Hey, folks--just wanted to let you know that one of our own, @Neha-Rawat won the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Summer Spectacular Portfolio Showcase that just wrapped itself up a few minutes ago. Out of around 450 participants, she was one of two Grand Champion winners! Here at SVSLearn, she was a featured student for February 2020!

You may recall a couple weeks ago, Neha created a thread that actually asked if participating was worth the experience... I wasn't too optimistic, but I have to eat my own words as it obviously worked for her!!! She wins free admission to the next virtual conference in February, meetings with three art directors, and a $1000 gift certificate to Blick Art Supplies.

There was a group of us on Instagram DMing each other as we watched the sessions (thank-you so much @Coley for setting it up and corralling us all together), and we had a great time! It was nice touching bases with everyone as the event unfolded. Apparently, the usual attendance for the conference held annually in LA is around 1200, but because everything was online this year they had over 4000 participants from all over the world. Neha's work was seen by thousands of people.

You can see Neha's showcase here. Judging criteria included: 1) children's book publishing appropriateness, 2) consistency of a strong illustrative "voice" throughout, and 3) a fresh and unique style.

The entire collection of illustrators can be found here. It's a great resource, and useful to see what imagery other illustrators are including in their portfolios. It will be available through the month of August.

Congrats again, Neha!!!

This mermaid went down fighting, I think...

Over a year after work started on the album (thank-you Covid) my first paid work as an illustrator has finally been published/released! It's not a children's book or a magazine or anything--just an album cover. I did it all in Procreate, and I'm happy with how it turned out. The iterations this thing went through... whew! And learning what should be included in a contract and what shouldn't, and how very different the perceptions of process are when coming from different angles... Wow. ("No, illustration doesn't mean I know anything about selecting the correct fonts... No, illustration doesn't mean I know how to Art Direct and format the interior content you want... No, I think you need a graphic designer for that part...." Oy...) Learning curve all the way around.

Anyway, I thought I'd share.

https://hemisphere.hearnow.com/american-dreams

Alrighty. Here goes.

Personal first steps!

Someone saw one of my hands from my 100 Hands of Family and Friends ongoing personal project, and wanted something like it for an album cover for their band. Haha! I guess those square Instagram images are good for something, right? I'm also making different image assets distilled from layers of the same hand portrait so they can use them in their 12-page CD insert. Ironically, the part they didn't want was the hand itself... LOL!

Anyway, I finally got to practice making a contract, talking about logistics, so on and so forth. I'm sure I've screwed up something somehow that will come back and bite me in the butt, but hey--I'm just reveling in the idea that someone is actually paying me to draw for them.

And I thought I'd share this little victory of mine with folks who I know can appreciate it.

Happy Dance!!!

Alrighty. Trying a double page spread this time.

Really enjoying the symmetry tool. Playing with it and a calligraphy brush in Procreate. Having a lot of fun!!!

I've been listening to Sanderson's Rhythm of War, his latest in his Stormlight Archive series. I doodled something that was inspired by the illustration work of Isaac Stewart, who does a lot of the illustrations in his series. Stewart designed a series of "glyphs" that were symmetrical, and executed with a wide-tipped calligraphy brush. I ended up doing something reminiscent of a blend of Asian, Native-American, Celtic, and Meso-American influences completely by accident. I did a "fox" image because I was able to completely "check-out" and let it just evolve out of my fingers without thinking about it. It was such a good feeling, such a relaxing un-stressful experience that I just kept going... Kinda enamored with it now. I'll be making more of these at least until I get done with the audiobook! LOL!

Playing with phone wallpapers and Zoom backgrounds for my Ko-fi. Having a lot of fun with the leaf brush I made in Procreate. Working on a potential icicle chain brush that I can then distort and change the angle.

And a couple days later the bottom one is done!

Welcome, Michael! There are quite a few of us from California on these forums! I'm in San Diego myself. It's nice to see another one join the fold!

Made a fun little Mummy phone wallpaper this AM and sent it out to my friends/family on FB and Twitter. Happy Halloween!

@Heather-Boyd I can't wait to see it!!

This is coming together so nicely!! Gorgeous!!

WOW @Kyle-Tobey thank-you SO MUCH!!! I'm really really thankful you shared with us where you had your pieces done by--that's so helpful! I had heard that a lot of folks got their pieces manufactured in China and I'm so happy to hear there's a US supplier closer to home that can do the work. You've saved me days of research, I truly appreciate that. I suspect I will soon plunge down the rabbit hole to make some of these myself, but you've really encouraged me just by telling me about Night Owls. I will be doing business with them for sure!