What I've been told is it is OK to show a couple pieces from a dummy you hope to publish, but not to show all the pieces and certainly not the entire story. So 2-3 images for a portfolio is OK (as I understand it) but don't put the whole story up for everyone to see.

Personally I have a couple pieces in progress I did exploring my character for a dummy, but they will NOT actually end up in the final story. Once I have them done I plan to display them in my portfolio.

I just downloaded the kids book making app. I'm wondering if anyone else has used it and what i can expect. Thanks.

I have heard good things about Scribus. May have a bit of a learning curve, but it is the only one I know of off the top of my head.

In case you didn't know, January 1 is the start of Storystorm! It's the month for coming up with picture book ideas (like NaNoWriMo for kids books). It was started by Tara Lazar: https://taralazar.com/2017/12/28/storystorm-2018-registration-is-open/

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So, I am going to take my last stab at finishing Uncle Carl Has a Chicken on His Head. I have redone it several times but have never actually done it with the words as part of the design. I have been thnking I should approach it in a new way by starting with the text and leaving room for the illustrations. I was told to remove a lot of the unnecessary parts that didn't really move the story along. I tried it with the text but it sounded horrible. I did it with the illustrations and I think I need to find a midground in that case. I had a preschool teacher friend test out the text only with her class and they loved it so I feel I have succeeded as far as the text goes. (Parents might get tired of reading it but, it's a repeating rhyme that kids can learn quickly on their own and "read' to themselves. It's interactive and, IMO, can be a lot of fun for kids.)

Anyway, I'm not real smooth on manipulating the text in photoshop. All kinds of funky things happen so..I'm a little wary of using it for a whole page. I think I will write it by hand, scan it and then move it around and adjust it that way. The first part of the text is the same on every page so I could just keep copyng it ......The ilustrations will be done trditionally and scanned in for each page.

Any other suggestions? Does this sound like a good plan? Thanks!

@pam-boutilier That is so cool! Haven't been to one yet but I've heard they are amazing. Have fun:)

When I was growing up I loved to draw. When I graduated high school I went to a community college and took an art class. One of our first assignments was to draw a fruit basket in the middle of the room. I thought I did the assignment really well and when it came time for class critique, one student said I tried to make it look too real. I didn't take this too well and dropped out. Now, at the time I was a fragile thing whose mother just passed away so there was probably more too it than just not being able to take criticism.

I also was really good at math and enjoyed computers. So, I went into computer science. Two degrees later ( BS and MS in CS ) and 10 years of experience as a software developer, I want to pursue my early passion for drawing.

However, I want to know if I have enough talent. Meaning, WITH HARD WORK and self studying could I possibly have a second career in illustration or creating my own graphic novels.

As of right now, I can only look at something I want to draw ( like another drawing ) and create something. I haven't gotten to the point of drawing from my imagination yet.

So I'm asking do you guys think I have enough talent to turn the little that I have into something with a lot of hard work and dedication?

Here are some images I've drawn on my iPad Pro while looking at a reference. The batman one I was actually referencing an image from the TV :).

The one thing I know as to why I like these images is because the original creator composed them well to create great emotional pull from them. So I do realize that's one of the things I have to learn well.

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@smceccarelli Your Alice pieces are the first thing I thought of when I saw the category and that it allowed 5 submissions! Good luck!!

Nice work...they must really hate Rudolph because I would even let a jerk play to make my home game six handed....lol... and these guys have some terrible poker faces.

@demotlj really beautiful scene 🙂 Happy Holidays to you too.

@demotlj not sure about art techniques books, but I love spending time in a good “Art of”. My daughter has the “Art of Totoro” and it is amazing.

thanks! just started to use it. Its cool 🙂

I'm currently an engineering student taking up Civil Engineering and I'll be graduating this March 2018. I never really imagined getting into engineering but because of a rebellious streak during my freshman year, I took up engineering as some sort of "screw you" to my mother and to everyone who doubted me. I did very well at the start. I got straight As and I was top of my class. However, as the years dragged on, I slowly lost my interest in my degree. I started skipping my classes. My grades started to drop, I fell into a deep depression and all I wanted was to get away from it all. It was then that I realized that all I wanted to do was art.

Before college, I always wanted to study Animation but because of my mother's objections, I decided not to. They convinced me that doing art isn't a viable career. Instead, they wanted me to get into Education (not that there's anything wrong with that). However, there was this part of me that thought: "I really don't care! I don't care if I'll be poor! I All I want to do is ART." I guess that's why rebelled and got into engineering.

So what's my take on this? If I had the chance, would I change any of it? No. Engineering made me realize what I hated and what I really wanted in life. It made me realize that art is the one path for me. Did it help me with my art? No. It enabled me to grow into a more well-rounded person though.

Would I recommend it to others? No. I highly oppose it. Taking up engineering wasted my time and money, valuable resources I could have put into art school and advance my skills by leagues compared to my current level. If I was able to realize this earlier and stick to my guns, it would've been a whole lot better.

So for those of you out there who are still on the fence on whether you should focus on your art and maybe go to an art school or take another course, go the art route. You will not regret it.

However, if you're worried about your financial future if you become an artist, perhaps you'll do better with another degree and by the end of the day, ask yourself if that course is still something you can see yourself growing old doing. Maybe you'll love it and decide to go with it. Or maybe you'll realize that you don't--- just like me. Be warned though, it will not be pretty. I only stuck with engineering because it would be such a waste to quit just a few months before graduation.

This is just my thoughts. I hope this was helpful.

@danettedraws And remember subscription prices only go up, never down.

@eli Thanks very much! 🙂

@ians I have the same problem Ian. There is another Tom Barrett who is an illustrator. Fortunately he is using his reps website as his portfolio and I was able to get the .com I wanted.

@Gary-Wilkinson For a newbie like me, I feel my having a website gives the impression that I am serious about my wanting to pursue childrens illustration, and, like @smceccarelli said, it makes me look more professional. Once, Lord willing, I have established a name for myself and become someone art directors search out, then a website maybe become less of a necessity. On the other hand, once you do become successful, having a website gives a place for fans, schools, or other organizations to find you. Sure they could contact the publisher, but that could be a turn off for some who have to jump thru hoops to get in contact with you. I have been a bit disappointed at times when looking for an illustrator to see more of their work, only to find that the only online presence they have is a bio page on a publisher's website. Perhaps I am over thinking it, but food for thought...

Scuse the verbiage I’m the title. Spent the morning creating a coloured pencil for Procreate to see if I can do my current gig on the iPad only.
The a bit of a blend in there, and an optimised Seemless texture of Fabriano watercolour paper, hot pressed, that I use.

I’ve got it set to work at 600dpi - I checked it by setting my canvas to the same resolution as a photograph of my real world pencilling, then fiddled until everything played nice.

Hopefully this link will work. If not, tag me in the thread and I’ll try and fix it.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h7zcagreew4zj9g/Color_pencil%40600dpi.brush?dl=0

So, for what it's worth, here is the final painting.

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