This is Santa Claus’ busiest week, and since there’s only one Santa, he can’t be everywhere at once. So what’s up with all the Santas you see in department stores and malls? Two words: Santa’s helpers.
These guys help out during the Christmas season by dressing as Santa and representing him while the big man’s busy back at the North Pole. It’s not as easy as it sounds—to be good at it you need training. Luckily, there is a place Santa’s helpers can go to learn their trade.
My art school chum Charles Bergeman told me about his grandfather, Charles W. Howard who founded the Santa School (click on the book, then on the upper-right corner of the book to turn the pages). I had no idea this school existed and was so happy to learn about it I had to tell you.
https://www.johnmanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JohnManderslogo300w1-300x58.jpg00johnmandershttps://www.johnmanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JohnManderslogo300w1-300x58.jpgjohnmanders2010-12-18 06:46:422010-12-18 06:46:42School for Santas
I took a cinematography class when I was a teenager, and one of the movies we studied was The Bicycle Thieves. A poor man gets a job putting movie posters up around Rome, but his bicycle—without which he can’t put up the posters—is stolen. The movie follows him as he tries to find the thieves. In the very last shot, when the man is utterly lost and hopeless, the camera pulls up and back—higher and higher—so we look down on him as he grows smaller and smaller. That shot delivers an emotional punch you couldn’t get any other way.
I find that camera angles are important when storyboarding a picture book. Here is Santa Claus entering the workshop; he’s tired, oppressed, overwhelmed and not into the toy-making thing. I think looking down on him is the best way to tell you how Santa feels at that moment.
Here is the thumbnail sketch, the tight sketch, the color sketch and the finished painting. Color is another tool for storytelling. You can see in the color sketch that I created a big oppressive gray-and-black frame to surround and bear down on Santa. I isolated him by putting him in the door frame. In spite of the workshop’s warm, happy colors, Santa is in his own small patch of cool blue.
School for Santas
UncategorizedThis is Santa Claus’ busiest week, and since there’s only one Santa, he can’t be everywhere at once. So what’s up with all the Santas you see in department stores and malls? Two words: Santa’s helpers.
These guys help out during the Christmas season by dressing as Santa and representing him while the big man’s busy back at the North Pole. It’s not as easy as it sounds—to be good at it you need training. Luckily, there is a place Santa’s helpers can go to learn their trade.
My art school chum Charles Bergeman told me about his grandfather, Charles W. Howard who founded the Santa School (click on the book, then on the upper-right corner of the book to turn the pages). I had no idea this school existed and was so happy to learn about it I had to tell you.
Entering Santa’s workshop
book promotion, illustration processI took a cinematography class when I was a teenager, and one of the movies we studied was The Bicycle Thieves. A poor man gets a job putting movie posters up around Rome, but his bicycle—without which he can’t put up the posters—is stolen. The movie follows him as he tries to find the thieves. In the very last shot, when the man is utterly lost and hopeless, the camera pulls up and back—higher and higher—so we look down on him as he grows smaller and smaller. That shot delivers an emotional punch you couldn’t get any other way.
I find that camera angles are important when storyboarding a picture book. Here is Santa Claus entering the workshop; he’s tired, oppressed, overwhelmed and not into the toy-making thing. I think looking down on him is the best way to tell you how Santa feels at that moment.
Here is the thumbnail sketch, the tight sketch, the color sketch and the finished painting. Color is another tool for storytelling. You can see in the color sketch that I created a big oppressive gray-and-black frame to surround and bear down on Santa. I isolated him by putting him in the door frame. In spite of the workshop’s warm, happy colors, Santa is in his own small patch of cool blue.
The Year Without a Santa Claus was written in the 1950s so I included some toys from that time—like this Ruthie doll.
And yes, that is a pork-pie hat.
Santa’s sleigh
book promotion, illustration processReference, thumbnail sketch, tight sketch, final painting. From The Year Without a Santa Claus—
I didn’t take these photos; they’re from auction sites I found on the web.