LOOKING AT THE WORLD OF BOOK PRODUCTION
A LION TAKES OVER THE TOWER Local primary school children enjoyed themselves when they had the chance to visit the Belmont Tower in east Belfast Northern Ireland just before their school finished for the summer holidays. They were going to hear about the author C. S. Lewis who wrote well known stories such as ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’ He was born and lived very near their school. Some of his books were made into successful films in more recent years. A short talk was given on the subject of C. S. Lewis and pupils were also able to view the exhibition room. Then they had the chance to watch some film clips. Following on from that they were introduced local author and illustrator Martin Kenny who then spent time with them in small groups talking about how he writes and creates his own books. He then provided practical handson demonstrations on how they might go about drawing characters such as Aslan the lion or a wolf or beaver from the C. S. Lewis stories.
STORY-TELLING AND FILM-CLIPS
There is a wealth of visual reference on hand in the building. Pupils were able to hear facts about C. S. Lewis the writer of ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ stories as well as view a small exhibition and watch short sections of film. This visit to the Belmont Tower building no doubt helped inspire the children when it came to creating their own C. S. Lewis themed artwork later back at school.
THEY SAY ANY ONE CAN DRAW!
It helps when you have a local book illustrator to show you how it’s done.
ONE PICTURE IS WORTH TEN THOUSAND WORDS
Try it for yourself. Unfortunately, due to time limitations on the day, not all the children got to take part in drawing on the white boards at the front. Those who did get to draw showed some obvious talent. They were surprised to see how easy it can be to draw by following Martn’s step-by-step simplified shapes approach. After all this stimulation the plan was to ask each child to create their own piece of artwork based on the stories they had heard about for their own art exhibition. Paintings would later go on display in a large room on the ground floor at he Belmont Tower facility. The teachers said they could hardly contain their excited children as they went back to school eager to get the paint brushes and paper out. Belmont Tower 82 Belmont Church Road, Belfast, BT4 3FG Website: www.belmont-tower.co.uk
THE CHILDREN’S ART EXHIBITION
It was hard to choose the best examples as they were all so good in their own ways... Opinion was divided as to what may be the best overall picture. Those who did not have their artwork highlighted will have been disappointed but the organisers said that they all did a great job. Note: we have not been able to show all of the 70 or so pieces of artwork
MARTIN KENNY DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION
Graphic Designer/ Illustrator BA (Hons) DESIGN SPECIALISING IN: ILLUSTRATION & CARTOONS
Follow me on Facebook: Martin Kenny Artwork
028 9050 4575
www.martinkenny.co.uk / info@martinkenny.co.uk