Portfolio Building and Paige and Webb

In October when I bought my ticket to the February 2024 SCBWI Conference in NYC, I decided that I wanted a whole new portfolio to take with me.

I have several stories that I’ve created. I decided that for 7 working days at a time, I would focus on one of the characters with the goal of creating new artwork for that character to include in my portfolio. I’m just 3 weeks before the conference and I’ve learned a few things so far. Here is Part 1 of what I’ve learned and some images from Paige and Webb.

I started off with Paige and Webb. They are who I have been working with the most over the past year. Christmas was just around the corner, so I was thinking of Christmas when I created this Paige and Webb piece. I loved it so much, I used it as my Christmas card for 2023.

I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and I used Paige as the character in a piece I was doing for my son who is graduating from High School this year

One of my sketches had Paige playing a piano, and I loved the idea. This is one of my favorite pieces so far.

And then I put more time than I thought it would take on the two friends hiking in the woods

In this night time scene, I learned that it is hard to do night scenes without them going into darkness. I’m not sure I nailed it, but I put forth a good effort. I like the creature suggested in the stream. And I probably should tone down the nails on Webb’s hands and feet from bright white to something more cream. Paige’s white shirt could also do with making it a little more subtle.

I’ve also left some areas flat and other areas I’ve rendered with more of a 3 dimensional look.

My next blog will be how I fared with “The Monster Under Jacob’s Bed”

See you there.