Explaining the different steps in the process of illustrating a book...
Different books, different styles...
Her colorful, well-loved paint palette made an impression!
Students showing their self-portraits: everyone is an artist!
More images in the gallery
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Introduced by PaperTigers, children's book illustrator, and now also author, Maya Gonzalez visited the 4th grade class at Stuart Hall for Boys, in San Francisco, to talk to the students about her work.
Wearing a big smile, colorful jelwery and a paint-splashed smock, she impressed and inspired the kids with her lively presentation. She started by telling them the story of how she got to do what she does now: she grew up in the Mojave desert of Southern California loving to write and to make art, and later on moved to San Francisco to pursue a career as an artist. One day, while displaying some of her art, she met someone from a publishing company who encouraged her to try illustrating children's books – which she has been doing ever since. She's illustrated over 20 books to date!
Maya brought many of her books to show the different types of illustrations she has done. She explained how drawings become book illustrations by showing examples of the different steps in the process.
Maya talked about the different mediums she uses to create her illustrations – paints, pastels, tracing, collage. When she talked about tracing, she asked the boys if they thought that was cheating. Many said yes, so she told them "You can’t cheat in art" and took the opportunity to share her three golden rules:
- Everyone is an artist.
- Art is always an act of courage.
- There's never a right or wrong way to make art.
Maya also brought in one of her sketch pads, to show the kids how she's constantly drawing and doodling, as well as her beautiful paint palette, displaying layer upon layer of colors. She passed it around the room for everyone to see and touch, and the kids loved it!
She answered a number of questions – the students were very curious to know about her favorite artists, pieces of art, etc – and, to end her presentation, she directed the boys in a "paper and pencil" art project, where they had to draw self-portraits in their journals. "But before you start", she said, "touch your face to feel how you think it should be drawn." And at that moment, everyone in the room was indeed an artist!
Read the students' feedback about Maya's presentation and Maya's words about them:
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More on PaperTigers:
Maya's gallery
More on the web:
Please visit her website
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