Hello and happy Friday!
This week is Book Week in Australia. This event is celebrated each year, particularly by schools and libraries. I have loved seeing lots of photos on social media of kids dressed as their favourite book characters.
My Illustrator Visit to Hunter Christian School.
I had the pleasure and privilege of visiting Hunter Christian School for my first ever illustrator visit! The staff and students were very enthusiastic and warmly welcomed me as I ran three sessions on using our imaginations to create characters and stories.
I was pretty nervous in the week before the visit but, overall, I had a great experience. Things ran pretty smoothly and the students did some awesome drawings and seemed to enjoy themselves.
Here are some of my personal reflections that I made a few days afterwards:
What Worked Well?
Having different activities for different age groups.
Good interaction with the students- sharing ideas and having opportunities for them to draw.
Elements of mystery in my presentation. Example: secret code, revealing my drawings.
I was able to speak without looking at my scripted notes.
Using physical drawing materials rather than digital materials.
I had a quiet day following the visit. It was very helpful to have a sleep in and time to recover after the event.
What Could Have Worked Better?
Sometimes I could have been better at building on the kid’s ideas for our story. I felt this particularly for the year 5-6 presentation. I think I was tired and found their ideas a bit more difficult to expand on than the other sessions.
Classroom management was a bit difficult at times. I should have checked with the school about how their classroom techniques beforehand.
Thinking and drawing on the spot is tricky. However, I was surprised at times with how well this went.
Things to Consider for Next Time?
Purchase a remote to use with my computer to help with slide changes.
Plan prizes for kids who volunteer to have a story made up about them (I did give out some books, but this was not planned beforehand).
Update my website with a section with information about myself for schools and students.
Organise a photographer either from the school or one of my own. In this case, the school had their own photographer who did an amazing job.
Once again, I am very grateful to have been given this new opportunity. Hopefully it is something I will get to do more of in the future.
The 40 Hour Famine starts tonight!
I will be participant the 40 Hour Famine from 8pm tonight to 12noon on Sunday.
You can help relieve child hunger by sponsoring me at https://40hourfamine.com.au/paul-h
That’s all from me for this week. Thank you for reading and allowing me to share my work with you.
All the best- Paul!
Looks like fun was had by all! School visits are fun and totally exhausting! 😊 Love the list you came up with - what worked and what you should do for the next time!