some video inspiration

I've come across quite a few interesting and inspiring videos lately that I wanted to share.

• The first one is a video by Mike Kerr about the sketchbooks of children's book illustrator Renata Liwska:


A Quiet Look - How to become a children's book illustrator in one (not so easy) step from mike kerr on Vimeo.



• Next is a TED talk by children's book writer and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka:




• And finally, the latest Oliver Jeffers video about how he makes picture books:


Oliver Jeffers Author Film 2013 from Oliver Jeffers on Vimeo.


Also, a few months back I read a really great article via Renata Liwska's blog.  It was about how to work with an illustrator and was written by Deborah Underwood, a writer Renata has worked with on several picture books.  You can read it here.

russian cossack dancing

I just saw the most fantastic video over at Deanna Staffo's blog. She's a really talented illustrator so if you're not familiar with her work you should definitely check it out. The video features Russian Cossack dancing set to Run DMC and it's awesome. I love Russian culture - their traditional costumes and music, the vibrant colors, the fur hats, the thick mustaches, the crazy acrobatic dancing, nesting dolls, Saint Basil's Cathedral... Russia is definitely at the top of my list of countries to visit.