Brooke Scudder (1959-) Biography

Born 1959, in Boise, ID; father a salesman, mother's name Sarah Anne (an artist); Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Attended San Francisco Art Institute, 1980-81; California College of Arts and Crafts, B.F.A. (illustration; highest honors), 1990. Hobbies and other interests: Tennis, poetry slams, story telling.

Career

Artist and educator. Illustrator, 1989—; art instructor at University of California, Santa Cruz, and Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA, beginning 2004; art teacher at Children's Art Center; guest instructor at California College of Arts and Crafts.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Independent Booksellers Association, California Writers Club.

Honors Awards

Best in Show, Academy of Art, 1980; Atomic Brain Award, Illustrators Council, 1991; Editors' Choice designation, San Francisco Chronicle, 1996, for Francis, the Earthquake Dog by Judith Ross Enderle and Stephaine Gordon Tessler.

Writings

ILLUSTRATIONS

Joan Nathan, The Children's Jewish Holiday Kitchen: Seventy Ways to Have Fun with Your Kids and Make Your Family's Celebrations Special, Schocken Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Dunston Harris, Island Barbecue, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1995.

Judith Ross Enderle and Stephaine Gordon Tessler, Francis, the Earthquake Dog, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1996.

Jonathon London, If I Had a Horse, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1997.

Kristen Hall, Noah's Arc, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1997.

Iyanla Vanzant, One Day My Soul Just Opened Up, Universe Publishing, 1999.

Contributor of illustrations to Island magazine.

Work in Progress

Several children's books; research into the factors leading to the development of modern art.

Sidelights

Brooke Scudder is an illustrator of numerous children's books, among them If I Had a Horse by Jonathon London and Francis, the Earthquake Dog, penned by Judith Ross Enderle and Stephaine Gordon Tessler. Helen Rosenberg, reviewing the former work for Booklist, noted that "The magnificence of the book lies in the way that the poetry is so wonderfully captured by the folk-art-like illustrations, which, using bold, vibrant colors, adds a tropical Latin flavor." Similarly, in a review of Francis, the Earthquake Dog, Booklist contributor Ilene Cooper commented that Scudder's "unusual artwork … makes this story." The "refined" watercolor illustrations are "executed in smooth, rich colors, giving the art an almost air-brushed look." Cooper ultimately dubbed Francis: The Earthquake Dog an "unusual, attractive choice."

Scudder told Something about the Author: "My art is influenced by Picasso, Sonia Delaunay, e. e. cummings, Zora Neal Hurston, basil, cinnamon, and love. Art is communication. I want my communication to be about the quickest way to heal, through joy.

"I have taken cubism to a personal level. I want to show time, movement, changing emotions all in a 2-D form. This is achieved by differing perspectives and shadows, indicating that one is moving through a picture. Through a musical rhythm, using repetition of a design, I direct the viewer's attention."