@RachelArmington Yes, Mi-Teintes is a great paper. I consider this the best paper for chalk pastels because they are acid-free and our artworks did not fade after a few years behind conservation glass. You can never go wrong with Canson, a brand which I’m sure every artist knows.

@Declan-Konesky so they aren’t as good, but I’ve used Adobe illustrator in the past to make books using art boards, and I believe photoshop now also lets you make art boards . Not sure about Ipad capabilities, but I’ve used them in a pinch

I listen to a lot of DnD podcasts that I've heard before (Sneak Attack) so that I don't have to focus too much. Other than that, mostly asmr, low fi or even audiobooks help sometimes. But then again I'm also the person who "watches" tv while I work too.

I have a DVD copy of this documentary. It's a great insight into his work. And yeah...the wealth definitely allowed him to fail a bit more easily 😹

@jimsz Yes, you are absolutely right. Thank you.

A wonderful benefit of this is that you can better show the relative size of a piece. I've had buyers (through the internet) who expected the finished artwork to be a different size, if only because it's hard for some people to translate the dimensions from a webpage.

Saw this interesting graphic. Thought I'd share.

172772614_3891930740922814_6192022439167930851_n.jpg

Hi,

I have designed and printed enviromental stickers.

I want to put them into my Etsy and I want to share my profits with some decent enviromental organisation.

Anyone got any tips on that subject? 🙂

@Heather-Boyd Yeah I see that now, I didn’t think of that about the weight of the tub, thanks for spotting that out 😊

@Cory-Leick hello! I’m also an SCBWI member (since 2013). Editors/art directors who usually are closed for subs but accept unagented subs from attenders of SCBWI events is extremely common and a great opportunity!

However, when an art director is looking for dummies from illustrator critiques, they are looking for something that is submission-ready, not just a book idea. Sending a book idea that isn’t done baking yet could give the wrong impression — it’s an amateur move. Whatever you’re showing to an art director or editor, make sure that it is presented professionally.

While each agent/editor/art director has their own submission requirements, most are looking for dummies that contain at least 2 finished illustrations along with the sketches, so they can see your style and how you would approach the illustrations. They’re also looking for something they can acquire — that usually means that the illustrator is also the author.

If you’re not the author but doing a joint submission, that has the potential to be problematic. Do you have the author’s permission to submit a dummy using their story? What if the AD likes the text but not the illustrations? Or likes the illustrations but the story isn’t strong enough? That’s not saying that joint submissions never work, but it is rare.

SCBWI’s The Book (it’s a free PDF download for all members) has a really nice article about making a book dummy that you might want to check out.

Hope this helps, and cheering for your success with the illustration crit and submission!

Wow! LOVE this. Great job and so many fun ideas!! I look forward to spending more time with this. 🙂

@aska The Niel Gaiman class was great!

@Freya-Chakour I am glad I encouraged you to do smth about your inktober even if not finished 😉

she look so cute!! and just a little thing, but the ears in the first pose are a bit to high, also the left pocket on her backside is a bit to much to the right side. also I really love how you rendered her her at the last post! looks so fluffy and beautiful!

@CLCanadyArts 57d59932-3ac3-4121-a898-a3b462979b95-image.png

I guess you have to click on the post itself though.

It’s hard for me to describe what it is that I’m feeling a lack of because it’s not really creativity per se or ideas. I think maybe it’s a style thing. For example, I love the art of EH Shepard but partly because his style is grounded in easy to imagine things. To do Winnie the Pooh, for example, he spent a lot of time walking in the woods drawing trees and forest scenes. That I understand and I can visualize and imagine such scenes. Similarly, Beatrix Potter may have painted imaginary characters but she placed them in settings from the real world as if she had set up her easel in a meadow and painted what she saw except she populated the scene with rabbits. On the other hand, someone like Lee White does paintings that are whimsical, highly stylized, and involve all kinds of textures and choices that are purely visually imaginative. He doesn’t get there by sketching trees — he is pulling from something inside of him. Usually the advice for developing that sort of style is to “loosen up” but when I loosen up, I just paint random messes because I can’t visualize where I would want to end up.

I love the beauty inherent in pieces like Lee’s or so many of the SVS members but maybe I need to accept it’s not my style. I just wish that I felt like I could visualize such beauty.

@Mara-Price thank you!

Great article! Thank you for sharing!
"Constraints are not the enemy."

@erinrew How to Make Money in Illustration 1, 2 and 3 by Lee White.

@Tiffany-Thomas oh and apparently I've been using it as long as @AnthonyWheeler has been alive, lol.