Sooo I entered this contest in Canada for children’s book writers offered by CANSCAIP not thinking I had the remotest chance in hell of being noticed but the worse that could happen I thought was I would get some feedback to improve my story. I just found out my story made the long list (top 25) in the picture book category! Next phase is that the long list will be read by publishers as they decide who makes the short list and ultimately wins an opportunity to be published.

I am so beyond excited and everyone here is asleep (yes at 9:30!!!) but I feel I will burst if I can’t tell someone!
Here’s the announcement: mine is ‘Mongoose wants a job’

https://www.canscaip.org/writingforchildren

Lost in the musical sound of rain on a galvanized roof.

I have been trying to focus on basics - using shapes to build characters as well as trying to learn Procreate. I have been doing a lot of sketches in my sketchbook ( see if you can spot when I got distracted by watching Shrek ) But am also trying to make myself bring something to the best finish I can with my current skill. So frustrating when I can’t see any improvement though!

Excellent podcast. So full disclosure - I am really, really old - not like just 35! I will be 54 this month and my poor husband thinks I have early stages of senility for even contemplating this whole journey. And on bad days, I think he is right and I should just get real and continue to live the beige life of an administrator.
I used to doodle a bit as a kid but no serious interest in visual arts (my creative outlet was always on stage). So it was good to hear that others have come to this somewhat later in life.
And while I take the point that depth of lived experience can be a great thing to bring to the table, there is also a lifetime of baggage to sort through as well. And that ticking time bomb of the end fast approaching is ever present. It is hard not to look for short cuts to progress when you are at a point in life where you can actually see that white light on the not too distant horizon.

Ok - now that I have cheered everyone up - thanks again for the podcast! It has given me some (faint) hope

I think I have reached the limit of my current skills but was good to challenge myself and I learned a lot!

Starting to panic a bit as I am thumbnailing ideas for each prompt but so far am only at #8 star . still hoping to at least get 7 sketches done before October 1st. Told y’all I’m slow

‘Stack ‘em up boys, winter’s coming!”

Thanks to those who helped me along in the process. Learned a bit more about values and adding texture in Procreate. Baby steps

Day 2 The fleeting nature of tranquility

Here’s my entry. Good luck everyone!

Here’s Day 1 - imagined poison apples being delivered to evil witches across the land. Screwed up a bit but hopefully my technique will improve as the month progresses!

Interesting thread. I tend to have very vivid dreams filled with costumes and colours and dialogue - like a movie. But I can struggle with freezing images in my head ie the still shot of a scene. Typically, I’ll see a moving segment of what I am trying to capture when I try to pin down an illustration - leads to a lot of indecision. Very frustrating. Oddly enough though, I can hold snapshots of text in my head. something I trained myself to do when I did theatre and had lots of lines to memorize. Also how I memorize things like phone numbers - visualize them as text on a page and poof I can call them up no problem. Weird

@TessaW thanks a lot for taking a look and for the feedback! Makes perfect sense

Thanks Lee. Another super helpful video. My goal this year is to move forward on applying what I have learned so far to earn a little extra $ and work on my mental health ( my anxiety has increased over past few years to point where I barely leave the house)

I have a history of making bold plans then not fully being able to achieve them. Then I’ll beat myself up for all my past failures rather than just putting it behind me and starting over afresh, and round and round I go into the downward spiral.

I was that kid who got 90% in tests but when I got home my parents would say ‘umm where’s the other 10%?’,. It has driven me forward in some ways but I have never learned how to celebrate any success without immediately thinking I should have done better. I like your levels idea - going to try that and see if it helps.

This year I want to try a side hustle offering digital printables such as nursery art. Thought it might be a way to keep practising kids related stuff while hopefully earning a little something on the side. Would welcome any critiques of the image - is it too messy? Does it look finished enough to offer for sale? Anything glaring I should fix? Thanks in advance SVSers!

Playing with ideas for Valentine’s Day. Got a bit stuck in the 80’s

Happy New Year ! Here’s to another art filled year!

@Aleksey thanks!

The holidays had me stressed out so have retreated to the Procreate symmetry tool for a few days. Think I’ll complete the set although challenge has been to keep them consistent looking

.

Merry Christmas SVS ers!

Ooh excited for this one.