Illustration Workshop for Teens

Evan Turk offered an Illustrator Workshop at the February 2016 Teen Bookfest By the Bay in Corpus Christi, Texas. Attendees could opt to participate in this session, which ran for an extended block of time.
Because of the participatory nature of the session, enrollment was limited to 30 teens per session. Not surprisingly these illustration workshop sessions filled up quickly.
​

Turk is the recipient of the 2015 Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor Award for his illustrations for the Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus picture book Grandfather Gandhi.
He used his work for this book to help teach some basic principals of color, design, and theme.
Students particularly commented on the use of fiber and the essential concept of spinning thread into fabric. They were able to identify this symbol when it appeared throughout the pages.

---

Turk discussed his upcoming picture book, The Storyteller. He shared some of his research into the geography and culture of Morocco. He also presented beautiful images of native Moroccoan design. Water plays an important part in the story. Students identified the blue hues, symbolic of water. They also noted the use of complimentary color to highlight the importance that water plays in the story.
They were captived by the images and eager to participate in group discussion.

Turk concluded the workshop by allowing students time to practice some of the techniques which he introduded. After students created several pages of textures and patterns, they were given the opportunity to use the their own work to create a page for a well-known fairy tale. Several of the participants chose to share their illustrations with him. Evan posted some of the student's work online. 
What a thrill for a teen to have an award-winning illustrator share your design with the online community.