SCBWI:Nebraska Event

{Character Study, 2009}

Saturday, March 28, 2009 I attended the Nebraska state SCBWI conference held in Omaha. While it was small and geared mostly toward writers, I still felt that it was a positive experience. In fact, every time I go to something like this, it makes me want to start writing again. (we'll see) The keynote speaker was Andrew Karre of Carolrhoda Books. (which is a division of Lerner Publishing) He spent a good deal of time talking about networking on places like Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter. He also had a lot of optimism to offer in the way of the up coming generation and their hunger for reading material. In essence, this generation is the most linked in and communication based group in history. If you think about it, teens are reading a writing more and more, if not in the traditional sense. (ie. texting, facebooking, twittering) I also like that he added that perhaps literacy isn't just about words. (a shout out to the illustrators out there) but that our culture is moving to a more image/word based balance instead of just text. (AND that it isn't necessarily a bad thing) Overall, he had a fresh perspective that was new to me! It was also refreshing to have someone working in publishing that was right around 30 years old and seemingly excited to be there.
Now I am looking toward the SCBWI:Iowa event in Bettendorf from April 24-26, 2009. Its a bigger event and they have scheduled a speaker and some events specifically for illustrators. I hope to meet and network with some great people. I also get a chance to display my portfolio and have a portfolio review by Larry Day. (who also happens to be the speaker for the illustrators). I am VERY excited!
The image above is just a little character study with prisma pencil on chipboard that I did this morning. I need to start creating multiple images of the same character. I would like to do more of these. Perhaps I will start doing one or two a week. (with more than just two character options and some bodies attached) After all, if I'm going to aim for children's publishing I suppose it would be wise to prove that I am capable of drawing the same character over and over!