Lookie!

I got copies of the magazine pieces I did a few months back. Please excuse the poor photography. My camera is broken and I used my iPad to take these. It's such a cute magazine and I recognized the cover illustration by Julissa-Mora right away. She has a portfolio on That's My Folio too! Cute stuff! Check her out!

Illustration Friday-Scary!

Here is an Illustration Friday post for Scary. This guy doesn't really seem so scary though, I think it's the pink hair. He's recycled from an older illustration, but I wanted to participate this week. I'm  a busy girl.

Boo! Did I scare you? It's time to get cracking on a costume for Halloween. I have no costume, but my little guy insists that I will be a "Mommy Stegasaurus" and he's going to be the "Baby Stegasaurus". His costume is covered...what in the world will I do?

Things are shaping up on the iPad app I'm working on. It will be so exciting when it is all done and released to itunes! It'll be all kinds of fun!

I hope everyone has a fun Halloween weekend!

That's My Folio- Featured Artist

That's My Folio has selected me as this week's featured artist! I'm so honored. A while back they offered me a free year's membership to their portfolio site, and boy did I need that! I am really liking being involved with them. They are so helpful and I just love how it looks. Plus, I'm surrounded by so many talented illustrators, it's just so very cool. Thanks so much Patrick and Lanette! What a great service for illustrators!

SCBWI conference inspiration

So a few weeks back I went to my first SCBWI-Carolinas conference. Wow, what an eye opening experience!  It was a whirlwind of information and meeting great and talented people! It's taken me weeks to absorb all that I learned, really I'm still processing it all. I won't be able to capture it all here on my blog.

Friday morning of the conference, I attended David Diaz' Illustration Intensive. That was so fun, like being in art school again.  He had emailed each of us a line or two of text from a manuscript and we were to show up with our sketches for our assigned text. It was so nerve wracking to show my sketch to the group, but did it any way. It was so interesting to see everyone's interpretation of the text they were given.  David then went on to teach us his incredible technique using layers of charcoal and paint on masonite. His technique resulted in such a beautiful piece, rich with depth and texture. It was so inspiring to try a new technique. Especially after working digitally for so long. I was rusty with the paintbrush and paint, but I'll give myself a pass since it's been so long. I'm thinking my next class will be a painting class to oil up those painting muscles again. It was FUN. Just soo much fun, I tell you!

Here is my 2nd sketch after some critiquing from David. (It's Mama Nature sleeping...don't wake her!) 

Later that day, I had a portfolio review with Lucy Ruth Cummins, an art director from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and Paula Wiseman Books. Man, was she ever so delightful! I loved her quick and funny way of getting to the point about my work. She told me where I could pare down my portfolio to the strongest pieces, and told me which of my work was the best and some hints to make it more marketable, and who I should market to. She said some really nice things about my work, which made me feel so great! On a side note about Lucy, her style and energy are just so adorable, I can picture her animated in a cartoon with her  big glasses and little doggie sidekick wearing her kicky summer dresses. CUTE AS A BUTTON! I also really enjoyed her workshop on "Making your Work Marketable and Getting the Word Out".

Here are some highlights from her workshop:

• Make sure your work is deftly done
• Do topical and trend-setting work with emotional resonance
• Do character studies from every angle
• Make dynamic work
• Don't ignore the boy market
• Draw everyday! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!

The agent panel was also filled with juicy tidbits of inspiration. Basically, I learned that my work needs to come from an "organic place" that stands out and peaks their interest. Easy, right? Not so much. I've been struggling since then to figure out my "organic place". I know it takes time, and I'm rushing it a bunch.

I have a lot of exciting work ahead of me. The more you learn, the more you realize how much you have to learn. I met so many talented people, and as a crazy great bonus, I got to meet the wonderful Jennifer Bower in person! I'm so grateful that I was able to attend such a fantastic event. For pictures of the conference, take a look at my Flickr.

Hibernate!

It's been so long since I've done Illustration Friday. It seems like I've said that a lot in the past 3 years, but Jennifer Bower inspired me with her cute blue bear. I struggled with finding time for this one, so I decided to give myself permission to be loose and a bit sloppy. I'm a little paralyzed by over thinking my style since the SCBWI-C conference. I loved my sketch for this, but when I went to finalize it, I couldn't make a decision on what direction to go. I keep hearing voices in my head from Faculty from the conference about colors, style, and whatnot. The color set is more muted than what I normally used, and I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. I will have to revisit this drawing when I have looser deadlines. Here is the sketch...

I still am planning on updating about the über-fabulous SCBWI-C conference. I'm snowed under with deadlines!

Autumn is here!

Guess what time of year it is? My favorite!!! Fall is the best, I swear! The crisp air, the bluest skies, the changing leaves, the smell of leaf piles, and HALLOWEEN.

I'm working on organizing my thoughts on the most inspirational weekend ever at the SCBWI-C conference. So much information and so many nice people. I had so much fun and learned some really useful stuff...STAY TUNED, update coming soon.