Illustrator David Catrow @ The Allen Public Library

Описание: December 10, 2011
Award-winning children's illustrator David Catrow has illustrated more than 70 books for kids, including Don't Take Your Snake for a Stroll by Karin Ireland, Where Did They Hide My Presents? by Alan Katz, and Kathryn Lasky's She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head!, which was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year. Recently, David is excited about his easy reader series entitled Max Daniel, published by Scholastic.

A former cartoonist for the Springfield News-Sun and Copley News service, Catrow's works were syndicated in over 900 newspapers including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Sun-Times.

In addition, Catrow created the visual development for 20th Century Fox's "Horton Hears a Who" (2008). "As a five-year-old, I read Dr. Seuss', which became a seminal moment in my life because of the intense emotional feelings of joy it evoked and have lived inside me since that experience," this illustrator recalls. "In 2005, film directors Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino asked me to help develop the look of a film based on Seuss' beloved book of the same name and I quite literally jumped at the offer. In a little over a year I cranked out so many drawings, that if you tied them together in a bundle and dropped them on your foot you'd break a few toes. It was an ethereal and delightful experience because it afforded me the opportunity to revisit those feelings I first experienced reading Cat in the Hat. I also became sensitive to how my art might influence a generation like Dr. Seuss affected me."

He advises aspiring authors and illustrators to "observe life and develop the narrative voice within and capture it on paper. Ideas for my illustrations are sometimes obtained when I am walking my dogs, riding my bicycle, and sometimes my dreams help assemble my ideas." Catrow also emphasizes, "Students should focus less on income potential and examine their soul to determine what brings them joy."

Catrow's eccentric characters admittedly have an edge and are to a certain extent autobiographical; "growing up for me was more like The Addams Family than Walton's mountain". That's not to say there weren't the occasional moments of happiness for me growing up but what I remember most was when reality would rear it's ugly head; and I just happened to be the kind of kid that would invite him in to hang out for a while. I guess my art is a hybrid of all that real life stuff and it's what keeps me going; it sure beats spending thousands of dollars on intense psychoanalysis."

When asked how he hopes his Allen Public Library program will benefit the audience, he responds, "I want the audience to understand the process of creating and how it is practiced, it isn't magic but it isn't an exact science either. I'm just a guy who at this juncture in my life doesn't know how to do anything but create- I can feed myself and tie my shoes but that's about it. I was born to be an artist."

Sponsored by Storyopolis Entertainment and Bach to Books.

For information, call 214-509-4911.