Shennen Bersani's Weblog

Who were those models?

Ryan posed for 'Bob' the water garden enthusiast in Carp the Diem The Backyard Watery Delight, Vineyard Style Magazine, Summer 2000.

People often ask me where I find my models. I'm thrilled to say that I often find them at home!

Quote from the Preface of Exploring Safely:
About the Cover Artist
Shennen Bersani used her daughter Kerrin as the model for this cover. Her continuous curiosity and love of nature made her the perfect choice. Other live models, the goldfish, were taken from Shennen's backyard pond - a haven for birds, butterflies, turtles, frogs, and a ribbon snake. Two colored-pencil illustrations were created, one of Kerrin with the background and one of the bowl of fish. Merging the two on the computer using Photoshop achieved the final image.

Kerrin and Ryan on a cruise down the Charles River.

Ryan and Kerrin at Boston University's graduation festivities.

The National Science Teacher's Association had asked for a high school Hispanic girl to be on the cover of Investigating Safely. Well, Karlene was a senior in high school and she was taking advanced Spanish courses in college at night... it was easy enough to change her skin tones, eye color, and hair a bit.

Karlene and Ryan after Ry's paintball birthday bash.

When Vineyard Style Magazine's editor, John Budris, assigned me Shade Made: the Moss Garden, Spring 2000, he told me to "illustrate moss". I came up with 15 different illustrations and art director, Charlie Utz, used them all in the feature article. Bethany was an avid Irish Step dancer at the time and I couldn't resist posing her on our mossy front steps.

Ryan treated Bethany to rock climbing lessons for her 14th birthday. Here they are resting between climbs.

Then, of course, there are those assignments where I don't use models at all. For There is a Tide, I read the book, took notes on all the main character's features, hair and eye colors, demeanor, etc. and created an illustration of how I interpreted this information.

Keeping Busy

As I have been busy with my snake illustrations, we took time out yesterday to celebrate Ryan's girlfriend Hayley's college graduation. Hayley graduates Summa Cum Laude today from Boston University.

One of the offered activities was face painting. Kerrin was delighted to display this great work of art. An interesting process to watch, the paint was airbrushed on.

My heartfelt thanks goes to the Teich family for including us in the celebration of their daughter Hayley; Kerrin enjoyed the boat cruise on the Charles River and I enjoyed joining them at the Boston Pops last night. Congratulations to Hayley, she's off to Harvard for her Masters in Education.

A Day Trip to Martha's Vineyard

I went to Martha's Vineyard today to visit Nancy at the Shaw Cramer Gallery and Zoe at Riley's Reads book store.

www.shawcramergallery.com/
www.rileysreads.com
www.vineyardstyle.com

In August my original artwork from Ocean Counting Odd Numbers will be on exhibit at the Shaw Cramer Gallery and I will have a book signing at Riley's Reads. Additionally, I will be the featured artist for Vineyard Style Magazine's August issue. More info and dates to be announced.

Kirkus Reviews
Bersani's illustrations are breathtakingly lifelike. Readers will almost be able to feel the bumpy starfish, the sharp edges of the razor clam and the curious rough-softness of the sand. The colors and textures give each scene an amazing depth. Considering the 50 items readers will need to count at the end of the book, she does an excellent job of keeping them as separate as possible.

Publishers Weekly
After exploring the water's depths to the tune of ABC in Ocean Alphabet, Jerry Pallotta and artist Shennen Bersani now tackle 1, 2, 3 (or rather, 1, 3, 5) in Ocean Counting: Odd Numbers. From one Striped Bass all the way to 49 Smelts (and then 50 Blue Sharks, with a caveat), the salty scenes are alternately serene and menacing.

Booklist:
Bersani's mostly realistic colored-pencil illustrations are pleasing in both palette and composition.

While on the Island, my friend John cooked me a delicious fresh piece of haddock for dinner. My hat's off to you, John, I'll admit it - you are a better chef than I am. Thank you!

Visiting the Beverly, MA Library

Tonight I gave a presentation to the Beverly Massachusetts Public Library. What a wonderful bunch of kids! After my talk, I signed books.

What goes into a book?

Answer: a lot of time and effort researching!

I spent this morning visiting Harvard University's snake expert, Van Wallach. Van took the time to show me parts of Harvard's enormous snake collection in the basement of the Museum of Comparative Zoology- row upon row of snakes preserved in jars of all sizes and shapes!

Here's Van with a Gaboon Viper skin. Notice how the colors fade once the animal dies.

And here's Jerry holding a "pickled" specimen!

I've got lots of snakes to illustrate! I'm really excited. I'm learning so many new, cool things about these fascinating creatures.

Question: How did I start illustrating children's books?

It all started with Ryan.

I had been freelance illustrating for years: various gardening magazines, surgical tools for Johnson & Johnson Professional, educational textbooks. At the time, I was working on 17 illustrations for Androcles and the Lion, SRA/McGraw Hill, 2002. Ryan was a senior at Boston College High School. A scholar of Ancient Greek and Latin, he was the past president of the Massachusetts Junior Classical League; The captain of his Certaman team (think of Jeopardy! with only Latin and Roman questions); and he had earned the Ancient Greek Scholarship at Boston University for the upcoming fall session. He was the perfect Androcles!!

I picked him up at the train station after school one day. He hopped into the car excitedly. "I got you a great job today, Mom" he exclaimed!

Cynically I asked him about it (a job at BC High? In the cafeteria? Mowing the lawn?).

He told me that children's book author Jerry Pallotta had come to school at lunchtime to discuss his occupation. Jerry had attended BC High and so had his two sons. Ryan knew both of the boys, Neil and Eric, and said that they were great kids. Jerry spoke about his career as a children's author and his second career as a traveling lecturer; visiting school children across the country, encouraging children of all ages to Read A Zillion Books! Jerry also mentioned that he was writing a book about lions and that he was looking for an illustrator.

Unbeknownst to me, Ryan had taken some of my full color brochures and was using them as bookmarks in his textbooks. He was very proud of me and my illustrating!

After Jerry finished speaking, Ryan went up to him with a brochure. He handed it to Jerry and told him, "You should hire my mother!"

Jerry looked it over and was impressed. He asked Ryan if I was busy. Ryan told him, "Not after she finishes illustrating Androcles and the Lion!"

Jerry told Ryan that I'd be hearing from him. Within two weeks I did. The first book I was assigned was Icky Bug Shapes, Scholastic, 2003.