Ken W. Min ~ Illustrator

of book fairs and Q&As

over the weekend i went out to the LA times 'festival of books'. it's an annual book fair, which this year was held on the campus of USC. (go trojans! fight on!) it's a great show of author panels and tents full of book sellers. while wandering the many booths, i came across this little book in one of their bins.

yeah, baby! tuck in there next to madeline and some other books in japanese was hot, hot roti for dada-ji. dude, i was not expecting that. a nice surprise, indeed.

i also came across a booth selling t-shirts like this one.

if you know your classics, that shirt represents the great gatsby, my favorite book by my favorite author. the shirt is styled after a baseball jersey and when i saw it, i had to pick one up. 

the 'festival of books' is always a fun way to spend the afternoon- browsing through book stalls, meeting and listening to authors and this year, getting some free ben & jerry's ice cream.

perfect.

before i sign off, i thought i'd mention a couple of blog where i participated in some Q&A action. the first comes from the lee & low publisher site called 'book talk'. the author of hot, hot roti for dada-ji- f. zia and i- talk about our experiences working on the book and other interesting matters. read it here at this link.

i also did a little interview with my good friend, paula yoo (writer of good enough and shining star: the anna may wong story), who this week is putting on her annual NaPiBoWriWee (national picture book writing week) in conjunction with this event and our Q&A, we're also giving away a signed copy of hot, hot roti for dada-ji. so read our talk and leave a comment. you could win that book! :)

read it here.

 

Another Guest Post/Blog

yakkity-yak. i didn't realize this 'ken min' guy was so talkative. if you ask his friends, when in company, he's rather quiet and docile. now, here he is with another post/blog talking about that 1 book that inspired him to reach for a career in illustrating. 

if you want to know what that 1 book is, head on over to the site 'teach mama' via this link.

also, you can win a copy of my book, Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji signed by me and the author. (shoot, even i don't have a signed copy from the author. so you'll be one up on me!)

and thanks to amy, of the teach mama website for letting me ramble on about one of my favorite books. :)

Who is this Odd Person in Burbank, CA?

who is a bit of a hermit? who thinks 'salty snacks' is one of the major food groups? who can't seem to throw out his VCR? who thinks "calvin & hobbes" is the coolest thing since sliced cheese, and who has an inordinate number of books in his home library? (well, after lisa yee that is :)

recently i took part in an interview series/blog from jennifer bertman who likes to take a peek into the "creative spaces" of various authors and illustrators. i was flattered to be asked to participate cause i'm really kind of a boring guy...who works in a room...by himself...for hours on end. so an opportunity to open up and interact with someone (albeit across the interweb) was kind of a fun.

so if you want to take a look and see some of what makes me tick, read the post here.

i hope i didn't overshare or reveal too much of myself; like any sort of dark secrets. at least i didn't mention my penguin fetish...oops.

The Postman always rings...

went to the mail box today, minding my own business and i see there is key in the box. what this means is that there is a package in a separate utility box for oversized parcels. i had no idea what it could be because i wasn't expecting anything in the mail. well this is what i found inside.

an early, advance copy of the picture book i worked on last year. all bound with a shiny cover to boot. if i wasn't so stoic, i would say there was maybe a tear of joy in my eye or perhaps a smirk of happiness and contentment, but i'm pretty stoic so you'll just have to read between the lines. :)

it's certainly a handsome book to look at and made me quite proud to have this as my first, official picture book.

i hope you will look for it come May 2011.

My picture book is listed on amazon

was monkeying around over the weekend and thought i'd type the name of the PB i worked on into amazon.com and low and behold, it was listed. granted, without a cover image (which i've provided here without text. :) apparently the book retails for $17.95 and you can pre-order it. and i have an ISBN number. that makes it official. cool!

i found it amusing to click on my name under the heading which takes you to a list of other titles by "ken min". the first title that came up for me was "empowering asian mindsets through coaching", then my title and third was "the national collegiate judo handbook". i find that third one funny because i know, by 'googling' my name, that there is a tae kwon do master who teaches at berekley by the name of 'ken min'. yes, i'm not the first 'ken min' (shock and surprise!) and if you type in kenmin.com, it takes you to a chinese restaurant in japan. (btw- no, i'm not heir to the food dynasty and no, i can't get you a free meal, so don't ask)

speaking of the berkeley 'ken min', i've always wanted to meet him and i probably missed my opportunity because i had numerous friends who went to cal back in the 90's. i guess i snoozed and losed, uh, lost.

he's also the reason i use my middle initial 'W', to differentiate us and so no one comes up to me and asked me to "bust a move" karate-wise.

see the amazon listing here: Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-Ji

look for it may 2011.

The Day is Done (UPDATED)

yesterday illustrator's day (see previous post), an event i helped coordinate, came...and went.

it turned out to be a lot of fun and i was really happy with how everything played out. and if you know me, i'm my own harshest critic, so there's always something to bug me, even if it's some small detail that no one else would really pick up, but i can't say there was anything glaring yesterday...well, o.k. i wince every time i think about how i too quickly turned off the lights in the auditorium on brian floca's slide presentation. should have done it one light switch at a time, drop the lights gradually. sorry brian.

so i hope that everyone who attended came away with some good info, a touch of inspiration and a smile.

i also want to thank my tag team partner, milla, for co-conceiving the day with me and to my "volunteer army" for all their best efforts behind the scenes.

tho, i think the best part for me was getting to meet and know such bright, creative folks in the children's publishing world. my hat's off to brian floca, jen rofé, rich deas, abigail samoun and the irascible dan santat.

maybe we can all do it again sometime.

 

(* UPDATE- we've got pictures! if you would like to see some of the pictures from the day, you can visit the flickr site of friend rita who shot the pictures at this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhcrayon/sets/72157625453108190/

 

 

826LA Charity Art Auction ~ WK 2

the 826LA charity art auction rolls on into week 2 and my piece goes up on the auction block. you know you want to support a good cause and pick it up. look at it, it's got a toad and a robot duking it out across a city skyline. it's got action. it's got adventure.

it's got romance. look in the window of the building on the left and go down the hall where you'll find a 70 year old man stuck in an elevator with a 68 year old woman. at this moment, they realize they were neighbors as kids until one moved away. but they never forgot one another and now, in a moment of serendipity, they meet for the first time in 61 years. buy this piece for their love story.

or look around at all the art that is up for sale. there's lots of good stuff here. check out that piece by bob boyle. it may be my favorite one here. or look at the works of erin kono or catia chien or scott magoon. lots of good stuff, people, from lots of talented folks.

so run, don't walk, to the ebay link here and support 826LA:

http://shop.ebay.com/dsantat75/m.html?_nkw&_armrs=1&_from&_ipg&_trksid=p3686

for more info about 826LA  and the auction website see here:

http://theeyewitnessreports.com/EYEWITNESS_REPORTS/JUNE_1,_2010.html

The Bet that Paid Off! (UPDATED)

finished up the SCBWI summer conference over the weekend and i definitely had a blast. lots of good speakers. lots of great workshops and to me, the best thing of all, was hanging with a lot of wonderful people.

but the one thing i wanted to specifically follow up on was the bet i made with one tammi sauer. ms. sauer hails from oklahoma and i, of course, live in LA so we made a friendly basketball sports wager on the outcome of the LA lakers/OKC thunder match up. if the lakers lost, i would pony up original art. if the thunder lost, i get an advanced, signed copy of tammi's new book. but best of all, loser has to wear a t-shirt of the winning ball club during one day at the SCBWI summer children's book conference.

guess who won?

yup, tammi is sporting the purple and gold of the NBA champion lakers.

and here's my booty from the bet.

 

with it's rather curious dedication

tammi was an incredibly good sport and to show you all that i'm not the cad you might think i am for making possibly one-sided bets, i presented her with some art based on her most recent book "chicken dance" (illustrated by my buddy dan santat)

so, please, a round of applause for tammi sauer and go out there and read her books. they are terrific.

visit tammi's website at:

http://www.tammisauer.com/Home_Page.html

'mostly monsterly' comes out august 31st in fine book stores near you. get a copy!

(UPDATED) i would be remiss if i didn't mention the very cool, sweet swag that tammi brought out for me from OKC. i have to imagine i'm the only person in LA driving around with this particular car flag.

 

on another note, i noticed there was this rather curious mustachio'd gentleman wandering about the conference flirting with all the ladies. i think his name is something like enrique suave (accent on the 'e') and apparently he is something of a lothario at large. beware ladies, beware!

(and one rather disgruntled dan santat who was not amused. OH NO, not at all)

It's Summer Conference Time Again...

it's the middle of summer which means it's time for the SCBWI national conference. the conference takes place july 30th - august 2nd at the hyatt here in century city, ca. i always enjoy getting together with old friends and making new ones while rubbing elbows with...well, whoever will rub elbows with me.

they always have a nice roster of talent speaking and discussing the business of children's literature, but here's my list of things that i'm looking forward to this year:

-that "first day of school" feeling the morning the conference begins. i still get a touch of the butterflies in my stomach. but it's always nice to see how people are doing and what's new with everyone.

-wondering what the ratio of writers to illustrators will be this year, cause you know, we illustrators are the 'black sheep' of the group. *baaaaa*

-hazing the obvious newbies who are here for their first conference. like giving them the wrong directions, making them carry my pack, letting them push pennies across the lobby of the hotel with their nose and having them wear their clothes inside out and backwards for the first day of the conference. be forewarned 'scrubs', find a good place to hide!

-wondering what take-out food author lisa yee will forget about and leave under the seat of her car to fester and 'mutate' and ripen by the time of the conference; like an unwanted science experiment. last year she had a bevy of little creatures come alive to sprout, amuse and entertain her. that is until she took her vehicle to get it cleaned out. this year, i'm guessing the food of choice will be a nice half eaten burrito. and could you please leave your car parked out on the street under the hot sun to ensure maximum results?

-seeing writer tammi sauer model the latest in l.a. laker fashion wear. ms. sauer and i made a little sports wager back when my lakers were playing the oklahoma city thunder in a basketball playoff series. loser has to wear a shirt with the logo of the winning team. gee, i wonder who lost that fight? now it's just a matter of which day is best for her to wear that stunning, sparkly, shiny shirt i picked out for her...

-drinks in the lobby. if you know what i mean, just touch the side of your nose and nod your head once.

-the sugary snack we get on monday afternoon. some years it's ice cream. sometimes it's cookies. and some days it's cupcakes. at heart, we're all little kids looking for a treat at the end of a fun, busy and informative conference.

looking forward to a good time.

and i plan to be sporting a moustache!

Hot, Hot Roti ~ Rolling along...

as i mentioned in the last post- when was that? 2 months ago? oops...i've been working on a picture book. i'm having a pretty good time with it and i did get permission to post pictures, so i'll roll out what i can as i go.

thought it would be interesting to see the process of a particular layout. it's genesis to completion.

here's my initial "thumbnail" rough draft first impression for the spread. aneel, the main character, is meditating in a headstand with incense smoke wafting in the air. he is recalling stories told to him by his grandparents of their early life in india which is hinted at in elements in the smoke. i went with a close up here knowing that in the next spread i would show the grandfather in a headstand later. by going close up here, i could see his sweet expression and also focus in on the swaying palm trees and rice fields represented in the incense smoke. the black boxes were my first impression of where the text would be placed.

here i did a more refined rough that eventually went to the art director and editor to view as part of my initial package of layouts for their perusal. i wanted to refine some proportions as well as include some details only hinted at in my personal thumbnails.

the art director and editor came back to me wanting to actually see aneel in his headstand which i understood. so to do so, i needed to open up the composition to show his full height which meant showing more of the room. i submitted this layout to them, but i knew in my head that i was not quite satisfied with this spread...

...so i came back to them with this. different perspective. dutch angle. (an angle that is slightly tilted from a straight horizon) this composition, to me, had more life to it. it also showed aneel larger in frame and we see more of the village scene in the incense smoke. at this point, i was starting to clarify my character design and putting him in different positions. i was feeling things were coming together now.

but there were still a few more tweaks. knowing that the grandparents play a part in the initial storytelling, they suggested having the grandparents in the scene. my thought was that the image might get crowded and the grandparents show up on the next page, so we went with family portraits up on the wall. we have one of the family unit and another of the grandparents. the subtle suggestion is that the grandparents weren't there initially, but came to live with them later on. 

final image. (almost) the last suggestion was to try and highlight the grandparents so i made the frame around them in a darker shade. with more contrast so that it would pop more than the other family portrait. there was some last minute debate on whether the grandparents would be living among rice fields or sugar cane fields. this was dependent on which part of the country they were to be set. as of this post, it was undecided, so the village scene in the incense smoke has not been drawn in.

as of this writing, i'm getting close to finishing. which is why the lack of posts. i'll try better if i can lift my head up and away from my drawing board long enough and hope to have more images scanned soon. (a wink and a nod to my friend who offered to help me with that :)

"Hot, Hot Roti" from Lee & Low Books