Last week we enjoyed a workshop with our Patron of Reading, Anna Jarvis.
Who is Anna Jarvis?
Anna Jarvis is a graphic designer and illustrator. You can see some of her work [HERE].
What did she speak about?
She spoke about her work and art.
What did you do in the workshop?
We designed and made our own children’s books.
What three things did you enjoy most about the workshop?
o Listening to Anna Jarvis talk about her work for other brands.
o Looking at her posters
One thing that was difficult was when we had to create our own children’s story books because we had to be creative.
My plan:
My final book:
From Anna:
Thank you all so much for welcoming me into your classroom. It was a really rewarding experience and so fab to meet you. I was hugely impressed with the level of engagement and I hope at least one of you carries on making your story.
All the illustrations were fantastic. It's a really hard skill to learn and takes many iterations (for me at least) to get illustrations from the idea stage to finished picture. Getting something onto paper is the first and trickiest step in that process! Below is an original sketch idea next to final illustration of how much one of my first illustrations developed. It's not the best final illustration I've ever done, but it did the job at the time and that's a learning curve too - it only has to be good enough, and the more you do, the better you get.
I was so impressed with the level of commitment from everyone at having a go making up stories...
I particularly loved the naughty cat stealing those diabetic kids' much longed-for apple pie. Our rescue cat, Zeppelin would DEFINITELY do that, especially if the pie had a hint of spice to it.
And Sally the Seal on her scary adventure to the theatre... I hope she experiences lots of things that are outside her comfort zone on her scary quest, and yet still manages to arrive at the theatre in time to buy some fishy-flavoured popcorn before the show starts.
I really want to know what happens to Meep - a small person - in that park with that camera... what could she get photos of?
The zebra was brilliant and hilarious with it's crazy tale! So much energy in those illustrations and I was impressed that story got written soooo quickly! I couldn't do that!
And the Slakipillar? What was that beautifully coloured green slug-caterpillar snakey kinda animal called? Are they a hero or an anti-hero? What's their most beloved condiment? If they were on a desert island with just a record player and one track of their choice for company, what would that song be? And how did they get stuck on that island in the first place?
Thanks for having me!
Anna
