“Yeti cooked with flare...” First, that unintentional typo had me giggling, then it inspired this spot illo. Funny how one word can change the meaning!

So here’s my yeti, chilling out “alone” on his Nepalese hillside, cooking with flare(s)...

Albert the wombat is going through a few growing pains adjusting to his new home...

Ah-MAZE-ing entries this month, everyone!

Here's mine. (Did you know that if acorns are put in a fire, they pop and jump around? It might have inspired my fairytale situation -- out of sight but ready with a plan to frighten away the enemies!)

Right now I'm up to my eyeballs in 3 different children's books, all in different stages of done-ness and all for small publishers or self-publishers. (This is a sneak peek at one of them.)

Big plan for this year is to get ready to submit (and hopefully submit) to bigger publishers.

Squeaking in right under the wire! Whew! (What do they say? Finished, not perfect?)

Did this little spot for an illustration challenge with the prompt "The moment before..."

And chose a pug because my latest picture book project is about a pug, so ... a great chance to sneak in some practice drawing pugs! (For this one, I challenged myself to draw from memory, just looked at one or two reference pictures of a plate of cookies and dogs counter surfing to get started.) Still unsure if this is how I want to approach the character and rendering style ... might need to draw a few more pugs.

Loving seeing what everyone's up to this month!

Been encountering technical difficulties and haven’t been able to post until now. I know this is late, but hopefully it can be included ... if not, that’s okay too ... just wanted to share with you all.

What if I was hired to illustrate a nonfiction / informational fiction picture book about yetis? That supposition fired my imagination, got me diving into internet research, and it snowballed from there!

Looking forward to feedback. Thanks so much!

I think I'm officially in cuteness overload! Or going into a cuteness coma...

@Asyas_illos SO cute! Love how you use both orange and aqua in your cat character. Your Albert koala is equally as cute ... and so mischievously artistic. LOVE it.

@williammeany awesome character! The way you convey expressions is impressive.

@kylebeaudette LOVE this character!

@Jeremiahbrown Your character is amazing! Love the texture, the facial expressions, the monocle, the butt crack...

@K-Flagg your traditional work is really nice -- would love to see more of it!

@Jenwardstudio those eyes! What a cutie!

@joosterwijk love the pencil textures in this piece!

@Moana-Maureen love how you stylized your musk ox Albert. Very creative.

@willicreate thanks for adding some context in your elevator pitch. Love how you simplified your Albert -- it upped the cuteness level to 11!

@Randi-Gordon -- love the wide-eyed cuteness. And YES -- I've run into the same problem so many times! Now I try to remember to write down which brushes I'm using ... or copy them into their own folder for that specific project.

@Jennifer-Ward love all that personality you infused into your lines!

@Mary-Toth love your watercolor rendering! Great character design. And way to go, making a possum so cute!

@Rachel-Horne -- wonderful design! You're a master at communicating emotion with only a few lines.

@ellenseal14 -- I can definitely see this cutie being BOTH mischievous and kind!

@ruth -- cute, cute, cute! (And I knew it was a coati right off, so well done!)

@miranda-hoover -- CUTE! And wonderfully rendered. As always!

@Jeremy-Ross -- loving this new style you're trying out.

@Iain-Davidson welcome to the group! Another cute character -- love his face! And love how he's only wearing one sock!

@brettb_draws -- love how you stylized your badger.

@Sara-Nilsson TOO cute! That head! That tail!

@mag -- love, love, LOVE this Albert! Furry? Check. Cute? Double check. Mischievous? Triple check!

@Janette -- oh, this is so well done and ... CUTE! "It's so FLUFFY!" (Not that I'm quoting a popular movie or anything...)

@xin-li -- love that you chose a boar ... and managed to make him cute! Loved seeing your progress posts, love his messiness, and love how he can be a little bit grumpy. ️

Hi, @davidhohn, @Michael-Angelo-Go & @NessIllustration -- just thought I'd add a little clarification since I did (unfortunately) start out my freelancing art career on Elance (now Upwork -- NOT something I'd recommend, but that's a different story and at the time I needed a paycheck).

YES, Upwork is a nonnegotiable work-for-hire situation -- lousy terms. However, all the clients that I worked with on Upwork were more than happy to give me permission to show the artwork in my portfolio. (And honestly, that's all I would've used that artwork for anyway.)

Yes, the client probably did say 22-page book, and yes, they probably didn't know what they were doing. This is VERY common to see with newbie self-publishing authors.

And yes, self-publishing clients are the "boss", the editor, and the art director. Most of my clients had very little knowledge about the illustration process or the process of publishing a book, and most had no art experience. It does make the process a little challenging, to say the least.

A note about 24-page books. Most self-published authors choose to publish their books using print-on-demand services like KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) and Ingram Spark, which have a minimum page count of 24. PODs have different printing specs since they print books using inkjet printers rather than offset printers. They print in multiples of 4: 24, 28, 32 pages, etc. Both KDP & Ingram Spark require the last page of a book to be left blank for their use. So if you're hired to illustrate a 24-page PB that will be POD, you actually deliver 23 pages of content, as page 24 needs to be kept blank.

Hope this helps clear things up -- or muddy the waters???

@Morgan-Wallace it is relatively easy to publish using Amazon's KDP, and free. It's print-on-demand (POD), meaning that a book is only printed when it's ordered and Amazon handles all the printing,distribution, & shipping so that's something you don't have to worry about. If you'd like a small inventory of books, you can order author copies at cost, which is something like $4 a book plus shipping.

There are some things to be aware of about KDP, though:

1. They only print in paperback. It sounds like they are beta testing hardcovers, but that option isn't available yet.
2. The quality control is at times lacking, which could irritate your readers. A few times I've gotten KDP-printed books with entirely different books printed in the middle (2-for-1, I guess, but it's still annoying). The printing quality could differ depending on where the book is printed (KDP has several printing locations in the US and overseas).
3. The printing quality is just okay. It's not as good as a book printed on an offset printer (printing in bulk, how books are traditionally printed) - the paper is thinner and the printing is not as vibrant. It has to do with the paper, inks, and the type of printer that these books are printed on.
4. KDP requires that the last page of a book be reserved for their use. Which is fine in a novel. But for a picture book, if you're printing 32 pages, you design and plan for only 31 pages of content, page 32 being reserved for KDP's use. It leaves an extra "blank" page at the end because KDP's print date and location notice is really small and nothing else goes on that page.
5. The printing is automated. You don't have a lot of options to choose from and if you need to troubleshoot and contact customer support, they often are not very knowledgeable. (This is my experience. Perhaps things have changed in the past year or so and KDP has given their customer service reps more training.) On the plus side, if you need to make changes or correct something on the fly, it's free and easy to do and your book remains available for purchase.

If you would like a hardcover picture book, as most readers prefer hardcover nowadays, there is the option of printing through Ingram Spark, Ingram's POD. They offer a few more printing options to choose from and 3 levels of printing quality (hint: because it's a picture book, you want to choose the premium color option, which is of course the most expensive). Like KDP and other PODs, Ingram Spark is relatively easy to use (though more complicated than KDP), the printing quality is okay (the quality of Ingram's premium color is better than KDP, but still not as good as offset printing), and you need to leave the last page for their use. Ingram Spark does have a setup fee and does charge for revisions made to an uploaded file.

Note: you will want to purchase your own ISBN. (KDP offers a free ISBN option, but it's advisable to purchase your own so that you are registered as the publisher of your book.) In the US, an ISBN can only be purchased from one place, Bowker. One ISBN costs $125; 10 cost $295. If you live in Canada, you get them from ISBN Canada and they are free. In the UK, you'd get an ISBN through Nielsen UK ISBN Agency. (Obtaining an ISBN is different for each country.) If you print a hardcover and paperback version of your book, you will need an ISBN for both. At this time, KDP doesn't require ISBNs for ebooks.

There are other costs involved in self-publishing. (Even though as an author-illustrator, you are cutting those costs way down.) You'll want to hire a professional editor. If you don't know how to format a book or if book design isn't in your wheelhouse, you'll need to hire a book designer to design your cover and the interior of the book. If you start your own publishing company, there are going to be DBA fees and other setup fees. There are marketing costs. And there is also the cost of time -- the time you spend on making your book, you can't spend making money some other way.

Self-publishing can be rewarding and a really good experience. But it's a lot of work. It will take a lot of time, money, and energy. Are you someone who has the time and is willing to put the effort into selling your book? For a book to be successful, it needs to be marketed. There are so many books out there right now that uploading your book to KDP and expecting people to find it amid the 250,000+ of children's books already listed on Amazon ... yeah, that probably won't happen. People have to know it's there, which means you have to market, market, market!

It's good to sit down and consider why you may want to self-publish and what you want to get out of it. Is this a passion project, a book that you've dreamed of making, and you don't really care how much money it makes (or if you lose money on it), as long as it's out in the world? Is it a book that a traditional publisher probably wouldn't pick up, for whatever reason? Or, on the other hand, is this a project that you want or need to make money for you?

If it's the latter, my recommendation would be to take an honest look at self-publishing, what you can realistically expect, and what it will take for your book reach its goals. Do you have the resources to do that?

If, after you evaluate, it seems like it will take too much time and effort, or if it's something you can't afford to do, then perhaps traditional publishing is the way to go.

One more note: you said that you're leaning towards getting a literary agent to build your brand and network -- it may be worth considering if self-publishing will help you in that goal or not. While it is gaining ground in being considered a legitimate form of publishing (cuz it is), there still is a stigma surrounding self-publishing. It's something to be aware of. However, if you put out a self-published book that is just as high-quality as a traditionally published book, that could go a long way in counteracting that stigma in building your brand. If you're a member of SCBWI, The Book (updated every year and available to all members) has a self-publishing section that has a ton of information that may help you in weighing that option. It also has an agents directory and tips on submitting to an agent. I've personally found SCBWI extremely helpful in learning about the industry, in networking, and building my career (such as it is).

Did it again -- got really long-winded! Hope you found this info dump helpful. If there's anything you have questions about, feel free to ask!

@Leah-Lisee-Boynton welcome to the forum! Glad to have you here!

@Matthew-Oberdier yes, the composition is better!

A few questions:

1. What is the story? Why is he pointing to the bell?
2. The 3 mice in the foreground have so much more personality than the speaker mouse, who seems really nonchalant. Is he the focal point? If so, could he have more personality?
3. Love the cat's eye popping open! Is it possible to show him wearing the bell?
4. What is the rectangle near the mouse hole? Is it a picture? A window? Is it needed? (You could use value, perhaps a curving shadow, to fill that space and lead the eye back to the action.)
5. Do you need to show a ceiling? Again, could value and shadow do the trick?

Looking forward to seeing this piece come together!

@Morgan-Wallace aww, thanks so much! Glad you found it helpful!

Since @RachelArmington already replied with some good answers, I'm just going to add to what she said.

1. While KDP's offer of the free "use one of our ISBNs!" is tempting -- it's really not something I'd recommend. This is what KDP says about their free ISBN: "The free ISBN from KDP can only be used on KDP for distribution to Amazon and its distributors. It cannot be used with another publisher or self-publishing service." (Direct quote taken from the KDP website.) So if you use a KDP ISBN, you're agreeing only to print and distribute your book exclusively through KDP, for the entirety of the time you use that ISBN. Amazon owns that ISBN, meaning that while you own the copyright to the book, Amazon owns the distribution rights to that ISBN. Using the free ISBN would work for you only if you expect that this book will be the only book you ever publish, that you don't anticipate ever wanting to print or distribute it elsewhere, and if you don't expect the book will sell well. That includes bookstores, libraries, or other brick-and-mortar stores, most of whom will not put an Amazon-printed book on their shelves.

2. (This might really be 1b.) Another reason not to use the free KDP-provided ISBN comes from the Nonfiction Author's Association: "Some of the print-on-demand services offer free ISBNs, which sounds easy and appealing if you’re trying to keep costs down. However, when you register your book under a free ISBN, it then puts your book on record as being published by the entity that provided the ISBN. This is a common rookie mistake." In other words, KDP would list itself as the publisher of your book, since they provided the ISBN -- but YOU are the publisher of your book, since you're self-publishing. You want to make sure that you are clearly listed as the publisher of record.

3. Yes, as Rachel said, IngramSpark has recently begun offering free ISBNs to US-based self-publishers. But here's an interesting tidbit direct from IngramSpark: they don't recommend it. Here's what they have to say on their FAQ: "An ISBN is an expense many self-published authors are confused about. If you use a free ISBN with IngramSpark, your publisher imprint will not be associated with your book—it will hold IngramSpark’s imprint, Indy Pub. It may also limit where you can print and distribute your own title. At IngramSpark, we believe it's in your best interest to be recognized as the owner of your work and a publisher in your own right, which is why we encourage publishers to purchase their own ISBNs. You can read more about ISBNs and the benefits of purchasing your own here."

4. Your book could be picked up by a publisher after it's been self-published. But as Rachel said, it's rare. Don't expect this to happen, even if your book is great. Why? First and foremost, a traditional publisher is a business. They make decisions on which book to publish based on how well they think it will sell. Most self-published books don't sell well. So in the traditional publisher's eyes, if a book has a proven track record of not selling, why would they take that gamble? On the flip side, if a self-published book does sell well, the traditional publisher may be concerned that the author has done such a good job of marketing, they have already saturated the market so the publisher may not be able to expect strong sales if they decide to pick up the book.

But like they said on Reading Rainbow: don't just take my word for it. You should definitely research all of this yourself and learn all you can about self-publishing before jumping in and publishing your own book. It might be a good fit for you, it might not -- and only you will be able to determine that.

If you're overwhelmed with all there is to learn, here are a few places to start:

1. SCBWI -- mentioned them before and will mention again because they're a wealth of information. Membership is around $80 or so a year and with that comes access to webinars, networking with peers (especially within your region), and The Book. The Book alone is, to me, worth the price of membership. This fall, there is also going to be a special edition of The Book just for self-publishers (I'm really looking forward to that!).
2. The Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market -- this book is updated every year and contains articles about writing for children and the children's book industry. You can preorder the newest edition, which comes out in October.
3. ALLi (the Alliance of Independent Authors) -- Note: if you're a member of SCBWI, they have teamed with ALLi to provide self-publishing information and advice for the children's book market, so you may not need to join ALLi. ALLi does have great articles and has researched reputable services to help serve and protect the independent author community.

Hope this helps! And if you have any questions, please ask. ️

@juliekitzes I think most artists struggle with this, at some point in their journeys or throughout their lives!

@carlianne has great advice: make yourself accountable in some way, either by personally giving yourself a project or finding an accountability buddy. Whether that's one person or a critique group, that may help you keep motivated to finish that project.

@NessIllustration also has great advice: address the underlying issue. If you're only working on a project when you feel inspired -- while we need to be motivated as artists, working only when we feel inspired is a good way to have a pile of unfinished projects. Now, I think all of us have pieces that we never finished and that will never get finished -- that's being an artist! But if your goal is to become a full-time, working artist, inspiration can't be the driving force behind getting projects done.

For me, when I'm working on a book and this is my 20th time illustrating this character, it's not an exciting part of the story (all books have quiet moments), and it's a character that's not really my favorite thing to draw (most books have those characters too) -- in that situation, I just have to buckle down and do the work. There might be some wiggle room in a project where you can take a day off if you're really not feeling it and the work will suffer if you push through -- but that's the exception to the rule. For me, having that schedule and accountability (and knowing I won't get paid until the work gets done) is a great motivation! And while this is speaking professionally, it has trickled down into my personal work too -- now I plan out personal projects before jumping in and try to find ways to hold myself accountable. For example, in my personal work, I'm currently working on a picture book dummy and have decided to work in small steps, one thumbnail sketch a night. It helps to think in terms of increments instead of the entire project, which can be overwhelming, especially if I already have a lot on my plate.

Of course, this is just my perspective on the art project commitment issue. Hope you find a strategy that works for you, and please let us know how it works out!

@Jeremy-Ross thank you! (You're not speaking from experience or anything, are you?)

@Coreyartus thanks so much! Just sharing what I've learned ... so far, anyway!

@Morgan-Wallace it is relatively easy to publish using Amazon's KDP, and free. It's print-on-demand (POD), meaning that a book is only printed when it's ordered and Amazon handles all the printing,distribution, & shipping so that's something you don't have to worry about. If you'd like a small inventory of books, you can order author copies at cost, which is something like $4 a book plus shipping.

There are some things to be aware of about KDP, though:

1. They only print in paperback. It sounds like they are beta testing hardcovers, but that option isn't available yet.
2. The quality control is at times lacking, which could irritate your readers. A few times I've gotten KDP-printed books with entirely different books printed in the middle (2-for-1, I guess, but it's still annoying). The printing quality could differ depending on where the book is printed (KDP has several printing locations in the US and overseas).
3. The printing quality is just okay. It's not as good as a book printed on an offset printer (printing in bulk, how books are traditionally printed) - the paper is thinner and the printing is not as vibrant. It has to do with the paper, inks, and the type of printer that these books are printed on.
4. KDP requires that the last page of a book be reserved for their use. Which is fine in a novel. But for a picture book, if you're printing 32 pages, you design and plan for only 31 pages of content, page 32 being reserved for KDP's use. It leaves an extra "blank" page at the end because KDP's print date and location notice is really small and nothing else goes on that page.
5. The printing is automated. You don't have a lot of options to choose from and if you need to troubleshoot and contact customer support, they often are not very knowledgeable. (This is my experience. Perhaps things have changed in the past year or so and KDP has given their customer service reps more training.) On the plus side, if you need to make changes or correct something on the fly, it's free and easy to do and your book remains available for purchase.

If you would like a hardcover picture book, as most readers prefer hardcover nowadays, there is the option of printing through Ingram Spark, Ingram's POD. They offer a few more printing options to choose from and 3 levels of printing quality (hint: because it's a picture book, you want to choose the premium color option, which is of course the most expensive). Like KDP and other PODs, Ingram Spark is relatively easy to use (though more complicated than KDP), the printing quality is okay (the quality of Ingram's premium color is better than KDP, but still not as good as offset printing), and you need to leave the last page for their use. Ingram Spark does have a setup fee and does charge for revisions made to an uploaded file.

Note: you will want to purchase your own ISBN. (KDP offers a free ISBN option, but it's advisable to purchase your own so that you are registered as the publisher of your book.) In the US, an ISBN can only be purchased from one place, Bowker. One ISBN costs $125; 10 cost $295. If you live in Canada, you get them from ISBN Canada and they are free. In the UK, you'd get an ISBN through Nielsen UK ISBN Agency. (Obtaining an ISBN is different for each country.) If you print a hardcover and paperback version of your book, you will need an ISBN for both. At this time, KDP doesn't require ISBNs for ebooks.

There are other costs involved in self-publishing. (Even though as an author-illustrator, you are cutting those costs way down.) You'll want to hire a professional editor. If you don't know how to format a book or if book design isn't in your wheelhouse, you'll need to hire a book designer to design your cover and the interior of the book. If you start your own publishing company, there are going to be DBA fees and other setup fees. There are marketing costs. And there is also the cost of time -- the time you spend on making your book, you can't spend making money some other way.

Self-publishing can be rewarding and a really good experience. But it's a lot of work. It will take a lot of time, money, and energy. Are you someone who has the time and is willing to put the effort into selling your book? For a book to be successful, it needs to be marketed. There are so many books out there right now that uploading your book to KDP and expecting people to find it amid the 250,000+ of children's books already listed on Amazon ... yeah, that probably won't happen. People have to know it's there, which means you have to market, market, market!

It's good to sit down and consider why you may want to self-publish and what you want to get out of it. Is this a passion project, a book that you've dreamed of making, and you don't really care how much money it makes (or if you lose money on it), as long as it's out in the world? Is it a book that a traditional publisher probably wouldn't pick up, for whatever reason? Or, on the other hand, is this a project that you want or need to make money for you?

If it's the latter, my recommendation would be to take an honest look at self-publishing, what you can realistically expect, and what it will take for your book reach its goals. Do you have the resources to do that?

If, after you evaluate, it seems like it will take too much time and effort, or if it's something you can't afford to do, then perhaps traditional publishing is the way to go.

One more note: you said that you're leaning towards getting a literary agent to build your brand and network -- it may be worth considering if self-publishing will help you in that goal or not. While it is gaining ground in being considered a legitimate form of publishing (cuz it is), there still is a stigma surrounding self-publishing. It's something to be aware of. However, if you put out a self-published book that is just as high-quality as a traditionally published book, that could go a long way in counteracting that stigma in building your brand. If you're a member of SCBWI, The Book (updated every year and available to all members) has a self-publishing section that has a ton of information that may help you in weighing that option. It also has an agents directory and tips on submitting to an agent. I've personally found SCBWI extremely helpful in learning about the industry, in networking, and building my career (such as it is).

Did it again -- got really long-winded! Hope you found this info dump helpful. If there's anything you have questions about, feel free to ask!

@Nyrryl-Cadiz thanks so much! Honestly, though, it doesn't feel like a ton of work and I find that whether I work traditionally or digitally (or a mix of both), it takes me about the same amount of time to illustrate. I love working both in watercolor and colored pencil, so this mixed media approach is the best of both worlds, I guess!

@tbrazee oh I'm so glad you found it helpful!

And if you also are curious and find it helpful, I bought my all-in-one printer from Office Depot and had it shipped to my house. It's sold out now but you can find a comparable model, the Workforce WF-7840 (its big brother, you might say) here. That same model is also available from BestBuy.

@tbrazee aww, thanks!

It sounds like your Photoshop knowledge is on par with mine, and so far that has seen me through a few years of illustration work. (Though, like you, I'm always trying to learn something new and expand my digital skills!)

To answer your question about the printer I use, about 6 months ago I had to purchase a new printer and went with the Epson Workforce WF-7820. So far it's been working really well. It scans up to 17 x 12 inches -- there was a little bit of a learning curve to find which scan settings were as close as possible to the original artwork, but that might be the user as opposed to the machine. The printer works beautifully (probably not as high quality as some printers, but perfect for what I need to use it for) -- when I transfer my digital drawing to paper, I use the rear feed and it handles 11" x 17" 140 lb watercolor paper with ease. The only downside for me is that my old printer would print on 300 lb Fabriano Artistico hot press paper (my favorite) and this printer does not (so I have to use my second favorite paper if I don't want to transfer the image using a lightbox). Incidentally, Epson says that their DURA-Brightinks are pro-quality, pigment-based, and should last for a long time "generations in album storage" -- but they don't say exactly how long that is and I'm not sure how lightfast their inks are. (I should probably do a lightfast test of my own to find out.)

If you're interested, here's a visual breakdown of my process:

Step 1: digital sketch

Step 2: printing the sketch onto watercolor paper and refining the drawing

Step 3: painting with watercolor

Step 4: colored pencil layer -- adding details and texture

Step 5: finishing the illustration -- scanning it, editing, adding digital details (like sparkles)

This is what works well for me at the moment. Hope you found this long-winded message helpful and/or interesting.