Mixing Things Up
Even though mixing things up can mean all sorts of confusion…
… I’ve mixed things up in my art life and I’ve gained clarity. I’m getting caught up doing something I very much want to do! I’m moving pieces of my artist self around- my love for words and stories, my love for learning and communicating, my love for creating unique things, and my compulsion to make art… and I’m turning away from the artist things I’ve been doing for years and years. I’m focusing 100% on working as a children’s book author-illustrator now.
I have a lot of strong opinions about what it’s like working these days as a visual artist who seeks to show artwork in exhibitions! So many thoughts about the inherent value of art vs. market value, thoughts about hours spent making things that don’t get seen, blah blah blah. And besides, my own walls are already full of all the art I made over the past 15 years. I’ve run out of storage space! Here’s a tangentially related quote, from Richard Powers in The Overstory, regarding collegiate art education: “…he has earned a degree that licenses him to make peculiar artifacts capable of… angering strangers”. 😂
In 2019 (I think? maybe earlier?) I knew I wanted to dip my toes into children’s books. I joined SCBWI and I practiced practiced practiced drawing people and animals because I didn’t have those kinds of art skills yet. I started writing like crazy, too. Then the best thing ever happened- I was gonna have my first (only) solo art show at ArtemisSF in San Francisco!… I mean, online… coz Spring 2020 happened 😬… I kept building digital art and representational drawing skills while seeking new exhibition opportunities. I started to have very different creative parts of my brain working on overdrive, because pandemic + schooling + special-needs parenting was too much to process. I’d taken a free online class with comics artist Malaka Gharib hosted by Believer Magazine… it was so cathartic. My incredible artist crit group (facilitated by Lisa Kokin) encouraged me to figure out how to publish it, and so I did- at muthamagazine.com! I added to my art making habits: fine art, picture book writing & illustrating, now comics: 😮. Creatively, my head was spinning… which I preferred rather than being fully immersed in the reality of pandemic life. I got artwork in a few more shows in 2020/21 while taking a year of illustration gen-ed classes with the Lilla Rogers Studio. I started educating myself about publishing and I kept up with illustration podcasts. A favorite: The Illustration Department podcast! And that’s where I learned about Kids Comics Unite, a community of creators who are focused on making comics for kids. I joined the free KCU platform, then immediately joined the month-to-month Kids Comics Studio subscription level. One month in, I decided KCS was a keeper. I love the community. 😍
By the end of 2021, I knew for sure I wanted to focus only on writing and illustrating my own children’s books— not toy design, not home decor, not editorial illustration, not building up illustration clientele. On recommendation from published author and KCS graphic novel critique partner Nadia Salomon, I signed up for a year of children’s book writing & illustrating classes with Storyteller Academy. 🤩 The classes are 💯: top notch teachers, welcoming environment for everybody from beginner to all us imposter syndrome people, and I genuinely feel like I have so many tools to understand the picture book world.
And since I am one for going completely all-in because I feel like I’m so behind in accomplishing something* with my art life (and because I have the resources to get extra feedback in my work), in early 2022 I also signed up for one-on-one meetup mentorships with art director/illustrator/teacher Guiseppe Castellano of Illustration Department (so so helpful). I need direct feedback because even though I’m gaining illustration skills, I’m still developing the eye to see like an illustrator. I needed my stuff critiqued! It’s been so good. And then I saw that KCS would be having a (10 week I think?) graphic novel intensive taught by Rivkah LaFille. OMG, it was so good. Intense intensive ramping up of my skills for writing and designing a graphic novel..
Now it’s summer 2022, and I’ve finished a picture book manuscript and I’ve sketched out the dummy; next up for that project, I’ll finalize a few art spreads so I can send it out to book industry people. I’ve also written the first few chapters of a graphic novel script for early readers. I have early versions of the art for both projects below. Remember, these are works in progress… . ㋡
Here’s an early digital version of art for my picture book; the final art will be combo painted & digital.
And here’s an early version of the art for my graphic novel :D
Kid Lit Resources I mentioned above…
Society for Children’s Book Writer’s & Illustrators
LIlla Rogers | Make Art That Sells | Illustrating Children’s Books
Illustration Department Classes & Free Thursday Night Crit Group!
Giuseppe Castellano w/Illustration Dept. > One-on-One Mentorship
Kids Comics Unite and definitely Kids Comics Studio
OK, that’s all for now. Reach out if you have any questions about any of this!
xoxo
~Maritza
*”Accomplishing Something”= the nebulous life goal that is always moving and never satisfied
P.S. As I navigate how I want to “get my work out there” (whatever that means!), I want to credit illustrator Rebecca Green with modeling how to do it in a way that just makes sense. She’s an awesome illustrator who has a free monthly newsletter paired with super generous blog posts. I joined her Patreon and I’m enjoying it and I hope I can offer good stuff there, as I build a Patreon community of my own. Here’s hoping!