When I was studying art in college, my painting teachers were altogether suspicious of illustration. They did not consider it true art, and they believed that Walt Disney was a charlatan. But things have radically changed since then. That was fifty years ago. Forty years ago, when I was teaching art in a plush private…
Category: Jacki Kellum Picture Books
How to Draw Mr. Moon with the Procreate App on Ipad Pro with Apple Pencil
Mr. Moon – Jacki Kellum Digital Drawing Created on Ipad Pro with the App Procreate I drew the outline of the moon and star on a layer. Then, I created a new layer beneath that layer, and On that layer, I created the sky background. How to Create A Sky Background in Procreate I used…
How I Painted a Tree on My Ipad Pro with the App Procreate and Apple Pencil – Using the Bardot Brush Set Gouache Paintbox
A few years ago, I painted an illustration of a ladybug in watercolor–the traditional way. Ladybug Lou Hollers Yoo-Hoo! – Jacki Kellum Watercolor Illustration When I studied art in college, there was no such thing as an Ipad or a painting app like Procreate. Years later, I have decided to pursue getting some of my…
The Rooster, Who We Have Always Counted Upon to Wake Up the Sun, as Symbol
Last night, I was watching an old movie, and Robert de Niro, as one of the stars, held an egg in his hand and said: “You know, some religions think that the egg is the symbol of the soul, did you know that?” – Angel Heart I immediately thought about a picture book that I admire, First the…
Miss Maple’s Seeds Are Being Born in My New Front Front Yard
Tomorrow, I’ll begin moving to my new, 125-year-old house in the Ozark Mountains. Yesterday, I was wandering around in my new front yard, and I paused for a moment beside the huge, old tree, where the daffodils are blooming, I knelt low, and I couldn’t help but notice that my big, old tree has a…
Learning to Paint and to Write by Intuition
When I am painting and when I am writing, I consider it a great day when something within myself takes over and essentially completes my project for me. This gentle urging is intuition. It is the spark that helped Michelangelo release his sculptures from a piece of rock, and it is my writer’s voice and…
How to Make A Picture in Photoshop with the Custom Tools – Kids Do Photoshop Lesson 2
Before I show you how to create a new picture with photoshop, I’d like to tell you something about myself .My name is Jacki Kellum, and I write and illustrate picture books. I am excited that one of my picture books will be published soon. Before now, I have used watercolor paint to create my…
Celebrating the Cow that Jumped Over the Moon – How A Children’s Poem Influenced My Adult Art
No doubt, the cow that jumped over the moon has inspired many poets, artists, and illustrators. I cannot begin to name the ways that The Cow Jumped Over the Moon has contributed to the artist and the writer that I still strive to become, and I want to challenge everyone to consider how very marvelous…
The Value of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators – SCBWI Conferences
If you are serious about wanting to write and/or illustrate children’s books, you absolutely must join SCBWI or the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. The SCBWI is an enormous and well-built organization that serves writing communities around the world, but unlike many huge organizations, it also has well-structured regional organizations that offer teaching…
While Visions of Sugarplums Dance in My Head – A Few Words about the Process of Getting A Picture Book Published
A miraculous thing happened. One of the big 4 publishers will be publishing my debut picture book soon–well, not really so soon, but that is what this post is about. Actually, the deal is still a bit of a mystery, but I am happy to say that I won’t be illustrating my first book. That…