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The penultimate item in this series of 10 objects from my dad's loft is a bag of unpublished portfolio material from circa 1984.

There was a lot of material from London in my dad's loft, when I left my studio just before I flew off to Japan it was the natural place to just shove everything, my entire output from 1983-1986, and it's pretty well all been preserved, waiting for me to reclaim thirty years later.

I moved to London in 1983, encouraged by two children's book commissions, but finding more work wasn't easy, a miserable, barren year went by with precious little work before I eventually reconnected with an old friend from Manchester Andy and eventually joined a couple of other illustrators and designers to set up Façade Art Studios in Crouch End, N.8.

I've blogged about Façade Studios before  (here, and here). The aisles of an old church on Crouch Hill had been converted into studio space and were rented to us by animators Bob Bura and John Hardwick (of Camberwick Green/Trumpton fame), whose studio was in the adjacent church hall. On the other side of the church New Statesman cartoonist John Minnion had a studio, while the old nave between the two sides was renovated and used for Sunday services by the Eternal Sacred Order of Seraphim and Cherubim. Bob and John retired soon after we set up the studio, selling the old church hall to Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox (The Eurythmics), who converted it into their recording studio. Cherubim and Seraphim then became our landlords. With such a hotbed of activity all around I found myself spending most of my time in Façade, the studio was my second home, it seemed to turn me into a full time illustrator almost overnight.

When I look through the piles of old artwork now there's so much material it's hard to choose any particular piece, but this bag of unpublished portfolio images from the very early days of the studio sums up the renewed focus I had on illustration. It was a very productive period, especially for editorial work, I experimented in all kinds of directions, from very tight to cartoons, though my ultimate target was always children's books. These were all aimed to grab real paying jobs, I was hungry for commissions and had nothing to lose - no back up plan, no more signing on, it was either make it in London or run back to Norwich and get a day job, and I was certain that wasn't going to happen. I was still gunning for children's book commissions, but magazine work paid the rent. Here's a few.....

Saxon versus Viking, A drawing aimed at the historical non-fiction niche, circa 1983

This drawing and the one above are the oldest from this era, I realised very quickly that there was a limited market for tight penwork, and quickly changed tack.

Two early experiments aimed at picture books

Bloody Mary - Part of a series on visualising cocktails

Make-up.

Give us a job! Self portrait in desperation - it probably wasn't such a good idea to show this to potential clients!

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“Don’t be afraid. I’m here to look after you!” Hansel tried to encourage his sister, but he too shivered when he glimpsed frightening shadows and evil eyes around them in the darkness. All night the two children huddled together for warmth at the foot of a large tree. When dawn broke, they started to wander about the forest, seeking a path, but all hope soon faded. They were well and truly lost. On they walked and walked, till suddenly they came upon a strange cottage in the middle of a glade.

“This is chocolate!” gasped Hansel as he broke a lump of plaster from the wall.
“And this is icing!” exclaimed Gretel, putting another piece of wall in her mouth. Starving but delighted, the children began to eat pieces of candy broken off the cottage.

“Isn’t this delicious?” said Gretel, with her mouth full. She had never tasted anything so nice.”We’ll stay here,” Hansel declared, munching a bit of nougat. They were just about to try a piece of the biscuit door when it quietly swung open.

“Well, well!” said an old woman, peering out with a crafty look. “And haven’t you children a sweet tooth?”
“Come in! Come in, you’ve nothing to fear!” went on the old woman. Unluckily for Hansel and Gretel, however, the sugar candy cottage belonged to an old witch, her trap for catching unwary victims. The two children had come to a really nasty place

“We’ll get to work on that,” said Hansel, “and have a real feast. I’ll eat a piece of the roof. Gretel, you can eat some of the window–that will taste real sweet.”Hansel reached up and broke off a little of the roof., to see how it tasted, and Gretel went up tot he windowpane and nibbled on it.

“Nibble, nibble, little mouse,
Who is nibbling at my house?”

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As the end of this particular school year draws near, you might think about the qualities of your favorite stories to help you plan an ending that is meaningful for your students.

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"Love is the mystery of water and a star." –Pablo Neruda 

April is National Poetry Month. Below is a new piece of art inspired by this
snippet of a poem, step-by-step, working backwards. Enjoy!

After much fussing over details... the final art!

Building up the color.

Another view from the drawing table.

First pencil layer.

Rough color thoughts and a few tweaks on a printout of the sketch.

The original pencil sketch.

Sketchbook thumbnails. (No wonder I can't read my own handwriting!)

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If you’re just now joining us on Iron Chef Vermin… Strawberry Challenge, you’ll note on the challenger’s side, Ronaldo Rodent, Executive Chef of the ever popular Hole in the Wall restaurant, unfolding a nice pate brisee over a sugared strawberry filling.

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Happy New Year! As usual, I started the year off with (waaay too many) goals and resolutions. One of those goals was to revisit my portfolio with a critical, unbiased (ha) eye. The 2016 SCBWI New York Conference is rapidly approaching, and since I’ve sunk over a grand into it, I might as well prepare to make the most of the experience. So anyway, here’s a little post on reviewing and refreshing the all-important portfolio.

Like the unicorn, the perfect portfolio is elusive. Supposedly my portfolio should be a showcase for the kind of work I want to do in the future, rather than a place for my old projects to gather dust. This is much easier said than done. With my skills constantly evolving and improving, my portfolio pieces seem to go obsolete faster than Apple products. Without resorting to time travel, is it possible to show a whole portfolio of consistent, strong work?

In general, our new work will (hopefully) be better than the older stuff. But having a few great new pieces is not good enough. It seems that the editors and agents can’t see my impressive new (imaginary) oeuvre. Silly industry professionals! Instead they are judging me on what they actually see in the portfolio. The weakest work in my portfolio, specifically, rather than the pieces that hint toward my future genius. I once heard Cecilia Yung, AD and VP at Penguin, blithely say that she only looks at the absolute worst image in the portfolio and ignores the rest. “If I can live with your worst,” she said, “I can work with you.” If that’s not intimidating enough, the better the great new breakthrough pieces are, the shabbier the old not-so-great ones look by comparison, and the less cohesive the portfolio becomes. What’s a poor artist to do?

Happily, I’ve come up with a handy two-step plan to tackle this problem:

Step 1: Make more art.

Step 2: Show them less of it.

Putting together a portfolio is an exercise in curation. I like to start by doing some super-honest portfolio analysis to get a clearer picture of where I am and what path I should follow. First and foremost, what should be in my portfolio? There’s no right answer to this, but if I were an editor I’d probably want to see evidence of things like this:

1. A mastery of technique with a consistent and unique style
2. The ability to tell a compelling story
3. The ability to draw a consistent character in a variety of poses
4. The ability to draw diverse characters, both human and animal
5. The ability to show action, emotion and personality

Sounds good, right? Now comes the “harsh reality” part. Go print some color copies of all of your pieces, spread them out on the floor or a large table, and take a look.

You can start with what I call the “cringe test.” You can do this alone or (even more illuminating) with friend or colleague. If you have a friend who is notoriously hard to please they’re perfect for the job. Regard each of your images, one by one. You will probably start by admiring the best ones. Keep going. Eventually you will run out of shiny new ones and come to one where you feel that internal “cringe.” You might pause and make an excuse or apology, or attempt to “explain” the piece in some way. Hallelujah, this is the sign you’ve been waiting for! It needs to go. Get rid of as many as you need. You might even get rid of the majority of your portfolio. That’s okay. It just means that your skills–and your critical eye–have improved. Pat yourself on the back, and go have some chocolate.

Now that the cringe-worthy pieces are gone, look at what’s left. If you like, you can analyze these images through the lens of the Five Important Qualities that I invented listed above. Are you telling compelling stories that make you want to turn the page? Do you have a variety of characters in different poses? What’s missing? If you’re having trouble being honest with yourself, pretend that you’re the editor looking at the work of someone you might want to hire. What gives you confidence in this illustrator? What concerns you?

Once you’ve identified the holes in your portfolio, you can focus on making new work, keeping those things in mind. It’s always better to have a few strong pieces than to pad your portfolio with filler, so don’t go crazy here. Think of this as practice. When I audited my portfolio I found that there isn’t as much action and emotion as I’d like, so that’s something I’m working on in my new portfolio pieces. That doesn’t mean these new pieces will necessarily make the cut for the portfolio. It just gives me a direction to head in.

At the end of the day, I hope you can create your magical unicorn portfolio where you adore each and every image and it reflects what you love to do and what you’re capable of. It’s no easy task, so don’t get discouraged. Every new image you make is a tiny step forward, and every weak piece cut from your portfolio raises you a notch in the illustration world. Only you know how to take it from here.

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Every year I seem to do several versions  of my entry for the SCBWI Tomie Depaola award Contest. this year was no exception. I did two completely different settings for Little Red Riding Hood prompt. The passage I used was “Her grandmother lived in the woods, about half an hour’s walk away. When Little Red Riding Hood had only been walking a few minutes, a wolf came up to her. She didn’t know what a wicked animal he was, so she wasn’t afraid of him.”

In the end I sent the Central Park Little Red Riding Hood, but I always wonder if I should’ve sent the other one/ones. Which one?

 

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I had so much fun doing the last portfolio rehash that I decided to do another one.

Back in 2013 I did a series of mouse illustrations. They were an experiment into using bolder colors and different materials. While I learned a lot from this phase of my illustration journey, it isn’t exactly representative of the kind of work I really want to be doing. Something just felt… off. So I posed the question to myself: can I re-do some of these pieces, and bring them to the next level?

Here are some of the things I liked about this piece:

1. This has a fun “hobbit hole” or “wind in the willows” feel to it
2. There are lots of charming details that enrich the mouse’s world
3. This is the sort of thing I would’ve loved when I was a kid

Here are some of the issues I defined:

1. The mouse lacks personality and narrative. He could be pushed to be a more robust character.
2. The piece feels stiff. It would be stronger with a looser, more painterly feel. (Easier said than done, am I right?)
3. The perspective is a little too extreme and is causing some distortion in the foreground. The high horizon line makes us feel a little distant–the exact opposite of the cozy moment I had in mind.
4. The stairwell behind the mouse is dark and ominous. I keep looking up those stairs waiting for something to creep in from behind. Not good.

The mouse’s lack of character was the biggest problem, so I went back to the drawing board and spent some time coming up with a simple story to add context: a little mouse goes on a wintertime visit to his grandfather’s house. With two mice, this cozy scene would be a perfect family moment.

I redesigned the piece with a round, egg-like composition in order to enhance the safety and stability of the scene. I made a special effort to keep things loose while still including many of the same details of the original. Cold pressed paper and a messier technique helped to add texture. Here’s the final result: (Click to enlarge.)

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One of the most important qualities that an illustrator must develop is a critical eye to see room for improvement.  I went through my portfolio recently and found an illustration that had been there for ages, since the very beginning of my sojourn into illustration. It was originally an exercise for the weekly illustration challenge called “Illustration Friday.” The piece just wasn’t working with my portfolio anymore, but it had enough strong points to be worth a second look.

Here are some of the things I liked about the piece:

1. The magician’s personality was unmistakable.
2. There was a lot of dynamic action.
3. The composition was fairly strong, with the character well framed by the window.

Here are some of the issues I identified:

1. Was this really a piece for a picture book? It seemed more like middle grade subject matter. It would be more appropriate in black and white, displayed in the middle grade gallery.
2. What exactly was the story here? An interaction between two characters would create more narrative.
3. There were several issues with the perspective and technique.

After my analysis, I decided to remake this piece using my black and white style. I chose a portrait format in order to enhance the drama of the magical ribbons. The open door in the background was the perfect place to add a young observer, someone to witness the magic. Here’s the final result:

Have you ever redone a piece in your portfolio? How did it work out?

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If you have not started using writing portfolios with your students yet, give it a try. Start a collection of their work and build in a system of reflection.

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This is a piece I did for a Educational reader a little while back. It’s interesting how the original story differs from the Disney version that so many of us are familiar with. It’s much darker.

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“Did you ever grow anything in a vegetable garden, or a flower garden?  Do you ever grow anything in the garden of your mind? Sure, you can grow ideas in your mind. You can think about things and make believe things. That’s like growing something of your own. You have wonderful ideas, all you have to do is think about them and they’ll grow.” _Fred Rogers

If we all thought like Mr. Rodgers….what a beautiful world it would be.

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I’ve been working on some readers that have kept me pretty busy.  Mostly fairy tales which I really enjoy creating. But when work is done and I have a few spare minutes, I let my pencil wander. This is where it goes, to the land of little creatures, where fairies collect the things that go missing in the house, and whose friends are the crickets and the mice in the woods. Won’t you join me?

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Greetings, I want to share a recent illustration that completed for my MFA program. The program has us traveling around the country for different contact periods twice a year, spring and fall. We always return to home base which is the Hartford Univeristy in Connecticut in the summer time. Last fall we traveled to New York […]

via Studio Bowes Art Blog at http://ift.tt/1CJMmb4

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Let your colors burst!

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A big project that's been underway since December, my website.

I have many goals for what it can provide my customers and potential clients, yet until all those goals are met, there are a few that have been reached and I feel the site is ready to be revealed.

What Does My Site Offer Now

• My watercolor book and coloring book
• Shop etsy while still within my site
• Request form and details on private commissioned work
• Contact form you can reach me at
• A comprehensive portfolio showing my range of work

Goals For the Site

Visit the new SaraB Illustration site ☛

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“Underneath this little stone
Lies Robert Earl of Huntington;
No other archer was so good -
And people called him Robin Hood.
Such outlaws as he and his men
Will England never see again.” 

_Roger Lancelyn Green

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Finally, after way too many years, I have published an update to my portfolio pages... and I actually have samples from recent books! By switching to Flickr as host, I get away from the more time consuming coding and javascript that was pretty much keeping me from adding new work to my old site... and this should be smoother all around with respect to flexible platforms for viewing. There are  a few ads scattered amongst the artwork for now, but I hope to eliminate those by sorting through their subscription plan in due course.

Click on the links above or find the portfolio link consistently listed in the "pages" near the top of this blog. I'll be adding additional items as we start the new year, but am excited to at long last be representing a broader cross-section of my work.

Cheers!

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It’s been quite a busy weekend full of baptisms and weddings and creative events. So exhausted, but it was all worth it.

This past Saturday we attended the Carousel for Kids event at Dixon Place (NYC) which was hosted by R. Sikoryak and Neil Numberman. It’s a yearly event where these wonderful writers and illustrators read their zany comics and other creations to kids of all ages! It was pretty entertaining!

The best part was when they picked some kids in the audience to help them read their comics. And most of the kids were so gung-ho about volunteering.

 

This past Sunday I attended my first ever CBIG portfolio review where we were all given the opportunity to speak with 2 editors or art directors of our choice and share our work with them one on one. What a great experience!

 

An editor from Penguin Group suggested I venture into drawing for older kids and experiment more with lettering. It’s actually something I’d been meaning to explore a bit more so you might be seeing more tweens  and tween themed illustrations in the coming months.

My favorite part of the afternoon was seeing other peoples work and book dummies. It was all so inspiring. Here’s hoping I get inspired enough to write a story myself soon!

Oh and don’t forget to check out the December issue of Highlights for Children to find this little dittie I did over the summer!

Wishing you all a Happy &  Creative Week!!

 

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This week my colleagues and I are writing posts that we hope will make your life a little easier. We’re sharing some ways to work smarter, not harder.

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This week my colleagues and I are writing posts that we hope will make your life a little easier. We’re sharing some ways to work smarter, not harder.

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