Art Saves Gallery

All of the Art Saves contributions have been added to the July 2009 issue of readergirlz.

For additional text and commentary, please check out the individual Art Saves posts at the readergirlz blog or here at Bildungsroman.

Many thanks to all of the participants!

Art Saves: Cecil Castellucci

There's no better way to wrap up our Art Saves project for July than with a contribution from that month's featured author, Cecil Castellucci. She says:

I like it when I see street art on my walks. It makes my heart sing.

These are two things that I saw on my journey recently.


Click the thumbnail to see the full-sized image.

Art Saves: Little Willow

Now it's my turn...


Click the thumbnail to see the full-sized image.

I am an actress, a singer, and a dancer.
I am a writer, a director, and a playwright.
I am a passionate supporter of the performing arts.

I chose to spell out "Art Saves" using pictures from some of my performances. :)

- Little Willow

Art Saves: Melissa Walker

Melissa Walker, readergirlz diva, snapped these pictures of chalk drawings made by kids in Brooklyn:


Click the thumbnail to see the full-sized image.

Art Saves: MaryAnn

My aunt is a fantastic artist, and I'm so happy that she submitted this original piece:


Click the thumbnail to see the full-sized image.

Thank You, Cecil Castellucci!

Here's a big merci to the awesome Cecil Castellucci for joining us at readergirlz this month! The Plain Janes is a wonder of a book, and we've loved all the art it's inspired.

Having Cecil, and illustrator Jim Rugg, here this month has been way awesome. Thank you, C and J, for spending time with readergirlz!

July: Roundup of Discussion Questions

Just in case you missed any of the discussion surrounding The Plain Janes or Janes in Love, here's the complete list. Feel free to weigh in on any topic you might have missed!

Welcome, Cecil Castellucci!
Are you a misfit?
What has changed your world?
What is your favorite kind of street art?
Rejecting the cool kids
Art or vandalism?
Friends who are different
rgz LIVE! with Cecil and Jim
Which Jane are you?
What's your passion?
How do you extend a hand?

Art Saves: Shelf Elf

Shelf Elf, one of our postergirlz, sent in these beautiful photographs:


Click the thumbnail to view the full-sized image.

Art Saves, every day, in a million different ways. Download the template, decorate it with your photographs or artwork, and post a comment below with a scan or a picture of your creation!

Art Saves: Beth Kephart

Beth Kephart sent in this photograph, along with the special story behind it:


Click the image to see the full size.

Want to help save the world with your art and your words? Know that you can. YOU CAN.

Learn more about Art Saves and The Plain Janes in this month's issue of readergirlz!

July: What's Your Passion?

Cecil says, "All the Janes have a specific passion for something: art, theater, science, sports. Do you have a passion for something? What is it?"

Art Saves: Piper

You're never too young to create and appreciate art! Piper's proud mama sent this in:


Click the picture above to see Piper's full-sized art.

If you're a kid or a teen and you have younger siblings or baby-sitting clients, or if you're an adult and you have children or work with kids, you should download the Art Saves template, print out copies (use recycled paper or scratch paper), and encourage the kids to sketch, paste, or stamp something on their sheets. Let them have fun with this project - and feel free to post links to pictures of their completed artwork in the comments below!

Art Saves: Ellen

Here's a contribution sent in by Ellen:


Click the thumbnail above to see Ellen's artwork in real size.

Why and how do you think Art Saves? Download the Art Saves template from this month's issue of readergirlz and decorate it to your heart's content!

Art Saves: Lorie Ann Grover

Lorie Ann Grover created this beautiful image for Art Saves!


Click the image to see the full size.

Download the Art Saves template, decorate it, and post it in the comments below.
Learn more about Art Saves and The Plain Janes in this month's issue of readergirlz!

Art Saves: Siobhan Vivian

Today's Art Saves contribution and guest blog comes from Siobhan Vivian, author of Same Difference, one of this month's recommended reads.


Click image above to view full size in a new window.

For my book, Same Difference, I researched a ton of artists. I knew I wanted to include some of the more famous ones by name, but I was also hoping to be inspired with ideas for how my characters could both experience and make art.

It was during that research when I first became aware of Andy Goldsworthy, who then became a huge influence on my book. There's a really cool documentary on his work called his work called RIVERS AND TIDES. If you are AT ALL interested in art, watch it. You will be captivated!

The best way I can explain Andy Goldsworthy's work is to call him a Nature Graffiti Artist. He painstakingly collects found objects and uses them to make sculptures in their natural surroundings. I'm talking rocks, flowers, twigs, leaves, icicles. Crazy.

And here's the absolute coolest thing -- many of his pieces are temporary. He gives his work back over to nature, to the environment, like a sacrifice. The flowers die, the sticks break, the leaves blow away. And then, it's over. This gives his work a real immediacy, a specialness. If you see it, great. If you miss it...too bad. It's gone. I was really amazed by that kind of artistic process. To invest the time and care it takes to create something and then to not know low long you have with it before it disappears.

It's kind of a nice way to live life. You make something beautiful and accept that it might not be appreciated, it might not last. But that's not what matters. What matters is that you keep making beautiful things.

- Siobhan Vivian

Visit Siobhan's website and journal.
Read Little Willow's interview with Siobhan.

Chat with Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg TONIGHT!

Come back here to the the readergirlz blog TONIGHT, Wednesday, July 22nd at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST for a live chat with author Cecil Castellucci and illustrator Jim Rugg!

See you at the chat tonight!

Art Saves: Realm Lovejoy

This contribution and guest blog comes from Realm Lovejoy, author of the forthcoming illustrated novel Clan. She created this Art Saves piece for a very special reason - and then received some news about a loved one. The rest of this post is in her own words.


Click here for larger view.

This Art Saves piece was inspired by the news story about Colby Curtin, whose dying wish was to see the movie UP by Pixar before she passed away. It's an example of how much artistic creations can mean to us. During hard times, sometimes we just hold onto the simple and happy things in life.

Shortly after I started this painting, I received news that my grandmother has cancer and may only have a few months left to live. It would mean a lot to me if I could dedicate this painting towards collecting what she loves most.

I am offering to send a signed print of this piece. Instead of paying me for the print plus shipping, all you have to do to get a print is to buy a ten stem bouquet or a Pinky Tree on-line and have it sent to my grandmother. (She misses gardening very much.) One can never have too many flowers!

If you are interested or have questions, just give me an email at rtlovejoy (at) yahoo (dot) com

I'll accept requests up until August 10th of this year. Thank you!

- Realm Lovejoy

Visit Realm's website and blog.

Interview: Jim Rugg

Jim Rugg, the artist behind a multitude of comics, newspaper graphics, and book and magazine covers, is possibly best known in the YA book blogging community for his artwork for The Plain Janes and Janes in Love, this month's featured titles at readergirlz. I recently had the opportunity to interview Jim one-on-one.

How did you come to know Cecil, and get involved with Minx/DC Comics?

We met through our editor at DC Comics, Shelly Bond. Shelly and Cecil began working on the PLAIN Janes, and when they started looking for an artist, my work was among the samples that Shelly showed Cecil.

How long did it take to complete The Plain Janes?

I think it took me about 6 months to draw.

How did you divvy up the work? Was your contribution strictly art and hers the text, or did you share various duties?

For the most part, this is how my involvement went: Cecil wrote the script, our editor went over that with her, when they were happy with it, our editor would send it to me. I would do small drawings of each page, send those small, rough drawings (called breakdowns or thumbnails) to Cecil and Shelly. We would all talk about them, make revisions if necessary, and then I would draw the final artwork.

Sounds like a good process, where everyone was informed and involved. What does ART SAVES! mean to you? Do you consider yourself to be an activist?

I'm not an activist. However, I believe that having an outlet to work out personal problems is essential. I wouldn't say it has to be art, but throughout my life I definitely relied on comics and movies and books and drawing to help me cope with emotional difficulties.

Which of the Janes is the most like you?

I think Main Jane is the most like me. When I was in high school and college, I began questioning the values I grew up with.

Who is the least like you?

The least like me is probably Theater Jane. She's a lot more demonstrative and outgoing than I tend to be.

When did you decide to do Janes in Love? Did you and Cecil pitch a second volume, or did Minx ask you to write another one?

Shelly began talking about it while I was drawing the first one.

Do you have plans for future volumes?

Not at this time. We had begun work on volume 3 [Janes Go Summer] before the Minx line was cancelled, and we had discussed a volume 4, but that looks unlikely now.

What was your first published work?

The first graphic novel/comic book series I did was a book I co-created with Brian Maruca called Street Angel. Slave Labor Graphics published it. Through that book, I met the Minx editor that I worked with.

How have you changed as an artist since that publication?

I'm sure I have, but I'm not sure how I'd articulate those changes.

You've been tapped to create artwork for book covers, magazine covers (most recently, that of LA Weekly), newspapers, even something special for the commencement exercises of Center for Cartoon Studies. What type of commission project do you like most of all?

My enjoyment of a job usually depends on 2 things – my schedule and whether I can comfortably fit the job into it (unfortunately, jobs come up when they come up, not when it would be most convenient), and the vision of the editor/art director. If the person with whom I'm working has a clear idea of what they want, it makes my job much easier. As for subject matter, I tend to like drawing a lot of stuff from animals to sci-fi, action, romance, girls, caricatures, still life. So the subject's pretty wide-open.

Can you tell us anything about your upcoming comic in Dark Horse Presents?

It's written by Zack Whedon. It features Penny, from Dr. Horrible. And it takes place before the events of Dr. Horrible. It's featured in July's Dark Horse Presents. You can read it at the Dark Horse MySpace page.

That must have been a fun project to work on. Which classical or modern artists inspire you?

I haven't been following anyone specific for a while. Over the years I've gone through a lot of phases from Frank Miller to Jack Kirby to Dan Clowes, lately I've been reading manga a lot. I enjoy film as well, Martin Scorcese, Wes Anderson, Hitchcock . . . the usual candidates.

What are your ten all-time favorite books?

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Eightball by Dan Clowes
Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware
The Getaway by Jim Thompson
The Coffin Jones and Gravedigger detective series by Chester Himes
Deadeye Dick or Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Sideswipe or the Shark Infested Custard by Charles Willeford
Yummy Fur by Chester Brown
Woman in the Dunes by Kobe Abe


Jim was kind enough to share a great deal of artwork with me, including never-before-seen pages from Janes Go Summer, along with panels from The Plain Janes and Janes in Love. View the complete gallery in the July 2009 issue of readergirlz.

Visit Jim's website and LiveJournal.

Do you have your own questions for Jim? Next week, you may chat live with both Jim Rugg and Cecil Castellucci right here at the readergirlz blog TOMORROW, Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 6 PM PST / 9 PM EST. The chat is open to the public and will last for about an hour.

Art Saves: Tom Sniegoski

What inspires author Tom Sniegoski? Take a peek:


Click the image above to view it full-size in a new window.

Visit Tom's website.

I (Little Willow) talk to or about Tom so much at my blog that he has his own tag there!

Learn more about Art Saves in this month's issue of readergirlz.

Art Saves: Lisa Ann Sandell

Today's Art Saves contribution and guest blog comes from Lisa Ann Sandell, author of A Map of the Known World, one of this month's recommended reads.


Click image above to view full size in a new window.

"...[A]ll beauty in animals and plants is a quiet enduring form of love..." Rainer Maria Rilke wrote this line in a letter to a young poet (you can find the whole collection of his letters in Letters to a Young Poet), as he tried to let his correspondent, a young and aspiring writer, know that he could look to nature - plant and animal life - for inspiration and fodder. There is great beauty to be found in the world all around us. And for as long as art and artists have existed, they have tried to capture that beauty and to reflect it in their artwork. It serves as a reminder to all people that there is joy to be found in the world, that even the smallest things, from the tiniest hummingbird to the wispiest blade of grass, are important and enrich our life experience.

My father's father was a wonderful artist. He painted and took photographs, he drew and he sculpted. I feel incredibly lucky to have some of his work in my apartment now. He always took inspiration from the world that lay out of doors. A black and white photograph of a wooden fence post is so simple as to be terse. But it speaks volumes about the boundaries that we draw for ourselves, the way we carve up the earth and our lives, as well as the bleakness and the simplicity of life in the country. A sculpture of two polar bears, a mother and her baby depicts a stark iciness, but there is a warmth in the white marble figures, as a protectiveness and watchfulness of the mother is captured in the depth of her eye and the twist of her body.

When I look at these polar bears or at the photograph of the fence post, or any of his and may others' pieces of art, I remember that I should step outside and walk in the park, take time to be alone and think and treasure the great outdoors. For it was the intoxicating scent of a jasmine blossom that stirred me to write my first book, The Weight of the Sky, and the warbling song of a sparrow that brought me to my second, Song of the Sparrow. Thinking about land and animals and the spicy scents of exotic herbs took me to my most recent novel, A Map of the Known World.

Art and the world outdoors go together, and it's up to us to explore - and find joy in - both.

- Lisa Ann Sandell

Visit Lisa Ann Sandell's website and journal.
Read Little Willow's interview with Lisa Ann Sandell.

July: Friends Who Are Different

Cecil says, "The Janes don't seem like they are going to be friends at first, because they are so different. Do you have friends that are very different from you? What do you love most about them?"