Good Work : A Drawing Workshop

Very excited to announce that I will be doing a 1-day drawing workshop with the fine folks at Good Manner. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time and the stars alined with this one and I am so excited to tell you about it!

As you know I have a huge passion for picture books as does everyone at Good Manner. We came together and wanted to create a workshop that brings our love of picture books and drawing so we came up with this workshop. We will study various characters from our favorite picture books and use them as the groundwork to teach children how to come up with their own characters. Using basic shapes and lines we will explore the foundation of creating characters - whether they are human, animal or object. We will play around with how to draw emotions and how to add details to create a unique character all their own.

The workshop fee includes some pretty special things to make your child’s day really memorable. The cost covers:

• Entry fee

• Tote bag

• Workshop Kit - includes a folder with worksheets, a drawing journal and pencil.

• A polaroid portrait (part of the drawing process - just wait!)

• Light refreshments

• And an amazing, unforgettable experience for both parent/guardian and child.

I hope you can join me on Saturday June 1st, 2019 from 10:30 - 12:00 PM

Head over to Good Manner to find out more information and to purchase the workshop! I can’t wait to meet everyone and draw!


Marvelous Midwest SCBWI Conference

Honored and humbled to have won the 2019 SCBWI Marvelous Midwest Grand Prize Illustration Award a few weeks back. I can’t say it enough, how lucky I feel to be part of such a great society. The conference did not disappoint - even if I was sick. It didn’t stop me from filling up 20 pages of notes in my sketchbook and connecting with old friends and new friends. So thankful and so happy!

2019-05-06 12.54.31-1-1.jpg
2019-05-06 12.54.31-1.jpg
2019-05-06 12.54.31.jpg
2019-05-06 12.54.31-1-2.jpg

Holiday Advent Recap

I just thought, how lovely it would be to show my full 24 days of the holiday advent I did with my licensing agent; A Fresh Bunch!? I can’t tell you how often I plan on doing these types of challenges and never make it all the way through (don’t even ask me how I managed to do this during the busiest time of the year). But, I did it and I’m quite proud. I really need to challenge myself more often.

A few things I am slowly learning about while doing daily challenges:

  • Stick with a color palette. This not only helps me to work faster, but it also makes the collection look really nice together.

  • Sketch out multiple ideas for the day. Then you can re-use ideas for the next day. I would spend 20 minutes each morning trying to come up with new ideas and now I have a few pages in my sketchbook to use for future projects.

  • Don’t think too hard. This can be my biggest challenge with most of my work. I find that when I think too hard about something, I can really hinder my creative process. If I just go for it and sketch out anything and everything - I come up with my best ideas.

  • Create your challenge at the same time each day. Find the best time that works for you and stick to it each day. I gave myself an hour each morning to create each of my daily drawings.

  • Follow and comment on others who are doing daily challenges. If I follow other people who are doing daily challenges, I feel more motivated to keep going with my challenge.

What daily challenges are you working on? I’d love to follow!