Moving back to Philadelphia with Evan was such a smart decision. I hadn’t realized how much I missed living in a city where so much is happening and there are accessible communities for artists. Evan and I are going to be checking out a life-drawing get together at the Society of Illustrators next week. It’ll take a few hours by train, but it’s so worth it if it means getting to meet other illustrators.
I’ve been really pushing to get more character art into my portfolio recently. I spoke with an art director at Macmillan a few months back and she really recommended I increase my speed and try to add something new to my website every week. Hearing this really blew me off my chair. EVERY WEEK?? She reiterated that it could be new sketches for the sketch section, or a new portrait to beef up my tiny portrait page. From chatting with her I realized that my website hadn’t changed much over the span of 6 full months. She was returning and looking at a lot of the same old stuff. Knowing that, I decided to push harder and create more pieces really demonstrating that I can capture teenagers and young adults for the world of YA publishing. I would like to create a portfolio that is always evolving and growing.
PS: The rats are happy as well! I bought them a book bag recently that lets me carry them around with me outside. They have tiny nose holes that allows them to catch all the interesting smells beyond our apartment.
Sweet accompanies me to the roof.