Illustration Friday: Giant

Who knows what giants we'll face as we chase down our dreams. Be brave little one!

A black and white version of India Squirrel. 

This is my entry for this week's Illustration Friday.

SCBWI Golden Kite Exhibit

I'm really looking forward to attending the exhibit and talks this weekend.  If you are in Texas and within driving distance of Abilene, you should make plans to attend.  It's free, filled with illustrators and inspiration -why the heck wouldn't you drive out for it?  Here are the details for Saturday's event:

Exhibit events and talks welcoming SCBWI members. The events are open to the public, no charge or registration required.

10:00 am
Richard Jesse Watson will speak/demonstrate @ 45 mins

11:00 am
Kristen Balouch will speak/demonstrate @ 45 mins

Lunch 12:00-2:00
We invite the visiting SCBWI membership to join us for a casual lunch at the Cypress Street Station

2:00 pm
Lin Oliver and Steve Mooser will discuss some of the history, stories, and anecdotes of the Golden Kite Award.

Afterwards they will be joined by Richard Jesse Watson, Kristen Balouch, Diane Stanley, and Larry Day for Q&A

Dinner 7:00 pm
We invite the visiting SCBWI membership to join us for dinner at Perini Ranch (about 30 minutes out of town)

The NCCIL website

The Golden Kite, Golden Dreams on Facebook

Beachy Folks

Just playing around a little today with watercolors.  I took a watercolor class in art school, about 16 years ago. Yikes!  My youngest daughter and I enjoy these little sessions in the evenings on the porch, painting whatever pops into our mind.  I think for the next round I'll pull out some good paper and try again.  It's fun, I enjoy the spontaneous feel of the medium. 

And I like that they still 'look' like my work. 

Have a Happy 4th of July!

SCBWI Editors Day

Editors Day Conference

September 18th

San Antonio, TX

Faculty includes:

Sarah Shumway - HarperCollins

Julie Ham - Charlesbridge

Carmen Tafolla - Award-winning author

Art Aliva - Art Director, Raining Popcorn Media

Illustrator Heather Powers (yes, me)

During our breakout sessions for the illustrator's track I will share tips for creating a winning portfolio - both online and off! 

If you are in Texas make plans to join us and help spread the word! 

Conference Details

A Random Sketch...

Yanked from my sketchbook.  I would like to move a little more into the middle grade/tween market with my illustrations.  So what does one do when they want to expand?  Create portfolio pieces.  I would like to have a series done before LA.  We shall see.  Today is July 1st, so the clock is a ticking and I have a dummy book to finish too. 

The Sketchables

Hop on over the Sketchables blog to find out what question this illustration answers!

The Sketchables is a new group blog that we formed and this is out introductory week.  I'm super excited to work with such a talented group of illustrators.  We'll be sharing our sketches, sketches from our favorite illustrators, sketchy tid-bits, interviews and more. 

The Sketchables include Priscilla Burris, Diandra Mae, Kelly Light, Joy Steuerwald and myself.

Busy, Busy!

Three little beachcombers doing exactly what I'd like to be doing at this moment!

I had to take a little blogging break while I prepared for a national bead show.  It was fun, but now it's time to switch gears and get a new round of postcards out the door and work on finding an agent.

I also have a slew of SCBWI events coming up in the next few months.

I will be attending the Golden Kite Exhibit and SCBWI events next month.  Mid-July I will be leading a roundtable discussion on marketing at our July SCBWI meeting. At the end of July I'll be heading to LA for the national conference with my peep Kelly! In September I will be hosting an Editor's Day here in San Antonio for our chapter.  I will also be presenting a breakout session on Creating a Winning Portfolio at that event. 

And in between all that I have two dummy books to finish with samples.  So you should be hearing quite a bit from me over the summer as I work my way through these events!