Welcome Andrea Zuill!

Andrea Zuill was a recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2011 Summer Conference. The 2010 founders of Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Andrea Z. to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share?

Andrea Z: First I would like to say how impressed I was with the mentors' laser like pinpointing of my trouble areas. I kept thinking, “Why didn’t I notice that?” But they also all assured me that I was on the right track. 

My two biggest problems where creating individual looks for my characters and creating background scenes. My human characters looked like they all came from the same family. And whether I wanted to admit or not, I needed to acknowledge the existence of backgrounds. I was given the assignment to create an illustration of children in a classroom. Each child had to be different and they had to be in a class scene. At first I was a bit scared, but this image became one of the funniest illustrations I’ve ever done. After it was done I felt like I could tackle almost any image I wanted to create.

Kidlit Artists: What kinds of projects are you working on now?

Andrea Z: I just finished illustrating an educational book on telling time. It was incredibly fun to do! I’m currently working on a couple illustrations for a children’s book author. 

 

Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future?

Andrea Z: I would absolutely love to illustrate a crazy, funny children’s book! That would be heaven.

  

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online.

Andrea Z: http://www.zuill.us/illustration/ and www.badbird.etsy.com

Thank you Andrea!

Welcome Juana Martinez-Neal!

Juana Martinez-Neal was the recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2011 Summer Conference. The 2010 founders of Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Juana to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Getting such specific and direct feedback on your work, did you find the experience enlightening? Affirming? Confusing? Conflicting? Why?

Juana: The experience was interesting for me. First I was excited and grateful to get such great feedback from our Mentors. I was so full of ideas… and notes! As I got back home and to the studio, self-doubt struck me. I couldn't paint for weeks. I was over-thinking the comments and doubting my work. I didn't really know which direction to take until I had to get to work. I had final art to paint for a book that was due in mid September. So with a pending deadline over my head I stopped thinking and just painted. The doubts left as I was getting the work done.

 

Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?  

Juana: Yes, I have. I make an effort to avoid decorating a piece while I'm sketching or painting. I naturally tend to like adding patterns, textures, details so it's a constant fight to achieve "Less is more". And I really have to work hard at doing less. 

Kidlit Artists: What kinds of projects are you working on now?

Juana: I'm currently working on a few projects: a chapter book, 2 picture books, and some educational and magazine work. I'll share more as I'm allowed to share artwork and details.

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online.

Juana: First, I would like to thank KidLitArtists for the opportunity to join the club and share my work today. You can see more of my work and learn more about me at my website and blog: http://juanamartinezneal.com/. I'm also on twitter: @juanamartinez, and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/juanamartinezneal.illustrator

Thank you Juana!

Welcome Jessica Lanan!

Jessica Lanan was the recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2011 Summer Conference. The 2010 founders of Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Jessica to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share? 

Jessica: The mentorship critique feedback guided my progress over the last year and provided me with new ideas to explore and a fresh perspective on my work. Some comments really confirmed things I had a feeling about but couldn't quite put into words. I remember David Diaz pointing out that so many of my figures were looking off into the distance or had their backs to the viewer, and he said that it was because I couldn't resolve how realistically I wanted to render their faces. I was avoiding the issue. That was totally an "aha" moment, and something I've been working to overcome this past year. On the confirming side, E.B. Lewis mostly had advice regarding actual watercolor technique. Here was this great watercolor painter giving me really helpful feedback and I thought "he's right--I can paint better than this." It was really motivating.

Kidlit Artists: Getting such specific and direct feedback on your work, did you find the experience enlightening? Affirming? Confusing? Conflicting? _______ (fill in the blank)? Why?

Jessica: It was a little bit of everything! There was some conflicting information, but I actually found it useful--it made me stop and really think about the direction I wanted to go in. I realized that at the end of the day I have to trust myself and choose my own path. Hearing positive feedback in addition to the constructive critique was also very helpful, since I sometimes focus too much on my weaknesses and keep myself from putting my work out there as much as I should. ("I can't send this dummy book... it's not PERFECT yet...") It was great to have these industry pros who I look up to saying "hey, you wouldn't be here if we didn't believe in you." If there are other kidlit illustrators in my town, I haven't found any of them, so having that community support and feedback meant a lot to me.

Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?

Jessica: I've been tackling some new challenges, particularly working on developing richer characters and emotional impact. My work tends toward the more realist side, and I've realized over the past year that if I'm going in this direction I have to really buckle down and do the work that realism requires, so for me that's meant a lot of hours working on technical stuff. I don't have any formal illustration or watercolor training so I'm going back to the books (and figure-drawing classes) to try to improve my craft from the bottom up. Basically, I'm leaving less to chance. It takes more time, but I think it's worth the extra effort.

 Kidlit Artists: What kinds of projects are you working on now?

Jessica: I have a new dummy book that is coming to life--I'm three pages away from finishing it. It's something really close to my heart and is full of so much of my childhood experience. It's been exciting to watch it grow from this vague idea into a visual story. Now I just have to hope someone else loves it as much as I do and wants to publish it! I'm also working on expanding my portfolio in new directions, which is just incredibly fun. There's nothing so exciting as having a picture in my mind and making it come to life on paper so I can share it with everyone. 





Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future?

Jessica: I'd love to do another book, especially one as a writer/illustrator. Since childhood I've always thought of the crafting of children's books as one of the coolest things a human being can do. (Step aside, Nobel Prizewinners and Olympic Medalists...) Maybe that sounds strange to some, but taking a beautiful idea and turning it into this rich visual and emotional experience and sharing it with as many young people as possible? What's better than that?

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online. 

Jessica: I have a blog and online portfolio at http://jessicalanan.com
You can also follow me on my sometimes-neglected Twitter feed: (@jalanan)
Or follow my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lananillustration

Thanks for joining, Jessica!

Welcome Erin O'Shea!

Erin O'Shea was a recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2009 Summer Conference. The 2010 founders of Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Erin to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share?

Erin: I was very honored to be selected for the mentorship award and thrilled to hear the feedback that the mentors had for my work. The most influential feedback that I received was that I was using similar perspectives and limited expression in most of my imagery. Often times as illustrators we think we know what our areas of weakness are and sometimes critiques confirm that, but then it’s great to get critiques that surprise you! I knew the full body of my work but I wasn’t REALLY aware that it wasn’t being reflected in my portfolio.  I hadn’t realized that the work I was most proud of was all in a similar perspective!  So I really focused on creating imagery that I was proud of, that had a range of perspectives and expressions. 

Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?

Erin: Yes, I’ve become much more aware of what is needed in my portfolio to reflect my abilities. That doesn’t mean I’ve necessarily been able to DO it!  It’s fascinating how I know consciously what needs to be done, yet there’s the intuitive/creative part me that wants to have a say as well!  But that’s what I love about the challenge of illustration!  The only solution is to keep drawing!

Kidlit Artists:  What kinds of projects are you working on now? 

Erin: I’m working on multiple personal projects that I’m writing and illustrating.  One is a heavily illustrated YA memoir/novel and the other is a picture book.  I’m working on a picture book for a small publishing company and submitted a cover for a YA novel.

Kidlit Artists:  Is there anything, looking ahead, that you’re excited to be working on?  

Erin: I really enjoy doing book covers and hope to do more in the future.  I also am very interested in the emerging ebook and app markets so I’m working digitally on a few projects to see how my work translates.   

Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future? 

Erin: I’m looking into the scrapbooking market for extra illustration work and am open to doing more educational work as well.  My main goal is to get an agent and have some representation out there beyond my marketing efforts.  I also teach part time and have applied for full time positions at local colleges and hope to be having steady income through that as well!

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online.  

Erin:  www.erinoshea.com

Thanks for joining Erin!

Mentorship Lessons: Learning, Experimenting and Doodling - by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

As I do more illustrating, I'm starting to hit limits with my limited knowledge of Corel Painter. Until the L.A. conference, I'd been lazy, and not bothering to learn more than what was absolutely necessary. As a result of my Mentorship sessions at the SCBWI conference in L.A. last year, however, I've been experimenting more with the software I use (Corel Painter XI) as well as started to learn Photoshop.

When I first bought Corel Painter, I never thought I'd ever want to create my own brushes. Why bother when Painter gives us perfectly serviceable brush tools? Now I'm hitting limits with the default settings and beginning to create my own custom brushes. As I start to become comfortable with my own style (and yes! I'm actually settling into a style! More on this is a future post), I'm pickier about my brushes.

Those of you who work with actual physical art materials are already familiar with this, of course, but as someone with no art training, this is relatively new to me. As I mentioned in the comments section of Eliza's previous post, I've started doing daily doodles. I post many of these in the private collab online sketchbook I have with my illustrator friend, Beckett Gladney, but also post some on the front page of DebbieOhi.com.

Here's one of the drawings I did today while experimenting with a custom brush I created in Corel Painter. It's a variant of the RealDrippyPen brush. I started at the top without really knowing what I was going to draw, just wanting to try out my custom brush, and kept going.

My title for this piece: "Decisions, Decision." :-)