Changes...

Pin It Now! So I'm trying this new thing of posting something new every week. Sunday is supposed to be "new post" day, so I'm a teensy bit late.

A few changes have been going on. You may notice if you have sharp eyes/sharp memory that I have changed my banner phrase. It used to say "Thoughts and updates about my journey as a children's book illustrator" and now it say "Thoughts and updates about my journey as a fantasy illustrator" Over the summer I decided to make a few shifts with my art goals. I've been pursuing the children's illustration thing for a long time. But I've come to think that I would feel more comfortable switching my focus to the older age crowd. There actually is a fair amount of crossover between the two, but there is a difference. I've felt this change brewing for me for a long time.

At this time I'm working on creating some new work that fits this new focus a bit better. I'm looking into Wizards of the Coast-type stuff, games, comics, etc. We'll see where this goes, but I'm excited!

When I grow up...

Pin It Now! Here's a fun picture that I don't think I've posted before. The above paper is one of those worksheets that you fill in when you are little that asks about what you want to be when you grow up. I'm not sure what age I was when I filled this one out -- 2nd or 3rd grade? My mom dug it up some years ago and I actually hung it on the wall at my graduate illustration show for fun. It hangs on my studio wall now.

It's a little hard to make out, but if you look closely you see that I talk about wanting to be an artist when I grow up. The best part is where I answer "Why do you want to be that?" and one of my answers is because "I'm good at it." Wow, I envy the confidence my littler self had!

I was actually really surprised when my mom showed this to me. I didn't remember writing that at all when I was little. I remember being kind of a reluctant artist really. I certainly always drew, because my mom and sister did so I was always around it. But I didn't really get into it until college. Going into college, my memory is that I majored in art (as well as Criminal Justice of all things) almost by default because I didn't know what I wanted to do.

Growing up, I think I saw my older sister Christa as so much more of an artist than I was. She seemed so much more gifted than I was. On top of that, I was a serious tomboy and pretty much wanted to be outside playing sports of any kind rather than inside drawing. Funnily enough, my mom used to set a kitchen timer to get me to draw (draw for 30 min., etc. and then you can go outside and play). Her trick worked! Now I love to draw:)

Anyway, it's funny now to look back and see the path I've taken to art.

back from the Conference

Pin It Now! So I'm back from the SCBWI Summer Conference in LA. Above you see the name placard from my spot in the Portfolio Showcase. So, how was it? Um... overwhelming, inspiring, intimidating, fun, informative,... Yeah, lots of things. A bunch of my illustrator friends were there and it was nice hanging with them. The workshops and speakers were generally inspiring. There's always a fair amount of repeat information, but there's always some new stuff too. I think my portfolio looked good out there, but I didn't get any solid bites from any editors or art directors (unless I get contacted later, which could happen).

I guess one of the things I came away with was a resolution to try again to broaden my horizons somewhat with my art. Several people mentioned to me that they thought I might be a good fit for the adult-aged fantasy market. Comic-Con would be a good place to explore those options again, though this year's event just passed unfortunately. I've been to Comic-Con a couple of times before, but felt kind of overwhelmed and wasn't necessarily sure how I fit in. I think I'm ready to give that fantasy market another look though.

I think before I start creating some new work, I might spend some time just reading current fantasy to familiarize myself with what's out there. I tend toward classic fantasy & sci fi, so I'm not that up to date on what's in the market these days. Anyone have any tips for me?

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!

Celtic-ness!

Pin It Now! Here is a piece I recently finished that I had been working on for a while. I really enjoy creating Celtic knotwork designs, but haven't done much in a while as I've been concentrating more on my straight up illustrations. I got an itch to get one going though this spring. I didn't know if it would really turn into anything but I'm really happy with how it came out. I'm going to use it as the new front page piece for my illustration portfolio.

For anyone interested, the actual size of this artwork is 5 1/2" x 7". I drew this by hand by first marking out measurements using rulers, compass, etc. I then divide up the larger pieces into more manageable shape sizes. I figure out the patterns I'm going to use and I draw them using a mechanical pencil that I periodically sharpen to a point by rubbing it on a scrap page of paper. I also use bits of tracing paper and graphite transfer the basic shape of repeating sections. The whole process is rather meditative but very enjoyable for me. Kind of like putting together a puzzle, if you enjoy that sort of thing.

This piece got kind of smudgy as I worked on it, so I also had to spend quite a bit of time doing clean-up on it in Photoshop. Oh, and I did the tree on a separate piece of paper and placed it in the center in Photoshop as well.

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!

Portrait

Pin It Now! So I teach a figure drawing class at Orange County High School of the Arts and often we use students as models. This is a drawing I did during class of a student of mine from one of my other classes. She was a great model! I LOVE getting a chance myself to draw during figure class. Sometimes it's hard to wrest myself away when I'm really enjoying a drawing I'm working on :). This drawing was done with black and white charcoal.