Shennen Bersani

I am a children's book illustrator.

I knew I wanted to be an artist since I was four years old. Back then, I used to watch my grandmother draw with Crayolas on corrugated cardboard boxes she cut into square 'canvases'. She taught me how to draw juicy red apples.

I incorporate my love of drawing and of nature into my illustrations. I work primarily with colored pencils; sometimes using a mixed-media technique of colored pencils, crayons, and paint. Sometimes I scan my drawings into my computer and completely 'paint' over them in Photoshop. My two techniques are self taught.

After attending The Art Institute of Boston, I spent eight years hand lettering signs for a chain of ski stores, Ski Town USA. I have been a freelance illustrator since 1989.

I have taught colored pencil classes and workshops, judged art exhibits, designed and painted backdrops for community theatre, and illustrated surgical tools for Johnson & Johnson and Codman & Shurtleff.

I was a sidewalk artist drawing dinosaurs for The Discovery Channel's Walking with Dinosaurs campaign.

I have taught Drawing from Dramatic Perspectives at the Norman Rockwell Museum.

I have taught Advanced Photo Portfolio Seminar at Massasoit Community College, Canton Massachusetts.

I illustrated
Icky Bug Shapes written by Jerry Pallotta,
published by Scholastic Books 2003;
Ocean Counting Odd Numbers written by Jerry Pallotta,
published by Charlesbridge Publishing 2005;
Sharks! Big, Bigger, Biggest written by Jerry Pallotta,
published by Scholastic Books 2005.
Snakes! Long, Longer, Longest written by Jerry Pallotta and Van Wallach, Scholastic, 2006.

I am also illustrating The Eyeball Alphabet Book written by Jerry Pallotta.
The Feeding Tree written by Pamela Hall, Mitten Press, 2008
My Sister, Alicia May written by Nancy Tupper Ling, Pleasant Street Press, 2008.

My presentations bring children along with me on my often humorous quests to research and hunt down my "models" on beaches, boats, city streets, even in the dusty private collections of eccentric professors. Children will learn valuable observational and research skills with my fun and interactive presentation and become young authors and illustrators themselves.

Included is a video clip of my handling a rare two-headed milk snake that will be included in Snakes! Long, Longer, Longest. This is part of a 20 minute movie I show describing my work and how I create it. I even fall off a dock and "swim" with a Great White shark!

I am available for Conferences, Teacher Workshops, Young Author Fairs and School and Library Visits. I discuss all the stages of creating a picture book, from initial sketches, researching, illustrating with traditional media and using a digital tablet, through design and production. And, of course, what it's like working with the wonderful Jerry Pallotta! I have an informative and colorful PowerPoint Presentation which includes a digital tablet demonstration. Cost is $1,000.00 a day.

Also available:
Small classroom workshops featuring hands-on production of a booklet of students' own work are available. Up to 15 students per workshop, workshop length is approximately 3 hours. Students should have worked on a story with basic illustrations ahead of time. Special care will be taken to help students design pages and develop finished illustrations.

I bring all the computer equipment to produce their booklets in your classroom. An extra $90. a workshop is required to cover the cost of inks and paper.

Email me for further details.
referrals available upon request.