Eek! Here we go! 

In September, I celebrated 20 years of being a self employed graphic designer. Perhaps because of that milestone, one of the goals I set for myself this year was new: to write and illustrate a picture book inspired by my old English sheepdog Bella. 

I have a rough draft of the manuscript and page chart done, and have been working on character and illustration style development. I’ve got a notebook full of sketches and notes, have read lots of books and studied the picture books I admire.

Now it’s time to take the next step, and start learning from the professionals and refining my vision.

I’m so excited for this next chapter! Pun intended 

The course starts on Monday.

So it begins.

The Picture Book Course started last week. One of the very first things we were advised on was to put any existing story ideas on the back burner.

It makes sense, since we will be learning a lot about writing, illustrating, pacing, layout and how to shape a picture book over the next eight weeks—but it’s hard!

Between the weekly assignments, videos of successful authors and illustrators explaining their process and extra reading, the course is so inspiring, I just want to get right to it! But, they’re right. I’ll wait and revisit the story I’ve begun, once the program is complete and I’ve soaked up as much inspiration and knowledge as I can.

A glimpse into my sketchbook:

In the mean time, here is a look at one of the childhood memories I illustrated this week, as well as a few fall scenes I did as part of the #DRAWWITHJJOZ Draw it In Your Style Challenge on Instagram.