Storybook Map & SCBWI Summer Conference

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This is a pen & ink drawing I did the other day as a storybook map for Jack & the Beanstalk. As a kid, I always loved maps included in books. I think I may go ahead and color this one as well, perhaps with digital watercolor.

In other news, I'm gearing up for the big SCBWI Summer Conference in LA next weekend. I'm excited about my portfolio and the conference is always really inspiring and fun. There's always the hope too that I will make some good business connections and maybe even get "discovered" and hit the big time! :)

For the conference this year, other members of my monthly illustrators critique group, the "OC Illustrators", will be there as well. We're going to wear these fun little buttons with our group's name on it, to advertise ourselves. Go OC Illustrators!

new digital painting

Pin It Now! Here is the digital painting version of the drawing I posted a couple of months ago. I had a lot of fun painting this one. It was fun to do something that had a border again too. A while back I used to use a lot of borders with my illustrations, but I had gotten away from that for a while.

And speaking of stuff I haven't done in a while, I also have a very intricate Celtic page design I'm working on. I have a number of Celtic & Norse designs on my website, but it's not something I have done much of in a while, though I really enjoy it. Anyway, the one I'm working on is pretty much the most intricate one I've ever done. I look forward to finishing it so I can post it.

In other news, teaching is finishing up (yes!) so I'm looking forward to having more time to focus on my artwork. Though I do teach a couple of summer classes as well... Not as rigorous as the regular school year though. I'll be preparing my portfolio for the SCBWI Summer Conference in LA in August. Big opportunity to show my portfolio and seek new work.

Cheers!

Imagination

Pin It Now! Did this other spot illustration drawing recently and enjoyed how it came out. Right now I've been working on a digital painting of a dragon. Sigh. Me and my dragons:) It's in the ugly middle stage right now, but I think it'll work out.

some new stuff

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Well, another long silence, but I've been working on some new stuff that I'm very excited about. I finished work on the assignment I was doing for a small publishing company and I'm very happy with how it turned out. And they like it too--even better! The project was a version of Jason & the Golden Fleece from Greek mythology. I did a series of 8 black & white drawings for the story. I'm also supposed to be doing a color cover for it, but right now that's on hold (they have a blk&wht cover made up for now from one of the drawings). Above you'll see one of the drawings. It was fun and I'm hopeful that it will lead to more work both with this company and beyond that to others.

Cara :)

Comic Con

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Hey everybody,
I attended the famous Comic Con of San Diego for the first time this year...well, I went a couple of years ago, but I'm not counting that because I was only there for about an hour just before it was ending. Anyway, I've been hearing about it forever and I've gone back and forth on whether or not I think it would be worth my while to go. I decided to go ahead and spend a day scoping things out there. Basically, I was looking around to see if there is a market for my artwork there. I also got my portfolio reviewed by a couple of people. After attending, my conclusion is...well, I'm still not really sure. I definitely think that my stuff doesn't fit with a large percentage of the work there (high fantasy and sci-fi), but there was some cool stuff there that is close to what I do. So I think I should keep researching that market and keep myself open to it.
As for how the experience was apart from my "recon" work, it was a fun place to check out. The highlight was getting to watch a demo by one of my favorite illustrators, Gregory Manchess. He was at the Donato Arts booth. It was so cool to watch him paint for about an hour. I was pretty close. He did a painting of Hellboy that looked very cool. It was in oil and he was just very steady and confident in his method. Cool.
I also got to see one of my favorite art instructors, Marshall Vandruff, there. He did a drawing seminar for kids on how to draw monsters, as well as hung out at the booth he shared with the art group he's with. It's called Carbon Canyon Studios and it's he and awesome fantasy artists, Justin Sweet, Vance Kovacs, and John Dickinson. It was cool to catch up with him a little.
Overall, it was really intimidating to see the high level of talent at the conference, even if most of it is not necessarily the kind of stuff that I do. I really feel motivated to keep pushing myself in my artwork and to keep painting and drawing more, more, more!

New Resolves and Summer Teaching

Pin It Now! Here's the latest...I'm continuing to work on the Shunning Tree sequel illustration. It's moving along, but it's not quite there yet. In the meantime, I made a decision not to attend the summer children's illustration conference (SCBWI) in LA after all. In looking over my portfolio, I'm moving in a new direction stylistically in my new stuff. I'm at a point where I don't really like a lot of the stuff in my portfolio--well, I don't think it really fits where I'm at anymore. With my newer pieces, I'm aiming much more specifically at book cover art for middle grade and young adult fantasy. So...I need to spend more time developing this newer work so that I can phase out the older stuff. With this in mind my goal is to produce about 10 new illustrations in the coming year. I think this will really help in going after the specific market I have in mind. Better roll up my sleeves and get to it!

In other news, the summer arts class I'm teaching begins next week. I'll be teaching a 2-Dimensional art class for children ranging from 3rd all the way to 8th grade. There is both a morning and an afternoon class and it lasts for 6 weeks. I'm a little nervous about the wide range in ages. But I'm also hoping to really relax and have some fun since I don't have to worry about grading the work. We're just there to learn and have fun. I'll be experimenting with some new techniques and projects that I hope will turn out really cool.

That's all for now. Hope you're all having a creative summer!

Cara