Wildlife Competition

Thanks to a friend I heard of a last minute competition with BBC. I was able to make this cute painting of a white bellied caique really quick but it's all I will be showing this week. Since things have been so chaotic in the last few weeks I plan on having a large post with overwhelming information on my next project for next Tuesday.

Breakfast

The last few weeks have been a little off for me. I'm still trying to figure out where I want my work to go and how to better my techniques and style. Hopefully a book on children expressions will help me take the first step forward. For today here's more food that has been helping me with my watercolor skills along with a sketch of Gracie.

Gracie

While making a card I came across my newest character. This is much closer to what I would like my work to look like (a little more collage for future work). I wasn't sure were to start for her story so I decided to start with her favorite food. I'll go further into her personalty and likes next week.

Books and Sweets

After my first conference Ive been thinking a lot about my style. I'm really enjoying the medium i use but I'm not there yet in drawing. So Ive been making lots of cute character designs that are a little less realistic and more exaggerated. I'll show my latest cute thing next week! For now here's a pile of books Ive been looking through that have great characters and stories. I also decided to practice my watercolor skills with some cute sweets. As far as valentines day goes, the more obnoxious and corny the products the better. How can anyone hate a day dedicated to chocolate?

SCBWI Winter Conference

There is just so much that has happened this past weekend it's difficult to narrow down everything I have learned. I guess I'll start by saying you should join/read the SCBWI Blog. They wrote about every day, every class and every visiting illustrator and author. They also have interviews and book reviews that are really fun to watch. So let me start by talking about the marketing Intensive for Illustrators and showcase. The day was full of inspiring speeches and lectures. We got to hear from John Rocco, Dan Santat, Sophia Blackall (look into missed connections!), and Dan Yaccarino. Of coarse there were others along with a agent panel. Later in the night we had the showcase. It was 3 hours of over 300 professionals looking through our portfolios but sadly we could not be there. If you want a critique the LA Conference will offer it. (which I will attend one day!)

During the next few days I met some amazing and very talented people, collected a bag full of post cards and made some great friends. One thing I would strongly recommend is bringing an extra tote bag, bag of candy to help make friends, notepad, energy drinks or protein bars, anything to keep you awake. For anyone who has ever had a college art survey that is how the conference felt but in three days time instead of three hours. It was fun and inspiring but at the same time you feel like your head is going to explode from all the information. Again check out the SCBWI blog, join there website, they explain a lot about what a conference is and what you can do to prepare for one.

Also feel free to follow me on twitter, facebook, linkedin, and my blog. I'll try to share as much about my own personal journey in becoming a book illustrator and hopefully help people along the way with their own goals. Starting today I will be posting every Tuesday.

Hungry finished

Here's my finished painting of the dino's. The roses were painful to make and I think I spent way too much time at once on it to decide if I like it or not. My next finished painting will be up by ether tomorrow or the day after. Yay....