Update 3

I've been feeling so overwhelmed lately. Building a portfolio, researching, promoting, and working on projects is ALOT to do. I feel like I don't have enough time to do all of it, and no matter how much I work, I feel like it's not enough. Info on the internet is endless. There is so much out there, a day of researching goes so fast. It's been a real challenge to balance all the different things to do. I think it will get better once the ball gets rolling.

I started getting some response cards back from the mailers I sent out to magazines last month. I included a postcard in the packs with responses that the art director can check off, like if my work had been filed or if it wasn't a good fit. One postcard reply was that my work was "too young". It's a bit disappointing, but at least I know how I can expand my portfolio to work with that magazine.

I'm continuing to grow my list of mailers to send out. I've been spending a lot of time at the book store looking through children's books. I had no idea there were so many publishers. Another way I've been finding them is to browse on book websites like barnes and noble. They have the publishers info in the book description, so that has been helpful in finding new publishers as well. Some of the other helpful informational and free promotional sites I found were jacketflap, coroflot, http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com. For portfolio sites that require payment, I've been considering which ones I want to post on. Currently picture-book.com and childrensillustrators.com are at the top of my list. I think I will save those for later, after my mailing list has been exhausted.

I'm also considering an agent for children's illustrations and for print design. Not really sure how to go about this one. Do artists use one agent for both fields?? It looks like this will require more researching...I would love to hear your thoughts or any advices!

Illustration Friday: Detective

Oh no!! Who would do such a thing? Needs some detective work to find the real culprit.

Thank you everyone for your comments! :)

Colored!

Just a quick update

I've been back in LA this past week, which hasn't left me too much time for personal work. I feel like I haven't made too much progress this month! I did get my websites up and manage to send out some sample packets to Magazine publishers. I sent out around 10, but that doesn't seem like nearly enough. I will have to continue to build a list. Hopefully I will hear back from at least one of them! One thing I haven't been doing lately is working on new illustrations. I'm really kicking myself for slacking.

It was raining here a couple days ago. Here is a quick drawing of spring rain. I think I will color this digitally...

Recipe Illustration

Decided to join in on the they draw and cook project. They have some great work up, check them out. Here is mine...one of my favorite recipes!

Websites are up!!

Finally got my websites up. I decided to keep my children's illustrations and my design portfolio separate for now. They're so different that it just didn't look cohesive together. They still need a bit of tweaking here and there, but I wanted to get them up and running! I will make changes as I go.

Here is my design website
www.designsbysoo.com

and my illustration site
www.happyartbysoo.com