Day 1: Create-and-Critique-a-Palooza

Create-and-Critique-a-Palooza with two stars of publishing presenting on 12th March

Reported by Amanda Lieber, SCBWI Australia East

 

Sarah Davis: Portfolio Pit Stop

What is a portfolio? It includes 12-18 images. Start with a ‘bang’ and end with a ‘bang’.  Don’t included everything in your portfolio. Select the best images, especially those that show character development, emotions, your range. However, don’t include things you hate drawing. If you hate illustrating cars, then there should be no cars in the portfolio.

Develop fresh portfolio ideas by looking at historical context; ‘snoop’ on kids and watch what they do; take incidents from your own life; develop a character. A tip includes character formation. For example, start with a BFF – that means imagine your best friend. Write a description about the character and draw emotions, expression, activities that the character does.

Experiment before you include your work. Find your own palate. Test new colours and work out the ones you love.

Never cram your portfolio with illustrations. Roughly 3 to 4 illustrations are enough. If you want to present character development, you can include an extra image, but be careful. Too many images confuse the Art Director and they become unclear as to your range.

Web presence is essential. Publishers and editor can and do look up your work on your website and instagram. You must include your contact information in the portfolio, otherwise they’ll never find you.

Final advice is ‘Be Restless’. Always search for new ideas, images, experiment and keep growing your craft.


Sue Whiting: How to get the most out of your assessment/critique

You’re about to have your 15 minutes with a publisher/ agent of your choice and you are filled with mixed emotions. Will they love it? Will they hate it? Will they accept it? AARRGGHH! The first step is to manage your emotions and remember it is not a pitch. These fifteen minutes should be about the feedback. Keep an open mind and be ready to listen to what is being said, you will receive honest and constructive feedback to help you improve your manuscript.

The person giving you feedback is a professional in the publishing industry and knows their stuff. They will point out the flaws in your manuscript and give you helpful feedback:

If your manuscript is any good, if it makes sense, which parts need to be developed further, if your voice is strong enough and what direction to take next. They should point out the strengths, weaknesses, and what to focus on.

Everyone has their own style in delivering feedback. Some may be direct and to the point, others might beat around the bush. Whatever their style, they are there to help you. They genuinely have your manuscripts’ best interest at heart. It can feel confronting if someone is blunt and to the point, you need to take the emotion out of it and focus on what they are saying.

Whatever is said, remember you should act professionally. Listen to what is being said, even if you disagree. You can discuss the points after they have spoken but listen first. (This is a good tip even when you’re being edited.) Think about what’s been said and try it out. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, especially if you need them to clarify something. Take notes even though you will receive written notes.

Know your book before you go into the assessment: (some questions to ponder)

Who is it for? What is the point of difference? Why should a publisher publish this book?

What makes it special? What inspired you to write it? Do you have a special interest or reason that you have written this story? (For marketing purposes, this is something publishers will look at.) Know your book and what it’s about at its core? Why will kids enjoy this story? How does it end? How long is it? If you don’t know … think about these questions and more.

Know your other manuscripts well and have your elevator pitch ready just in case they ask you about another manuscript.

Finally, go into the assessment knowing which elements of your story you are most concerned about. It’s your 15 minutes. Be prepared, know what you want to get out of the assessment and make the most of it so you can direct the feedback to match your needs.


Sarah Davis
Sarah Davis is an award-winning illustrator, character designer, and book designer. She works with most major Australian publishing houses as well as clients across the film, animation and commercial sectors. Many of the books she has illustrated have become successful, long-lived and well-loved series. She has an honours degree in literature, and her love of language inspires her illustration work. With each new project, she experiments with innovative ways to create visual narratives, working across a range of media. She has 4+ years experience  in-house as associate art director at Walker Books Australia, where she collaborated with some of Australia’s finest picture-book illustrators to help produce a list of beautiful, award-winning books of which she is very proud.

 

Sue Whiting
Sue Whiting is an award-winning children’s and YA author and editor who has worked in publishing for twenty+ years. Sue was senior commissioning editor and publishing manager for Walker Books Australia for many years before leaving in 2016 to concentrate on her writing. As a storyteller and schools’ performer, Sue has informed, inspired and entertained thousands of kids across the country. She has also worked as a freelance children’s book editor and writing coach, and is the author of numerous books, including the bestselling Missing, the acclaimed The Book of Chance and a number of CBCA Notable Books. Sue’s latest books are Pearly and Pig and the Great Hairy Beast, the first in a new junior fiction series, and the narrative nonfiction picture book The Echidna Near my Place, illustrated by Cate James, and her historical novel, Tilda.




Creating Winning Picture Books… one brushstroke at a time

Celebrating the SCBWI Australian Picture Book Illustrator Awards

by Emma Quay

An afternoon dedicated entirely to illustration is always a winner in my book!

It was a privilege to share a stage with the other recipients of this brand-new prize for Australian picture book illustrators, in a celebratory get-together via Zoom. This job involves spending a huge amount of time alone, and yet it’s also very much about collaboration, communication and, therefore, other people. As illustrators, we make work with and for others, though not often in front of anyone — so it was fun to extend an invitation to join me in my little loft studio and share a glimpse into the processes I use when I’m creating the characters in my books.

The illustrations for my current picture book project are in brush and ink, and a week earlier this little girl had come out of my brush, while I was doing some morning warm-ups in my sketchbook.

ink-girl-1-emma-quay.jpg

I rather liked her, so I decided to improvise around the theme, not worrying what my pictures looked like, and with the sole aim of filling up a piece of paper. I filmed the process — speeding up the action to squash the thirteen minutes it took me down to just three — and I was surprised to discover I forgot I was being filmed at some points.


I did fill up the piece of paper… plus a little of another one, and during my presentation I talked through each drawing in turn, critiquing them and deciding out loud whether I’d choose the first character I painted, as she’s quiet, still and lost in the moment, or one whose brushstrokes are a little livelier… or fewer… or another, for the slight tilt of her head (the position we often adopt when we draw)… or one which feels nicely pared back, although possibly a little too introverted and in her own world.


I’d already decided which girl I’d have chosen, and — as is often the case — she’d emerged somewhere in the middle of the painting session, when I’d loosened up and become less self conscious, but hadn’t yet gone off the boil.

She has fewer brushstrokes than some of the other characters, and I like the way she’s leaning in the direction she’s about to paint, suggesting the moment to come. She has that loose, easy quality I’m looking for: not overworked. There’s a lot I could fix up, with Photoshop, should I choose to, whilst also making sure I keep the quirkiness and hand-drawn qualities of the brushwork.

This replicates the process I go through when I illustrate a character. I draw, draw, draw, until I feel I can’t draw any more. And then I do draw some more. Somewhere in there will be the one… hopefully! Or, with the magic of Photoshop, I could even create a composite from my favourite parts of several characters.

Obviously, I don’t usually have the luxury of the crowd of children’s book people in my studio with me, so I thought I’d make the most of it on this afternoon. I was really interested to hear which girl the audience would have chosen to go in the imaginary book, so I shared the drawings on my Instagram account, inviting people to vote for their favourite.

And the result was certainly food for thought!

Due to the fact that my process is about making lots of options, and then choosing from amongst them, I have perhaps essentially illustrated all of my books several times over… yet, interestingly, the winner of the audience vote in this instance was girl number one — the very first one I’d painted!

So now when you see a character on the page in one of my books, you’ll know there are plenty more who haven’t made the cut, and are still in the studio with me… one of which might be the one you’d have chosen! Perhaps I should invite input more often — I’ll certainly consider it.

It was lovely to collaborate with my folk musician friend Ian Barker whose acoustic guitar playing so perfectly complements the hand-made qualities of brush and ink work. Again — it’s so much about people, this seemingly solo game. Congratulations to the other showcased, shortlisted, Honour receiving and winning illustrators, to Sue Whiting for her brilliant insights from the perspective of a writer and publisher, to Susanne Gervay for being the most enthusiastic champion of every single one of us, and many thanks to the SCBWI committee, the Copyright Agency and the judges of the award, for this honour and chance to share.


  • You’ll find the Instagram post with all the girls I painted, here

  • Me adding colour to the audience’s no.1 girl, here

  • And more about my picture books at www.emmaquay.com, with insights into process on the ILLUSTRATING page