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Open Right

Andrew Joyner: Find your inner elephant

Session Info:

Centred on the picture book Too Many Elephants in this House (written by Ursula Dubosarsky), this fun and interactive session shows students how picture books and their characters are developed – from the first lines of text and the rough drawings, storyboards and samples, through to the final 32 pages of words and pictures.

There are fun and energetic readings, insights into how I work with authors such as Ursula to create a book, and demonstrations of how having fun can actually be an artistic technique. There are several drawing demonstrations, including one in which a student gets to model for an elephant drawing.

I also talk about some of my other children’s books, especially those featuring animal characters (such as The Terrible Plop and Tim and Ed by Ursula Dubosarsky, The Swap by Jan Ormerod, and my own Boris series)

Topics covered:

  • From text to picture book
  • Imagining and creating characters
  • Developing characters – their body language, expression, personality – by using yourself or a classmate as a model.
  • Drawing a story.