember. I keep a sketchbook with me to sketch those moments, now maybe I’ll use more words!

Also:  Other books I’ve illustrated!

• Rufus Rutabaga Flicktail Finds His House, written by Mary Pepper
• When I See Through My Eyes, written by Anne Marie Kraus

(Contact me at jomyerswalker@gmail.com if you’re interested in any of the books.)

Illustration trio

Update:  Thank you to everyone who stopped by!

I’ll have these books I illustrated at the Eastside Artists Show and Sale this weekend, December 1 –3, along with my other artwork.

On the left is an updated version of Carol Jo’s Daydreaming Tree, which I wrote and illustrated. The first version I made just a few copies to show other writers and one publisher. I was excited about the watercolors and not thinking so much about where to put the script when it was added. That is when I knew I needed to learn the craft and plan where to put the script ahead of time. More about this process in a future post!

In the middle is Rufus Rutabaga Flicktail Finds His House, written by Mary Pepper, and on the right is When I See Through My Eyes, written by Anne Marie Kraus. Stop by the Show and Sale to see the books, and all of the creations from the members and guest artists of the Eastside Artists!

See also (later blog post):

• A process of revision