Finding a style.

I have been trying to figure out were I fit in as an illustrator. This past Saturday I attended a meeting for the local SCBWI. The moderator Sylvia Andrews was very nice and helpful and everyone who attended was very supportive toward each other. It was a very nice experience. Although there were no illustrators there, it was nice to listen to the writers talk about character development, plot; ‘show it, don’t tell it’ and other comments that helped me understand that what is important to writers is also important to illustrators. I will attend next month’s meeting. I will be able to show my work and get some feedback from the writers.

I also read and article by Kathleen Reitz on discovering your style. I found it very honest and insightful.
I have been trying to sketch every day in what I think is my style. Some days it flows and feels very natural and some days it feels like I’m stuck. Does anyone go through this?

When I do small paintings, I can finish one in about 2 hours. However, the illustrations are taking me a lot longer. About 10 hours. I know it’s way too long, but I always get caught up in the details. I need to experiment more with that. Suggestions anyone?

I have been working on 4 cards to represent the seasons. So far I have sketches for summer and spring. I am incorporating kids and animals. I will be posting those later. If they turn out nice, I may use those as portfolio pieces or promotional pieces. Stay tunned!