I posted a blog article in my Ramblings section with the content below but with several links (at the bottom of the blog post on my site) of some of the websites, people, tools, books, and such that have been part of my 2016. http://quietyell.com/2016/12/31/2016-postmortem/
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This year has been a pretty big year for me. It actually started slightly before 2016.
In October 2015, I had come to the long-wrestled with conclusion that rather than all of the things I had been doing these many years, my heart was really for illustration and particularly children’s oriented illustration. Additionally, I had a deep-rooted desire to contribute to the minds, hearts, & wellbeing of children; thus, leading to the pursuit of children’s book development.
This meant I would need to be spending a lot of time trying to get back up to speed in illustration as well as children’s book development while simultaneously pushing away anything that didn’t fit into this focus.
So, when I got back from Taiwan (Oct 2015) I joined SCBWI and jumped right into creating and drinking from a firehose of information & such.
My 2016 has been about redeveloping myself and building a foundation.
This included:
Education:
• Attending SCBWI chapter meet ups and educational webinars & conferences
• Reading art & publishing industry related books & variety of online articles
• Going through almost all of SVSLearn videos and some Schoolism videos
• Seeking advice & guidance from industry professionals
• Familiarizing myself with names of people, companies & resources, various terminologies, relevant business processes & technology, various techniques, etc.
• Research & consumption of many picture books, middle grade books, movies, etc.
Expansion:
• Getting back online into social media & connecting with industry people/organizations and populating with content (I had used social media a TON personally but then pulled all of my content & activity back in 2009)
• Actively engaging with others online (like in the SVS Forum, Facebook Groups, other social media)
• Meeting with other illustrators in person
Exploration:
• Created a variety of paintings & attempted new things with each (whether process, style, content, etc.)
• Sketched a lot, also attempting new things with each
• Moving from exclusively digital back into including traditional media
I suppose there are more points that could be added here, but even with the points listed it is quite a bit that has been done, yet, this hardly expresses just how many sub-points and specifics each entails, which is an enormous amount! Truly this past year has been drinking from a waterfall.
I think that I have successfully reoriented my focus; something I am quite excited about.
Because of that, I think that I have made substantial progress on redeveloping myself and giving myself a pretty good initial foundation.
From this, I see 2017 as being a continuation of the education, expansion, & exploration of 2016 but with heightened focus, benefiting from all of the work done already.
Now that I have something to show, I can begin “stepping-up my game” with the quality of my drawing, painting, concept & narrative, etc. of my work, including developing specific types of work absent from but necessary for my portfolio. (No pressure, right?)
I’m still looking for my “breakthrough” illustration(s), but given the growth from pre-2016 to 2016 and within 2016 itself, I think that I have a good chance of achieving that first, seemingly elusive, breakthrough piece soon.
While I will definitely pursue learning, networking, exploring, & creating, I would also certainly like to grow the business side this year.
I am quite appreciative for SCBWI, SVSLearn, and the various individuals & groups I’ve gotten the opportunity to grow from this past year.
In particular, I have gained a tremendous amount from @Will-Terry , @Lee-White & @Jake-Parker and those in the SVSLearn Forums for which I have the most sincere gratitude for.
As I had the opportunity to say to Will: “It is my hope that I can implement and excel from this guidance, and that I may make you, the SVSLearn team & members, and my wife, family & friends proud & encouraged by such growth.”
May it be so this 2017!