judygruppSTUDIO: September 2010

Monday, September 27, 2010

Portfolio Critque

Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators

Fabulous Society – anyone interested in children’s books should be a member. I attended a seminar in August hosted by the SCBWI Maryland Chapter. For more years that I’d care to share, I have been obsessed with children’s books - not just the reading of these books, but also the writing and illustrating. I have also attended a number of these workshops, but this is the first one that I decided to have a portfolio critique. I have a mountain of illustrations to choose from – but which ones would be appropriate for this particular portfolio. So I built a portfolio from my favorite whimsical illustrations and took it to the workshop. I won’t keep you in suspense – there were many good things said:

~ Yes I am a good illustrator
~ Yes I did have a recognizable style
~ Yes I demonstrated competency in many mediums
~ My black and white art was good – but the market there is slim
But then came the real critique – the real opportunity to improve – these I will share with you . . .

Sept. 27th 2010

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Work In Progress

I'm taking a small hiatus - not well deserved - unintentional - but necessary. Once again I'm cleaning the STUDIO, located in the garage. But it's more than just cleaning and throwing out trash - this time I'm changing my whole direction. With working full time, I can't devote myself to painting/mixed media/collage, etc. I lose focus if I can't stay with a painting for hours at a time. So I'm boxing, or rather plastic binning, the mixed media painting supplies. Until time allows, maybe when I retire again, I'm going to focus on illustration - particularly - children's picture book art. I've always had a passion for picture books and have dabbled in it for years - but never seriously or as a single focus. This is a good time to give it a go. I already have a library of reference books - no surprise there!