I had the pleasure of attending the SCBWI Summer Conference in L.A. this past weekend. It was jam-packed with information that will take me some time to digest. I was fortunate enough to have a Portfolio review with Laurent Linn from Henry Holt, and he was very sweet and encouraging. He liked several things and gave me lots of advice. I'm always amazed of how friendly Art Directors are. Last year I had my review with Elizabeth Parisi from Scholastic, and she was also full of nice compliments and advice. Of course, last year I let time go by and I didn't keep in touch with her, as I should've.
For the most part the conference was a turning point for me and I think I have to reconsider several aspects of my career and my art in order to succeed. I don't want to be classified as only good for the educational market, so I have to work more on my style.
Some of the major changes that'll happen include making a whole new website that will use my name instead of Polar Twilight as a web address. It is just more professional and makes more sense that way.
Another major change will be that I've decided to focus my efforts on making graphic novels. It just makes sense having grown up reading them. Part of those efforts will include working on writing, drawing a lot more, experimenting on new techniques, refining my style and doing lots of research.
I already have some ideas I want to develop and hopefully things will work out. I'll post any progress in this blog.
The website change will be gradual since I want it to reflect my artistic growth, so for the first few months, the new web address will just redirect traffic to this one. The blog is definitely going to stay, but I'm thinking most of the artwork I have up right now will be replaced, including the "logo" and the look of the website.
Here's to change!
