Last week, I took a week long watercolor workshop.  And I have signed up to take Will Terry's online illustrator workshop.  I just got my first assignment.  exciting.

I've been trying to take into consideration what I have learned at the conferences.  One thing is to post to my blog more of what I'm doing.  The art director that I met said that publishers, agents etc like to see that stuff.  I have been posting to my FB things that I'm working on, you may have missed it ... which is why I'm trying to start posting to my blog.  I just take the pictures on my phone and can post to FB from my phone.  Having difficulties posting to my blog from my phone.

I have been studying other people's websites to see if I want to move mine because the renewal is coming up in June.  The Art Director that I met was telling about what they look for in a website.

I am trying to get my portfolio reworked because at the conferences, I was encouraged to go with my realistic style because that is who I am.  I had been trying to do a more "cartoony" look with my Grumpy Girl story.  SO, I've put that story on the back burner for now.

I was also encouraged to draw from models.  SO, I have found a few friends online that have volunteered their children.  haha.  and I am about to take an add out in my local paper in search of models.  Going to take advantage of the kids being off in the summer and maybe build my files of children photos.

Once I get 10 - 15 new illustrations of children done, I will update my website and then start sending queries to book publishers, agents, children's magazines etc.  I want to tell them that I will work on assignment instead of just saying that I want to write and illustrate my OWN book.

I am also working on a different picture book idea.  I drive an hour and a half on Mondays to paint with a group of ladies where I work on this particular project.  This is something that I may either self publish or send to Christian publishers.

So, that is what I'm doing these days !!

Going through the watercolors that I have on my palette. Printed a chart to show transparent and opaque colors. Figuring out WHY I have these colors and if I need to continue with them. That's my self imposed assignment today.

I've been taking a watercolor workshop this week from Cindy Brabec King who is an amazing artist.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cindy+brabec-king+artist&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=i0KKUbr1CIvW9ATrw4H4Cw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=652

Some of you know that I have been having issues with my eyesight.  Well, I to share something very exciting for me.

During the class, I said to Cindy "I can't see the detail".  She told me "You don't have to see it."  I have always painted detail.  I've been told that I am meticulous when I paint.  SO, the problems that I've been having with my eye sight has been so upsetting.  To think that I can't paint or participate in my life that way is just overwelming.  If you look at her paintings, you will see such detail.

So, this class has given me new hope to "see" again.

In a world where God is forgotten, I have to truly give God the glory for this.  Recently, a friend of mine asked if he could pray for my eyes and he did.  He prayed for my eyes, my sight and my artwork.  My eyes may not get better, but my sight surely has !!

Started this MANY years ago.  The original is oil pastel on cold press illustration board.  Over the years, it got a severe scratch through it.  SO, I scanned it.  Printed it on bristol paper and added color with prismacolor pencils and prisma markers.  The oil pastels just didn't grab the way that I wanted.  I haven't worked in these media in a very long time.  I just have been meaning to get it finished.  Figured Mother's day and my brother dying was the push that I needed.  IF I had started it today, I would have developed his body more.  Maybe researched more..  maybe had models so that I could see body better.  BUT, it is what it is !!  AND what it is .. is finished !!!

Austin SCBWI conference

So, I figure that it's about time that I update my blog. I have had a few people ask me about my experience at the Austin SCBWI so I thought that I would share that with you today.

Austin is about 5 hours from where I live. My husband decided to go with me so that we could make a nice weekend get away out of it. I didn't attend the Friday night events due to the long drive and getting into Austin at around 5pm. We were just wiped out.

The next morning, he dropped me off at St. Edward's University then  I registered and got my packet.  I had met someone online who was from the Houston SCBWI, named Joel Cook.  Through out the day, he and I got to talk about our critiques and everything that was going on.  It was great to have a familiar face around because I was so nervous !!  haha

I had signed up for the portfolio showcase for a small fee. Your portfolio was displayed along with others on tables in a large room.  People were able to walk around and look through your portfolio.  There was a comment card available if someone wanted to leave you a comment.  I got a lot of feedback about my pen & ink work !!

It was here that I saw Don Tate's work !!  He had a display with some of his original artwork.  He and I struck up a conversation.  He was so friendly and I could have talked to him all day.  I found him very inspiring.     Don Tate

I also met Christopher Jennings.  He talked to me a lot about the conference and told me about the different ones that he had been to.  He was very informative and encouraging.  I think he could tell that I was nervous but he was very reassuring and friendly.  http://csjennings.com/ 

After morning beverages, everyone gathered and listened to the announcements.  When that was done, we were honored by having E. B. Lewis speak.  He talked about how he studied movie stills. The lighting, angels, and other things from movies. SO, that is one of the things that I am going to start studying. I just have to figure out what to search online. !!!! I can not even begin to do him justice by telling about him.  So, here are some links that I would like to share with you.

Wikipedia - E. B. Lewis (illustrator)

Website - E. B. Lewis 

I wasn't able to listen to him for long because I had to leave for my portfolio critique with Rubin Pfeffer.  He is with East West Literary Agency.  He has been in this business for many years.  I had brought another portfolio that I had with me and put it with my purse and coat.  I brought this only to show Mark Mitchell some things that I had been working on through his online class.  Mr. Pfeffer asked to see it even though I explained that I had the portfolio that I brought for the conference.  He told me to pull some of the things from the portfolio that I wasn't going to show him and told me to include them with the conference portfolio.  We discussed my portfolio and I felt very encouraged by the things that he said to me. 

Rubin Pfeffer - Bio

East West Literary Agency

After that, I made my way back to the main hall to hear a presentation by Shutta Crum and Patrice Barton.  They wrote and illustrated the book "Mine".  The presentation led us through their creative process and their interactions with the editors.  That really was a highlight for me to see Mrs. Barton's sketches and the process that she went through with her illustrations. She won the Crystal Kite award. 

* The Crystal Kite Awards (also known as 'Crystal Kite Members Choice Awards) are given by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) each year to recognize great books from the 70 SCBWI regions around the world. Along with the SCBWI Golden Kite Awards, the Crystal Kite Awards are chosen by other children’s book writers and illustrators, making them the only peer-given awards in publishing for young readers.
Each SCBWI member votes for their favorite book from a nominated author in their region that was published in the previous calendar year.  * info taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Kite_Awards

 After this wonderful presentation, we went to lunch !!  BUT, I stopped by the book sale and bought some books of some of the wonderful people that I met. 

 http://patricebarton.com/

http://dontate.com/

http://csjennings.com/

After lunch, there was an awards presentation.  Mark Mitchell left the position of Illustrator Coordinator of the Austin SCBWI after three years.

 Mark and I had been "online" friends for over a year because I took his online class,  "How to be a children's book illustrator. "  How to be a children's book illustrator - Online Course

Then we got to hear editor Neal Porter discuss the process that he goes through when working with authors and illustrators.
Wikipedia - Neal Porter

For a small fee, I was able to sit in on "a casual conversation with the agents" --  Rubin Pfeffer, Erszi Deak, & John Cusick.  People that participated in this was able to submit questions that were then asked of the panel.  My question got asked.  :)

Then at the end of the day, one of my illustrations was projected onto a huge wall and was critiqued by a panel of editors, agents and authors.  This was called The First Impressions panel with Tamra Tuller, E.B. Lewis, Erzsi Deak, Rubin Pfeffer, John Cusick and Kathy Landwehr.

                                                           Photo byCythia Leitich Smith

I found out later, that not a lot of people do that because they really are hard on your work.  BUT, I personally feel that you have to remove yourself from your artwork and not take it personally.  These people have "made it" and if I want to make it as an illustrator, I have to listen to what people say.


When I first began the children's illustration course over a year ago, I thought that I had to change my style. I felt that I needed to make my artwork less realistic.  I just didn't think that "realistic" fit into children's books.  SO, I changed the way I painted and drew.  One of the things that I was told in this critique was that I was "on the fence" of being realistic or stylized.  AND that I needed to be one or the other.  SO, I didn't take that as a negative thing.  Instead, I took that as encouragement to paint the way I have always done. There were things said about my anatomy as well.  BUT, the thing is ..  I can see what they meant.  Mark saw me later at the reception and seemed concerned about how I took the critiques because he said that they sounded "harsh".

I've been told recently that a lot of people give up after receiving hard criticisms.  Or they give up after presenting their book once.  Rejection is a part of life.  I know that I can not please everyone because everyone has different opinions of how things need to be done.  BUT, I can listen objectively.  See if I get a lot of the same responses about something needing to be changed ..  if so, then I probably need to change something.  This is not an easy adventure that I'm taking.  I may not succeed.  But, one thing is for sure ... doing this is a full time job.  It is something that requires dedication.  I have to perfect my craft and then who knows ...  maybe you will see my book at one of these big time book stores !!!  



SO ..  a new year !!  New things in store for me.

I just joined the 12x12 challenge hosted by Juilie Hedlund.  My first time to do this.  This has opened new forums and groups to me so I'm excited about that.

http://www.juliehedlund.com/registration-for-2013/

I have also signed up for the PB Dummy challenge with Lisa Thompson.

http://mydogearedsketchbook.blogspot.ca/2013/01/step-two-draft-story.html

I feel like after having done the PiBoIdMo challenge in November with Tara Lazar, I will be ready for the 12x12 and the PB dummy challenges.

Yay me !!

I want to share a few things that I have found !!!

New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2012, --
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/11/09/books/review/11best-illustrated.html

What agents DON'T want in a query letter --
http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-agents-dont-want.html

AND a picture book writing course that you can do on your own schedule !!
http://susannahill.blogspot.com/p/making-picture-book-magic.html?m=1

Well, that's it for now.

Susan Clement-Beveridge

1,) Describe yourself :I am an aspiring Canadian artist-illustrator-author, an Ottawa native, part New Zealander with a side of Scottish decent, who has spent a good portion of my life pursuing the arts. To describe myself, I would say that I am determined, down-to-earth, (somewhat of a) perfectionist, independent, and creative

I love gardening and working outdoors, fresh air, and drives in the country. Also, discovering new eating places and local shops. I’m a big supporter of small business owners so it’s always “Buy Local” for me whenever possible!

I have always been attracted to the arts mostly drawing, painting & sculpture, but I have been involved with other forms of art or artistic expression over the years too, such as writing-poetry, theatre production, Arts & Crafts, Music – playing guitar-violin, singing & song writing, food blogs & cooking.

When I was 19 moved out to Alberta for 2 years then returned to Ottawa where I enrolled myself in a 2 year Graphic Arts Technician program at Algonquin College while working in a local Art Store. Then I moved on to work for a local printer where I worked mostly in an administrative role for a number of years.

By the mid 2000’s I was diagnosed with MS and it was after a bad relapse that I decided to get back to my artistic abilities and pursue fine arts once again and this creative artistic outlet really helped me in my recovery and have stayed on that path since as I found the more I painted the more I forgot about my illness.

2.) Tell me something about the place where you were born? I was born in Ottawa, Canada. I lived in New Zealand at a young age for almost a year then moved back to Canada and have lived here ever since. I live in a moderate city, Ottawa, the capital of Canada, where we experience all four seasons in this region. I like the spring (new growth) and the smell and color of fall the best! I never get used to the cold dampness of winters here at times. I mostly like this city I was born in because of its picturesque and green space with many parks and old architecture. Walking on sunny days and going for drives up the valley are always fun!

 

Sue 4yrs old on the ship to New Zealand -1964

3.) What pictures influenced you as a child?
I don’t know….let’s see…classic cartoons but I always liked the Norman Rockwell style–like biblical pictures in a book I had as a child and also the beautiful illustrations in this large heirloom family bible my mother has which always had a transparent parchment like page over each colorful picture.



4.) Did you have a favorite book as a child? I've always loved children's books and grew up with many and had so much joy reading them to my son when he was young. Some of my early children’s books I remember were Rupert, Dr Suess books, nursery rhymes but I remember well the books my son had as a child and one of my favorites was Hairy MacLary from Donaldson’s Dairy by a New Zealand author. It is such a fun and delightful book! It made me laugh and smile so I really enjoyed reading that one over and over. My favorites by Dr. Suess were the Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs & Ham and One Fish Two Fish.. to name a few!


5.) Did you like to draw as a child? Were you encouraged?
I liked doing crafts and coloring but drawing did not really surface until I started taking art classes in Grade 7 or 8. I had much encouragement in my high school days from my art instructor who was always supportive and a positive influence.

 

6.) What is your earliest memory of making art?

My earliest memory of making art was when my girlfriend’s mother enrolled us in a summer arts program at a local community center when we were about twelve years of age. I remember learning to sculpt with soap stone, do Indian beading and make masks, which I absolutely enjoyed!

Me at Bakervale House I grew up in1969

7.) Were you the class artist?
Not particularly. I did not exactly have the confidence I should have had-- I always seemed to have had a lower self-esteem in my earlier years. But a lot of times my artwork did get the class’s attention and my classmates always complemented on my artistic ability.

8.) Did your parents draw?
No

9.) Did you go to the public library as a child?
Yes, we also used a Bookmobile library trailer that came around in our neighborhood that was part of the Public library setup in the city.


10.) Did you have books at home as a child?
We had many books of all kind in our house growing up. There were children’s books, some of the classics, philosophical, biographies, fiction and of course two sets of encyclopedias as well as National Geographic.


11.) Did you have a teacher who influenced or inspired you?
Yes. I’ll never forget my high school art instructor, Mr. Karl Schutt, who had a big influence on me and inspired me through most of my high school years and still does!


12.) What did you do BEFORE you got started with children’s book illustrations?
An opportunity presented itself at the end of high school to work at the National Postal Museum assisting in ink drawings and silk screening for a Canadian stamp. In my twenties I took a 2 year Graphic Arts Technician course in college and ended up working in mostly administrative roles over the years for printing companies. Over the years, I attended the Ottawa School of Art taking sculpture and drawing while always expressing myself through some artistic form or another, mostly self-taught, such as experimenting with wood carving, paper-tole, papermaking, photography. I have always practiced my artistic skills in one form or another either drawing, painting, paper- tole, sculpting, arts & crafts and graphic design work over the years. My interests in theatre eventually led me to a place called Centrepointe Theatre. Here, I worked as one of the backstage crew on a number of productions, mostly with sound and lighting.


13.) When did you realize you were interested in illustrating for children?
I wrote poetry several years ago in hopes of actually publishing them one day as children’s books. But then other priorities of home, life and motherhood demanded more of my attention at that time. A few years ago, I was unfortunately diagnosed with a potentially debilitating disease. So it was my friend’s paintings that I saw at his showing and my son who was taking visual arts at university in Toronto over the last 4 years, that inspired me to start drawing and painting again-- this time using acrylics. Not soon after that, my husband wrote a series of children’s stories about these bears he had purchased to help cheer me up through a rough time. After that, I decided to use illustrating as a creative outlet to develop pictures for his book’s and the poems I had written years ago.


14.) When did you become an illustrator?
Only in the last three years or so did I decide to jump into the world of illustrating. Well specifically children’s illustrating, after being inspired from my husband’s story writing about the bear adventures. This prompted me to take on illustrating the pictures and I have not looked back since!


15.) How did you get started in picture book illustration?
Because of my love of children’s picture books I decided to dive into the world of children’s illustrating this past 2 years. I had started drawing illustrations for the Bears of Biggleton book my husband wrote and I was not happy with the way they were turning out. So, I did some research online and discovered two children’s illustrating courses– several online video courses by Will Terry & another amazing course by Mark Mitchell on “How to Be A Children’s Book Illustrator”. I was so inspired and enthused to illustrate after receiving much knowledge and instruction from both of these wonderful award winning artists! A good portion of my time this past year has been spent taking these courses while working on illustrations for several new children’s books.


16.) What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?
Probably, I would have to say from Will Terry, because of his awesome attitude –Always have fun with your illustrating…Never give up on your art, always keep at it and keep trying, you are always learning and you never stop learning from those around you. ” We learn by doing!” he says.


17.) Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color):

a. Which is your greatest strength? Shading

b. Which poses your greatest challenge?
Perspective

18.) Tell us about the book that you have written?
My Shiny Light is a poem I wrote among several others a number of years ago when I was inspired to write something a little more philosophical at the time for children. Something that had a message in it… that most children might be able to understand at a young age. And this past year I decided to dig up those poems I wrote then try and do illustrations for them…. thus My Shiny Light book was created! I have four others that I would like to illustrate as well.

 

19.) What inspired you to write this story?
My own reading of books on life, philosophy, situations, people and the universe in general! I thought-- is there anything out there for young children that touches on these areas I was reading about?

20.) Did you self publish or go through the other publishing routes?
Yes I decided to self-publish.

21.) Is your book available for purchase?
Yes, it is available now in paperback on Amazon and Kindle and through the Biggleton Books Online bookstore as well.

22.) Describe a typical day in your life.
A typical day in my life is to get up with my husband in the mornings and have breakfast before he goes off to work. Then I usually go to the computer to check email and so forth. I check my calendar daily to see what I have marked to do, appointments etc. and plan my day of illustrating and doing some design work, preparation. Break for lunch and do my physio after lunch and then it’s back to drawing or sometimes painting for the remainder of the day until my husband returns home from work.

23.) When you are creating, what music is playing?
I usually play a variety of music at times anywhere from an assortment of acoustic guitar. I love a Spanish ensemble called RASA who play an Indian-Jazz fusion influenced type of music, to psychedelic, jazz and blues.

24.) If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is...
It probably has a bold sometimes outlined look or style about it. I guess some of this influence comes from artists such as Emily Carr, The Group of Seven & my son Matt Clement over the years.

25.) Who are your favorite artists ? Illustrators ? Authors ? Artists:
I have always loved Dali, The Group of Seven, Robert Batman, Bill Saunders and my son Matt Clement as artists but there are so many more it’s hard to name them all---

Illustrators: Will Terry, Ian Jeans, Michael Dante DiMartino, ---

Authors: Lynley Dodd, Terry Pratchett, VC Andrews, Deepak Chopra, Barbara Hand Clow & Margaret Atwood again to name a few. There are so many excellent authors and artists! Also, I have always been a huge fan of all animation-especially children’s animation & Claymation since I was in grade school. I will always and forever be inspired by other artists and their endless talent for creativity and imagination...

26.) Favorite Quote: "O great creator of being grant us one more hour to perform our art and perfect our lives". ::: Jim Morrison :::


27.) What new projects have you got coming down the pike?
As of the last ten years, I am expressing myself through traditional art with drawing again, using colored pencil and graphite. Currently I am working with acrylic paint on stretched canvas creating an array of paintings of many portraits (including local musicians), landscapes, abstracts and still life.

Right now I am starting the illustrations for a new project, which will be a series of 5 books called “The Bears of Biggleton” books, written by my husband Dave Faught. The first one is sub-titled Fuzzmo The-Magnificent. So, that will keep me busy for a while I suppose. I am hoping to continue working on a few more smaller books which were written at the time I wrote My Shiny Light and hope to publish them in the future as well!

I have also launched my own children's book soon called "My Shiny Light". Visit the Biggleton Books website for more information!


28.) To enjoy more of a good thing you can visit...
www.biggletonbooks.weebly.com

www.scbartworksstudio.weebly.com
or my blogspot:
www.childrensillustrationsscb.blogspot.ca


contact information:
susanmcartworks@live.ca
or
biggletonbooks@live.com