CAS Presents Ralph Masiello

On Thursday, October 11th author and illustrator, Ralph Masiello (a.k.a. Ralph "Messy Jello") visited the 1st grade! Ralph shared that he never wanted to be an artist despite his Kindergarten teacher telling him that he was very good at drawing. When Ralph was older, he would go scuba diving and draw what he would see. Someone told him he should pursue drawing and Ralph took his first art class at the age of 20! Ralph attended Rhode Island School of Design and even took classes with Chris Van Allsburg (author and illustrator of children's favorites Jumanji and The Polar Express). Ralph told the children that you'll never know when you get an idea...always keep paper or a journal with you so you won't forget it. Then he shared how one such idea came to him at one of his school visits! He walked us through a hilarious and outrageous story of "The Diaper Tree." Ask your child about this insanely funny and imaginative story!

Then came the moment we were all waiting for...drawing! Ralph has created a "How To" draw book series and showed us some of his most popular books. They are even available in other languages. Ralph showed 1st Graders how to draw a Robot, a Sea Serpent, a Fairy, and a Spider!

Be sure to check out Ralph's website for more information!

Let's Draw!