I’m not sure if we could be great friends, but I want to get to know her better! She seems interesting, artsy, kind, considerate, and curious. I think she wonders about her future, her purpose, how to use her talents. We have so much in common!
Today, we met for coffee.
Tomorrow, who knows?!
I like her.
I hope she likes me too.
-Shanda
Time flies! It has almost been a month since Illustrator’s Day and Springmingle and I’m just now getting around to writing up this post. I took notes for myself and wanted to document the highlights… and the gist of the weekend.
First of all, it was extra fun because I attended with 4 other members of my super critique group! There was definitely something special about our being there together. As each one of us went into the hall for our formal critiques, the others waited in the lobby as if the one being critiqued was in surgery or something. We all came out with good feedback, yet much to work on. I had 2 critiques in a row, because I did a portfolio critique as well as my first manuscript critique! My manuscript was reviewed by Jill Corcoran, an agent with the Herman Agency. She is very straightforward, but kind. She saw a few of my illustrations too so she saw me as a whole package as someone trying to write and illustrate, and do you know what she told me…?
She said (twice by the way), “You have a future in this. Keep working at it.”
Holy cow! That was nice to hear :) It was like she said: You’re not crazy for spending countless hours following this dream. You are getting closer. She didn’t say those words, but I think that’s what she meant :) Of course that MADE my weekend! And yes, I cried when I got back to my critique group. That’s just who I am :)
It was also cool to spend some time with my illustrator buddies too! These girls (Shannon and Christina) are really down to earth and talented. We represent 3 states! We don’t see each other often, but it sure is nice to talk art when we do.
These are just two of the many amazing illustrators I have come to be friends with. I could never list them all, but each one has taught me something different! Lori Nichols, for example, has given me incredible, forehead slapping Photoshop tips and an beautiful example of a mother-of-three living this dream! The openness and honesty of Kristen Applebee, Prescott Hill, Alison Hertz, and Elizabeth Dulemba‘s journeys are dear to my heart as well. Thanks for all you do and for sharing what you know with me.
Since I was one of the first 12 to sign up for Illustrator’s Day, I was able to participate in the assignment art directed by Mark Braught! Here are some sketches and the final, although I feel it got too busy. And I prefer the cropped vignette image at the top of this post best :)
The weekend started with Illustrator’s Day (just for artists) with the silly Chad Beckerman (Abrams Creative Director), the hilariously honest Will Terry (Professional Illustrator), and the genuine, Dianne Hess (Scholastic Press Executive Editor).
Chad said that postcards are a pretty good, efficient way to send art samples to him. He also has been finding illustrators on Instagram! His big message was to get away from the idea that your work is “precious.” Because that way of thinking stifles you from changing and exploring as deeply as we need to as illustrators. Stay loose, free, full of life! Not, museum precious.
Will hit us with tons of graphs and charts about the market, reality, and moving forward. His big message was to be an illustrator entrepreneur. Do all the things we need to do to get traditionally published, there’s nothing like it, but ALSO do your own thing. That may mean apps, quality self-publishing, editorial art, other art forms, etc. To make it as an illustrator for a career, we must DO BOTH (traditional and our own thing). That was nice to hear, because I would love to try a few apps with my husband :) What if I could bring in some income from an app… what if? My dad would love this guy! He’s always telling me… “why don’t you just make your own books?”
Will’s recipe to be successful on your own:
1. Perfect your craft. Know who you are. (Working on that.)
2. Build a microphone. Blog! (Doing that right now!)
3. Develop a good idea.
4. Make a product that is amazingly _________. If you have a computer, you have a factory.
5. Tell the world. Blog, submit to review sites, etc.
6. Never quit, commit for life.
Then Springmingle heated up…
Carmen Deedy started off the weekend with a speech that made the entire audience cry! Not just me- everybody! Her words made me realize that the reason I am so passionate to do this is because I am absolutely IN LOVE with the idea of being a part of the children’s book world. Having a hand in kids reading and imagining stories (in my time, from my head) is pretty cool. I AM in love with that idea. It’s actually very romantic :)
Then Nikki Grimes told about enjoying the process. God loves puzzles and He gives you the different pieces you’re going need at the right time. Trust.Be patient.
I loved Dianne Hess’s genuine passion for books. And Katherine Jacobs’ sweet, yet stern way about her. She knows what she wants. Katherine was very easy to talk to as well. She read “My Friend Rabbit” to us…. beautiful!
Chad ended the weekend with a presentation on Finding Your Voice… which seems to be the same as finding your joy! Whatever is immediate, easy for you, and joyful is what you should be doing. For some reason, artists think that they should struggle with their work or it isn’t good, but that isn’t true! But we must expect failure some of the time. FIND JOY IN MAKING :)
So, that is what I’m off to do!
-Shanda
Let’s face it, I’m a Georgia Peach. I like seeing trees, baby cows, and stars. I LOVE seeing the stars! But anyone who knows me well knows that a part of my heart belongs to Brooklyn, New York. I lived there with my husband and dog for a short year. What I miss the most is being in close proximity to other artists at every moment of every day. You breath it in. You eat it. You live it. Art seeps in.
I grew an admiration for graffiti there (especially in SoHo). It was more beautiful, skilled, and humorous than anything I’d seen in Atlanta. I thought about who those artists were. When did they create these masterpieces so no one would see them doing it? How did they get up there? Did they live these intense underground artist lives? Or were they just normal like me, and secret about it?
With that being said, its easy to see why I had the urge to illustrate a chicken writing graffiti, right? A clashing of my worlds :) I even wrote a story with this idea. It’s a work-in-progress still. But I wanted to share this illustration with you, because I think I’m headed in a decent direction with it. I would do several things differently on the next one, but I learned a lot from this. Here are my thoughts through it’s development…
Every illustration starts off with a little research and play!
Then I sketch out my ideas. I did several before I finally decided on this sort of composition. I liked the trapped/caught moment and how it lets the graffiti play a large part of the picture.
I had a work day and just wanted to work on the chicken character by itself. Here is my first draft. This chicken looks like a boy, and I didn’t like that. I wanted her to have a little artsy personality, so I added the bandana. All my chickens rock them.
Then I did a lot of web research on writing graffiti. I learned about throw-up (quick bubble lettering), block buster (blocky lettering), and wild style (almost illegible/abstract lettering), and the best paint to use. I found Montana Gold spray paint easily at Dick Blick. It was pricey! But SO good. I tried my own (totally legal) below…
So then I took a photo and tried to combine this and my chicken character. The result was un-unified. They just didn’t mesh together (probably because I lack many Photoshop skills), and it also didn’t feel kid friendly to me…
I researched and found some lettering that inspired me more on a kid level.
I looked at Loren Long’s “Otis” for how he used muted colors for the backgrounds and black outlines throughout. He is also painterly, which I tend to admire.
I painted a whole new background with brushes (instead of spray cans) for control.
Too bright! So I took away the color and liked it better.
Then I worked on my chicken character again… Better, but still too bright. I like the primary color palette.
Then I worked on piecing everything together digitally. I don’t care for that so much. I still feel that there is some disconnect in the picture (again, probably because I need to brush up on Photoshop skills). And lots of staring, thinking, tweaking, playing, changing, trying, undoing, muting colors…
And finally… Voila!
Hope you enjoyed this post- the good, the bad, and the ugly :) -Shanda
I happened upon The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett and Poly Bernatene (published by Walker and Company, a division of Bloomsbury. Originally published in Great Britain by Macmillan 2011) at my local bookstore. I was browsing for some inspiration and I found some with this book! I was so impressed by this very strong story paired with these very strong illustrations… Together they made MAGIC for me! (That’s the sweet spot all of us illustrators and writers strive for).
This is a story of switched fates blamed on good AND bad fairies (although there are no fairies in this book at all). As events unfold, the characters come to conclusions based on books like Sleeping Beauty, Thumbelina, The Prince and the Pauper, The Frog Prince, and Puss in Boots. This book is funny and serious with a large theme of fate and things working out for the better even if by accident or not.
This book (which is now on my favorites list) is unusually long for a modern picture book. I only noticed because I counted about 800-900 words. But I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. It flows so seamlessly with perfect exciting pace, and didn’t once feel long. With that being said, my 2-year-old got antsy, but I was glued! The length and the humor is probably best for 4-5 year-olds.
I like to compare stories I like to the “picture book structure guidelines” I learned from a webinar instructed by literary agent, Mary Kole. These guidelines seem strict to me, but more often than not, I see that she is usually correct. This story doesn’t follow her formula perfectly until spreads 9-11 where the stakes rise, then climax at spread 12, and spreads 13 and 14 are the resolution pages. This book also is dead on with Mary’s statement that a picture book is usually 14.5 spreads.
So, as you can see, I just had to add this book to my collection! This is a great find and a great book!
My baby is my muse. Here’s some practice I did of her profile. Kids are so hard! Their faces are teeny and this ended up looking nothing like my particular kid… Maybe the overall shape might be close, but the face looks too old. Kids are tough to draw. But I really enjoyed charcoal pencils after a long time of not having any. My daughter added the abstract shapes and color around figure- she’s brilliant!
Well this is a good time to update you on what I’m currently working on. I’m proud that I have a manuscript written. It’s still too long and lacking something, so I’ve signed up for a formal manuscript critique at SCBWI Southern Breeze Spring Mingle (February 20-something). This should be interesting. It’s my first time doing this, so I’m just hoping I don’t get too discouraged by the feedback. I’m an artist who is wondering if she has a CHANCE of being able to write too. We’ll just have to see!
For Illustrator’s Day (which is now attached to Spring Mingle), I’ll be working on an illustration with guidance from Mark Braught. It’s sort-of a how you see yourself kind of assignment. Still thinking about this one, but I’ll try to show my progress as I go, like I did last year. Let’s hope it’s awesome enough to put on a postcard to send out to editors and art directors:) I’m really trying to figure out who I am as an illustrator. I feel like this year is going to be a very important year of my figuring some of that out… maybe :)
Well, that’s it for now! Have a great week.
-Shanda
Hello! It’s a new year, and I was glad to have a project to do right away to get me warmed up to illustrating and writing in 2013! I’m excited for this new year, wondering what surprises (and hopefully lovely surprises) this year may have in store for me and my family. As I reflected on the past year, I am so very proud to be a part of the SCBWI community, my local SCBWI chapter: Southern Breeze, and my amazing, wonderful, how did I ever live without, local critique group of 7 incredibly creative folks!
So when I was asked by Southern Breeze to create a postcard for the published (PAL) members of our chapter I of course said yes! A chance to give back to one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of!
This postcard is for sending and handing out to schools and libraries in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Basically, it’s a quick list of the published authors and illustrators living locally that are available to come speak to kids about reading, writing, and illustrating books. This list includes picture book authors/illustrators, middle grade authors/illustrators, and young adult novelists. And not ALL of them out there are on this postcard. More can be found at SCBWI.org then click on Find A Speaker. If you are a teacher, media specialist, or parent, please consider organizing a visit from a local published author or illustrator. I would have really benefited from a visit like this when I was in school. For most of my life, I assumed successful illustrators only lived in New York City or something – but that is NOT the case!
Until asked to design this postcard I didn’t realize Southern Breeze produced a promotion like this to reach out to schools and libraries. I think it’s amazing, and it just impressed me that much more!
Happy New Year, y’all! May it be filled with creativity and joy!
-Shanda
P.S.) After I created this postcard and sent it in, I realized that the young illustration may not be the best type of image to encompass all the different children’s genres. It’s okay for picture book folks and decent for some young middle grade/early chapter bookers, but I might have missed the boat on representing books for older children. And for that, I apologize. No one said anything to me to make me think this. It’s an observation of my own. Hey, I’m still learning :) If asked to do this project another year, I will definitely approach it with a more all-encompassing image. I DO hope I get to asked to do more stuff like this. I really enjoyed it!
Okay, so I’m trying to fit in an Illustration Friday sketch. The theme is tree. I know. It’s a stretch. But then again, not so much- I tried something new tonight. I’m reaching a little further into my artistic unknown. It might work out. It might not. Bare with me :)
I was admiring the work of LeUyen Pham tonight. I just checked out “Vamperina Ballerina” from the library. She’s amazing. I love how her characters have this retro-ness to them. Does anyone else see that? It’s marvelous. So I was inspired to play around with my own ballet character. She looks a little caricature-ish, but not as much as the first 10 I tried. I just need to work with her some more, but I wonder if this kind of stylistic character could ever be a part of my art? Maybe. I’m going to have to flow with the wind on this one, work with her some more and follow my branches, and see what the season has in store for me!
Happy Fall Y’all! (had to say it :)
I can’t believe it… I did a painting just for ME! I enjoy doing portraits, and it was high time I painted Sweet Pea :) This painting was inspired by all the bazillions of spiders that this kid draws. I mimicked them as best as I could on this plywood.
And from all the children’s book studying I’ve done lately, I’ve become wondrously fascinated with childhood. It’s an interesting thing… a precious, fleeting thing. The best description I can give it is ‘the world that I believed I lived in before I grew up’. Hmmm… I think I’d like to do a few more of these paintings… with other cool kids and their drawings!
This was my Halloween Surprise! (below)… Spiders ON THE WALL! Oh well, I guess that’s going to happen once in a while when your kid loves to draw. I asked her why she did it, and she said, “because she didn’t have any paper.” So, as a warning to all the moms out there – keep paper readily available to your kids or this might happen to you too!
Now, I’m sure you’re just dying to know how HJ creates these fabulous spiders. Well, you’re in luck! HJ graciously let me video her process so everyone can draw spiders! Happy Halloween! Hope you enjoy this tutorial:
These past few weeks I haven’t felt much like drawing. No particular reason, but every time I sat down to draw- I ruined it. So I didn’t draw at all for several days. This was a good experiment for me. For the first few days it was freeing, like a burden lifted from my shoulders. The next couple days I started to get snappy and feeling like getting published traditionally was a mountain too high for me to ever climb. Self-doubt can consume me. I heard a few success stories of others that brought me down … from jealousy I’m embarrassed to say. Sometimes I think that unless you live in New York City, just forget it. And then that just makes me mad, because there is so much beautiful culture in this country beyond what is found in one or two cities. The Southern culture is incredibly interesting and brave with a code of its own. Maybe I should think about incorporating the South into my work more! But I’m sure it’s like an accent. Other’s can hear it even when you don’t think you have an accent at all :) And so I ramble…
The moon has been incredible lately. I can talk best to the Lord when I look at the moon. I know He is working on me. I know this. So why do I grow impatient? I know that God has a plan just for me that no one else can have… a path paved JUST FOR ME. So why in the world, do I feel sad when others around me seem to jump ahead of me? I know I really don’t want my dreams to come true unless it’s in God’s plan for me. At a time when He is ready for me to have it. The reason is because I’m human. My spirit is willing to wait, but my body and mind is weak when it comes to actually enduring that wait. I am wise enough to know that I can’t do it alone, and I don’t want to. When I draw for myself, I stink at it. But when I draw while leaning on Him, I’m always amazed!
I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Jeremiah 10:23
When I can shut-up the other voices in my head, and let the part of me that knows Christ best speak, it reminds me that God loves me so much! Even more than my mom! And that little feeling inside my heart that just knows I’m going to be used in a big way was placed there by God to get me through this season of waiting.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Psalm 37: 4-7
Writing this post has helped me sort through some thoughts… thanks for listening. I’m left with the notion of how special this waiting season is. It gives me time to spend with my two-year-old and husband. This is not a season to be sad about. I want to enjoy it, and I can just give my worries, dreams, and burdens to the Lord and have a truly joyful heart – now! My Lord is “on it!” So, I’m about to go enjoy dinner with my sweet family … thank you, Lord, for the times you give us to simply sit and wade.
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