Val Lawton
| Phone
Number (Work) |
403-287-0370 |
| Email
Address |
val@vallawton.com |
| Web
Address |
http://www.ValLawton.creativesource.ca |
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Other
Information |
| Artist
Type |
Illustrator |
| Target
Grades |
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Adult
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| Maximum
Audience Size |
50 |
| Presentations
Per Day |
2 |
| Half
Day Rate |
$300 |
| Presentation Requirements |
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| Subjects |
Visual Arts, Language Arts |
| Touring
With Taleblazers |
Yes
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 Biography |
Val was originally trained as a librarian and worked in various libraries in Vancouver and Calgary, before deciding to take up illustrating instead.
Her greatest influences come from English children's illustrators such as Edward Ardizzone, Quentin Blake and Ernest Shepard, the artists whose crazy and free-wheeling pen, ink and watercolour sensibilities leave much up to a reader's imagination.
Val also creates art for corporate and private clients, as well as working in Calgary schools as an artist-educator with the Royal Conservatory of Canada's Learning Through the Arts program (www.ltta.ca)
She resides in Calgary with a husband, two kids and a beagle.
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| Bibliography |
Illustrator of
Emily’s Magical Journey with Toothena the Tooth Fairy, Strategix Ltd., 2007
Mr. Bert's Story Time, Scholastic Canada, 2006
A Blanket Full of Love, Starrytime.com Keepsakes, 2006
Living with Stress (Elizabeth Fry series, 1 of 4), Grassroots Press, 2005
Stroke of Luck...not!, Detselig Press, 2005
Summer Fun, Harcourt Canada, 2004
Reading and Learning: a Handbook for Adults, Grassroots Press, 2003
Author of:
New York: The Empire State (a guide to American States series), Weigl, 2001
West Virginia: The Mountain State (a guide to American States series), Weigl, 2001 Space (FinditQuick series), Golden Books, 2000
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| Presentations |
Val prefers that her presentations involve the kids, and asks them to create art alongside her.
In a one-hour presentation, the artist discusses the illustration process from start to finish, using examples from her own books. Special emphasis is placed on the crucial aspect of creating characters and maintaining their consistency throughout the book. Students will have the opportunity to create a unique character of their own alongside the artist.
Longer Presentations
For older kids (Div 2 ): Book dummy creation: (draft mock-ups of images and text); recommended 3-4 hours ; $400 fee.
An integral part in the book illustration process, this workshop highlights the collaborative nature of text and images, and the concepts of layout, design, fine-tuning of text, consistency of character, and story flow and pacing.
Students are asked to create a 6-page dummy based either on a story from their language arts class (pre-arranged with teacher), or the illustrator will provide stories or fables.
For younger kids (Div 1): Cartooning; recommended 2 hours ; $200 fee.
Discussion of sequential art, the illustrator touches on the history of cartooning with plenty of recognizable examples, then cover the various devices used in the modern-day art form (speech bubbles, panels, etc.). Children are provided with individual short stories, and asked to create a 3-panelled cartoon.
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