Starting Out

When I decided I wanted to illustrate for children I thought it would be a piece of cake. I thought that a degree in Fine Art ( albeit in Textiles) was really all I needed. Yeah, stupid. What did I think those graphic art majors were doing all the time? I remember dating one of them briefly and thinking it was ridiculous that he stayed up late almost nightly doing hundreds of thumbnail sketches.

A couple of months after my "big decision", I attended my first SCBWI event. It was a regional conference. I brought in a few pieces to be critiqued. I saw work from other ( I use the term other loosely) illustrators. My work was way off. I was very nicely told that my pieces needed actual children in them and that movement  is key. What I had presented was some nicely done portrait type work. Pretty, but not for kids. Here a couple of those originals.