Academia as Literary Agent

              I am pleased to announce that I recently signed with Academia Cultural to represent me as my literary agent with the goal of publishing my dual language children’s book. Academia Cultural works with some spectacular authors, illustrators and musicians that are passionate about developing multicultural and linguistically authentic art and literary programs for children. Company Founder, Luis Orozco, Jr has extensive experience in bilingual children's media.

              This started a few weeks ago when I attended Yuyi Morales book signing in Miami, FL. She is the author/illustrator of Viva Frida (McMillan Publishers) that received a Caldecott Honor. I had my three year old son with me who was a bit impatient sitting through the presentation, so we had to step out in the middle of the event to buy a cookie. Fortunately, I had an opportunity to talk to her afterward and she signed a book for my son, she is an incredibly talented artist. While at the event I also met Luis Orozco, Jr and showed him some of my work. We had a tough time talking with my three year old son vying for my attention. I reached out to Luis after the event and we secured a collaboration to have Academia Cultural represent me as my literary agent. My son was the inspiration behind the book I wrote; so I’m glad he was by my side, tugging at my shirt and calling my name, when I secured this step in my illustration career. 

www.academiacultural.com

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”- Paulo Coelho

Importance of diversity in children's books



             As the Director of an early childhood center and the father of a three year old boy, I’ve come to appreciate the first five years of a child's life as critical in laying down the foundation for future health and happiness. A child’s relationships, experiences and environment are central in shaping their view of the world. Picture books help shape that view. Books teach children lessons about life, compassion and how to understand the world. With all the intolerance circulating in our country, children’s books are more important than ever to help break the cycle of fear. Unfortunately, there is a huge diversity gap in children’s publishing. Although 37% of the US population are people of color, only 10% of children’s books published in the past 21 years depict multicultural content. I want my son to be able to identify with the characters in the books he reads and I want him exposed to books that reflect the diversity of our society. When children see diversity in cultures and people in the books they read they can break free of the ignorance, prejudices and stereotypes that blind so many.  

Angel M. Alvarez- Spot Illustration for SCBWI Member newsletter

Giraffe Baseball Pitcher Illustration

I love baseball and drawing animals. So here is a mashup of an unlikely giraffe pitching machine. I love developing these characters. This illustration was painted in acrylics with some color pencil details.

Angel Miguel Alvarez- Giraffe Baseball Pitcher Illustration

Texas Trip Oil Painting

I recently went on a trip to Fort Worth, Texas. I was surrounded by cowboy imagery, horses and a few saloons. I got do see the work of famed western illustrator Frederic Remington and got to attend my first Rodeo. I've always loved drawing cowboys so I got the idea to paint my son and I robbing a bank in the wild west.

Some Photo Reference for Bank Robbery Painting

Angel Miguel Alvarez- pencil drawing for "Texas Bank Robbery" Painting

Angel Miguel Alvarez illustration- Final Oil Painting for "Texas Bank Robbery" oil Painting 

Advanced Illustration Class for Graduate School

The new director for my MFA Program is the amazing C.F. Payne. He did a demo for us at a recent contact period and I got to try out his painting technique. He uses a combination of acrylics, watercolors, oils and colored pencils. He kept encouraging us to experiment, artist have to continuously try new things in order to grow. He said "the only one that takes a risk when creating art is the piece of paper, if it does not work out you can just throw it away." I also got some great feedback from all star illustrator Gary Kelley throughout the week encouraging me to push value, create interesting shapes and push the contrast in my work. It was an incredibly inspiring week and I'm eager to get in the studio and start experimenting.




Angel Alvarez Painting for Advance Illustration Class with C.F. Payne and Gary Kelley

Angel Alvarez- Mixed Media Illustration

University of Hartford- MFA Illustration Class of 2017

D3 Art and Design Expo- Illustration Presentation

This year I had the pleasure of presenting at the D3 Art and Design Expo, an interdisciplinary conference & expo hosted by The School of Entertainment & Design Technology at Miami Dade College. I presented to students and design professionals on a variety of illustration processes and techniques. Was really fun to hang out with art students and discuss how to overcome the challenges that many artist face.

Discussing the pencil stage of an illustration 

Drawing Priates from life

 I’ve always enjoyed drawing from life. Both classical figure drawing and costumed models. It’s an opportunity to study gesture, anatomy and add to my understanding of the figure and form. This knowledge then translates to my illustrations and my characters. I recently went to a figure drawing session to draw one of my favorite genres. Pirates.

Angel M. Alvarez- Illustrator Drawing from life.

Angel M. Alvarez- Pirate Drawings from life

Angel Alvarez Oil Painting at the De Vita Academy of Art



 Over the past few months I've had an opportunity to learn oil painting techniques from an amazing painter Tom De Vita M.F.A.  Tom is a great artist, teacher and most importantly friend. He's had tremendous success with is new art studio De Vita Academy of Art www.dvaart.com He has a great passion for art and he passes that along to every student that comes through the door. I wish him and his wife Lynda much success and happiness.

Angel M. Alvarez- Drawing and Painting at De Vita Academy

Tom De Vita- Painter and Teacher

SCBWI Florida Rising Kite Award 2016

Had a great time at the 2016 SCBWI Florida Conference. I won honorable mention for Rising Kite Illustration Competition.Congrats to all the talented illustrators that submitted entries. Thank you SCBWI Florida!!!

Angel M Alvarez SCBWI Rising Kite Honorable Mention

2016 SCBWI Florida Rising Kite Winners