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I noticed Eliza’s portfolio when I was out in LA at the SCBWI Summer Conference this year.  The Art Exhibit was teaming with talent, but Eliza took the Grand Prize with her portfolio.  I know you will enjoy your visit with her.

I grew up in Northern Wisconsin in a family of teachers, musicians, and artists. Drawing was my favorite form of play as a child, my emotional outlet as a teen, and is my escape as an adult. Some of the strongest influences on my creativity have been the wild Wisconsin seasons, canoeing the Brule River, picking blueberries with my Grandmother, and digging through the snow with my brothers.

I got a degree in art and design at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 2006, moved to Los Angeles and searched for my place as an artist in the “real world”. In 2009 I attended my first national conference for the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators (SCBWI) and felt immediately at home. Children’s literature allows me to experience my own childhood again; to reconnect with and express the imagination as vividly as the time I was building forts in the woods and playing with dolls. Little has changed; only now the worlds I imagine I have the ability to share.

In spring 2010 I illustrated the book What Does It Mean To Be Present? written by Rana DiOrio of Little Pickle Press. In July of that same year I received the SCBWI LA conference mentorship program award, the catalyst for my 2011 win of the portfolio showcase grand prize award! Currently I’m in the process of developing several of my own stories, including a picture book to be published with Nancy Paulsen/Penguin Books for Young Readers.

Above is the cover of the first picture book that she has illustrated. Now let’s take a look at her process. Here’s Eliza:

I start with a small thumbnail sketch, about 1 by 2 inches. This usually happens in my sketchbook where I do most of my thinking. The kernel of the idea is a few basic shapes, and then I do a slightly more detailed thumbnail of the scene.

At this point I usually hit up Google Images, collecting reference imagery that relates to my idea – scenery, characters, objects, lighting, etc. I’ll usually do some sketches of those objects and settings.

Sometimes I’ll build a crude model to help aid with perspective or to get a feel for the lighting. I’ll use whatever materials are on hand, in the case of this drawing; a pizza box for the walls and modeling clay for the figure.

A part of my process not shown here is to enlarge my thumbnail, do a rough sketch on a cheap tracing paper on top of that, enlarge that sketch to 100% and do my final pencil drawing on nice tracing paper (Graphics 360 Marker Paper). I scan that drawing in and print it out with my Epson Stylus 2880 on the final water

I noticed Eliza’s portfolio when I was out in LA at the SCBWI Summer Conference this year.  The Art Exhibit was teaming with talent, but Eliza took the Grand Prize with her portfolio.  I know you will enjoy your visit with her.

I grew up in Northern Wisconsin in a family of teachers, musicians, and artists. Drawing was my favorite form of play as a child, my emotional outlet as a teen, and is my escape as an adult. Some of the strongest influences on my creativity have been the wild Wisconsin seasons, canoeing the Brule River, picking blueberries with my Grandmother, and digging through the snow with my brothers.

I got a degree in art and design at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 2006, moved to Los Angeles and searched for my place as an artist in the “real world”. In 2009 I attended my first national conference for the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators (SCBWI) and felt immediately at home. Children’s literature allows me to experience my own childhood again; to reconnect with and express the imagination as vividly as the time I was building forts in the woods and playing with dolls. Little has changed; only now the worlds I imagine I have the ability to share.

In spring 2010 I illustrated the book What Does It Mean To Be Present? written by Rana DiOrio of Little Pickle Press. In July of that same year I received the SCBWI LA conference mentorship program award, the catalyst for my 2011 win of the portfolio showcase grand prize award! Currently I’m in the process of developing several of my own stories, including a picture book to be published with Nancy Paulsen/Penguin Books for Young Readers.

Above is the cover of the first picture book that she has illustrated. Now let’s take a look at her process. Here’s Eliza:

I start with a small thumbnail sketch, about 1 by 2 inches. This usually happens in my sketchbook where I do most of my thinking. The kernel of the idea is a few basic shapes, and then I do a slightly more detailed thumbnail of the scene.

At this point I usually hit up Google Images, collecting reference imagery that relates to my idea – scenery, characters, objects, lighting, etc. I’ll usually do some sketches of those objects and settings.

Sometimes I’ll build a crude model to help aid with perspective or to get a feel for the lighting. I’ll use whatever materials are on hand, in the case of this drawing; a pizza box for the walls and modeling clay for the figure.

A part of my process not shown here is to enlarge my thumbnail, do a rough sketch on a cheap tracing paper on top of that, enlarge that sketch to 100% and do my final pencil drawing on nice tracing paper (Graphics 360 Marker Paper). I scan that drawing in and print it out with my Epson Stylus 2880 on the final water