Day One of "My Challenge"

I'm calling this Day One of My Challenge to myself. I'm headed for the SCBWI-NY Conference in late January with my portfolio tucked under my arm (and a sheepish grin on my face because I'm an older fine artist-turned-illustrator who's finally pursuing her dream with a delighted determination to write and illustrate children's books). Give or take a few days for cooking & serving Thanksgiving & Christmas dinners, there are approximately 65 days to get my portfolio in shape. In between that, I teach full time & it's no exageration that teaching sucks your creative energy almost completely out of your body! To counteract that, I try to do at least one creative thing for myself a day, usually drawing (my first love).

Along with that portfolio, I want a really dynamic book dummy attached. In the past, I said I'd do this--include a book dummy--but this time I'm aiming for following through on that thought. I have an advantage (I hope) because I'm both a writer and an illustrator. Inspired by the words & tips from http://humbleartsjournal.blogspot.com/ and http://wendymartinillustration.com/, I'm now challenging myself to use those skills to full advantage.

I'm developing a character based on our new pet, a St. Bernard named Minnie. These are sketchs of her sleeping and a head sketch for a possible character. Maintaining a consistent character is hard! In trying to create a character of her, I now have several different dogs but no consistent character. Wow--it really is hard, but the challenge has started, so I need to stop complaining and just draw and write and write and draw. More later!