School workshop UPDATE

We survived our visit to St Mary's Primary School, Overton on Dee!!!!!
I had such a lovely afternoon. We were all so, so nervous about this and were so anxious not to let the children down. I gathered lots of materials together to take with us, prepared papers etc, and we took some rolls of white paper and photocopied lots of drawings of sea creatures for the children to decorate. I was intending to adhere to the plan I posted on here, and felt that we should use it as it is coherent and clear.

We arrived at about 12.45 and were greeted by a lot of children...! Individually they're cute....in packs?.....not so cute!!! They were very lively and eager which certainly made it easier when trying to conduct a question and answer session..!!

We split into pairs, and so Charlotte and I were with the 3-5 year olds, who were fantastic. I introduced myself and Charlotte to around 50 children and 6 staff, and showed them examples of both mine and Charlotte's work. It was a really proud moment, and the reaction of the chilldren to what we'd produced was so inspiring. They're not exactly tactful though....if they spot even the smallest 'mistake', they're direct and clear in telling you...! Forgiving they are not!
I explained to the children the different ways that illustrators work, and how this can make for very varied outcomes. I compared my Elves and the Shoemaker work, with that of an other illustrator, and asked the children to compare and contrast what they saw. They were so receptive and enthusiastic. It really opened my eyes to the target audience and to their needs...invaluable. I explained that we wanted the children to create 'Under the Sea', and showed them The Rainbow Fish stories, which they seemed really tuned in to, and then we split them into smaller groups and set to work.

The children were so engrossed in their efforts, which was so, so inspiring. They loved using different media to create different effects, and the work they produced was really decorative and lovely.

They helped me a lot in terms of remembering who I am working for. The tag 'client' is always given to adults....as a children's illustrator, my clients are children. Their quirky little ways, enthusiasm, relentless energy...it was really inspiring.

We helped the children to stick their sea-themed shapes to the under-water paper, and the results are fantastic. The staff seemed really pleased with what we'd done, and the children were thrilled. The school have promised to send photos of the afternoon to us, which I will post on here as soon as I receive them.

Overall, the afternoon was a resounding success, and I was so proud to be part of it.