Mary Jane Begin

Senior Critic - Illustration

Mary Jane Begin is an award-winning children’s book author, fine art painter and illustrator. In addition to teaching in RISD’s Illustration department, she is a visiting associate professor and the chair of illustration in the MFA program for children’s literature at Hollins University. Mary Jane lectures, creates workshops, exhibits her artwork and teaches around the globe and via online courses for LinkedInLearning.com and CreativeLive.com
 
Mary Jane collaborated with Hasbro and Little Brown and Company to create the picture books Under the Sparkling Sea and Dragons on Dazzle Island for Hasbro’s My Little Pony franchise. She’s worked with Celestial Seasonings, Mead Johnson and Disney and has received multiple awards from the Society of Illustrators, multiple Awards of Excellence from Communications Arts, the Irma Simonton Black Award and the Critici Erba Prize at the Bologna Book Fair. She won the prestigious Bing Xin Children’s Literature Award for her picture book Willow Buds: The Tale of Toad and Badger. She has also won the Silver Nautilus Award, a National Indie Excellence Award and an Indie Book Award for her latest book Ping Meets Pang. Her artwork has been exhibited throughout the country with one-woman shows at Books of Wonder Gallery in New York and Beverly Hills, at the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, the RISD Museum, Society of Illustrators (NY), the DeCordova Museum and Storyopolis in LA. Her latest solo exhibitions were at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University and the Design Society in Shenzhen, China. 

Academic areas of interest

Begin's interest in the promotion of literacy include numerous conferences and workshops with Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors, the National Family Literacy Conference, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference and the NEA Teacher’s Conference. She has lectured at elementary schools throughout the United States and has also provided pro bono and charity work for the American Library Association, the Rhode Island Library Association, Save the Bay, Horizons Initiative, Gateway Healthcare, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, All Children’s Theatre, The Providence Community Health Center, Reach OutandRead Rhode Island and Providence Community Library.

Courses

Fall 2023 Courses

ILLUS 3036-01 - WHAT'S YOUR STORY?
Level Undergraduate
Unit Illustration
Subject Illustration
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ILLUS 3036-01

WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

Level Undergraduate
Unit Illustration
Subject Illustration
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: M | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Mary Jane Begin Location(s): Illustration Studies Building, Room 408 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

When we read, retell, or illustrate, a story, we reveal something about ourselves. What motivates an artist to explore one particular theme over another? Whether it is a political issue, a personal obsession, or of purely aesthetic interest, this course will require students to find personal meaning in the narrative sources they select for class projects. Assignments will include the creation of a visual development project that culminates in a singular narrative illustration, as well as a series of sequential images for a text, and a final project that may be formatted as book, comic, toy, game or other translation of visual narrative. Discussions will include the integration of text and image, POV, composition for storytelling, character turn-arounds, media usage, and style concerns in the service of communicating the essential meaning of a story.

This course fulfills the Illustration Concepts Elective requirement for Illustration majors.

Open to Junior or Senior Illustration Students.

Elective

ILLUS 3945-01 - DEEP DIVE VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
Level Undergraduate
Unit Illustration
Subject Illustration
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ILLUS 3945-01

DEEP DIVE VISUAL DEVELOPMENT

Level Undergraduate
Unit Illustration
Subject Illustration
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Mary Jane Begin Location(s): Illustration Studies Building, Room 412 Enrolled / Capacity: 0 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Each of us are walking, talking, living stories. From the time we wake up in the morning to tell ourselves what our day will be like to the moment we remember who we've been and who we want to be, we are telling ourselves the stories of our life. Storytelling is a fundamental human act that crosses cultures, ages, ethnicities and genders. Artists often think in pictures, so this course will explore the act of storytelling through the exploration of the visuals in concert with the creation of the words. This course will start with an exercise in multiple iteration of character ideas, story development from the visual, and an investigation of additional characters who provide the foundation for environments and a series of illustrations for a story concept. Ideation, composition, color, discussion of media, style, format, expression of narrative and materials will be reviewed through lecture, guest lecturers in the field, and discussion-both individual and group centered. The format of the course will explore research, mood boards, character development, facial expressions, turn arounds, character interactions, asset creation, thumbnails, color studies and finished illustrations. The focus of the course will be a deep dive into stories that resonate and reflect idiosyncratic and personal interests expressed in any medium that best suits the storytelling.

Open to Junior or Senior Illustration Students.

Elective

Spring 2024 Courses

ILLUS 3716-01 - COLOR WORKS
Level Undergraduate
Unit Illustration
Subject Illustration
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ILLUS 3716-01

COLOR WORKS

Level Undergraduate
Unit Illustration
Subject Illustration
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: M | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Mary Jane Begin Location(s): Illustration Studies Building, Room 408 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This course is intended to help students design with color through the use of acrylics, watercolor, mixed media and a medium of their choice including digital. We will explore ways of creating harmony, contrast, hierarchy, focus, color as an element of expression, for composition and for developing an illusion of space in a work of art. By developing an understanding of opacity, transparency, temperature, value, complementary relationships, saturation and how all work differently depending on the medium, students will gain an understanding of how to create delicious color without fear. Students will be expected to experiment with various color grounds as well as a variety of limited palettes. Assignments will be working from models in costume, include color charts, color studies and culminate in a final series of the students choice.

Open to Junior or Senior Illustration Students.

Elective

ILLUS 4012-01 - SENIOR PORTFOLIO
Level Undergraduate
Unit Illustration
Subject Illustration
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ILLUS 4012-01

SENIOR PORTFOLIO

Level Undergraduate
Unit Illustration
Subject Illustration
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: W | 11:20 AM - 4:20 PM Instructor(s): Mary Jane Begin Location(s): Illustration Studies Building, Room 408 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to help students find their way to the professional marketplace utilizing the best tool available - the portfolio. Be it the freelance advertising, editorial or children's book markets, an animation or gaming studio, a publishing house, gallery or other venue, this course will introduce the components of the portfolio necessary for success. It includes development of both a traditional and online presence, discussions on specific industries, copyright issues, client contracts and pricing guidelines. Each student will create new work to augment their existing portfolio, as well as business cards, a resume, a contact list, invoice and letterhead. The course will also include visiting guest lecturers from a variety of industries. The focus will be to complete a portfolio that serves as a professional tool most suited to each individual's talent and aspirations.

Enrollment is limited to Senior Illustration Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Illustration