On Wednesday April 10 the children of Memorial Elementary School had a very special visitor, author/illustrator Brian Lies.
Brian captured the children’s attention within the first few minutes of his presentation. Most of the children are familiar with his “bats books” filled with fun stories and beautiful images. He began by telling the children he was not a very good artist when he was a second grader. The children gasped, they couldn’t believe it. He promised to show them his second grade artwork later on during the presentation.
He then went on to read “Bats at the Beach” a whimsical story of an evening at the beach with a bunch of bats, the main character is the smallest bat at the beach and sometimes it isn’t fun being the smallest bat. Brian told the children he was the youngest of all his siblings and cousins and being the youngest wasn’t always that much fun. He asked the children if sometimes they felt that way. A hand went up, Brian called on the second grader. “My sister thinks it was better before I could talk.” All the adults smiled at the comment.
Brian explained the images in the books come from paintings and sometimes it takes many attempts before he gets it right. He asked the children “What does practice make?” The children yelled back “PERFECT!” Brian said, “No, practice makes better, the more you practice the better you get.”
This is when he talked about how he never thought he was good enough to be an artist. It was until after he graduated college he decided, I am an artist and went on to study art. The message was not to sell yourself short, if you love to do something keep at it and get better.
Brian explained how important it is to always “add more details.” Saying, “How boring does this sound; I ate cheese. That sounds pretty boring.” The children laughed. “If I were to say there on the table in a glass covered bowl was a great smelling cheese, I sliced a piece and placed it in my mouth. That would be more exciting.” The children yelled back, “yes.”
He continued his presentation by explaining the ins and outs of being and author and illustrator in a way the children understood and showed several of his drawings in various stages. Brian gave a fun an educational presentation.
The Memorial PTO sponsored Brian Lies presentation.
Click on one image to view larger and start slide show.
UPTON DAILY 