DRAWING THE DAYS AWAY...

My latest Promotional Postcard

The only reason I know it has been a month since I last wrote for this blog is because of the date on my last post. It actually seems longer than a month. The days have gone by in a blur of hours at the drawing table. I eat, sleep and dream drawing. I head to my drawings in between every other activity - if there are any. It is the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night. The light at my drawing table is often the last light on in the entire house at night. I'm afraid to know how many hours I've worked. I sometimes spend 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week working on illustrations, sketches and roughs. I am determined to also spend time with my family and head into the blissful warm Tahoe sun before heat gives way to 6+ months of cold again. So...my blog has suffered.

I have to take full advantage of this conference opportunity without destroying the balance of my life. When the conference rolls around I know I will hear people speak of what they wish they had done to get ready. Hopefully I will feel I did everything I could. No regrets.

I finished another large color illustration and had the image printed as promo postcards and business cards last week. (I just got them. They turned out great!) In the meantime I started 3 new black and white spot illustrations to go with my Ghost Writer book cover. I let one of the 3 go in the interest of sanity, balance and doing my very best work. Doing the third would have jeopardized all of the above. The two illustrations I decided on will be done this week, leaving me time to scan and print all the new pieces for my portfolio, edit finished pieces, get them on my website, relax and of course, serve jury duty.

There is no time to waste...

COUNTDOWN TO THE SCBWI 2011 LOS ANGELES CONFERENCE CONTINUES...

It is less than two months until the SCBWI Los Angeles Conference. I thought I was going to start feeling rushed at this point, but things are going very well. I finished the first of my new portfolio pieces last week. In fact, I finished it in half the time by starting the piece differently. It was a big experiment, but I had nothing to lose and I ended up winning big.

Normally I dial in my final sketch on vellum and then transfer it onto bristol with graphite paper. I'm not very fond of that step. I always feel like I lose detail and line quality, so I decided to experiment with scanning my final layout and printing it onto the bristol with my inkjet printer. My scanning/printing tests turned out great so I decided to take everything one step further to save time.

After I transfer the layout, I usually block in color with an airbrush or brush thin layers of paint. This stage is very rough, but it saves time. I also spend a fair amount of time fixing things that didn't transfer well. This adds time. I often feel like I'm re-drawing what I had already spent a lot of time on. I thought, what if I blocked in color on the computer directly on my scanned layout and then printed it out? When I tested this technique by printing out onto bristol and using colored pencil over it, it worked beautifully. The final illustration turned out great and was finished in half the time. I wasn't struggling with all those lost details from transferring and I could erase without losing my base layout. I also had the psychological benefit of knowing I could print out a new copy easily if I needed to start again. (I've never had to start an illustration over, but it's always a dread in the back of my mind. It's nice to be rid of that.)

So, I'm cruising through my new pieces with the knowledge that my usual 8-12 hour days at the drawing board are going to yield even more. I even took a couple days off without worry. What's not to like? Back to it...