Failure to communicate
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Iāve come to the realization that I may never be a centaur lol (quoting Jake from a certain podcast regarding writers, illustrators, then the ācentaursā which are the author illustrators). Iāve always felt a disconnect when trying to illustrate my own stories, and I thought it was maybe due to creative burnout from the writing. But I think itās a simple issue of my writing not communicating well with the style Iāve adapted. I can see clearly now, how and why publishers are so selective in their candidates. There are writing styles just as there are illustration styles. And I donāt think mine are communicating with one another. So what do I do about it? Do I take on a style that will depict my stories better? Or do I change the way I write? Iāve gotten to point with illustrations where I feel really good about them but I know Iām just barely scratching the surface. I guess Iām just rambling on now but I just wanted to post this in case anyone struggling with style or writing wants to give their two cents.
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@Asyas_illos I feel very similar, in the creative burnout after the story is written. I've written a few that I'm really proud of, story wise, but then I can't get the illustrations and the words to meche. I think, they just need to be put down for a while and come back to when I've detached from the work and can see it with fresh eyes. I still have a strong desire to be the centaur...
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@AngelinaKizz lol me tooš„¹
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@Asyas_illos It's not unheard of for creators to be author/illustrators sometimes, but only authors or illustrators in other cases. Adam Rex is the big name I can think of off the top of my head.
Now, I'm a big believer in the best way to make lightning strike is to set out as many lightning rods as possible. It might be best to build your pitch library as some books you're author/illustrator, but other books you can be author only.
That leaves you room to write stories you don't think fit your illustration style. That also gives you permission to write some stories that HAVE to fit your illustration style.
And don't forget, a story that doesn't work out is like an illustration that doesn't work out ā it's still a good learning experience that might help your next story.
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I completely understand where you're coming from Asya. It's for this reason I personally aspire to be like GuoJing and draw wordless stories.
I have such a long way to go in actually being able to do that, but I realized that I loved books without words, which just focus their entire attention on telling the story with pictures.
I think as story illustrators we need to ask ourselves what writing/authoring means to us? Is it important for you to write? Do you really enjoy it? If the answer to both of these is yes, I'd do as @KevinTreaccar says and just keep at both and have as many irons in the fire as possible for both writing and illustrating.
Hope this has helped in some way!
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@KevinTreaccar thanks thatās good advice
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@Kristen-Lango I like that though I do enjoy writing
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@Asyas_illos don't give up on your centaur dream! Just as you worked hard to develop your current art style that you love, work hard to develop your unique author voice. I may be way off base, but it sounds like you are not as far along on developing your author voice and style.
Are you a part of an author critique group? SCBWI always preaches how invaluable a critique group is, and they're right!
Do you read a lot of picture books? Do you analyze what makes them "work"? Doing that made a HUGE difference in developing my author voice, even though I didn't realize it. It got me familiar with the picture book structure, pacing, plotting, and also the current market (i.e. I learned to be WAY less wordy!).
Have you changed up your author-illustrator process? That makes a difference too. I used to always be story first, illustrations after. But some story ideas came to me in the form of an image or concept, and developing the characters, doing a few test illustrations, helped me hone in on the story, and writing followed. And sometimes for me, it's a combination of writing and sketching at the same time.
And as @KevinTreaccar pointed out, some stories are better fits for other illustrators, and that's okay. Adam Rex is a great example, as well as Mo Willems, Kevin Henkes, James Ransome, and Philip Stead (who wrote A Sick Day for Amos McGee with his wife, whose style was a better fit for that story, and ended up winning the Caldecott).
Keep writing, keep illustrating, and though some stories might not fit your style, some might ... you just haven't found them yet!
illustrator - author - smiley person
mbaileyart.com
instagram.com/mbaileyart/ -
@Melissa_Bailey thanks for the feedback! I donāt plan on giving up I know the perfect combo will come around sometime. I do read but perhaps I need to do more of it. And no Iām not apart of a critique group, I know my stories are not quite presentable yet (more like concepts slapped together with sketches thrown in) but when Iāve got something solid I feel confident about I will definitely look for some support! Thanks again!
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@Asyas_illos Asyas, this is such an interesting topic.
I am in my final art phase with my first author/illustrator book (due in a couple of weeks). I have so much doubt along the way, and so many times I just want to throw out all the art and start from scratch. When comes to creating a picture book, I initially thought my strength was making images, and once the story writing took its shape, the illustration part will be easier than the jobs I did as an illustrator only. I was so wrong with my assumptions.It turned out the art part was so much harder with the story I wrote myself. I have sort of the opposite issue as you are having: I am really happy with my manuscript. But I doubted about art direction I took, I doubted the design, the comps, the character design, the color, the choice of media I work with and basically everything. In the end, I realized that it is not so much about if my art fits with my story, it is more about the lack of experience doing such a project. I need to develop my mindset, make good enough decisions, and move on.
I think it is difficult to judge if my art style works with my stories without pushing myself to make a couple of books. JakeĀ“s advice on "finished, not perfect!" works really well in this case. It is almost an advantage to be at the beginning of being an author/illustrator - we do not have an established voice/style/brand(whatever we call it), that means we can basically change anything we want to :-).
Coinsidently, my story is related to finding oneĀ“s own voice as a storyteller. I found it very meta when I am working on the story, and desperately seeking my own voice as a storyteller.
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@xin-li thank you for sharing your struggles youāve had as a working illustrator, it sound to me like this is a similar feeling among new author-illustrators and makes me feel a bit better.
The thing is, the style I envision for certain book ideas I have, is different than the styles I have in my ādreamā portfolio and what I strive for. I have a huge range in the styles that I enjoy seeing in books but I know Iām not capable of some of them so I work with what I feel confident doing. But maybe I should focus on trying to achieve the styles I see for my own work?
Thanks for the feedback everybody
ļøItās helped me to understand myself a little more and what I need to work on. -
@Asyas_illos I've seen your visual storytelling style evolve into a really confident voice. Have you tried illustrating a narrative story in a way that has almost no descriptive words? Maybe that would be a way to help you practice steering the two styles toward each other.
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@Valerie-Light thanks Valerie! I should try that out and see how it goes!
