Maple Lam was the recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2012 Summer Conference. The Kidlit Artists Blog would like to officially welcome Maple as a contributor to the blog! Today we ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.
Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?
Maple: Absolutely. A feedback I received was to be
"aware" of the black outlines I have around both my characters and
backgrounds. I mentioned
"aware" because different mentors separately pointed out the black
outlines, and all of them suggested ideas for room for improvement.
I have since started exploring a better solution to my black outlines. This included switching the brush, switching the paper, switching the medium, etc. My goal is to bring my artwork to the next level without losing my style of illustrating.
Kidlit Artists: What kinds of
projects are you working on now?
Maple: I am currently illustrating a short storybook with an educational
publisher called Teacher Created Materials.
I also freelance as an exhibit and event designer, and am wrapping up
some concepts for a sports event in San Francisco.
For self-projects, I am finishing up two dummies and am updating
my portfolio to include a few more strong pieces for chapter books /
junior-series / middle-grades.
Kidlit Artists: Is there any
type of illustration (or other work) that you're hoping for in the near future?
Maple: I have always wanted to do a series of
graphic novels on history-related subjects, so I hope to work on those ideas as
I continue my children's book illustrator journey. Also, as I was once a full-time exhibit and event designer, I
would love to one day illustrate for an exhibit. I don't mean an art exhibit (although that
would be very cool too!), I mean an
exhibit using children's book characters as a medium to introduce an
educational topic. After all, a strong
exhibit is just another form of storytelling, and I would love to have an
opportunity to design and illustrate one in the future.
Kidlit Artists: Last, please
tell us where we can find you online.
Maple: Thank you for having me today, Kidlit
Artists! My blog and portfolio are at
www.maplelam.com, and I am @maplelam on twitter.
Thank you, Maple!
Great post - would love to hear more about the comments you received on the black outlines.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Maple. The illustrations are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI love your illustrations, Maple. Looking forward to seeing you again in a couple of weeks!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see where your black lines are headed!
ReplyDelete