Sorry to keep you waiting, but I’ve been very busy! Busy with what you might ask? Mostly applying to things and then promptly getting rejected from things. Six things to be specific - grants, residencies, open calls for public art, etc.
Don’t feel bad, I am not wallowing in my misery. I think this is all a numbers game, you need to apply to a lot things in order to get one. And I did! And its a good one!
I’m very excited to say that I will be heading to Milkwood this summer for an Illustration Residency. The residency is run by author and illustrator Sophie Blackall who I had the pleasure of meeting a year ago (I am trying to be very cool about this, I am really a total fan girl, her work is amazing). I am thrilled to be spending a week in the Catskills this summer and slightly intimidated by the co-residents I will be there with - I will share more in a few months!
I have also been very hard at work writing and illustrating an entire children’s picture book! The trees that I shared with you all back in January are now starring in their own book. I took Claudia Rueda’s amazing picture book class at SVA this last semester and transformed my doodles and shaky manuscript into a real picture book ready to be sent out into the big, wide publishing world. (I’m aiming to collect at least a dozen rejection letters over the next few months so I can get that one good really good letter).
Here are some colored sample spreads from the book. If you look very closely you might spot me -
I made this art digitally. Maybe that is obvious looking at it but I worked hard to make it look like it wasn’t made digitally (for any other ProCreate users out there that are wondering I mostly used MaxPack Watercolor brushes).
I am still getting used to making things completely digitally, as I traditionally use watercolor and collage to make images and digital tools for final touches and editing. But, (I suspect you know where I am going with this) with a 9-month-old, digital media allows me to work anywhere and make progress in tiny increments rather than having to sit in one place for several hours. So, these drawings might be the start of a new digital era for me.
More to come soon! Have a couple big projects in the works that I am excited to share (don’t worry, there will of course be oysters).
Until next time, may your day be filled with COLORS.
I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
Michael Jordan
Keep plugging away !!
RTW
A brilliant post and I am looking forward to see your digital creation. Would love to get into using ProCreate one day.
BTW, I wrote a blog post about your neighbourhood, have a read if you are interested.
https://open.substack.com/pub/quietaperture/p/dumbo-brooklyn-new-york-city-is-placemaking?r=2juaut&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web