@makekong Thanks! Thankfully, my dayjob has really flexible scheduling, and they don't care if any employees change their schedules around. It's mostly students and folks who work other jobs as well.

First off thanks for even being a teacher! Society benefits so much from all the effort teachers put in. And wow what a lovely owl painting ❤ It is clear from your story that you know what you want to do, but not sure how to go about it. I'll share what I did....because I am a freelance artist I don't make as much money as I did with my 9-5 job working on computers. To do the transition, I quite my full time job, accepted that I would have lower pay from now on. And moved. I moved to an area which cut my mortgage in half, I'm working towards being less dependent on my car, and even considering moving to a different country so I can get free healthcare. In the meantime also picking up part time work to support my creative endeavors. It is possibly to make a career from your creativity, but you have to be willing to take risks. All the best in wherever you go from here! Life is as limitless as your imagination.

Your concept art's amazing- I loved looking at your portfolio! I'm new to illustration myself, and don't have any more advice to offer than you've gotten already. For my own portfolio, I only have children's book illustrations, because that's what I want to be hired for. But I've seen illustrators who have multiple skill sets use separate tabs to show each of them, like Nyrryl suggested.
Hopefully other illustrators can chime in with more advice. Good luck and congrats on your book!!

@Abigail-Hookham This is so cute, and the bottles definitely stand out more now.

It seems like this would be the perfect opportunity to let loose and just see what happens. Maybe it's a case of wanting and being able to do both? Looking at Matt Rockefeller's instagram page, I would say that he could easily do either MG or PB projects. He seems to just prefer MG subject matter, but his style could work for either. If I was in your situation, I think I would include both PB pieces and MG/YA art as well. That way the person doing your portfolio review will have a range of what you are truly capable of.

Not sure if you're entering this piece for the competition, but I'll crtique it as though you were.

Because the artwork would be printed in small deminsions, one only really sees charizard's head, wing shape and moon. It's too dark. Instead of black, perhaps use darker, blue-ish hues for the background elements. It'll help make the orange pop out. The contest asks to see pokemon living its daily life routine. Because the charizard is asleep, the narrative becomes more about the resourceful basic pokemon. This is a problem if the aim is to create an artwork for a charizard card. If charizard were awake, it's more about it being generous towards others. Maybe the wing can be lifted up to act as a canopy? While the contest rules didn't ban adding additional figures in the competition, it wasn't supportive of the idea. However, the winning piece from the last competition had both a pokemon and trainer in a piece. Would you be interested in swapping out the wild pokemon for a trainer? I would reexamine the (gol)bats + moon in the background. The moon takes one eyes away from the scene.

Hope these suggestions are of help. Good luck with the contest.

@solomon-designs I'm so happy it's helpful!! ♥️♥️♥️

@blamillo woohoo!!! That’s awesome news!!!!

@NessIllustration oooh okay that makes so much sense. Thank you for clarifying!

This one summer by Jillian Tamiki. Her illustrations are amazing. But this book is also scolded for its poor story-arc in the writers' community, even though it received a Caldecott honor.

@Oana I totally agree, this is an ideal fit for OP's style for sure! I think given your time constraints, not talking about your age because I agree that should not stop you, it may be better to think of licensing your artwork for games, magazines, products catering to kids/middle grade...rather than dedicating 6-9 months or longer for a children's picture book.

@Norman-Morana Thanks a lot for this 🙂 Appreciate it!

@blamillo I have no skills in this area (besides recently starting to read graphic novels)but I did want to mention that I did stumble over reading those speech bubbles that Braden mentions..I read from left to right - my guess would be most folks would...it is a strong instinct to find the left most speech bubble and start from there...super impressive that you finished this! Really nice work!

Pentel Pocket brush pen is a favorite among many artists due to its durable nylon brush tip, which offers excellent flexibility and control. It produces smooth and consistent lines, making it great for both beginners and professionals.

@MyArt-Multiverse I understand the tablet thing. I used the same small wacom for about 15 years. The next one I got was a much larger one. There are pros and cons I suppose as there are times I miss my smaller one, but I do enjoy the feeling of being able to get my arm more into the game with the larger wacom. 🙂

I love this thread! It has resonated with so many people, and it seems obvious this is common, key problems that comes up with us artists as a normal part of the creation process. It's comforting to see so many also struggle with it even those at top tier skill level, and it's especially helpful to hear all of your own tips and tricks of what helps you deal with this. My takeaway is that we all struggle with this at some point (or constantly) but there are ways to keep creating despite of it.

@phoenix-yip hi! Well, everyone can enter. All you have to do is to post your work in the contest thread. However, the winners will only be choosen from the subscribed students. You also need to be subscribed if you want to view the critique session.

I have been diagnosed with ADHD, although there are two very different opinions from two different doctors. One says yes I am (inattentive type with some sensory processing disorder), the other says probably not but won't rule it out completely. Needless to say, I'm confused on the matter of their opinion, but have enough self awareness to know that at least I have some kind of problem that needed solving in order to lead a better quality of life. Missing deadlines is NOT ideal in the freelance world and you will not get work if you don't find a way to shape up!

And focus was my biggest problem. So earlier this year I requested a referral to see a psychiatrist who specializes in ADHD (she is the one who doesn't think it's my problem and attributed my issues to anxiety/depression). We have had several sessions and for this and other reasons, she has suggested I try medication. One to manage the depression/anxiety, the other to manage something I do not wish to disclose here, but it is also prescribed for people who have ADHD.

I don't condone medication as a solution - most of the time it is simply a bandaid for something that might have healthier or more natural way to solve the problem. I was, however, at my wits end and too far into my life to feel like a complete and utter failure anymore. Mindset tools such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Neural Linguistic Programming, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy haven't quite done the trick, though they have added to my arsenal of how to deal with issues that come up. The same with learning how habits work and how to replace/build new and helpful habits, and just understanding my own brain and how it works!

Truthfully, it really has made significant changes for me in the past few months. I can stay focused, my mind is not racing all over the place to every shiny possibility. I have been able to maintain my concentration to a point where I am getting through online class lessons and better yet, GETTING THINGS DONE. I've finished a lot of art where as before, my WIP folder took up most of the space on my hard-drive. Consequently, my confidence in my abilities has increased too.

Meds are not the be all and end all. I combine this with support from my psych, accountability to friends and mentors, lists, notes and goal setting to stay on track. I have a lot of ideas and I make notes about them in a notebook or file, somewhere I can see and sort them out. I have reminders and alarms galore. And although I haven't completely mastered all this, the difference is amazing and I'm extremely happy with the progress.

It is up to you to find out and manage how you process things. Try everything till you find something that fits, there are heaps of tools available to help focus, time management, etc. It's a bit of an adventure finding these things out too. With your art, others have made some useful points, so I won't repeat them, but it also may not be a bad idea to talk to someone about how you can find a way through this. Because if you really enjoy drawing, you will no doubt keep coming back to it, even after a bad art block or hiatus. Accepting that you are creative and identifying it with yourself is also helpful, so say "I AM an artist" instead of "I'm not an artist", no matter what your skill level. If it's what you really want to do, you will naturally feel pulled to do it at some point.

Sorry... I am also incredibly long-winded, but this topic resonated with me, so I hope it helps... you or anyone who reads and has similar quirks. As others have said, dig deep and find out about yourself. Talk to your doctor about managing any flighty tendencies. Research. Practice. And hopefully you will find the answer you seek.

Great thread! thank you for asking this question, I too am more interested in Editorial as opposed to children's and I've gotten a lot out of these forums, but I have also been looking for more specific along the lines of what I'm interested in as well.

I can highly recommend Sterling Hundley's Ideation Lab 01 class if it's offered here again. It's a live class, so the real benefit is just getting the change to get his feedback and ask him your specific questions. He was a wealth of knowledge about the industry and even though the class is focused on how to generate ideas, he really takes his time in the live sessions and I found him to be very open and generous with his knowledge.

BTW @juliekitzes That https://dearartdirector.tumblr.com/ site is brilliant! Thanks for sharing that resource.