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Portfolio - Spring 2014 We're setting out for the SCBWI New England Conference tomorrow. "We" is me,  Sheli Petersen  and Sheli's mother/author, Patricia Petersen. I'm packed, updated , and eager to meet everyone. I can hardly believe it's already time to head down to Springfield again :->; I am really pumped for this conference and I'm ready to let the inspiration vibes strike me. Above are a few bits from my book assembly from the past week. On the left are some finished snippets from one of my spreads, and the right is the black and white study of my mock mini portfolio. I have to tell you the mock-mini folio helped a LOT. it was great to see the impact of my ills in the small scale and to make sure that my values had enough contrast. Highly recommended. I did a similar study last year for the Infirm Pachyderm poster . This year I combed through my full book in black and white format before taking everything to print. I'm very pr

Badge by Denise Ortakales - Source Whew-Hooo! I JUST signed up for the New England chapter SCBWI Conference . I can hardly wait to see everyone again :-)

Think bright pink exclamation point. 200 pt Nueva: Pink Exclamation Mark - © Samantha Grenier 2014 That is me this week. I am an exclamation mark because 3 great things occurred in my life this week: 1. I toured and have a studio space on reserve for me at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, Massachusetts. This not only puts a rocket launcher into my part time freelance illustration career, but it's getting me out of the house so that I can interact with an inspiring community. I sign my lease later this week and there will most likely be many  studio set-up photos to follow over the next month. 2. Did you know I wrote a macrame book? Did write/illustrate... now sifting through the draft. I got to see my Book Baby for the first time Tuesday. I'm pretty sure followers on Twitter could hear my scream from delight. Here is the official book announcement sent by Fox Chapel Publishing: Hello! Macramé should be landing in crafty stores April/May. 3. Though

Post-it Notes to self: "Don't forget your toothbrush... or hair stuff!" I will be leaving for the New England SCBWI conference in just a bit. I'm more than ready for an inspiring weekend! If you see me around, don't be shy and say "Hi!" Say "HI!" :-D  I will be toting my portfolio around with me all weekend, so if you'd like to take a peek, I'd be happy to show it off: Portfolio cover. See you in Springfield! ♥

Sketching tortoise's shell. The past couple weeks, I've been steadily working on my own picture book. Some questions which keep appearing in my head consist of: Can a tortoise REALLY balance like that? If a giraffe could move like that, how would his legs bend? Should the tortoise have a top hat? I want my characters to look playful, but have some realistic value, so the top hat is a no-go. As for movement questions, I cannot rely on image searches, nor do I have regular interactions with these animals, so I'm making my own models: Giraffe skeleton doodle (left) and giraffe wire armature. I'm still working on this little guy (above). So far, I've bulked up his torso to help me with scale. Ideally, the giraffe will serve as a resource for consistent spot placement... same with the tortoise, who's still in the works - currently just a paper shell form. I am looking for some assistance with one of my animal studies. The giraffe has been V

Basking Lion doodle (left). Actual Basking Lion (right) from the Franklin Park Zoo. Here's a mini rewind of the past couple weeks: Unfortunately, The Elephant Listening Project and I did not win the AE Roastery and Tea Earth Day coffee label contest . We'll get 'em next time! Congratulations to the winning Daddy-Daughter team (aww!) A teeny-tiny visit to the MFA (so small in fact, I'm plotting a re-visit for mid-April). I made a brief trip to the Franklin Park Zoo to spy on some of the cool-temp tolerant critters. The Zoo trip was very brief, due to my sudden spite for the cold weather. It probably didn't help that I lacked a hat and scarf, and had to keep pulling my mittens off to take a picture, or doodle in my sketchbook. I visited for the wildebeest, and I'm planning a return when the zoo "unpacks" the giraffe. Shocked, I was to see Zebras (one of which wasn't even a month old!) and Ostriches, romping around in the New England bree

Sketches & cover ideas for Plank & Pancake I follow enough librarians on Twitter to know that it's really that book cover that wins a reader's attention. It's also interesting to know that the book COVER, (though the first taste to the overall book experience,) is usually the LAST bit designed to complete the story. It's the reader's first introduction - that first impression, so you want it to be a good one. As I work on my first picture book dummy, I am piecing together a cover to make my story feel polished. Then this morning I couldn't help but think what would Master Kidd do ? Chip Kidd is well respected as one of the "Kings of book coverings. Though the titles linked to his name are actually novels, his Ted presentation is an excellent example of how he deconstructs a book to build upon the story it encases.  All this can be applied to Picture Books as well. One just has to be consistent with the book's illustration style.

I submitted my illustration for SCBWI's Tomie dePaola, with only 10 minutes to spare. I'm incredibly grateful the drop-dead time was in Pacific Time. I chose to illustrate the famous white washing scene. As you see above, the illustration was intended to be in black and white, but I found I could control the contrast better working in full color and then just "gray-scaling" the finished illustration. Also please ignore any and all "wonky" looking colors. Again, I was pushing for contrast. Fingers are crossed!

Library Day tomorrow (if the Library is open... pretty sure it is!) This week's collection includes: Me... Jane , but Patrick McDonnell Ginger , by Charlotte Voake Katy Did It! by Lorianne Siomades The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-To-Be , by Mini Grey The Sticky Doll Trap , by Jessica Souhami Coco the Carrot , by Steven Salerno The King Who Wouldn't Sleep , by Debbie Singleton; illustrated by Holly Swain Sarah's Little Ghosts , by Thierry Robberecht; illustrated by Philippe Goossens First of all, loved   Me... Jane ! I choked up a touch at the end. I most certainly agree the Caldecott Honor is well deserved. I'm very happy that I happened upon The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-be , because I'm in the crosshairs of writing my own version of the "Princess and the Pea," and now I'm thinking I want to take my story into another direction. Happy Reading!

This past week I finally discovered how to check books out from the library with my Nook. Yes, it's tougher than it sounds, because Barnes and Nobles doesn't want to you engage in anything that's FREE. There is very little information on library checkouts, except for maybe the Kindle. I finally figured it out through the NH Downloadable Book Consortium  (via the New User blog page). Very helpful (if you're glued to NH library, that is.) My mother surprised me with my Nook for my birthday. (Make a note that my birthday was the end of March - it is now November and I've only had to re-charge the battery once !) I've purchased a few books through B&N, but I've been dying to dabble into the library's system for a cheaper alternative. It does require some extra software with the computer, but with a simple little USB hook-up, the Nook downloads are incredibly easy... and fast. My first library engaged Nook-Book checkout is The Adventures of Tom Sawye

Last Saturday I attended the New England SCBWI Encore Writer's Workshop. I am 0 for 3 for successful navigations of Providence, but I am inspired and knowledgable from the experience, so I call it a win! There were a TON of key notes that all authors/writers can really benefit. The workshop had a Middle Grade-Young Adult edge to it, so there wasn't a lot of focus on the Picture Book writing, but I can see how I could apply the advice to my personal writings. Some of the key points addressed: Write, write, write, write and then write some more. READ! <-- Pretend that was shouted. Read everything you can get your hands on... specifically works from your genre. Read it, even if you think/have heard it's going to be crap. LEARN from that writer's mistakes. Uh, re-write... a lot. Critique groups are necessary; start one or one! You need someone other than your mother/friends/coworkers/etc. playing the editor's eyes and giving you concrete criticism. <-- Th

Participating in the Doedemee charity book cover project brought me back to my old book re-covering exercise from several years back. I've decided to pick the project back up again, and I've just begun taking my old sketches, and turning them into full-scaled finished pieces. By "full-scaled" I mean 12" x 18" posters. Other than the Scarlet Letter , you'll see my most recent conquest ( Moby Dick ,) which was one of the original classics from my old exercise. Hopefully to follow: The Great Gatsby , One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and Lolita. My "Recovering Project" is helping me ease back into my cut-paper methods. Moby Dick here is comprised of torn paper and digital media.

Been working here and there on a book (re-covered) project for the DoeDeMee cover project for illiteracy . Below are some of my sketches rendered as I read through my book choice, The Scarlet Letter . As of a few nights ago, I had my poster looking like so: ... But something was missing. I picked this novel for the sake of the story's message on identity. Upon looking at other covers throughout time, there were a couple recurrent themes: Hester & Child (Pearl) and the big red "A". These characters actually become what the "A" symbolizes and I wanted convey with the cover. I think I did this rather successfully transforming these two characters into an "A".  However, there's another character that's typically ignored for cover art, and I really wanted him to have at least a subliminal presence, because without him, there would be no Pearl and thusly no evidence for the need of that adulteress mark: Reverend Dimmsdale. He too

THRILLED to have gone, but a little bummed I couldn't attend the entire weekend. With work, travel and a tight-tight budget (so that we can attend the LA conference,) I was only able to join for the Saturday workshops. Though I take away a lot from my single day on site, I still wish I could have stayed for the full conference. "C'est la vie!" To really get the most of the conference my advice to myself and other potential goers: 1. DO the poster contest (illustrators) 2. DO the portfolio/manuscript review, especially that quick-query. I didn't meet a single person who felt it was money wasted 3. Don't get the chicken (lunch) 4. Do the portfolio showcase (illustrators) - ALWAYS show that folio when an opportunity presents itself 5. Take more pictures for more visual interest when you go back to Blog about your experience so that you don't just end up hoisting your business card up on the site for recognition The only real negative I take away fr