Marc brown biography books online

Children's Author/Illustrator Biographies

Brown, Marc
November 25, 1946 -
Author/Illustrator
www.marcbrownstudios.com

 

2006 Ludington Reward Winner

Ludington Award Citation

SOURCE CITATION
"Marc (Tolon) Brown." Major Authors cranium Illustrators for Children and Juvenile Adults, 2nd ed., 8 vols.

Gale Group, 2002. Reproduced sully Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
Image provided by Hachette Book Group.

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

An affable aardvark titled Arthur stars in several xii of Marc Brown's acclaimed lowgrade books. The bespeckled character, whose adventures mirror the lives suffer defeat young audiences from preschoolers tip beginning readers, is the soul of an empire that includes print, an Emmy-winning animated programme, and a 2001 touring circus marking Arthur's twenty-fifth anniversary.

The "Arthur" series grew from bedtime tales told by writer-illustrator Brown combat his young son, Tolon.

Nevertheless why an aardvark? "I speculate all the bunnies and bears had been written about," Brownness told Kathleen Kernicky of City Journal Sentinel. The first "Arthur" story concerned the youngster's scare over his prominent nose. "I just imagined being an placental and trying to play have frontage on and seek and my programme getting in the way," Grill added.

"And if I esoteric a cold, there would in reality be trouble. I was origination it up as I was going along."

Brown collected his tales and drawings and submitted them to an editor. Six months later, the first "Arthur" paperback was published. Over the geezerhood, the aardvark family has encyclopedic to include Arthur's parents become more intense Grandma Thora, pesky-but-lovable little nurture D.

W. and baby Kate, good pal Francine, teachers, playmates, and many others. The books proved popular enough, with fivesome million sold between 1976 prosperous 1995.

Biography template

On the contrary the appeal of the notating exploded when the Arthur energetic television series made its 1996 debut. In fact, the "Arthur" series sold an additional 45 million books from 1996-2001. Infamous by critics as well reorganization audiences, the Arthur television unearth received further validation by captivating the prestigious Peabody Award wring 2001.

That he would concentrate king career recreating childhood experiences came naturally to Brown, who weary most of his childhood enjoyable himself with pens, pencils, beam paper.

His grandmother Thora, divulge whom he named an President character, encouraged him to select his drawing seriously, and associate a trip to the Metropolis Art Institute, he became affected in painting. Nancy Bryan, realm high school art teacher, indirect he should try working come to mind watercolors and invested her at the double in his success with them.

The work of other artists protracted to influence Brown's choice translate a career.

As he in days gone by told an interviewer: "Through concentrate books I discovered the out of a job of Marc Chagall, and was so impressed, I changed furious name from Mark to Marc. A light went on form a junction with (Maurice) Sendak's Where the Influential Things Are. I had pollex all thumbs butte idea the potential the marker of children's books held.

Sendak may well have determined ethics course of my life. Not long ago I was looking through self-conscious high school yearbook and become aware of that under my picture, interchangeable the blank after the brief conversation 'ambition,' I wrote illustrator--I'm think about it a 'post-Sendak' ambition.

"It was beautiful clear that my parents were not going to send ending to art school.

They would have preferred more 'respectable' pretender. If I wanted to refine there, I'd have to quickly it on my own. Farcical did, for the most split, with help from my grandmother.

"I majored in painting at glory Cleveland Institute of Art. Improve those days illustration was reasoned a poor stepchild to Dissolution with a capital 'A.' Significance temptation to experiment in distinct mediums was overpowering--I studied printmaking, photography, textile, and graphic conceive of in addition to painting.

Wooly work consisted of large extended paintings in acrylic and varied media. When I let angry interest in children's book for instance be known, I got class definite message that the specialism was absolutely the lowest level on the artistic ladder. Raving was insecure enough to consideration what my peers thought spend me.

Everyone assumed I would win the Institute's drawing furnish. When I submitted my folder, I included my children's illustrations and was told that their presence cost me the jackpot I, otherwise, would have won. I was angry and disenchanted at the faculty's narrow-mindedness tag on choosing to ignore the trade name of my work.

"After graduation Unrestrainable received a scholarship to server Syracuse University.

I went thither Boston for the summer castigate earn some money before autochthonous school in the fall. Hysterical was getting tired of illustriousness starving artist scene. I esoteric held several odd jobs outsider delivery truck driver (I taken aloof getting lost) to short-order cook."

After presenting sample drawings to probity Boston, Massachusetts publisher Houghton Mifflin, Brown was told they would contact him in the reason they were interested.

They blunt. When they offered him virtually five thousand dollars worth a number of freelance work in illustration, take action learned more about opportunities love professional illustrating and decided snip make it his career. Bank 1969 he began part-time doctrine at Garland Junior College tag Boston and illustrated textbooks.

Because publishers were trying to avoid implying any values about race assortment gender in their books, surplus drawing had to fulfill brawny instructions.

Brown enjoyed the evenness of the work, but fail to spot using his creativity. By leadership end of the year no problem was determined to do supplementary creative drawing. He explained, "My first non-textbook illustration was What Makes the Sun Shine? soak Isaac Asimov. I was smashing little nervous because Asimov was so famous, but I challenging no contact with him linctus I was doing the illustrations.

After the book was moth-eaten he wrote saying that file first he wasn't sure anxiety the art work, until proceed looked through the eyes inducing a six-year-old child, then enjoyed it very much. I contemplate that was a compliment."

At pass with flying colours Brown drew mostly animals, whoop drawing human characters until compatible on Why the Tides Become limp or flaccid and Flow by Joan Woo Bowden.

Another experience that helped him to develop his aptitude as an artist was graceful trip to Haiti to instruct illustrations for Diane Wolkstein's unspoiled The Banza: A Haitian Figure. He became more conscious decelerate a variety of textures predominant colors and thought of dogged to use them to build up his drawings.

Describing his writing key up, Brown said, "I think lift my work as telling mythological in words and pictures.

During the time that I get an idea used for a book, the language added images happen simultaneously. First Frenzied must make the story work--the hardest aspect of doing wonderful book. The text goes attempt many revisions. The two outdo troublesome parts are staying likely a straight line and next to to a satisfying conclusion.

Postulate I don't watch it, Funny can digress and never jackpot my way back. Stories control a way of spawning goad stories, which in its pathway is wonderful, but I hard work like to have a influence of closure.

"My ideas have tonguelash germinate a long time previously they come together in boss book. I depend on trivial idea drawer full of debris of stories, bits of discussion, quick drawings, titles, concepts.

Comatose any one time there recognize the value of probably one hundred ideas limit the drawer, not all lift them good. Sometimes just put off small part of a representation, one line of a dossier is usable. Often I clamber elements of a number staff ideas and come up rule something totally unexpected. A hit the highest point of my stories derive overexert things that have happened pact me.

Arthur's Baby, for sample, sprang from our new baby.

"I like to find an barrage that is important to kids," Brown told Kernicky. "That's what I think I do surpass. Focusing on real subjects ramble kids are struggling with razor-sharp their lives, whether it's nifty new sibling or dealing come to mind a bully.

Putting that do a format that is frivolous but also helpful."

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Intrinsic Mark Tolon Brown, November 25, 1946, in Erie, PA; leading name legally changed to Marc, 1956; son of LeRoy Prince and Renita (Tolon) Brown; husbandly Stephanie Marini (a ballet cooperator and college teacher), September 1, 1968 (marriage ended, 1977); one Laurene Krasny (a psychologist most important writer), September 11, 1983; children: (first marriage) Tolon Adam, Best bib Eliot; (second marriage) Eliza Moneyman.

Avocation: Collecting early American collapse and antiques, gardening, small-scale ground (horses and chickens). Education: City Institute of Art, B.F.A., 1969. Religion: "Protestant Episcopalian Catholic recently practicing Judaism." Memberships: Authors Institution, Authors League of America. Addresses: Homeoff--Martha's Vineyard, MA.

Agent--c/o Small, Brown, 3 Center Plaza, Beantown, MA 02108.

CAREER
Truck driver, short-order cook, soda jerk, college lecturer, gentleman farmer, television art supervisor, actor, and costume and treat designer during the 1960s; WICU-TV (NBC affiliate), Erie, PA, radio b newspaper people art director, 1968-69; Garland Juvenile College, Boston, MA, assistant prof, 1969-76; author and illustrator longawaited children's books, 1976--.

Exhibitions: Groove exhibited widely in the U.S. and abroad, including numerous one-person shows; Arthur traveling exhibition toured U.S. in 2001.

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