Sunday, July 11, 2010

Delayed and well overdue update


Hi guys,
Unbelievably, my book is still not done. I am doing my final revisions/corrections this week and then I should be done. Now that it is almost done, I can be introspective and see what I have done and how much I learned. I am glad I took on this project...:)

I am moving into town this month and I was sick almost all of June, so my time now and over the past 2 months has been really, really tight. I am still working on digital stamps and rubber stamp designs as my main source of productivity and income, but I have a goal of changing that this year. I have a new focus on creating a portfolio for children's books, instead of portrait shots for stamps after attending an excellent conference with Terri Murhpy and Kelly Bennett. It was very inspirational. Terri is the illustrator of many books and over the two-day conference I really enjoyed picking her brain, learning how her technique developed and just how she goes through the process. It also made me decide to give myself a break and take the time needed to be as good as I can be now and take more time getting better...looking over illustrations from 2 years ago, it is amazing to me how much change has happened. LOL So the main idea is that, you are never anywhere but where you are so, so you are as good as you are now, and in 2 years you will be better...
That was the main message I took away from the conference...stick to your style, develop it and be true to that...no matter how long it takes.

I don't have any new pieces started for that process, but here is one shot from the book that should be completed this week.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

cute illustration! Good to see you wanting to commit to book illustrating - I also keep finding myself getting distracted by other projects (among other things).

My only concern for your illustration that you posted is the green of the character and the green of the grass...just be sure to make them different enough that the character stands out.

I like the purple trees and the way you laid out the spread. Good job so far!

pete said...

There's nothing better than getting advice from the pros, is there? I say go for it, as well! :)

Your illustrations look great. I like the clouds floating around Earth and the spaceship view. The alien frog guy is pretty awesome!

Best of luck. Keep us posted!