scbwi SF/South Illustrators day-should I go?

[MOO]

I'm trying to decide if I should go to this or not. I went last year. I could get a portfolio critique for $60 or WIP dummy critique for $25. I do have a rough dummy .... I wonder if I have enough good stuff to bring along. They also have a first look illustration challenge. I'm not sure I am far enough along in my skills to show anything. I was really embarrassed by my portfolio last time. Others were very professionally done and mine was plastic sheets in a nice binder but, I almost pulled it off the table! I'm starting classes in August and the Illustration Day is on September 16th. AAGGHHH!!!! Last year was good and horrible at the same time. Maybe I could just go and listen and skip the portfolio, etc.......ugh...thanks for listening. It would be nice if someone actually wanted to publish a book for me but.....not sure I'm there yet.

[RHirsch]

@marsha-kay-ottum-owen I love going to my SCBWI conferences whenever possible, even though I am far from being one of the best there. I learn so much from the lectures and from talking to other illustrators and authors, its so good to mingle with people who are trying to do the same kind of work you yourself are trying to do, you know? Good for the soul, and good for asking people who have had success in the publishing world any questions you might have, or to just share experiences with. Anyway, I think it's worth going if you can.

[MOO]

@rhirsch Thanks. I might go just to hear the speakers and mingle and not worry about a portfolio, etc. at this time. I was just listening to one of the Third Thursdays on getting freelance work and it made me realize that I still have some learning to do-and I need to improve my website, etc. so that I actually look professional before I think about approaching someone to look at my work.

[A Former User]

Hello! I'm thinking of going to the same conference. I've been to several SCBWI events as a writer, I also write middle-grade novels, and enjoyed the experience. I have met lovely critique partners and writing friends. BUT I have not been to an event as an aspiring illustrator, so I am also a bit nervous.

I will say it always feels like a bunch of introverts pretending to be extroverts; writers are often shy!

[MOO]

@rkritsch Ha! So true! I haven't signed up yet.......

[TessaW]

I would bring a book dummy for your Uncle Carl book and have at least one finished illustration of Uncle Carl to go along with it. I think the book is really promising and some of the sketches you've posted from that book dummy are good enough to take to a finish. You should do it!

[Lee White]

I'm lecturing at the one in Oakland in October. Love to see any of you there.

[MOO]

@lee-white Ooh! I'm only an hour away from Oakland! Do you know the date? Maybe I'll just wait until October and go.

[MOO]

@tessw I wonder if I could get it done in time....ahhh!!! I'm chicken! And I feel liek I'm so slow at getting it done......Maybe if I don't worry about the portfolio or the challenge and just get a dummy review.....

[MOO]

I signed up! I am getting a dummy review and I need a portfolio! AAAAHHHH!!!! Pray for me! Thanks for the encouragement! I'll try to remember to act confident.

[TessaW]

@marsha-kay-ottum-owen said in scbwi SF/South Illustrators day-should I go?:

I signed up! I am getting a dummy review and I need a portfolio! AAAAHHHH!!!! Pray for me! Thanks for the encouragement! I'll try to remember to act confident.

That's awesome! Good luck!

[A Former User]

I checked the SF/North page and the October 21st conference is sold out and wait list closed. Boo! Looks like a great one to attend.

[MOO]

@rkritsch Too bad. I would have loved to meet @Lee-White. My husband works in Oakland too.

[TessaW]

I hope you don't mind if I post these here. Here are some of your pieces that I think are portfolio contenders. I think you have a lot more that could go in, but some would need to be updated to have a more cohesive style. . . and you already know how I feel about how you've photographed them. . . I also think a few of them need a couple of tweaks to make them stronger. I'm curious about some of the books you've done. Where are the images for those? What is this illustration of the boy in the boat being pulled by the dolphin? Where is that from? There were some of your illustrations that I wasn't sure if it was yours or if they were study copies from your 30 day watercolor challenge, so I didn't include those.

[MOO]

@tessw That's interesting. I never would have thought of some of thse The boy in the boat was actually from last years illustration Day First Look. It got a lot of negatives, actually. The picture that goes with it is the boy looking over the beach and ther ar some hrses on a cliff across from him, that one was more highly spoken of. I do have images of my other books on my laptop. I actually wen through and found a lot more.

All those grannys ar my quick doodles do everyday lately. The Octopus page is from teh first book I illustrated called ABC Count With Me by Jen Coy. I had fun with that book because, I guess i didn't knw any of the rules I was breaking

Tick-Tock Lullabye is the cover of the other little book I did last. It is very short and all hand done and colored with prismacolor.

The one with all the kids is also a doodle I made for my daughters friend who was having a hard day as a mother of two little ones.

I actually chose just a couple the same as you

I've been making a folder with every possibility in my picture file on my computer. I was going to sort them out a bit. I can't usually upload anything unless I first take a picture, put it on facebook, download it and then slide them onto the page here. Thats the way I figured i tout with technology-probably the long, hard way.

I don't really know how to size things-well I do now but can't rmember what size they are supposed to be. I have GIMP . If I can figure out hwo to get them on there from my download file I can then resize them, I guess and try to put them on here. Ha! Ha! Slowly I learn. I'm going to try and do another post and put some images that I chose. I guess I could e-mail a file too? I might need my tech support son to help me though.

[TessaW]

I also like these, but I thought they might be studies. . .

And this one that I forgot to add in.

My picks were based on a few things. I tried to collect the ones that I feel were somewhat consistent style-wise and that showed you could to a range of things- ages, races, interiors, exteriors, animals, emotions, etc. I also chose ones that I thought were just fun or had good story-telling elements.

I personally really enjoy the boy in the boat image. Do I think there could be improvements? Yes, but I think it's a lot of fun and I love the colors and the feeling I get from the boy. Were the criticisms mainly related to the fact that the composition is flat?

The grannies- to me they feel like sketches, but they are so interesting and fun, that I chose them. I think if you have the time and desire, it would be worth exploring doing a series of illustrations based on them. If not full illustrations, they might be fun as spot illustrations. It would be fun to maybe do your favorites as a series of 5x7s and then sell them.

Tick-Tock Lullabye- It looks very sweet. I also saw the image of the sheet music for that book and thought that was really neat. I love the handwritten elements.

The doodle for your daughter's friend- that one is really fun and I would like to see the carpet toned down so we can focus on the kids more.

Additionally, I think in your tree house image you need to tone down the leaves and make the bird houses pop more.

I would love to see what your first picks were.

[MOO]

@tessw I have a bunch. I'll try to put some o them on. Th elast pictuer si my last years portfolio cover. I forgot about the cat and the fiddle. It was just a doodle but I like it. I often like my doodles better than som eothe things do. They're more fun to do because I don't worry about the results so much. Just have fun. The boy with the ants was also a doodle but it also is a practice for another story I have about a boy who eats ants. The grannys I've been doing are to get me in grandma mode for my Granny Can't Find Her Glasses story. I did some prety funny ones to day because I fell asleep at the drawing table! They're pretty scarey.

I think the main thing about the boat picture was that it was too busy, motion was going from right to left instead of left to right. I don't remember them nentioning flatness but they might have. I had very little tiem to work on it. All the orangish color came from old masking fluid I used an dI had to try and make it work. I did like the picture myself but....it's okay. I like doing underwater paintings with bright colors.

I'll try and post some that are allowed because they are somehow the right size. Some will need to be rephotographed or touched up, etc. I was thinking of putting spots of monsters on one page if I can figure it out and maybe the same with some of the grannys I've been doing.

There's a much better version of the girl with the baby and stroller but I need to figure out how to resize it and stuff later. Some of these were done very quickly and probably need work but I don't know how much time I can spend since I still have to finish the dummy with one image to completion. Might not be able to fit in the First Look prompt that's due Sept. 1st. I'll see what I can get done.