I am very tempted to draw Will Terry into this image......

Here it is! The art that will be going out on my cards this year!

A little background on the piece: I was lucky enough to witness a scene similar to this one a few weeks ago. Our local elk herd was coming down into the valley during a cold front that eventually turned into snow. The herd huddled up near the fence I was watching them from behind and the colors of the grass and mountains were so striking behind them, I just had to paint it. Have you ever seen animals like this up close in large numbers? It's so impressive!

If you'd like one, feel free to sign up at any level on my patreon by the 5th of December so I can get them all ordered and sent out in time for Christmas! It will come with a little handwritten note from me on the inside as well as a quick doodle.

Everyone's stuff looks so good! I found my india ink before I found my pens so I doodled up this guy. Dunno if this counts for inktober, everyone else is posting really refined penwork...but oh well, here it is!

My entry for the September contest - Everyone was shocked to see her come to school on a gryphon!

After thinking about it, I think my favorite piece this year was the one I did in March for Sterling Hundley's Live Ideation class here at SVS. I didn't get to go to art school, so working with someone like him was something very out of my reach. But because of SVS I was able to have a little slice of what that experience might've been like, and I learned so much in such a short amount of time.

Just wanted to post an update to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who responded and gave input to this thread. Because of your advice I was able to successfully negotiate a new contract in which I have rights to my artwork, and adjust the payment for the project to $6000, double what she originally offered me. I would not have had the direction to achieve that without your help, I am most grateful to you all.

Not really sure if mine made the final cut since I was riding the deadline, but I'll post it here anyway.

Cool thread! I'd love a critique, if you need an image for a video please feel free to use this one. My instagram is Rainechaser, probably the best place for people to find me right now.

Concept: Rhys the gryphon has just landed on an unexplored island when suddenly two long shadows appear on the sands before him.

Oh dear, haha. I'm going to have to practice and do something about this....great challenge Jake! I will be doing more, it was a good exercise. Hope it's okay if we hashtag multiple pictures. I intend to improve upon this first one.

Hey all! I'm working on my piece for the Draw 50 Things challenge and here's the comp thumbnail that I've got right now:

I've been staring at it for a couple of hours now working on it and would love some input. I feel like it looks a bit dark at the moment, but that will be changing with color. Here's a quick thumb of my plans for the lighting/hues to illustrate kind of what I mean, though I'll still probably lighten it a bit underneath:

I am mostly concened that I am overlooking some proportion/perspective/tangent issue that I just can't see because I've been too close to it.

So instead of sleeping on it and looking at it tomorrow, I'm just gonna submit it here for you guys to tell me what you spot, haha.

In my perfect world, I'd be writing and illustrating my own books. I'd be making enough off of my art to live comfortably, be able to hire my own assistant to manage social media for me, and be able to pay a CPA to file my taxes quarterly. I don't care about being super famous, I just want to be able to work from home/a studio and make enough to support myself and my family, if I had one. I guess the dollar amount of that dream income would vary depending on whether I lived in California or Oklahoma...but maybe an average of 80k a year.

@Sarah-Foelske Okay! I did it. :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes:
I'll be moving into the space on the 12th. I'm so excited!! I've wanted a studio for years.

@jdubz That's a great idea about splitting cost for rewiring! Definitely something to consider down the road. I mostly want it because it would be nice to be able to stream from my studio and bring my digital workspace over there. So for now it'll have to be digital work station in my living room, everything else at the studio. We'll see how that goes, haha.

Thank you for the input! I feel better about renting this place now.

@eriberart Thank you for your input! I have never worked in a shared or solo studio space, haha, so I have no idea which I prefer! But I think you are right--I can always just try it out for a month or two, and if it's not working for me, call it quits. At $100 a month I feel like I can afford that gamble.

Hello SVSers!
I recently found a local business owner willing to rent me an unused space they have for $100 a month.
On the plus side, I found out they are actually a small publishing house, so on that potential "in" alone, I may just go ahead and do it.

But I would love any and all advice on what to look for/avoid in an art studio. I saw the space today and it seems kind of great with the exception of possibly no hard line internet (they do have wifi). I've made a pros and cons list, but I'm worried I might be overlooking something since this is my first time renting a studio.

Here are the basic specs on the space:
10'x14'
Plenty of power outlets
Wireless internet (maybe hard line, owner is double checking)
lockable room
window that opens
private/unshared
Can go in 8am-5pm
comes with heavy wooden desk
tiled
month to month
access to bathroom and kitchenette with sinks
private parking lot

Just to update this list for anyone else looking for impactful children's books: I just read "Great Big Things" by Kate Hoefler (with gorgeous illustrations by Noah Klocek) and "Seed and Trees" by Brandon Walden, and both were really good! The second definitely had a more intentional takeaway, but I liked the build up in Great Big Things to a very simple but true statement.

@carlianne Here is a another nice article I found that gives lots of good tips: http://kristivaliant.blogspot.com/2012/11/sending-art-promotional-postcards-to.html

I just thought of these two websites that I've found super helpful on this topic:

https://subitclub.com/ - All about submitting postcards. If you go to the "Postcard Post" section, it has interviews with artists who submit postcards as a marketing tactic complete with example postcards that they are using.

https://dearartdirector.tumblr.com/ - This one is an anonymous art director Q&A that is ongoing. Postcard submissions are a topic of many discussions here, definitely peruse this to get an idea of what art directors are looking for.

I definitely suggest the SCBWI Book (you have to be a member to access it) and the Children's Writers and Illustrator's Market for both helpful tips and addresses of a lot of publishers. I've only sent out two rounds of cards, but I used both of these resources.

I think the best method is to aim to send postcards 2-4 times per year (or at 3-6 month intervals) and send different cards each time. I'd recommend starting with 50 cards and sending them to all of the ones you want--writing the addresses down in a spreadsheet that details their usual genre and the name of the art director is a good idea too. If you find more later, add them to your list and send more cards the next round.

Good luck!

Jake was talking about writing down how much time he spends doing what and being accountable--I found this thing for that, it's quite nice! It's a very small program that automatically tracks how long you are working. It can track on up to three programs at a time. Definitely helpful for me! Maybe someone else will like it too:

https://kaseylsnow.tumblr.com/post/170625693229/kaseylsnow-deyvarah-neilcicierega-here-is