IF - CRACKED

Personal Growth

In the past year I can say I've had a lot of growth. I think any artist who continues to work at their craft should have growth of some kind. The degree to which I have grown is the most obvious to me when I pull out my portfolio and look over the work I have in there from last year.

(Look: people!)

Last year I was determined to stick with acrylic paints. Watercolor was the enemy and I had tried and failed too many times with it to even consider it. Then I found a pack of guoache tubes stashed in the back of my supply closet. I decided to give them a try, since I was just playing around. This wasn't anything that had to go in my portfolio, or that I had to even show anyone. The result was a sleeping fox whose colors were vibrant and interesting. I took it a step further an outlined him using a brush rather than my dip pen. I liked him even more. He felt more organic to me...not so forced or confined.

Since then I've continued to push myself in this new medium and have found I really enjoy the colors and movement I can get. I've also continued to push myself in the unfamiliar territory of people and couldn't be more delighted with the results.

I don't know if I can say that I'm strictly sticking with guoache, but now that I've figured out some of my strengths and weaknesses through my experiments with it I am definitely feeling more comfortable and confident in the direction I am heading.

Busy, busy!

A lot can happen in a short space of time. As I continue to work on my style and evolve as an illustrator, I check back in with some of my older work to see how far my progress is coming along — or not. This example is from a book dummy I created more than a year ago and submitted to a publisher just before the end of 2008.

They really liked the story but felt the artwork was too mass-market and didn't look quite finished. They asked me to revisit the art and then they'd take another look at it. I reworked the art — as you see to the right. What a difference! Colors stronger, characters more refined and overall this is much more in keeping with my style of today. Despite an enthusiastic and positive response from the editor, the book didn't make it in.

The final comments were that my illustration style is better suited to the older picture book audience. Interesting. I've had other feedback to say my work has a younger appeal. It's all subjective. I'm okay with it. I was really grateful for the experience despite the outcome.

Redoing the art made me realize how far I have come in just a year and in fact, makes me want to see how far I can keep pushing myself. I look at artists who are well established after many years of being published. When you compare their earlier work to something more current, they too have evolved and they haven't stopped. The idea of new discovery year after year is exciting.

How do you see yourself in your process and progress when looking back?

Status

I just wanted to stop in and let you know that there's a lot going on this month. (Portfolio Cramming, Dummy Book Completion, etc.) I'll probably not be posting to this blog. I will be maintaining my blog though, so stop in if you want to see what's going on. Hope you are all doing fantastic. (I know Leeza must be, hee-hee!)

My latest watercolor experiment

2009! Oh how I love to make lists of my intentions. I'm turning over a new leaf this year and trying to take manageable steps towards my goals, rather than leaps and bounds that end up fading away by mid February.

1. Re-vamp my website. (Hopefully in the next month, to help with promotion for The Secret Circus, and Clover Twig.)

2. Get even a little bit comfortable with public speaking. (Gulp. I can't believe that I'm going to be speaking to groups in a few months about these books. This is very scary to me.)

3. Get better at time management (so far, so good 2009! I have a new system that involves a lot of push-pins and a giant cork board, that really seems to be working for me.)

4. Complete YA novel that I've been trying to complete for three years. (This is the year, I feel it.)

5. Increase income, and accept that the way I make money is weird. (Money comes to me in chunks, and I am grateful for that. I just need to accept that that's how it happens, and plan accordingly with what I've got.)

6. Finish artwork for Bandits!

7. Work on new really tough dummy idea that I have. (It seems way beyond my skills, but I'm really excited about it, and want to give it a shot.)

8. Work on a new manuscript/dummy about person or event from history (This feels like a good challenge.)

9. Infuse fun into every possible place! (yeah!)

My year ahead

"Stop trying to give us [art directors/editors/others] what you think we want to see. Just be yourself."
-- Chad Beckermann, Harry N. Abrams

I don't know where this year is going to take me but I love the idea of surrendering to the Universe and letting be what will be. If one, or some, or all of the following things happen along the way, then that would be simply wonderful!

• Letting go.

• Receiving positive feedback about some submissions that I sent out in 2008. (I have learned to believe that rejections can be positive also).

• Revamp my Web site.

• Experiment with my artwork to see where I can take it next.

• Figure out how to generate some income. Being out of work again is tough, but I truly believe I will find a way. hmmm, maybe an Etsy store!

...and finally ...

• Slow down. (We'll see!)

Intentions for 2009

Design and create a new website using Dreamweaver
Learn how to color work digitally (Photoshop class starts next week!)
Write at least four manuscripts (11 ideas!)
Submit Dummy Book (I'll be able to submit to four closed houses after Feb.)
Attend SCBWI Summer Conference (DUH!)
Update Portfolio quarterly
Create a promotional mailer (I have an idea percolating...)
Compile a relevant publisher’s mailing list and send mailer (Already started)
Participate in SCBWI online contest (Competition is good for the soul, right? *snort!*)
Continue to create personal artwork (Nothing inspires me like creating for the pleasure of it!)
Maintain activity with local SCBWI chapter (I jumped in with both feet in October!)
Create an artist’s statement (More for myself than any high-falutin' reason)
Figure out how to more efficiently connect all social networking (Seriously, Facebook, Myspace, Blogger, Twitter...there's gotta be a better way to run all of these things!)
Mick Jagger (Kathi Appelt calls doing what you were put on this Earth to do the MJ Philosophy of Life.)
Continue to learn, learn, learn and grow, grow, grow!
(A personal intention: get a really, really big tattoo!) (he, he, he...)

*I have an insane timeline set up to accomplish all I want to in 2009 that I could share, but I think this is less mind-boggling. What do you intend for 2009?