Promotionally Ready For The SCBWI Summer Conference!

I'm ramping up and getting organized for the SCBWI Summer Conference next week. I wanted to have a fresh look to my "brand" before I went this year, so I updated my website with some cleaner colors, new illustrations, better organized pages, and a new "Books" page with more information about each book I have done. I also figured out how to add an image slider to my home page to keep people updated on Works in Progress and upcoming events going on with my work.

See all the changes at www.laurengallegos.com!

I got Business cards to match my website. Same basic design, but a little cleaner this time.

I also made new postcards to reflect my latest work. It works perfectly that I did some images that have to do with sending and receiving mail. I couldn't have planned it better myself!

And finally, I made a whole new portfolio to present at the Portfolio Showcase. This year I went for clean and professional. Simple black pages with white border. Black cover, and a convenient card holder at the back. Hopefully this will be a good way to highlight my artwork and abilities instead of trying to sell them on the portfolio itself. At least I know if they don't like it, it's not because I turned them off by the presentation. That's the last thing I want! The goal is to make it easy and convenient for the viewer to scan through the portfolio and focus on the artwork inside.

So I've got all my promotional materials ready to go. Now I put a smile on my face and give everyone I meet a firm, confident hand-shake. I can't wait to reconnect with art friends and be inspired to continue on with the work I'm doing, as well as work on new ideas that come to me and bring back old ideas that I think have potential.

Off we go! See you at the conference!!

Dimplemeyer's Design Cover Sketch

I've been working on this book for quite a long time now (it will be a year in September!) and I'm ready for it to be done. Not because I'm sick of it, but because I've been working on it for so long I'm ready for it to finally come to life! It's finally starting to come alive in my eyes now that I'm adding color to my sketches. I like to add color and lighting as much as I can before painting so I can figure out colors and change them all I want on photoshop. That way I know exactly what colors to make and use for the final painting.

This sketch isn't finished yet, although it's pretty close. I'm missing a few things important objects in the image and I still haven't figured out the title design yet. First is the initial sketch idea, rough with some lighting. Second I have the line drawing with details and better composition. Third, I added color and value to create the mood and interest. Fourth, I used the "gradient map" effect in Photoshop to check my values. I think they are pretty close to where I want them.

Of course the painting will not be exactly like I did in Photoshop. Computer programs have fancy abilities that good ol' painting doesn't....like layers that you can "multiply" (that's how I did the bottles in the foreground to make them slightly transparent looking). But now I have a good guide for when I am painting and I know what colors go where and what kind of effect I'm going for.

More sketches to come from Dimplemeyer's Design. It's still quite a ways away until the book is finished, but now that it's coming to life, my motivation is renewed!

  

Official Spider Shuttle

To go along with the Vulture Verses idea of caring for the unloved animals out there, I helped put together an Official Spider Shuttle to help shuttle spiders outside when you find them in your home. Instead of squishing them immediately, you let the spider crawl onto the Official Spider Shuttle card, cover them with a glass, and gently carry them outside.

Let's be nice to our little bug-eating friends...

Final Sketches for Dimplemeyer's Design Book

Seems as though I've yet again been too focused on getting my work done and have therefore neglected my blog. Sometimes I know I should post my work but don't feel like I have anything worth showing. I need to stop that!

This time I wanted to blog because I have some finished work on the way. Most of the illustrations for Dimplemeyer's Design are finished. I'm starting on adding value and color to all of them, so they are mostly just line drawings still. But soon they will be painted and full of life! I picked a few of my favorite sketches as well as some of the most dynamic ones in the book. Hopefully they are still readable even without color and value.

Unfortunately, none of these will be done before I head over to the SCBWI Annual Summer Conference. (I'm so sad I can't put them in my portfolio!) So I will have to stick with what I already have done. BUT I did make some new postcards and business cards, and I am working on my website so it's nice and new for the conference!

Hope to see you there!