DIDJA KNOW? That since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Indian Yellow had been imported from the East

DIDJA KNOW? That since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Indian Yellow had been imported from the east to Europe and used extensively by many famous painters. It's transparency and golden “glow” was highly prized. In the late nineteenth century T.N.Mukharhji wrote he had uncovered the origins of the pigment “peori” or Indian Yellow. It supposedly came from cows that had been fed ONLY mangos.Their urine was heated, which precipitated the solids that made up the pigment. He said that in 1890 legislation was passed to end the practice.

A wikipedia article on the subject says that a later day researcher could find no evidence of this practice.

The actual pigment colorant was a magnesium salt of an acid released by the mango.

Today Inidan Yellow is mostly replaced by quinacridones (discovered in 1896) and nickel azo in varying mixtures. A Raw Siena gives a pale warm colour to a glaze and anything with a quinacridone or diaryide in the paint will give a robust yellow/gold color.

MY NEXT BIG THING: Little Things Aren't Little When You're Little, illustrated by Alison Davis Lyne, written by Mark Burrows

My Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing is a global blog tour, started in Australia, to showcase authors and illustrators and their current work. I was tagged by the whimsically creative Mary Uhles!

So now I'll answer some questions about my newest book, then pass the Q & A along to  others who'll pick up the tour June 20th:

What is the working title of your next book? My next book out is Little Things Aren't Little When You're Little, written by Mark Burrows and is due out in September 2013.

Where did the idea come from for the book? I got tapped for this book by Pelican Publishing Company for new picture book author Mark Burrows. He is a songwriter of materials for children, so his text sounds really good read out loud, besides being a blast to illustrate.

In what genre does your book fall? Little Things Aren't Little When You're Little is listed as JUVENILE NONFICTION / Curiosities & Wonders, in other words a colorful picture book for young children.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?Well....since I chose to tell my LITTLE story with an ensemble cast....the list of actors could get a LITTLE long!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Adults may see many things in life as small, but to young children, those little things aren’t small at all.

Who is publishing your book? Pelican Publishing Company

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? Since I'm the illustrator I'll take that question by substituting “artwork” for manuscript: It took me 2 ½ months to do the rough sketches and another 2 ½ months for the artwork.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Well it's NOT Three LITTLE Pigs, nor is it Stuart LITTLE, and it hasn't anything to do with LITTLE Red Hen or even Chicken LITTLE. It's just a LITTLE story about how kids look at things from their own unique viewpoints. 

Who or what inspired you to write this book? Since I'm the illustrator I'll answer about how the illustrations developed. Mark's text had about a dozen little vignettes contained within his verses, so I broke them up into two vignettes for each of my six characters. I started off with the black and white character studies of the actions in the text. I then added details with an eye to having as much contrasts in the colors of each double page spread. I wanted each character to have characteristics that would “play” off the situations in the text, thus the little red haired boy who gets “a little off the top” haircut has a mop of brite red curls that really shows off his new “hairstyle”. Then there is a little girl who goes all diva when faced with a “little bite of green beans” and is always in pink and wears a tiara.

 What else about the book might pique the reader's interest? My favorite set of drawings comes at the end....where “just a little hug” allowed me to show just a few of the many ways we can give a hug....both big and LITTLE.

Thank you for stopping by here to help me celebrate my "Next Big Thing." Now onto the next candidates who will post on June 20th.

Lisa J Michaels   
Rebecca Solow
Nikole Brooks Bethea 

 I'll update with direct links then!

Thanks so much for stopping by for My Next Big Thing!