Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be a children's book illustrator? Now you can learn what it's like by reading the journal below, written by 14 year old Sonia Rode.  Amazing Sonia is a talented young aspiring artist with an incredible gift for drawing! 

As the winner of the first-ever Amazing Kids! Book Illustration Contest, lucky Sonia is working with a professional children's book illustrator, David Ross, who is teaching Sonia all about illustrating children's books!  To read more about Mr. Ross, click here.

Read what she is learning about illustrating the book If Nellie Bly Could Do It...., and see if you think being a book illustrator might be a career you'd like to have when you grow up!

Don't forget to check out Sonia's award-winning artwork that won the contest, and answers to the contest questions!

Updated October 1, 2000

Sonia's Journal

Day 1 Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity! I'm looking forward to working on the book. Tomorrow I will go to the library and look at the children's books. I can work about 8-10 hours a week depending on my amount of homework. I hope to talk to you soon! --Sonia

Day 2 I just got back from the library. I looked at some Caldecott Award Winning books for examples. A Caldecott Award is given to book for their amazing illustrations. So I figured that these books would be the best examples.  I tried to select the books looking through a young child's eyes. I checked out some that had a lot of color in them because they seemed the most attractive. The drawings in them are somewhat exaggerated, which I think is appealing to young children. They are realistic too, but not completely. The colors are also exaggerated a lot, such as apples are an almost orange-like color instead of the true dark red. I'm beginning to get a good idea how illustrations are supposed to look. I also photocopied some pictures of women's and children's clothing from the mid-1800s. This should give me a good sample of how Nellie's clothing should be in my illustrations. I'm going to get right back to drawing tomorrow! :-) -Sonia

Day 3 I'm getting ideas for the first few pages of the book and thought I'd share  them with you for some feedback. Would this be considered a journal entry?  1. "Nellie Bly went travelling across the great big sea..."  I think I'll use my original idea for this. I'll draw Nellie standing at  the front of the ship looking out on the ocean. I'll make some changes from  the original though, such as her outfit, age and hair color.  (Click here to see Sonia's first sketch)  2. "Nellie Bly was brave and smart just like me."  This was a tough one because there's no clear idea of what to draw. I  decided that I would have a character who was reading the book on all the  pages where there's reference to 'I' and 'me'. I think I'll have a modern  little girl looking in a full length mirror and seeing Nellie in the mirror  on this page.  (Click here to see Sonia's second sketch)  3. On the third page, "Though Nellie Bly was very young, she was not afraid to  try", I had a question about what 'very young' meant. Does it mean when she  was a little kid or a young adult, like around the time she was reporting  for the New York World?  That's all for now, bye-bye!  -Sonia  Amazing Kids! Reply: Dear Sonia, Regarding your question.  It is a very good one.  It really could be a picture of Nellie either as a young girl or young adult.  What do you think?  Because the couple of pages before speak of her traveling across the sea when she was 22, maybe the picture should be of her as a young adult?  If you have another idea, please let me know!  This is a collaboration, and I love your ideas!  -Ms. Rome :)

Day 4 I tried scanning in my drawings yesterday, but because they are all pencil  drawings, they were too light for the scanner to pick up. I'll scan them in  as soon as I go over them in ink.  I had some ideas for the next few pages too.  3. "Though Nellie Bly was very young, she was not afraid to try."  I've noticed that in some of the children's books I've looked at, the front  cover page was used somewhere else in the book as well. I thought I could  have Nellie giving a speech here, like I did on the cover, but make the  changes that I did on the "traveling across the sea" page. Then I could use  that as the cover too.  (Click here to see Sonia's third sketch)  4. "Hmm...If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?"  I'll have the girl who's reading the book sitting on a school bus thinking.  I thought of a school bus because I want the girl to be going through her  day thinking about Nellie. In the last picture of the girl, she was looking  in a mirror, which I thought would be in the morning before school.  (Click here to see Sonia's fourth sketch)  5. "When Nellie Bly was little, people gave her funny looks."  Nellie will be walking down the street with books in her hand and people  will be staring strangely at her.  6. "They never met a little girl who read her father's books!"  Nellie will be sitting on a stack of big books with stacks of books around  her with a large book open on her lap.  That's all for now :-)  --Sonia

Day 5 I talked to Mr. Ross yesterday. He told me the procedure of making  illustrations. First you draw a rough sketch in light blue pencil and then  go over the lines you want to keep in HB lead pencil, which you can buy at  an art store. There shouldn't be too much detail at this point. Then you  trace over it for the final copy. I'll have to redo the pictures that I've  done so far because I made them too finished. The rough sketch should take  only about 30 minutes to do. I'll be sending one of my rough sketches soon.  Bye bye:-)  ~Sonia

Day 6 This is my picture for the line "If Nellie Bly could do it, why can't I?" I  don't think I did a very good job on it. Of course I'll have to smooth out  some of the lines, but that's not all. I couldn't figure out what  expression I should put on the 'Nellie fan' girl's face for what she's  thinking, so I temporarily put a smile. And there's not much activity in  the picture, and I can't think of how to add any. I would appreciate your  opinion and advice on it please. Thanks so much for helping me with this:-)  --Sonia  (Click here to see Sonia's fifth sketch)  Mr. Ross' Reply: Hi Sonia,  When you are sketching to plan an illustration, don't worry about being  neat or too careful. At this stage what you want is composition not too  much detail. That will come when you copy the drawing over for your  final illustration. [I need to know what the finished art will be  rendered in, marker, watercolor or what?]  The drawing you sent me looks fine, but you have spent alot of time  making it nearly finished. Now is the time to be loose, to experiment. I  alway work in light blue pencil first, then light pencil . I  go over  the lines I like with dark pencil or fine-line marker. My finish art is  copied from the sketch by tracing the lines I like using a light table.  You can do the same thing by taping your sketch to a window and taping  your good paper over that.  It would be helpful if I knew the story. Can you email me the text?  I kind of assumed the setting of the illustration was a school bus or  maybe a train. If that is so rather than a double grid on the left you  could indicate windows with a single grid. [Finished art will need some  outside detail].  Also you could provide more detail inside to indicate it was a school  bus. More books, back packs, stuff on the floor. etc.  As far as the expression. Since I don't know the story yet, its hard for  me to say. But  I always have a character look up and to the side when  thinking.  If the girl is realizing she can do what Nellie Bly can, then  a smile works.  -Dave

Another Message from Mr. Ross: Sonia,  Did you know that Nellie Bly's real name was Elizabeth Cochrane?  I did a little reseach on the "net" and found 2 sites you should look  at. There is much more, if you do a key word search on a good search  engine. These two will give you some background and help you think of  things to illustrate.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/world/ http://163.238.169.25/dept/history/lavender/386/nbly.html Even though I am going to be busy for the next few days, I don't want  you to stop asking questions. It just might take me a while to get back  to you.  -Dave

Day 7 Here's the picture for: "They never met a little girl who read her father's books!"  The gray dots all over the page occurred because I was sitting on the scanner to try to get the picture to show up, and that was too much pressure. I couldn't figure out how to get Nellie's eyes to look at the book, and I wanted to make the book bigger, but I couldn't figure out how her arm position would be then.  (Click here to see Sonia's seventh sketch)  Mr. Ross' Reply: Hi Sonia,  Don't sit on the scanner, just hold the paper down. Use a magazine or  several thicknesses of newspaper to  weight it down.   >I couldn't figure out how to get Nellie's eyes to look at the  > book, and I wanted to make the book bigger, but I couldn't figure out how  > her arm position would be then.  Move her hands back, hide her thumbs behind the book, show the four fingers  of each hand on the cover. hold a book in that position while looking in  a  mirror, you'll get the idea.  Try scanning your art as a gif file. If you can, adjust the resolution  to 72 bpi. [There should be a small onscreen box when you set up the  scan].This would help speed them to me.  The drawing you sent looks fine, much looser.  When you are laying out a  book you should sketch like this first then, after you have decided on  the best way to illustrate the page then redraw more carefully. Like  your first drawing.  I also received the text, thanks. I'll have some suggestions next time  we talk.  Couple of questions.  Is the book to be in color, if so what medium will you be using?  How many pages in your book? Standard size is 32 pages with about 29  actual pages for the story.  What is the trim size of the book. What are the measurements of each  page?  What is your time line? When do you have to have the art finished?  Dave

Day 8 Mr. Ross' Reply to another letter from Sonia: Hi Sonia,  Here's my latest comments:...  Sonia wrote:  > I'll be using watercolor pencils to color. Each line of the story is a  > page, and there are 29 lines, so I'm assuming there will be that many  > pages.  That sounds right. Keep in mind one page may spread across the width of the  book, spanning two pages. This is called a double page spread. It may be  useful to use this when having your contemporary character contemplate what  Nellie Bly did.  Another device for showing thought is to have part of the  page separated by either a line or "dream bubble" to show two different  things on one page. This dream bubble can be colored differently. In your  case, since Nellie was living in the "old days" maybe it could be colored in  black & white or muted colors. We can talk about this next time you call.  > Ms.Rome didn't give me a deadline for the illustrations, because I  > have this in addition to school. I don't know about the size of the page;  > I'll have to ask Ms. Rome about that.  Size is important as this drives the size and proportion of your drawings.  >  >  > I also had a question about the redrawing part--Do you trace onto another  > paper?  Yes, although I use a light box. Typically the "Dummy" or mock-up of the book  is done on plain white drawing paper. Finished art on better quality paper.  Type of paper depends on the medium. Watercolor pens will need something  that can accept them without bleeding.  > or draw over the lines on the same paper?  You can do this but your sketches have to start VERY light...probably in  light blue pencil.  > And also do I finish all the rough sketches first.  Yes. You create the "dummy" by drawing every page. This is the way you "lay  the book out". It helps you plan the action and see that the sequence is  running smoothly  > or finish a whole page before going on to the next?  When you are doing the finished art, this is ok.  Dave

Day 9 Here's the picture for: "When Nellie Bly was little, people gave her funny looks"  The size of a page is supposed to be 11x8 1/2, like a sheet of typing paper  turned sideways. I had to scan this sideways so it would fit on the  scanner, so you'll have to rotate it. All the blank heads of people are  going to have "funny looks" on them, and the one with a face is Nellie.  What do you think? Should there be a lot of activity in the town or would  that distract from Nellie?

Day 10 Here's the picture for the line:  "When Nellie had a question, she always asked  her parents: 'Why?'"  I'm still having problems trying to get the character to look in the right  direction.  ~Sonia :-)  Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia, you are close. When you want the eyes to "look" you show the  round outside part of the iris furthest away from the object she is  looking at. In other words if the book is below her eyes the eyes would  be like a setting sun, with the lower part of the iris behind the lower  eyelid. The outside edge of each iris showing just below the upper  eyelid.  -Dave

Day 11 Here's the picture for the 2nd line: If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?  It turned out that the gray dots on the scan aren't from sitting (I didn't  sit this time), it's from selecting the scan to be a color photograph. I selected that because it looks more like it really does than when I set it  as color drawing. Is this a better size, or bigger/smaller? I set it to 35%  of the original.  Since I was having the dreamer go through her day, I had her in a  classroom, after the school bus ride. I'm not sure about the perspective I  used though; I tried to make the whole thing one-point. Also about her  position: does it look right? I couldn't tell. And I wasn't sure exactly  what to have in the dream bubble, something with Nellie, maybe you have an  idea for that Ms. Rome?  I won't be able to get much done for the next two weeks because of my final  exams. But after school's out on the 27th, I should be able to get one  sketch done everyday. Hope you won't mind the delay.  ~Sonia  Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  The size is perfect, as is your looser drawing style for this stage of the book.  Regarding your latest illustration: Dream bubble can be much larger. To make  room, move girl & desk to right. Her elbow could be half an inch off right  boarder [there's lots of wasted space there now. Bubble could start at upper  boarder above her head and go to lower left boarder hidding most of the  classroom. You will only show the left side and bottom of the largest bubble.  If I have time today or tomorrow I will scan a quick sketch to show you what I mean.  Another thought on eyes, try drawing a page full of empty eye shapes.  Then experiment with different combinations of pupil locations and eyebrow  shapes and directions. You'll be surprised how much feeling you can get out of  each combination.  Don't worry about time, I will be here all summer except for the last  week in June. Just send me stuff or questions whenever you can.  -Dave  Another Message from Mr. Ross: Sonia,  Here's a sketch of what I meant by my first e-mail. I did not  correct the perspective in the desk, but just made it smaller. If you  want to learn more about perspective, I think I can help. But for now  just remember that as surfaces go away from the viewer the further edges  appear to come closer together. They tilt up if your looking from above,  tilt down if looking from below.  -Dave

Day 12 Here's the picture for "Nellie dreamed of writing stories for a newspaper one day..."  ~Sonia  Mr. Ross' Reply: Hi Sonia,  Your latest illustration came through beautifully!  I like the compostion  very much and I have only one minor suggestion. If you want to learn how  to draw a pen in someone's hand more realistically, you will need a  model. Have someone pose their hand with the pen in the writing  position. See how the thumb and forefinger  hold the pen. Try and draw  it from the same point of view as your illustration. Hint, observe the  angles that the fingers and pen make relative to horizontal and  vertical.  Dave

Day 13 Here's my latest sketches: 1.'People came from miles around to see brave Nellie Bly' I wanted to make a sea of people around Nellie's podium, but what I drew looks like lemons! Am I supposed to draw every single face or is there a way to somehow make it look like a sea of people w/o going into too much detail? 2.'If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?' The modern dreamer is now at home doing her homework in her room. I want to add more of a clutter on the floor later on, so that it'll look like an average kid's room: messy. 3.'Nellie helped the homeless children, who were living in the street' I don't know whether to have more kids around Nellie or to spread them out some more. Also the position of the child lying on Nellie's lap looks awkward. Nellie is sitting on some steps on the side of a street. More soon, ~Sonia  Mr. Ross' Reply: > 1.'People came from miles around to see brave Nellie Bly'  > I wanted to make a sea of people around Nellie's podium, but what I drew  > looks like lemons! Am I supposed to draw every single face or is there a  > way to somehow make it look like a sea of people without going into too much  > detail?  You should draw detail on maybe the first 2 or 3 rows. The further you  go away from Nellie the less detail  until you only have lemons. What  would make the drawing more interesting would be more variety in those  up close. Hats, hair styles, beards, waving hands or holding signs.  >  > 2.'If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?'  > The modern dreamer is now at home doing her homework in her room. I want  to  > add more of a clutter on the floor later on, so that it'll look like an  > average kid's room: messy.  What you have here is fine, more detail will help finished art.  >  > 3.'Nellie helped the homeless children, who were living in the street'  > I don't know whether to have more kids around Nellie or to spread them out  > some more. Also the position of the child lying on Nellie's lap looks  > awkward. Nellie is sitting on some steps on the side of a street.  My advise. Zoom in a bit. You  have a good composition but a tighter  point of view would be more interesting. Show just a hint of delapidated  housing in background, foreground: garbage cans, trash on street, broken  bottles. Kid on lap is stiff as a board. Have someone pose for you so  you can see what a person looks like in that position.  I have much more to say about the other pics but not much time to write  e-mail. If you can send me copies of your sketches I will write notes on  them and send them back.  -Dave

Day 14 Here are some more sketches:  I've numbered all 5 gif files.  1. "'Girls don't write for papers!' she would hear her neighbors say." Nellie is in front of her neighbor's house carrying a newspaper and they are  lecturing her.  2. "But Nellie's parents told her 'You can do it if you try!'" Nellie with her parents leaving the neighbor's house  3. "If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?" The modern dreamer has now finished school and is at soccer practice. I still have to decide what to use to fill up all that empty space. I'm not  sure what would be around at soccer practice. Ideas?  4. "Nellie Bly was famous in 1889"' I left a blank date in front of 1889 so I could research the exact date she  returned from her trip and fill it in. The newspaper is supposed to be on a  wodden table, which is why there are swirlies in the background.  5. "For travelling around the world (she beat the record time!)." The clock has a map of this hemisphere on it and the background is the sea  and sky. Nellie looks over. This was a tough one idea-wise.  ~Sonia

Day 15  And some more...  1."She found them homes and medicine, and yummy food to eat!" 2."Nellie had a great big smile, some say bigger than the sky!" 3."If Nellie Bly could smile like that, then why can't I?" 4. "Nellie loved to do her best, and help other kids believe..." ~Sonia

Day 16 And some more...the last of the sketches!  1. "If you only keep on trying you will finally succeed." It's very hard to stack up toys so unbalanced, so I thought it would be a  good example.  2. "Nellie's heart was so filled with love it could never become dry." Love is pouring out of Nellie's 'heart' and forming a pool. Nellie also  finds it hard to carry her heart because it's heavy from being filled with  love.  3. "If Nellie had a heart like that then why can't I?" The dreamer is visioning herself with a large heart, and drops of love are  pouring out also.  4. "Nellie loved to dream new dreams and try to make them all come true." Nellie is asleep dreaming, but I don't know what she should be dreaming  about.  5. "If Nellie Bly could dream new dreams, then I can too!" This is the first time she isn't saying 'why can't I' so I thought she  should be ecstatic on finally realizing what she can do.  6. "I think I'll rent an airplane and write across the sky:"  This is pretty self-explanatory.  7. "If Nellie Bly could do it..." I thought that maybe these final two pages just be the text in clouds,  instead of having picture & text, if you think that's okay.  8. "...then so can I!!!" I drew these letters bigger because they're more emphazised.  Sonia :-)

Day 17 I talked with Mr. Ross on the phone yesterday, and he gave me some tips on my pictures. He said many of the people I had drawn were too static, which means they don't have enough motion. I have to make the characters be moving and in different positions.  He also suggested that I keep a journal in a sketchbook where I practice drawing things I have trouble with. For me, that would be positions of hands, eyes looking in different directions, and perspective. I should also have someone pose for me when drawing complicated positions. And when drawing objects, look at one from the correct viewpoint and draw from there.  He also said that when I have both the modern girl and Nellie on the same page (like a thought bubble) that I should maybe color Nellie and her time in shades of gray or brown, like in old photographs, so it's easy to differentiate the two time periods.  There are some sketches where one part of the drawing is too small, but instead of having to redraw the whole thing, he taught me a trick: I could photocopy the picture to about 150 or 200% and then cut out the part that needs to be enlarged and then glue it onto the original.  There are a few sketches I will have to completely redo, but for most of them I can now begin on the final. I'll trace the sketch on a different piece of paper with a nonphotographic blue pencil. That kind of a pencil won't show up on copies, but I can see it on the paper. Then I'll go over it with dark pencil or pen and then color it.  I've begun to work on one of finals now and hope to complete them all by the end of August. ~Sonia

Day 18 - Sonia Begins Her Final Illustrations! Mr.Ross, I have sent a scan of my work in-progress for the line "'Girls don't write for papers!' she would hear her neighbors say."  I'd like to know your thoughts on it. ~Sonia  Mr. Ross' Reply: Hi Sonia,  Looks great! If any color goes off the edge of the page it is called a bleed. The color needs to go at least 1/2" beyond the trim marks. When you lay out the pages you need exact measurements for length and width. You mark the edges with two small lines [trim marks] at each corner outside the rectangle that is the area you paint in.  If I have time I will send you a sketch. Maybe it would be a good idea for me to talk to the publisher to get their specifications. Do you have a phone #? -Dave

Day 19 Here's the final illustration for "'Girl's don't write for papers!' she would hear her neighbors say."  What do you think?  ~Sonia

Day 20 Here's the final for "If you only keep on trying, you will finally succeed." ~Sonia

Day 21 Here's the final for "When Nellie had a question, she would always ask her parents 'Why?'" I haven't been able to accomplish much lately because I recently got a pet baby bird  and found out that it takes six total hours of my day to feed it. But I should be able to  get more done soon.  Mr. Ross, I don't really understand what you mean about extending the color over the edge. Wouldn't that be off the paper? ~Sonia  Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  You should be working on paper that is larger than 8 1/2 X 11. Something at least 1" bigger on every side. 12 X 18 is a standard size. You mark off the 8 1/2 X 11 out of the center. Then your colors don't go off the edge of the paper you are working on, but will go up to the edge of the paper in the book. If you have been painting on the smaller paper you can fasten in onto a larger piece. Call me if you want. Here is a site that might be helpful for costumes. http://www.nueva.pvt.k12.ca.us/~debbie/library/cur/20c/turn.html Painting looks great, good job. -Dave

Day 22 Here's "For travelling around the world (she beat the record time!)" Mr. Ross, I had been using 8-1/2x11 paper. So should I glue the pics I have done onto a larger sheet?  Thank you for the website :-) ~Sonia  Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  Yes, but don't use just any glue.  Best would be rubber cement, but I'm a little concerned because it's tricky to use correctly and it might cause some discoloration on the illustration. Hold off for now and do the rest on larger paper. I'll talk to Alyse when the time comes to figure out the best way. This illustration looks good, keep going with others.  -Dave

Day 23 Here's my work-in-progress for "They never met a little girl who read her father's books." I've drawn it on an 11x17 paper and folded over the edges of an 8-1/2 x 11. Mr. Ross, do I let just the color go over an inch, or the drawing as well, such as the bookshelf being cut off at the top of the page in this picture? ~Sonia

Day 24 I've scanned half of my work-in-progress for "they never met a little girl who read her father's books" because I had a question about the extending color. Do I extend it like I did on the top of the bookshelf, just the color; or do I extend it like I did from the side, extending the whole picture. I tried to make crease marks on the 8-1/2" x11" border so you could distinguish the extensions. Can you see them? ~Sonia

Day 25 Here's the final for "They never met a little girl who read her father's books!" ~Sonia  Mr. Ross' Reply: Great job, nice color. 1 minor comment and a suggestions. I would either do the wall or the window in a color other than white. Otherwise the red of the carpet is too overpowering. You may want to experiment on some scrap paper with skin tones. While there is nothing wrong with the yellowish tone you have on Nellie now, a little pink orange or brown would make it more realistic.  -Dave

Day 26 Here's the revised final for "They never met a little girl who read her father's books!" I added to the wall and window, what do you think now? ~Sonia

Day 27 This is the work-in-progress for "If Nellie Bly could do it, then I can too!" I had a question about the hand position of the modern dreamer. It looks wrong, and posing I have found there are several different ways to hold your hands together in that position (fingers interlocked, thumb clasped, etc.) what do you think would be the most natural? ~Sonia :-)

Day 28 So sorry it's been so long, Ms. Rome, but my school started and last week I had a lot of homework. I've made a Thanksgiving deadline for myself and intend  to achieve it.  This is the final for "If Nellie Bly could do it, then I can too!" ~Sonia :-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Hi Sonia, The colors are very vibrant in your illustration. However, you should take care with the paper so that it doesn't get folded or creased. The paper takes the color differently where it's been damaged and the overall image looks less professional. Also make the reflection in the pupils about the same size. -Dave

Day 29 Here's the final for: "Nellie dreamed of writing stories for a newspaper one day." ~Sonia

Day 30 The final for  "Nellie Bly went travelling, across the great big sea..."  I try not to damage the paper with the water, but on large areas my colors don't work without a lot of water. What should I do? -Sonia Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  The picture looks great [maybe the scan isn't picking up the damage]. Your colors awesome! If the surface of the paper is damaged by the action of water and the crayon or water and the paint brush, you are using the wrong kind of paper. There are sheets of watercolor paper that have a high rag content [that means there is cloth in them, and they are expensive]. They will take the abuse better. However you are quite far along in this project. I wouldn't switch papers until I tried one and compared how a finished page looks. Otherwise, just be gentle when applying color. -Dave P.S. I love how you did the bow spray. Keep up the good work.

Day 31 This is the work-in-progress for "Nellie Bly was brave & smart, just like me" and for the cover of the book. I was wondering if the cover page would be bigger than 8-1/2x11 because in order to see the crowd's colorful clothes and all of Nellie, the page would have to be bigger.  I think it would be better if the kids who look at the book could see on the cover  lots of colors. I remember when I was a little kid I was instantly attracted to any  book with a colorful, interesting cover. Just a thought :-) ~Sonia   Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  Your instincts are correct. The more color the better. Don't forget background and flesh tones for the people in the crowd. Also details like jewelry. Composition looks fine. Remember to leave space at the top for the Title and make sure colors across bottom are dark enough so the author and illustrator [dat's you] names can be "dropped out" [printed in white or a light color]. -Dave

Day 32 Hello! Here is the picture for the cover page and the page "Though Nellie Bly was very young, she was not afraid to try." Mr. Ross told me to make sure there was room for the title on top, so I had to go  to Kinko's and shrink it. I havn't sent anything for so long because my e-mail was  broken and I've had a few school projects.  I get this whole week off for Thanksgiving, so I plan on getting a lot done. I love your Amazing Kids! online newsletter! I'm glad Kids Day L.A. went well and that  Amazing Kids! is becoming better known. I hope the golfing tournament works out well! -Sonia :-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  Cover art looks good! Very vibrant colors; great job.  -Dave

Day 33 Here's my final for "But Nellie's parents told her: 'You can do it if you try!'"  I thought that maybe the mom's dress blended in too much with the background, but I had to put the same clothes on her as before. Also, about the cover page, I made a little mix-up. It's not the page for "Nellie Bly was brave and smart just like me;" it's actually the page for "Though Nellie Bly was vey young, she was not afraid to try."  Sorry about that! I hope it won't be a lot of trouble changing it on your website.  Bye! -Sonia :-)

Day 34  Here are my pics in progress for: "Nellie Bly was brave and smart just like me" -- and -- "If Nellie Bly can do it, why can't I?" Mr. Ross, for the 'just like me' picture I was wondering if you think I should add a wallpaper pattern, or would that make the room look too cluttered? That's all for now :-) -Sonia

Day 35 Here is my final for page 4, "If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?" About the thought bubble, I'm wondering if that shows up enough against the colorful background. Can you tell it's a thought bubble? I put an inside outline of white paint around the bubble, which makes it look kinda foggy around the edges. Do you think I should do that to the whole bubble? Thank you, Ms. Rome for the *Amazing Kids! holiday card! It's so cool my drawing is actually on a real card. It was a nice surprise to see that when I opened the envelope! Hope you had a great Christmas and Happy New Millenium! -Sonia :-) (Editor's Note:  Sonia was referring to the Amazing Kids! holidays card we sent out to our friends and supporters for the 1999 Winter holidays.  The card was printed with Sonia's final illustration from Day 20 of her journal, "If you only keep on trying, you will finally succeed."  The card said "Reach for the Stars" on the front, and inside it said "May all your dreams be realized throughout this joyous holiday season and beyond."  It was a big hit with everyone! Way to go, Sonia!)

Day 36 Hi Ms. Rome! I'm sorry its been a long time since you've heard from me, but I had the flu for a week, and we have some major art projects for school. We're making portfolios for the high school to judge if we get to go straight to sophmore art or not (I'm in 8th grade). So I haven't been able to get much Nellie done lately, although I'm almost done with one and in progress on a 2nd. Just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten! Bye! -Sonia :-)

Day 37 Mr.Ross, About the thought bubble, I'm wondering if that shows up enough against the colorful background. Can you tell it's a thought bubble? I put an inside outline of white paint around the bubble, which makes it look kinda foggy around the edges. Do you think I should do that to the whole bubble? Hope you had a great Christmas and Happy New Millennium! -Sonia :-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Hi Sonia,  Hope you are having a great new year. Regarding your last illustration. I agree I thought the bubbling is hard to read as such. The "foggy" outline in white helps a bit. I would go around again with white maybe just inside previous white. Try to lighten up the most near black outline [smaller bubbles coming up to main one are pure white and they read better]. Within the main bubble, you could probably go around 2 or three times with each ring of white getting lighter and lighter, with the ring closest to the black almost pure white.  Wait between painting each ring for the paint to throughly dry [this will avoid a muddy look].  Dave

Day 38 Here's the revised final for "Why can't I?" one (with the foggy bubble; I tried your advice, Mr. Ross) and the final pic for "When Nellie Bly was little, people gave her funny looks." Bye! -Sonia :-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Hi Sonia, They look great. You are getting better at color! The "foggy" thought bubble works fine- good contrast. Love the expressions on the faces of the other illustration. Great job Dave

Day 39 Here's my final illustration for the 2nd occurrence of the line "If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?" -Sonia :-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  Picture looks fine to me. Great detail, good color, especially in thought bubble. The only thing that looks grey to me was the lower part of the thought bubble, and I thought that was done intentionally. Dave

Day 40 Here's my rough sketch for the 3rd occurrence of the line "If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?" I have made a lot of revisions from the original rough draft and was wondering, Mr. Ross, if it looks alright. I thought the original was too empty before, so I added a lot of people and objects. What do you think? -Sonia :-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Hi Sonia, Draft looks fine, good details and a nice mix of foreground and background [I especially like the girl snoozing to the right]. Dave

Day 41 Here's my final picture for the 3rd occurrence of the line "If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?" The whole picture looks lind of grayed-out; I'm not sure why, since I wiped the scanner and everything. Ms. Rome, I read some of the entries for your writing contest, and they're so interesting!  I think you'll have a hard time picking the best! Bye! -Sonia Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  Great job. Good composition and colors. Dave

Day 42 Here's the final copy for "Nellie Bly was famous in 1889..." I researched to find the exact date she left for her trip around the world, and used a perpetual calendar website to find the day of the week, because I wanted the newspaper to be accurate.  -Sonia :-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  Excellent. I'm impressed with your research, the aged look of the newspaper and the lettering. Very nice illustration!  Dave

Ms. Rome's Reply and Questions: Hi Sonia! The newspaper looks good.  Wow!  I'm impressed that you did the research for the date!  Way to go! :) I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping you might know the answer to, because I don't! :) 1. Do you know if the New York Times was in print in 1889?  I was under the impression that it was not, but I could be wrong.  I do know that Nellie worked for a newspaper called "The World," which was published by Joseph Pulitzer.  For some reason, I have been thinking all along that "The World" was the "early version" of the New York Times (but I think I just assumed that for some reason...) In your research, did you actually see some old issues of the New York Times? 2. Also, another question I have is the hand-writing on the newspaper.  I am not sure if they would have the handwriting on it...do you know if they did?  But I know it might be too hard for you to try and recreate the exact look of the typeface they used in those days, so don't worry too much about it.  :) Just something to think about...Perhaps Mr. Ross might have some comments or suggestions about it. Otherwise, it really looks good, Sonia!  I am proud of your hard work, and your extra efforts in doing the research for the exact date! :) Take care, and let me know what you and Mr. Ross think about my questions. Hugs, Ms. Rome :) Sonia's Reply: Ms. Rome, I forwarded your questions to Mr. Ross to see if he knew, and I sent an e-mail to the New York Times asking what year they began in. I had asked my brother before I drew the pic if the NYT was around in 1889, and he said yes, but I'm double checking anyway. If the NYT replies, then I'll also ask them about the handwriting thing. Bye! -Sonia:-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia,  Sorry can't help you with the date of NY Times publication. You might try your local librarian. They will have a reference desk that might help. Or you could change the name to "The World." The squiggles that you put in the paper to represent text don't bother me. An alternative would be a series of marks done in guidelines to indicate text. Kind of like this but freehand... ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||  Dave

Day 43 Updated October 1, 2000 Here's my final for the last occurrence of "If Nellie Bly could do it, then why can't I?" Ms. Rome, it's fine with me for us to wait about the newspaper text. By the way, The New York Times never replied to me about when they first came out, but I figured they wouldn't. Bye! -Sonia:-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia, You are getting better and better. Colors, composition and rendering are all improved. You have done a great job!! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished book. Dave

Day 44 Regarding the revised final for "They never met a little girl who read her father's books!" Mr. Ross: Sonia, you are close. When you want the eyes to "look" you show the round outside part of the iris furthest away from the object she is looking at. In other words if the book is below her eyes the eyes would be like a setting sun, with the lower part of the iris behind the lower eyelid. The outside edge of each iris showing just below the upper eyelid. Sonia:  The gray dots all over the page occurred because I was sitting on the scanner to try to get the picture to show up, and that was too much pressure. Mr. Ross: Don't sit on the scanner, just hold the paper down. Use a magazine or several thicknesses of newspaper to weight it down. Sonia: I couldn't figure out how to get Nellie's eyes to look at the book, and I wanted to make the book bigger, but I couldn't figure out how her arm position would be then. Mr. Ross: Move hands back, hide her thumbs behind the book, show the four fingers of each hand on the cover. Hold a book in that position while looking in mirror; you'll get the idea. Dave

Day 45 I'm back! My school ended on Friday, so now I can work a lot faster. In fact, I already have another picture almost finished. I hope you had a good time visiting your relatives, Ms.Rome. Anyway, here's the final for "She found them homes and medicine, and yummy food to eat!."  There's a small spot on the blanket that I made a mistake on, so I rubber-cemented a small slip of paper over it and painted it the same color. Is it too noticeable? I think it would probably become less noticeable when the pictures are photocopied for the book, right? Bye! -Sonia:-) Mr. Ross' Reply: Hi Sonia, 2 great illustrations. You sure have grown as an artist! I have an idea that could help hid the blanket boo boo. IF the blanket does not appear on any other page, then you can do the following. Make a checker board pattern similar to the pillowcase. Except I would use a slightly darker blue for the dark color squares, leave the light color the way it is. Your patch would be one of the dark squares.  You can use the edges of the patch to form the boundaries of the grid that would cover the bedspread [I would do a tracing to get the pattern right before sketching it lightly on the painting. Make sure to "bend" the pattern toward the floor where it goes over the edge of the bed closest to the viewer.  If you don't understand this give me a call. Dave

Day 46 Here's my picture for "Nellie had a great big smile, some say bigger than the sky!" Bye:-) -Sonia

Day 47 Thank you for the idea about the blanket, Mr. Ross, I'm going to try it as soon as I send this.  For this pic, "If Nellie Bly could smile like that, then why can't I?",  I made some revisions to what was on the rough draft. I added more detail  and changed the hand position. What do you think? Bye:-) -Sonia Mr. Ross' Reply: Sketch works fine. Good detail. Proper use of color will make this a great illustration. Make entire background [including mirror] slightly darker than the thought bubble. Dave

Day 48 Here's the revised 'yummy food' picture ("She found them homes and medicine, and yummy food to eat!", w/ the checkerboard blanket.  Does it work? -Sonia Mr. Ross' Reply: Sonia, Excellent! You are a natural fudger [that's what I call being able to save an illustration by making a mistake into part of the illustration]. The blanket boo-boo is bye bye. Dave

Continued in: Sonia's Journal - Part 2--->

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Sonia's Award-Winning Contest Entry

Sonia's answers to the three questions about Nellie Bly: 1. Name two amazing things about Nellie Bly. 2. Why do you think they were amazing?   It's amazing that Nellie Bly was willing to do things only men had done before.  That's cool because she wasn't afraid to be different and she believed strongly in what she was doing. Another amazing thing was that she pushed herself further and reached her goals.  That shows determination and persistence which are two very admirable qualities. 3. Think about one amazing thing you would like to do in your life.  Describe what it is, and why you want to do it. I would love to achieve my dreams like she did.  I want to become a famous artist.  I would like to do that simply because I love art and I want to see if I am able to reach my goals.

Sonia's Award-Winning Artwork  Cover for "If Nellie Bly Could Do It..."

"Nellie Bly went traveling, across the great big sea..."

More Amazing Kids! Art-->

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