This is my journey in creating concepts, writing, illustrating, finding a literary agent, and becoming a published children's book author and illustrator for the picture book genre.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

new artwork this week!

I have been sketching and painting a lot this week. The conference inspired me to work harder. It wasn't easy on my ego to attend a conference like this and put my work out there. Each critique weighed heavily on my heart. It was that change of perspective that balanced it all out for me. Conferences like this allow immersion in an environment where a person is completely surrounded by all things related to that specific passion. I came away from that weekend more enlightened than before. My skills are better fitting the craft that I pursue.  The SCBWI regional magazine is currently accepting art and editorial submissions for their summer magazine. I have submitted an article about the quickfire portfolio review and it was accepted. Of course, I had to piggy back that with some art submissions. It is so important to take those sage words that mentors offer and apply it. That is exactly what I did. I have adjusted my colors a bit, focused more on the foreground detail, and cleaned it up some more. I paid for one review and received 4. I received one from a group of 4 during the quickfire review, one from 4 of my peers and the person who performed my review last November, one from Author/ Illustrator Ruth Sanderson that was very informal and helpful, and one from Lucy Ruth from Simon and Schuster.  Each critique highlighted an area that I could improve in. I took those notes and directly applied to the recent illustrations that I have done. Can you see a difference? The gentleman that reviewed my work previously noticed a huge difference in the last few months. He gave me some wonderful feedback and some great compliments.
Here are my latest pieces. The Ant piece is called "Hang in there!". It is a mixed media which is primarily watercolor with some acrylic and pastels.  The Cat piece is called "Tea for two" and is watercolor.