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Articles by "goals"
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6:00 AM , , , ,

I used to make New Year's Resolutions all the time but then stopped because of the inevitable fizzling away of my initial resolve. In 2016, I'm breaking my resolution to not make resolutions and am GOING TO MAKE A RESOLUTION! I believe that the key is to be specific and realistic."I'm going to get a book contract" is not a realistic goal because so much in that process is out of your control, for example. Also, I do think that focusing on how you're going to change your current habits to achieve a longterm goal can also help.

Here are some great KidLitArtists posts about goal-setting:

Measuring Your Goals - by Maple Lam

The Difficulty Of Defining Goals - by Lisa Anchin

Goal-Setting - by Eliza Wheeler

So while I do have a goal of finishing my middle grade novel and also a picture book dummy in 2016, here are my own "how I'm going to change" goals:

1. Instead of jumping on social media first thing in the morning, I am going to get in the habit of working on my middle grade novel for 15-30 minutes first. I've also been experimenting with wordcount goals, so others who are short on writing time are free to join me in my 250, 500 or 1000 words a day challenge.

2. Do at least an hour's worth of sketching from life every week, whether it's on paper or via my new (Christmas gift from my husband!) iPad Pro.


If you feel brave enough to share YOUR goals for the coming here, feel free to post in the comments below.

I asked children's book illustrators what changes they plan in their craft or business next year, and here's what some of them said:

Patricia Storms (@stormsy on Twitter) said: "I would like to explore new styles of art that are more illustrative and focus more on writing stories that have more depth, heart & empathy. I would also like to put more elements of music in my stories, too."

Stephanie Olivieri (@stepholivieri on Twitter) said: "I would like to get more educational books, or series, so I can have more steady work in children's books this year. As well, get more jobs right from publishers."

Aram Kim (@StudioAram on Twitter) said: "I've been working pretty small, comfortably fitting in no larger than 11x17 tabloid size. I started doing that after years of working pretty big. As much as it's been convenient to work small, being able to scan with no trouble, being able to print without having to reduce the size, etc., I realize it's been somewhat restricting my freedom. I feel like I think small. In 2016, I will just bite the bullet and work big and see how it suits me. Hopefully it will free my style more."

Dani Duck (@DaniDuck on Twitter) said: "I'd like to think I'll be working harder to get clients next year. It's hard to tell, because I'll have a new baby! I'd like to send out a few rounds of post cards and pump up my portfolio. It would be fun to do some portraits as well. I'd also like to increase my activity on social media in ways that will help me learn and grow my business."

An anonymous respondent said: "I need to carve out time from what seems like 24 hours a day of other stuff I have to do first, and get this career going!"

Monica Baum (@_monbaum on Twitter) says she's going to create more sequential artwork and build a portfolio.

Ellie Arscott (@elliearscott on Twitter) said: "I'm planning on choosing a smaller number of art directors/editors to send a larger package of work to from my mailing list. I've been mailing single postcards to many thus far and with postcards there's no response or feedback so I feel it's time to pick some key targets and see how that goes in 2016. And of course I plan to keep making beautiful art from the heart. I've been trying some new ideas and techniques so I want to keep pushing myself and exploring."

Marsha Riti (@Marshariti on Twitter) says she will be pursuing writing and illustrating her own picture book / board book.

An anonymous respondent said: "Focus, try harder and be more confident."

Kerry Dwyer (@kdwyerillo on Twitter) plans to illustrate a picture book and is going to focus on creating dummies.


Good luck with your own goal-setting for 2016!
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Debbie Ridpath Ohi's first solo picture book, WHERE ARE MY BOOKS? (Simon & Schuster) debuted in 2015, and her illustrations appear in books by Judy Blume, Michael Ian Black, Lauren McLaughlin and Rob Sanders. For info about her 2016 books coming out from Random House Children's and HarperCollins Children's, see DebbieOhi.com/books. Twitter: @inkyelbows.
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7:32 AM , , , ,

This month on the KidLit blog, we're talking about goals. I've been attempting to write my post for the past week and have deleted more first paragraphs than I would have thought possible. Allow me to explain.



Most folks in the field of children's illustration will tell you that their ultimate end goal is publishing a book. I do want to acknowledge that, yes, of course, I'd love to publish any of my books, but I have a lot of trouble thinking about publication as an actual goal. When you define your goal as publishing, you essentially place your hopes and hard work in the hands of sales departments, "the market", and an industry, which, though it strives daily to create excellent content for children, is still an industry, and by definition, concerned with the production of commercial goods.



I can only speak for myself, but, as an illustrator and writer, my goals are about my craft. I want to learn as much as I can about illustration and storytelling and spend each day experimenting with words, composition, character, color, and line. While I do hope to publish someday, I cannot control what someone else will think about my work. I can, however, strive to tell the best stories I possibly can. It's a subtle distinction, but to me, it seems a very important one. 


Fellow kidlit blogger, Jen Betton, and I were talking about this post, and she summed up what I was trying to say rather succinctly. "Publishing isn't your end goal, but rather storytelling is. Publishing is the secondary—important, but secondary—reward to telling an awesome story."


Long term objectives are great; I cannot wait until I can walk into a bookstore and find books by all of my talented illustrator colleagues and friends. However, it is really important to take pleasure in the work itself and in the process of getting there.


_ _ _ _ _
Lisa Anchin is a Brooklyn based children's illustrator doodling her way across the five boroughs. You can see more of her work at lisaanchin.com and find her on twitter @lisaanchin 
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11:20 PM , , , , ,
www.wheelerstudio.com
It's the first week of a new year, a time we typically use for making new life goals and resolutions.

I've found goal-making, as an artist, to be especially important. Join me in taking a morning, afternoon, or evening all to yourself for some all-important goal writing time.

Grab a notebook and your favorite pen. I've often heard that goals that have been written down are far more likely to be achieved than those that are not.

Begin by dreaming big! Spend a few minutes writing down your wildest dreams for yourself (personally or artistically). This should be fun and energizing.

Come down to earth (but stay positive), and get into the nitty-gritty of your hopes and dreams.

Goals should be specific, attainable, and something you can control.

Bad example: I'd like to have a book deal by the end of the year.
Good example: I will complete the revisions on my YA novel and submit it to at least 15 editors by September.
Bad example: I'd like to be signed by an agent this year.
Good example: I will research and make a list of agents, narrow it down to my top 5, and query them by May.

Answer these two questions:
1) Where do I see myself in 5 years? What would I have liked to have accomplished?
2) What would I like to have accomplished in this next year?

Write this year's goals down as a list. Under each goal:
a) Break the goal down into monthly to-do lists
b) Break the months' goals down into one or two easy weekly steps

Last, plan to review your goals at the beginning of each month. Set a calendar reminder for this, or mark the dates in your planner.

Don't beat yourself up about falling behind on goals; just go with the flow of life and revise as you need to along the way!

Wishing you a very happy and fruitful 2014!
~Eliza Wheeler
--
Author/Illustrator of NY Times Bestselling 
book Miss Maple's Seeds
visit www.wheelerstudio.com

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For those new to our blog, Eliza Wheeler is one of our contributors and was a recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2010 Summer Conference. We’d like to catch up with Eliza and ask her a few questions about the mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share?

Eliza: The criticism and advice I received was extremely defining for me. My portfolio was separated into mostly two styles – darker, moodier work (the stuff I love), and then brighter, commercial work, drawn more simply (but less unique). My assumption was that it was going to be the commercial stuff that publishers wanted. Yet the mentorship program showed me the opposite was true. And ever since then I’ve still found that most people respond to my darker work the most. This isn’t to say that being dark is particularly in fashion, but at the heart of that work is a strong sense of emotion. It's applicable to any style, people just want to feel something when they see it.


Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?

Eliza:  Definitely. The mentors gave me the confidence to re-work my portfolio into one that included dark and light work that can be displayed together and still feel consistent. The year following the mentorship program, I brought my revised portfolio back to the SCBWI Summer conference, and it won the grand prize! It was a really affirming moment for me.

In this blog post, I share my portfolio transformation, so you can see what it looked like the year I was mentored, and the year after: Wheelerstudio.com, Portfolio Comparison

I’m still keeping a constant critical eye on my work, hoping to find ways to grow and make it better. I doubt that will ever change!


Kidlit Artists: What kinds of projects are you working on now?

Eliza: I just finished illustrations for my first picture-book story to be published with Nancy Paulsen/Penguin books in May 2013. It’s about a miniature woman who gathers orphaned seeds, cares for and teaches them about the world before sending them back out into it.

I’m also working on a very exciting project, illustrations for Holly Black’s new Middle Grade novel Doll Bones, through Simon and Schuster. This is my first Middle Grade project, and I’m finding that I’m totally loving this format.

The past 6 months have been really dominated with illustration work (an awesome thing!), but I’m bringing writing back into my daily schedule with the hopes of presenting a new picture book story to my editor, Nancy Paulsen, in the next few months.  


Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future?

Eliza:  I’d like to continue illustrating for Middle Grade stories, and I’ve got a few ideas I’m toying around with possibly in the graphic novel format.

I’m also really excited to get a side project going, a series of illustrations that’s aimed towards adults – which is all I’ll say until it’s more of a reality! I hope these illustrations could perhaps begin to build an editorial portfolio, something I’ve been interested in to supplement my children’s illustration work.


Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online.

Eliza: My work and blog are both at www.wheelerstudio.com, and I'm @wheelerstudio on twitter.

Thanks!
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5:00 AM , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Jessica Lanan was the recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2011 Summer Conference. The 2010 founders of Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Jessica to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.



Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share? 

Jessica: The mentorship critique feedback guided my progress over the last year and provided me with new ideas to explore and a fresh perspective on my work. Some comments really confirmed things I had a feeling about but couldn't quite put into words. I remember David Diaz pointing out that so many of my figures were looking off into the distance or had their backs to the viewer, and he said that it was because I couldn't resolve how realistically I wanted to render their faces. I was avoiding the issue. That was totally an "aha" moment, and something I've been working to overcome this past year. On the confirming side, E.B. Lewis mostly had advice regarding actual watercolor technique. Here was this great watercolor painter giving me really helpful feedback and I thought "he's right--I can paint better than this." It was really motivating.


Kidlit Artists: Getting such specific and direct feedback on your work, did you find the experience enlightening? Affirming? Confusing? Conflicting? _______ (fill in the blank)? Why?
Jessica: It was a little bit of everything! There was some conflicting information, but I actually found it useful--it made me stop and really think about the direction I wanted to go in. I realized that at the end of the day I have to trust myself and choose my own path. Hearing positive feedback in addition to the constructive critique was also very helpful, since I sometimes focus too much on my weaknesses and keep myself from putting my work out there as much as I should. ("I can't send this dummy book... it's not PERFECT yet...") It was great to have these industry pros who I look up to saying "hey, you wouldn't be here if we didn't believe in you." If there are other kidlit illustrators in my town, I haven't found any of them, so having that community support and feedback meant a lot to me.

Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?
Jessica: I've been tackling some new challenges, particularly working on developing richer characters and emotional impact. My work tends toward the more realist side, and I've realized over the past year that if I'm going in this direction I have to really buckle down and do the work that realism requires, so for me that's meant a lot of hours working on technical stuff. I don't have any formal illustration or watercolor training so I'm going back to the books (and figure-drawing classes) to try to improve my craft from the bottom up. Basically, I'm leaving less to chance. It takes more time, but I think it's worth the extra effort.

 Kidlit Artists: What kinds of projects are you working on now?
Jessica: I have a new dummy book that is coming to life--I'm three pages away from finishing it. It's something really close to my heart and is full of so much of my childhood experience. It's been exciting to watch it grow from this vague idea into a visual story. Now I just have to hope someone else loves it as much as I do and wants to publish it! I'm also working on expanding my portfolio in new directions, which is just incredibly fun. There's nothing so exciting as having a picture in my mind and making it come to life on paper so I can share it with everyone. 





Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future?
Jessica: I'd love to do another book, especially one as a writer/illustrator. Since childhood I've always thought of the crafting of children's books as one of the coolest things a human being can do. (Step aside, Nobel Prizewinners and Olympic Medalists...) Maybe that sounds strange to some, but taking a beautiful idea and turning it into this rich visual and emotional experience and sharing it with as many young people as possible? What's better than that?

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online. 

Jessica: I have a blog and online portfolio at http://jessicalanan.com
You can also follow me on my sometimes-neglected Twitter feed: (@jalanan)
Or follow my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lananillustration

Thanks for joining, Jessica!
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6:00 AM , , , , , , ,
Christina Forshay was the recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2011 Summer Conference. The 2010 founders of Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Christina to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share?

Christina: The feedback I received definitely confirmed a lot of the ideas (positive and negative) that had been swirling around in my head for a while. The art that instinctively comes out of me is colorful and bold, but I had been feeling that I wanted to infuse more quiet emotion/drama into my overall portfolio. A few of the mentors touched on this issue as if they were reading my mind --this confirmed that I definitely needed to do what my gut had been telling me. I got some great suggestions from the mentors and am constantly thinking about how to infuse them into my work.  For example, E.B. Lewis suggested I look into my history to find a great story to tell. He reminded me that personal history will infuse that intangible emotional connection into the work, which should translate to the viewer. I'm definitely always keeping that idea in mind as I paint.


Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?

Christina: Lately, I've been doing a lot of educational work which is very tightly art-directed, so there's not much room for adding personal flavor.  But, in my down time, I've been sketching and doing mini paintings on my iPad which helps to keep things more free. I need to add more spontaneity into my work and painting on the iPad has been just the ticket. I'm hoping to infuse some of that spontaneity into my personal work when I have the chance.


Kidlit Artists: What kinds of projects are you working on now?

Christina: I recently finished a bunch of educational work/early readers and I just started working on a picture book about baseball for Stone Arch Books. After that, I have a few ideas for books that I would like to create dummies for. My goal is to have at least one dummy ready for this summer's big SCBWI conference.


Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future?

Christina: Of course I would love to write and illustrate my own stories. I'd also love to do some black and white work, perhaps for chapter book interiors. For some reason black and white illustration has really intrigued me lately. Album covers is something from left field that's been nagging at me recently too. And of course, can't forget my childhood dream of working for Disney! Hey, gotta put that out in the universe, right???

Kidlit Artists: Yes!!!


  
Kidlit Artists: Please tell us where we can find you online.

You can find my website and blog at www.christinaforshay.com. I'm also on twitter (@chrstinaforshay) and Facebook. See you there!

Thanks for joining us Christina!
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Erin O'Shea was a recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2009 Summer Conference. The 2010 founders of Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Erin to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.


Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share?

Erin: I was very honored to be selected for the mentorship award and thrilled to hear the feedback that the mentors had for my work. The most influential feedback that I received was that I was using similar perspectives and limited expression in most of my imagery. Often times as illustrators we think we know what our areas of weakness are and sometimes critiques confirm that, but then it’s great to get critiques that surprise you! I knew the full body of my work but I wasn’t REALLY aware that it wasn’t being reflected in my portfolio.  I hadn’t realized that the work I was most proud of was all in a similar perspective!  So I really focused on creating imagery that I was proud of, that had a range of perspectives and expressions. 


Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?

Erin:Yes, I’ve become much more aware of what is needed in my portfolio to reflect my abilities. That doesn’t mean I’ve necessarily been able to DO it!  It’s fascinating how I know consciously what needs to be done, yet there’s the intuitive/creative part me that wants to have a say as well!  But that’s what I love about the challenge of illustration!  The only solution is to keep drawing!


Kidlit Artists:  What kinds of projects are you working on now? 

Erin: I’m working on multiple personal projects that I’m writing and illustrating.  One is a heavily illustrated YA memoir/novel and the other is a picture book.  I’m working on a picture book for a small publishing company and submitted a cover for a YA novel.


Kidlit Artists:  Is there anything, looking ahead, that you’re excited to be working on?  

Erin: I really enjoy doing book covers and hope to do more in the future.  I also am very interested in the emerging ebook and app markets so I’m working digitally on a few projects to see how my work translates.   


Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future? 

Erin: I’m looking into the scrapbooking market for extra illustration work and am open to doing more educational work as well.  My main goal is to get an agent and have some representation out there beyond my marketing efforts.  I also teach part time and have applied for full time positions at local colleges and hope to be having steady income through that as well!

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online.  

Erin:  www.erinoshea.com

Thanks for joining Erin!

MKRdezign

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