Mining Spots

So the big SCBWI Summer Conference is just days away and I'm making a mad dash to get a couple more portfolio pieces done before I go off to present my last year of work. I actually have lots of new art, but not all worth putting in my portfolio, and not all quite fitting into the children's book style. So in the last week I decided to round out my portfolio with a couple more pieces that did fit the children's book style more closely to the kind of work I want to do.

Instead of spending time thinking of new characters and a new narrative, I decided to go with some characters and a story that I've used before, but never really developed. The mining illustration below originally came to mind out of sudden inspiration back in 2009. Who knows what that inspiration was, all I know is I had a very clear image in my head of what it would be and I created the drawing and painting within 2 weeks. But that was the end of it. I never explored the characters and I never expanded on the story. Ever since then this painting it has been one of my favorites and has brought me some attention, so why leave it at just a stand-alone painting? Why not put a story to it? Well, ok! Now's the time to explore and expand on these ground-dwelling critters and see what kind of adventures they have.

I am starting with just a few spots. I only had time for 2 before the conference but I will continue working on this story after the conference and hopefully will have a strong story soon!

I am aware that since it has been 4 years since I made this painting that I have changed in my painting abilities (the original painting was the second acrylic painting I had ever attempted to make, so I was still figuring out how the medium worked.) and have changed the characters a bit as I've started to develop them more, so the newer paintings don't match the original painting exactly. So I'm probably going to have to retire the original painting soon. But I believe it will remain one of my favorites for a long time to come.

So now it's time to get that portfolio together with my new artworks!