Hi Everyone! Summer is in the swing of things. I’ve been busy doing artist visits, and summer camps this year. I have been working hard to also get my freelance illustration career going.
I wanted to share some helpful resources that another illustrator posted on their Instagram their handle is anngee.foote.creations and I found some extra ones for color I wanted to share.
I find that it’s great to get some jumping points to start by collecting a library of visuals. Then I can look and curate things based on the needs of the visual story I want to tell. If I need things to be an emotional dark scene in the children’s book how have other medias forms created that feeling?
I hope these resources help!
Happy Creating!
Film Grab had some great compositional shots for you to look at for ideas. There is a long list of films and you can sort by the creators. I thought what a great site for compositions, color, and light studies!
Cuban-born Laura Lacámara is the award-winning author and illustrator of Dalia’s Wondrous Hair / El cabello maravilloso de Dalia (Piñata Books), a bilingual picture book about a clever girl who transforms her unruly hair into a vibrant garden.
Laura also wrote Floating on Mama’s Song/ Flotando en la canción de mamá, a bilingual picture book inspired by her mother, who was an opera singer in Havana. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales and published by HarperCollins, Floating on Mama’s Song was a Junior Library Guild Selection for Fall 2010 and was a Tejas Star Book Award Finalist for 2011-2012.
Laura illustrated the 2012 Tejas Star Book Award winner, The Runaway Piggy / El cochinito fugitivo (Piñata Books), as well as Alicia’s Fruity Drinks / Las aguas frescas de Alicia (Piñata Books).
Laura recently illustrated Mamá the Alien / Mamá la extraterrestre (Lee and Low Books, 2016), which received a starred review from Kirkus.
Working as an art teacher and a freelance illustrator has been a balance. I discuss the two aspects of my career in an interview with TeMika Grooms, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Design and Illustration Manager.
My work was also featured on the homepage of the SCBWI website. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my love of teaching and children’s book illustration. I’ve been slowly but steadily building my illustration career while being an art teacher part-time. Both give me great joy!
It took us 8 – 45 minute class sessions but we got some cute stuffed animals finished by my students!!!
Can I saw they turned out too cute. They ran off with their stuffies so fast, I barely got a photo!
If you do an art lesson with sewing I would recommend starting with an easier project first such as a pillow. I grew up with fixing and mending things, but no all students have had that experience. You could also start with hand stitching lesson first with burlap. I did that in the past.
I made my students create their own paper patterns using a tabloid size paper and a basic pattern. I’ll have to share that pattern with you all. It’s hard explaining seam allowance to kids. Once they did it and turned them right side out it made more sense to them. It’s one of those things you need to do first to understand.
@ChariseHarper, the award-winning author, and illustrator of numerous children’s books and series, including Just Grace, Fashion Kitty, and I Can Not Draw a Horse.
There has been so much that has happened since I last made a post on this blog. I finished my MFA and started a new teaching position. I have spent the past 2 years improving my portfolio to work in the children’s book market and even started writing stories for children. I decided it was time to return to the blogosphere, add new art lessons, and share my art and how I’ve improved as an artist. I appreciate the support I’ve gotten from the art teacher community.
Hi, I’m oliVia. And I am from China. I am currently pursuing my MFA in illustration with SCAD. I have been learning art since I was young, and I really enjoy it. I studied fabric design in College. At that time I may consider more about finding a job, so I have chosen design rather than fine art. However, I still want to do more drawing and painting after I graduated from college.
2. You’ve studied textile design for your undergrad, why did you decide to get your master’s in illustration? Why SCAD?
During my time in college, by chance, I got a part-time job doing illustration, so I was a freelance illustrator for a few years, I think learning more about illustration can help my career, also that’s what I am really interested in. I have practiced drawing fundamental skills for so many years, and I have some work experience, so I find that I am lacking in areas like the concept, ideas, creativity, imagination. And you know, China’s educational system is very different from America, where they will pay more attention to creativity rather than just focusing on technique. So based on my skills I should improve my creativity and open my eyes. Then, when I was applying to schools, I got a few offers from London, like royal RCA, and UAL, but they only have one year, for me, I feel it’s too short for study, especially in a foreign country. So I decided to choose SCAD, which has a two-year program in a small beautiful town. I believe I will be able to better focus on my artwork as compared to studying in a big city.
3. What has it been like coming to study in the US? What was the hardest thing? Anything you miss from your home country?
To be honest, there has been so much pressure on me. The financial aspect of things as well as the social aspect. It is very lonely to move to a foreign country without knowing anyone. Everything is different from before. Not being fluent in the language also has held be back from a lot of things. Then the pandemic also makes everything hard, online class feels like self-study, also hard to make friends.
I miss all my friends, family, my dog, and Chinese food! Haha.
4. Are there any skills you have from textile design that have been helpful with your illustrations?
Emmm…. Actually, I also draw a lot in undergrad, mostly for pattern design, we have learned Chinese traditional painting patterns as well as Japanese and European patterns. I also learned about fabric in a more hands-on capacity such as through learning different sewing and embroidery techniques. So I practice more drawing styles also make me interested in texture. I always incorporate different textures and materials in my painting.
5. How do you time manage?
I like to create to-do lists for both my short and long-term goals. From what I need to do every day to what I need to achieve by the end of a quarter. The to-do list helps keep me clear on what needs to be done.
Another thing to better utilize your time is to do things in an efficient manner. And for me, the key to that is focusing on the task at hand. I generally take breaks until I finish my work.
Private Collection
6. How do you stay motivated?
For me, I find pleasure through my work, if you did something you really like you will keep doing it without any pressure. If you did something you don’t like, you should think about how to fix it and solve the problem then you will be happy with your improvement.
7. Any artists you think I should look at for inspiration?
I would recommend Egon Shiele, because he is my favorite artist since I was in high school, especially his drawing, his linework always makes me excited. Those are really amazing line with power that shows energy and emotion. Alexandra Levasseur is another artist I would recommend. she has a very unique style. It is whimsical and incredibly imaginative, every piece of her work is telling a whole story. While her work is not narrative-based, her work still has very strong storytelling, so you doing children’s book illustration maybe could be inspired about a different way to telling a story. Then, the last one is Dinara Mirtalipova, she doing a children’s book, her work is like a fairy tale, really beautiful, cute and detailed. I think you will like it.
8. If you could go back in time what would you tell yourself about having an art career?
I don’t know, I may tell myself do not to worry too much about earning money when I was in high school, should choose what I love as the major. But I don’t regret anything in the past, because the past makes me who I am, even some mistakes help me grow as a person.
9. What are your future goals?
I hope I can be an artist, do what I really love, also have people love my work.
Day 19 Inspiration #amonthinpaper My inspiration has been meeting so many wonderful creatives that are willing to share their art journey. You can learn so much from talking with other artists. Some days I go back and listen to the interviews and I’m inspired. Two other things that have come from doing the podcast are persistence and time management. Season 9 Guests! Check out these artists and their work! 102 Jun Zhou, Ilustrator @junzhou_draw 1/30
I finally tried the Instagram feature to add a reel. I am late to the party. I do like adding the audio in the app. This is a cut paper illustration I was working on not long ago. Fun times!
I purchased some new art books that would be good resources for myself as an illustrator, but also for my classroom. I made videos for them. I hope you enjoy it!
I was thrilled to chat with Will Terry about teaching and the direction that art education is headed in. I took his classes when he started Folio Academy and then took classes on SVS Learn. I learned a lot about the process of children’s book illustration. I recommend to my high school students to try different online schools if they aren’t sure what they want to do in the arts.
Mrs. Miller - Messy Art Teacher Blog 