Itch-it-a-cop-it-a Mel-a-ka-mystica

or 'what i've been up to'

Everyone in my orbit seems to be feeling all the same feelies about October. What’s not to love?! Sweaters, warm drinks, hot soups and being cozy. I like that October is the gentle start to the holiday season and everyone gets inspired to draw witchy, spooky things!

This week in my Intro to Illustration class, I talked about how important physical sketchbooks and visual journaling are for us creatives (but honestly for anyone!). Personally, they both fuel my work and inspire many of my projects.

After my lecture, we did a drawing exercise and sketched out our #whatsupdiarycomics for the month of September:

This is such a fun way to reflect on the previous month - your wins, losses, and all the boring exciting things in-between.

Last year I started getting really into comics, cartooning and graphic novels. I’m horrible at it (that’s okay), but when I discovered Kelly Abeln’s template, I knew this would be the perfect way to get a comic drawing out of me.

What do you think, want to give it a try?!

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Exciting news for my local Chicago Area SCBWI illustrators!

Sarah Tobias and I are the new SCBWI-IL Chicago Area Illustrator’s Network Reps. Excited to be part of this and to co-host some wonderful events for members this year! We got together last week and scheduled out the meetings - all of them gems! It will be lovely to have some in-person events again.

Our first meet up is next week in DeKalb, IL. We are headed to see the James Ransom Reception at Northern Illinois University - there are also three exhibits happening and it closes on Oct 15:

• Golden Legacy: Original Art from 80 Years of Golden Books

• Everyday People: The Art of James W. Ransome

• Burnishing the Medals of Children’s Literature.

SCBWI-IL Networks are free and open to all, both members and non-members! If you are interested, you can rsvp here.

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I’ll leave you with this quote that I heard last week in the Let’s Make Picture Book Presentation with Holly Surplice “stop trying to fit in…draw what makes you happy.” Her work is amazing!

Hope you have a cozy weekend,

Denise