@lmrush Thanks so much! I'm really trying to get a higher level of 'polish' on my pieces at the moment, so to hear you say that means a lot...glad some of the effort is paying off!
@smceccarelli Thanks for sharing your - as ever - interesting and insightful thoughts. I'm sure that perseverance on your part will pay dividends eventually!
@Dulcie Wow Dulcie - these are really nice!
Working on a polar bear book dummy, i was just going to post some pics of it. Love horses so interested to see how your project pans out too. 
@smceccarelli Whew..that's rough. But good to know, maybe I'll be more prepared if I ever see that day. Hope that this draft is the winner!!
@MirkaH Your images are so charming and endearing!
@lmrush thanks so much. I love working on them.
@Dulcie I am loving the textures. You definitely know your style. Everything always seems so consistent.
@smceccarelli I have also been wondering how your life has changed since signing with an agency. It is good to hear some of what you have experienced. I am sure you will get the gist of it after awhile and know their likes and dislikes overtime. Your Leprechaun is amazing. I am wondering' do you know of any way in Procreate to get that sort of paint spot look you get in that image? I see that used all of the time, and feel as though photoshop just provides so much more when it comes to brushes.
@MirkaH looka fantastic! However, do book dummies require full colored pieces? I hope not 
@SarahLuAnn love the concept. Very secret of Kells, which I love!
@kassadoodle great piece. The character design is something along the lines of how I wish to design my characters as well. Really works well with water color.
@Eric-Castleman Yes, I just need to be more patient with myself and the world...much more than it is comfortable for me. It helped to hear many stories from established authors and illustrators in NY, and knowing that even for the super-pros it sometimes took many many years before they had their break. The illustrator Bryan Collins (who gave the keynote opening lecture) said it took him 7 years to get his first picture book in print...No quick successes in this business! And looking at how much time it takes to polish a manuscript, I am not surprised....
What do you mean with "paint spot look"?
This image was painted in Photoshop with my favorite brush ("oil canvas flat" from Kyle Webster's sets). The rainbow was painted in Rebelle (a watercolor simulator - very hard to control, but makes cool watercolor effects). The spatter was added in Photoshop using some of Kyle Webster's watercolor spatter brushes.
Despite always thinking of doing some traditional mixed media, I always end up sticking with digital....
@Eric-Castleman yes/no depending who and how you are submitting to. Most of the time when submitting, agents/art directors/ editors want to see a couple finished pieces of art inside the dummy to get an idea of what the finished book will look like.
@Eric-Castleman Thank you!
@Kevin-Longueil Thank you!
@Eric-Castleman Thanks! I've been trying to work on my process/style development sort of thing (and didn't think I was quite there yet) so if it's looking consistent to someone else that's great to hear
@Eric-Castleman I was totally thinking Secret of Kells when I drew it. I'm glad someone made that connection :-).
@smceccarelli Sounds like your agent is doing her job... which doesn't mean it isn't frustrating. This may be a dumb question, but do you perhaps have a critique group of author-illustrators also making dummies that could help you work on your dummy before taking it to your agent? If so ignore this comment, but I've found critique friends to be very beneficial.
@Sarah-LuAnn Yes, I actually do belong to a local SCBWI author/illustrator critique group - we are all pretty inexperienced though....and much too kind to each other 
I am trying to up my writing practice by writing and submitting short pieces to children magazines. It has been quite interesting to research that market! Nothing accepted so far (well, they do have a 6 months response time), and maybe nothing ever will, but it is good practice!
@smceccarelli I like it!
@smceccarelli Wow, that wouls be discouraging to me but I think that growth is painful in the world of illustration. I sometimes wonder what would happen if I actually sent something to a publisher and had to rework everything. I'm sure I would need that but....it would be rough. Doing it all myself is hard too because I don't have someone always to catch my unnoticed mistakes. But I've progressed with my current project and have a long way to go...kind of. I'm thinking of taking a couple of classes at the local community college because I have a lot of time now to do it and it is good to associate with other atists in person. Well, thsi sure got long and off track!!
I've been repainting Bratz dolls for a while just to get my mind onto another plane for awhile. Did four. Now I'm back to my book writing and illustrating.
@lmrush Love teh horse and the color choices. I have been doing something different bu tI will post. I needed a break from my book project so decided to try my hand at repainting the faces, etc. of old Bratz dolls.
It was challenging to paint the faces, make the feet (they had no feet, just pegs). But i twas a good creative release away from my frustration with other pursuits
Here's what they used to look like:
Marsha Ottum Owen
@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen The repaint looks stunning - both quality-wise as well as for the message of it! Very well done!
Something that comes to mind that may interest you: Waldorf dolls (also called Steiner dolls) are a big thing here. It is not a make, it is a concept. Waldorf dolls have to be self-made (by now you can buy them, but those are also hand-made, so normally very expensive) and have no recognizeable expression: the idea is that the child playing should be able to project his/her feelings onto the doll. I used to make them in dolls-house size.
Hi everyone,
I am trying to fine-tune everything in my two sketches (underwater lake scene and lady feeding squirrels) before I attempt to colour it. Seems like never ending job, getting these two sketches right...
@lmrush Hello Lisa - I've taken up quite a bit of bandwidth with my Oz pieces but this seems like a cool thread so i hope no-one minds yet another Oz post - My current project is illustrating the Wonderful Wizard of Oz with my portrait style illustrations - still enjoying it for sure - hopefully put it together as an under $3 kindle edition of the book this summer - that is the goal anyways - still enjoying it as i said but i am starting to think of next projects - maybe with another one year timeline for completion - anyways here is the group photo so far( the last 7 pieces are not finished)
@lmrush Thanks so much! I'm really trying to get a higher level of 'polish' on my pieces at the moment, so to hear you say that means a lot...glad some of the effort is paying off!
@smceccarelli Thanks for sharing your - as ever - interesting and insightful thoughts. I'm sure that perseverance on your part will pay dividends eventually!
