May 17th Illustrator Event
Tonight I went to a wonderful illustrators' event in Sausalito put on by our local SCBWI chapter featuring Lea Lyon.http://www.lealyon.com/illustrations.html
Lea does amazing watercolor paintings and has illustrated several published books so far, with more in the works. She lives not far from me and I hope to take one of her watercolor classes in the future. She gave a lovely talk covering her path into the world of children's book illustrations focusing on the question of what makes an illustration work. This was a small event, which allowed for participants to bring a favorite piece along with portfolios to be critiqued or analyzed by the book. We weren't told until yesterday that this was part of the event, so I had a small freak out and then pulled a favorite line drawing from my files, traced it onto heavier paper using my light board, and started painting.
Copyright Carrie Cartier 2012.
Here is my original line drawing, which was obviously done on a sheet of notebook paper.
Copyright Carrie Cartier 2012.
Here is today's creation. I used watercolor, some colored pencil, and ink. I personally liked the original better, but I was encouraged by my fellow illustrators that this was good start. Perhaps I'll try to redo it again soon and go with a darker background and scratch the silly star notes.
The best part of this event was how it opened the group up to friendly and helpful conversation about our work. It became a networking event.... or support group in a way. I even connected with a couple of women who will be attending the L.A. conference in August. Our work was all different. Some people were skilled in digital illustration and had elaborate portfolios. Several were like me with their book full of sketches. One older gentleman came in with a simple folder, a few color copies, and one of the most beautiful prints I have ever seen. His originals are on 1'x2' pieces of masonite, which he said will be left to his children, but he was hoping to sell prints and try his hand at illustration. AMAZING work!
Well, I don't want this to get too long. I'd like to do a little painting before bed. Sweet dreams all.
Carrie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your wonderful comments about the illustrator event. I'm so glad you found it inspiring. I would love for you to take my watercolor class. Let's talk and see what can be arranged. (I could also help you with your portfolio and dummy as part of the class). And, I'll be at the L.A. conference, so you'll see one more familiar face. Lea Lyon
Thank you, Lea, for checking out my little blog. I'm so happy you liked it. Also, I am glad that you will be at the conference. I won't feel so lost with so many locals there. I'd love the help with my portfolio and dummy. I'll get in touch once I have some workable drawings.
DeleteHowdy Carrie,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this up. It is such a charge to get amongst other's who share your same passion too! Thanks for making the effort to come out. I hope that you go some inspiration for your book.
LA should be a lot of fun. I recently registered and am now totally freaking out trying to figure out how to prepare to go! HA! It will be nice to see some hometown folks there too.
Keep Up the Good Work,
Thank YOU, Brian! I really appreciate the effort that you are making for all of us Bay Area illustrators and wanna be's. I've gotten so much out of the past two SCBWI Illustrator events. Inspiring to say the least!!!
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