Euge!

If I ever did a strict accounting of what I read, the greater percentage of my reading life would probably be focused on children’s books—both times squirreled away with a favorite children’s picture book and time spent doing read-alouds of great children’s literature with my kids.

The other portion of my reading is spent almost entirely reading about various periods of history. I’m one of those people who spends inordinate amounts of time thinking about the past. Not just key dates, seminal events, or historical figures. But I like to ponder what it may have been like for ordinary people in, say, Tudor England, in the break-away American colonies, on Grecian war ships sailing for Troy.

Given this love for history, one area of children’s illustration that I hope to be engaged in are books on historical subjects or figures for young children. Books that make history come alive and serve as a springboard for life-long curiosity about the past. Books like the ones Jean Fritz wrote, or current works by Cheryl Harness or Diane Stanley.

So when I needed to prepare a piece of art for the SCBWI conference in New York City this past weekend, I looked to the Roman past for inspiration. Oliver and I are reading together the 12th book in Caroline Lawrence’s excellent “Roman Mysteries” series, and so roman life from a child’s point of view has been my recent preoccupation.

Although I did end up strapping a frame on this image (as seen above) for the conference’s art show, I consider this an unfinished work. There is more to be done in the area of light and shadow and adding back in some looser pencil work.

The post heading “Euge!” is “Hurray” in latin (and a frequent phrase of Flavia Gemina, one of the mystery solvers in the “Roman Mysteries”). This post serves also as my “Euge!” for the excellent SCBWI conference as well. The speakers and break-out sessions were all great—very informative and inspirational.