What Progress? The "Am I Progressing?" Post

Sorry for the late post! I accidently scheduled this for Friday!

I have had a MONTH this month. What does that mean? I've had almost no time to work on any artwork. I've been in all the pain and have a possible allergy? I've also gotten some bad news and I hope things are going to work out. I'm hoping June will be better!

What I'm Creating:

Not enough. Just not enough. I'm hoping that I can get more work done now that I'm feeling a bit better. May was basically a terrible month for me. What it's not over yet? GAH!

Schedule:

My schedule was blown to pieces last month. I was okay with posting my interviews, but sadly I've ran out of people because I've had no time to send out emails. 

Ongoing - Find more people to interview and to post on Instagram. 

June 15th - Have reasonably good pencil drafts for my dummy. *moved*

Interview Schedule:

April 27th Jardan J. Scavone - Done!
May 4th Benson Shum - Done!
May 11th Katherine Locke - Done!
May 18th Ashley Howland - Done!
May 25th Nick Patton - Done!

I have an IMPORTANT announcement on Friday (if no new interview answers come in) to replace the sadness that is no interview. So Friday will be a good day!

Monday Coffee -- This Page Unintentionally Left Blank

Monday Coffee was unintentionally delayed today. I have an injury that caused me a lot of pain this weekend. I was not able to get any artwork or posts scheduled this weekend. I will be doing "What Progress?" Wednesday, but I'm not sure about the interview for this week. Hopefully next weekend will be better!

Picturebooking Magic with Nick Patton

I don't know about you but I love to listen to podcasts when I draw. It's something that's not too distracting and helps improve my mood while working. I started listening to The Picturebooking Podcast when it first came out. At the time there were a few podcasts created by writers, but only Nick's (that I knew) podcast was from the perspective of an illustrator. This makes Picturebooking near and dear to my heart, because it's great when you are getting started as an illustrator to hear from other people who are in the same boat as you. Nick's podcast is insightful, creative and a ton of fun to hear! Nick isn't just awesome to listen to. His artwork is great as well. Check out his Instagram and Twitter pages to see his practice drawings and original artwork!

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Dani: What is your favorite thing about running a podcast?
Nick: My favorite thing about the podcast (by far) is getting to have in depth con
versations with picture book creators who love the craft as much as I do.

I don’t know about you, but the majority of people in my life don’t let me talk for hours about Melissa Sweet’s art or how darn funny an Aaron Reynolds story is. Not only do I get to geek out about this art form, but I get to do it with the people who created it. The whole thing just blows my mind. I’m so lucky.


Dani: How has having a podcast affected your own illustration work?

Nick: Studying and talking to professional illustrators made me want to step up my game. It made me want to toss everything I’d ever done out the window and start over. I have personally done a lot of thrashing and flailing.

For the first couple years of the podcast I’d find myself studying someone’s work and then twisting my own art to their style.

But recently I’ve been listening to some past interviews and I’m finding clarity in what Dani Jones, Ovi Nedelcu and others have told me.

Dani is all about keeping it simple. Just make stuff and show it to people.

And Ovi created his “look” out of necessity. He made sure his art fit into his whole life. This is something I’m trying to do more of. If a piece of art takes me weeks to create, it isn’t a viable way of telling stories.

I still love putting on someone else’s style, but now I just copy the art as a learning exercise … something Amy June Bates mentioned in our talk.


Dani: What is your favorite food?
Nick: Well I did the illustrations for a newly released picture book title SAM AND THE SEVEN POUND PERCH. It’s a funny story about a boy and his dream of catching a record perch. I don’t want to give to much away, but if I was Sam, the story would end with a Friday Fish Fry!

The first Friday of the month a church does a fish fry in our town. They get the perch from the local fish market and they use a recipe that was gifted to them by an old restaurant owner. It is amazing perch! And it’s where we will be this Friday night!


Dani: Do you have a favorite podcast (or podcasts)? Could you share what you learned?

Nick: My first conversation with Dan Santat, days before he won the Caldecott for BEEKLE was special. Vanessa Brantley-Newton singing on the show brings goosebumps. The playful sarcasm of Mike Lowery, the energy of Rafael López and the thoughtfulness of Antoinette Portis come to mind. Asking Peter Brown about peeing was pretty memorable, and just sitting back and listening to Will Terry talk was fun.

So many good moments that it’s hard to bring one to the top.

But if you want a show about actionable tips to break into the children’s book industry … I did an entire episode on the topic with 19 past guests!

Here is Kelly Murphy’s advice in that episode:

Determination. You have to keep telling yourself that this is important and why it’s important. Self evaluation. What are you doing and how does it work with what the publishing world is doing. Thick skin. Rejection is part of this deal. It’s part of this profession. So a thick skin is important.


Dani: Why did you start a Patreon Page?

Nick: My Patreon page is all about sustainability. Patreon allows listeners of the show to contribute a monthly amount for the content I produce.

I want to continue having these conversations and promoting this medium. The goal of the podcast is to showcase the authors and illustrators behind my favorite books. But I need the show to be sustainable.

I’ve read some marketing books and blogs. I’ve googled “how to monetize a podcast.” And I don’t feel like being a true internet marketer. It’s just not fun or interesting.

So maybe my Patreon page is just me being to lazy to truly monetize the show with ads and such. But I’d prefer to think it’s an opportunity for my listeners to support my art. It’s a simple way to give me the ability and freedom to make Picturebooking my way.


Dani: What's next for the Picturebooking Podcast?

Nick: I’m inching closer to the 100th show! And I’ve been asking a bunch of people why picture books are important. It’s going to be an inspiring podcast and it reminds me why I get up every day and work on this craft.

If you or your readers would like to answer the question and potentially be included in the 100th episode just record your answer and email it to me at nickpattonstudio@gmail.com. Please state your name in your answer … “Hi I’m Nick Patton and picture books are important to me because …”


Dani: What are your goals beyond the Picturebooking Podcast?

Nick: Four years ago, when I started the show I had this self-publishing vision. I really thought I was going to tell and share stories in some untraditional ways. But like monetizing a podcast, this self-publishing path runs headlong into internet marketing.

I’m not interested in doing everything myself. I get tired just thinking about posting on Facebook, let alone setting up an internet marketing campaign.

So my goal this year is to rebuild my portfolio, complete some “smart” dummy books and go fishing for an agent. When I catch one, we’ll have a fish fry … you’re invited!
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Follow Nick:

Podcast: http://picturebooking.libsyn.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/picturebooking/posts
Twitter: @nickpattonillo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/picturebooking/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nickpattonillustrations

What Progress?

Tufts of cottony death are floating around my neighborhood again. I don't usually have any allergy problems but this form of puffiness seems to be my one weakness. I will breathe much better once this part of the season ends!

What I'm Creating:

Mostly a big mess in Clip Studio Paint! I think I came close to having a full palette to work from last night. More work than I bargained for, but I'm glad I'm done. It will be useful for any artwork I do. 

Schedule:

I found a few people to post on Instagram. I'm still working on getting more interviews. I'm hoping to find more people tonight for both!

Ongoing - Find more people to interview and to post on Instagram. 

May 30th - Have reasonably good pencil drafts for my dummy. *moved*

Interview Schedule:

April 27th Jardan J. Scavone - Done!
May 4th Benson Shum - Done!
May 11th Katherine Locke - Done!
May 18th Ashley Howland - Done!
May 25th Nick Patton 

I will add more people to this list soon!

As promised here is a badge for "What Progress?" I will make a fancier one later, but might as well get this started!

Monday Coffee - May 21

Weird week this week, sorry everyone! I forgot today is Monday because it's a long weekend here. Victoria day messed me up!

So I've been working on a lot of things lately and one of those is working in Clip Studio Paint. The problem is I like making my own colors, so I took a red, blue, yellow and brown I liked and got to mixing! I didn't quite end up mixing all the colors I'd needed but I got a good pallet started. It's one I can use in other paintings, so I'm happy. I got most of the colors of my painting changed and I hope I can continue working on my painting soon! 

What are you working on now?

Monday Coffee is a joint effort between Dani Duck and Christy Illustrates! 

Interview with Puppy Approved, Ashley Howland

I had technical difficulties with this post today! I had it all set up and ready to go, but when I went to look at the pre-scheduled post today there was no post! 😰 I do not know what happened, so I'm posting this and hoping it sticks.

When I was talking to Ashley about doing an interview I was convinced that she had done an interview with me before. I was looking through my blog to find the old interview and I found nothing. Well I found an old blog hop we did, and talked about her more than once on my blog, but there was never any interview! Well time to fix that oversight. Here is the wonderful Puppy Approved Ashley Howland!

Dani: Why did you decide to write for children?

Ashley: I’m not sure it was a decision. My brain is just wired that way. I have children, I work with children. It’s more than that though, I love to read and my favourite books have always been children’s books. They are the things memories are made from. Reading to my children has always been one to the best parts of the day. We still love to read stories together and share these adventures. I write because I love to share stories with my girls and with other children. Naturally I write for children, it’s the best way to share adventures.

Dani: I know you are a dog person, but how do you feel about cats?

Ashley: Ahh the wonderful cats. I love big cats, as in tigers, lions and cheetahs. Now the pet cat, I guess I can see why some people like cats. I just prefer dogs. Partly because my husband is allergic to cats. Mainly it’s a personality thing. The thing with dogs is they need you. They want to be with you, do things with you and be a part of your life. Most cats want you only when they need something from you. I also have issues when people let their cats roam the country without any thought for the environment. No bells, no curfew. That of course is the minority of cat owners. There are of course cats that are great pets, but unless it’s a part of the big cat family I would rather have my dogs.

Dani: What do you do when you aren't writing?

Ashley: I am a teacher, mainly Physical Education now. I teach in a primary school and have taught Science, Japanese and classroom. I have interests in digital technology and love to integrate subjects all together. I often teach through stories, it’s one of the reasons I started to write. When I’m not at work I am with my girls, often on a soccer pitch. That’s all part of being mum. I am currently coaching, but generally I just try and help as much as I can. I love to spend that time with them and their friends. Between work, the kids, the dogs (who also love soccer), and occasionally getting to the gym life is quite busy. Writing is my time out, my release and while I don’t get much time, I try to make the best of the time I have.

Dani: Who influences your work the most?

Ashley: I would have to say my daughters. They are part of all my writing. At times we have worked on ideas together. Each of them has helped develop characters, ideas and even the plots. The places we go, the things we do, our daily adventures, the books we read and the holidays we go on all form part of my writing journey. My girls also help with my editing. Before I sent any of my stories off for editing I read them to the girls. They are fantastic at finding any plot holes and helping to fix any issues. The best critics come in small bodies. They are honest and straight to the point. If they hate it they tell me, if the find it funny they laugh and if they love it they ask for more!

Dani: What's the best job you've ever had?

Ashley: That’s a hard question. There are bits of all the jobs I have had that have been amazing. As a teacher I love to work with students. It’s so incredible to see them achieve their dreams. To be a part of the growth of any person is incredible. There are aspects of teaching that are not so enjoyable, the paperwork, the data, test scores, things like that. If you can put all that aside and just focus on the development of the students then teaching is incredible.
I was also lucky enough to work with at risk youth to train Labrador retrievers as companion dogs. This job was really rewarding. The dogs were always a laugh and the students grew so much from the program. It was an incredible experience. One that has shaped me as a teacher.
I guess I have been lucky and had opportunities to work with some great people. In my spare time I have coached volleyball and now am coaching soccer. The best part about this has been the people in the clubs. That community is what makes it all worthwhile.
As for the best job – it’s all about the experiences and what you make out of all opportunities. There is no perfect job, just what you make of it.

Dani: What are you working on now?

Ashley: I have a few projects going now. I really want to get the second book in my Super Hero series published. I just need to organize the cover and the chapter illustrations. That’s job number one. Then I have books three and four in this series to edit.
As I like to keep busy I have a pirate story I need to edit and I really want to get the second book in my Not So Boring Series drafted. The first one Write Your Own Story was are fun book to put together. In this book anyone can develop their writing craft. What’s even better is in each chapter they get to focus on one story and will have something worth publishing at the end. I love hearing the stories people come up with. The second one is a travel / writing journal with a difference. I just need to get moving with it.
I have lots to work on and not much time, but that’s all part of writing. It’s my release, so I will make time when I can.

You can connect with me here:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorAshleyHowland
Obi Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Obi-the-Super-Puppy/575191985848747
Blog: http://ahowland.org/wordpress/

What Progress?

Crazy days have been happening lately my friend. I'm thinking most of these are because it's so close to summer! My children are feeling it and are determined to drive me crazy. They might do it too if I weren't already there!

What I'm Creating

I finished my post sticker for Monday Coffee this past Monday. You can join me for the linkup. I have Christy helping me with this project so it should be twice as fun. There are a few kinks to work out, but I'm sure we'll smooth them out over the coming weeks! I will be making one soon for What Progress, so you can join me for this too (or just choose one)!

I am still working on my draft for my dummy. I got distracted with using Clip Studio Paint lately. I finally found a paint tool that I feel comfortable using! So now my brain wants to work on all the digital work while also trying to get to work on a dummy and sent out work to publishers. FOCUS BRAIN, FOCUS! Slow down, work on one thing at a time. If you work on too much at once nothing will get done. Okay, I think I'm good now.


Schedule

Ongoing - Find more people to interview.
May 19th - Have reasonably good pencil drafts for my dummy.
May 30th - Have at least one of my dummies finalized.

Interview Schedule:

April 27th Jardan J. Scavone - Done!
May 4th Benson Shum - Done!
May 11th Katherine Locke - Done!
May 18th Ashley Howland
May 25th Nick Patton

I will add more people to this list soon!