Doris Ettlinger delighted an intimate crowd at the Hunterdon County Library on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008. While we made some additional preparation for our guests, Doris sketched on the whiteboard, saying it always calmed her before speaking publicly.Doris' informative talk certainly belied any pre-visit jitters as she presented a well-prepared slide-show which covered her background as an artist, her current books as well as her thoughts and feelings about them. We learned about Doris' various techniques that she has developed along the way to bring to life the rich characters she has created in her illustrations. Whether drawing children or famous people like Abe Lincoln or a cat that came over with the Pilgrims, Doris brings a lovely, luminous quality to her work through watercolor and colored pencil.
She chatted about her favorite books, and some of the personal touches, (such as the occasional appearance of her dog, Bruce Wayne), that appear in her books. She also discussed the entire illustration procedure from first receiving an offer to do a book through receipt of the manuscript through the actual illustrating process. Doris also gave some great tips on how she illustrates using aerial views, two page spreads and collecting small animal figurines to help her with perspective on animals.
Many of these were readily noticeable in the collection of books Doris had brought for sale. After a question and answer period, Doris signed books and chatted with us.
A big thanks to Doris for being the guest of HCCWIG and sharing her experiences in the illustration of children's books.
On hand to welcome Doris Ettlinger and guests were three of HCCWIG's facilitators, from left to right, Jeanne Balsam, Leeza Hernandez and Cathleen Daniels.
2 comments:
Sorry I couldn't make it! Sounds like it was a great event. Thanks for the update. - Kim Blanda
Oh I am so sorry I couldn't attend. It sounded very inspiring. Thank you so much, Jeanne and Cathy, for organizing this event!
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