Friday, November 18, 2011

Here I go a-blogging!


Welcome to my blog! My name is Annika M. Nelson and I'm an artist, illustrator and educator. I'm leery of promoting myself but recognize the need to get with the times and join the adventure. I thought it was sufficient to have a website but apparently, there's so much more artists need to do to remain relevant and on publishers' radars. If you do want to see my website, it is annikamnelson.com

Although I've illustrated seven books, I've been needing a refresher on some of the basics to strengthen my style and marketability and went last week to a very informative SCBWI event, "The Big Picture of Little Lit." It was a very worthwhile use of a Saturday.The speakers, Scott Magoon of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books and Susan Sherman of Charlesbridge Publishing among others, were encouraging, constructive and willing to share very practical advice for illustrators of every level. 

In fact, I started this blog inspired by Susan Sherman of Charlesbridge Publishing. She encouraged the illustrators present to start blogs so that art directors could have a glimpse into our process as illustrators. It is helpful for them to see how we interpret text, how we sketch, revise and produce final art. 

So here I go a-blogging and hope you come along! 

Below is a sketch for the final page of my latest book written by Brynne Barnes, 
COLORS OF ME, published this year by Sleeping Bear Press. The Art Director, Felicia Macheske urged me to pack the scene with kids holding art in the final illustration.


This is the final art. I did the main part of the illustration while my son (then 7 years old) and his friend drew the crayon drawings.  


To see the book, follow this link to COLORS OF ME's page at Sleeping Bear Press. 







3 comments:

  1. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging. Looking good so far. Now make me laugh. Just kidding!

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  2. Ha ha! Isn't the whole thing laughable?!!! Thanks for being my one and only comment on my silly blog. I feel really goofy doing this but oh well.....Do you have a blog yet?

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