Another Caution to Writers and Illustrators

Last week I had deadlines on overdue sketches and a dummy and new work to do for my portfolio, so I didn’t get my posts on the blog. This week and next will be busy, because of the SCBWI Summer Conference, but I’ll try to post. For now, here’s a quick one, relating to a point I’ve mentioned before but can’t seem to learn myself.

Don’t plan an illustration you don’t want to paint. Just as you don’t put a technique or style you hate to do in your portfolio, don’t make a dummy that has illustrations you don’t want to paint. Example: Do you think I want to illustrate the back end of a horse?

It was the middle of the night and that particular page was giving me problems, but is this what I want to paint? I don’t think so…. Luckily, this is a preliminary dummy.

And something else… My writer self did it again: a total of six horse and two mule illustrations in this book. I don’t mind an occasional horse, but really. Six!

So, writers, plan a little better and be more considerate of your illustrator. And illustrators, put that horse behind a tree or something!