Tomorrow evening I'll be at the Mora middle school, doodling with folks and talking about my experiences with the "I" of the "SWIM" acronym, and teasing the kids about traumatizing me for requesting tutorials on how to draw dragon-unicorns fighting a pirate-minotaur on a tightrope.
The whole event is the brainchild of my elementary school art teacher, who is still just as excited about art today as she was 20 years ago.
Back in February I came to give a presentation to the fourth, fifth and sixth grade Challenge students (in my day we called in 'enrichment'. They're the smart kids who need more advanced projects.) about illustrating books. My presentation wound up not filling up the time allotted, so I drew them whatever they requested for that part. It was a resounding success. For the past two months I've had kids approaching me on the street and in the grocery store, "Hey, you drew a guinea pig riding a rainbow! I asked for that!"
Later in the week I spent a day doing one-on-one advice and troubleshooting time, wherein each kid told me about their story, how they planned to illustrate it, and what they needed help on. It was exhausting and hilarious; these kids are great storytellers, and I can't wait to see their final books.
**Update**
It was awesome, and here's a picture!
