Rule 6 and the Creative Life

Jill McDonald on Etsy

Interview with Jill on Illustration Mundo

From the August 27 blog post - Corita Kent's "Art Department Rules":
Rule 6- Nothing is a mistake. There's no win and no fail. There's only MAKE.
Rule 7- The only rule is WORK. If you work it will lead to something. It's the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch on to things.

surface art and They Draw & Cook

Amy Schimler is in demand for her spirited imagery applied to all kinds of surfaces for the "social expressions" market- greeting cards, wrapping paper, as well her kid's books and patterns for fabric.
Maggie Stewart does colorful, contemporary cards:

And just for fun, you can Draw & Cook! Don't put away those watercolors yet. SCAD students submit to this- you can, too:

originality/style/presentation

Nate Williams and Illustration Mundo

Penelope Dullaghan and illustration friday kids

Kevin Waldron- above and below

Notice everything. Draw all the time. All will be revealed.

Calef Brown interview

Read this Illustration Friday interview

and be inspired by one of your illustrious future colleagues in the Illustration Biz!

excerpt:

"How did you find your style? Has it changed since you started?
I found my initial style from doing a lot of experimenting after I got out of school. The portfolio I had when I graduated was kind of all over the place, and i didn’t really have a way of working or a medium that clicked with me. There was some collage, pastel, ink drawings…"

Jenny Sue

Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw
Jenny Sue is a creative dynamo. She does it all, and with such style and playfulness- kid's books, editorial, corporate/institutional pubs, surface design, decor, greeting cards... she writes this about her creative process:
When I have visited schools, students have always liked seeing my hand-written drafts and my drawings. They have so many questions about the “how” part. I thought it would be cool to have a sketchbook for working out my drawings, collecting research and inspiration, and experimenting with medium. This could be a good way to show students my process. That was my initial motivation — very quickly, though, it became so useful to me!! I took it everywhere I went and wrote down ideas I didn’t want to forget. I also taped inspiration to my wall — photos with beautiful color combos, color studies, patterns, etc. I gathered lots of fun collage (some from my travels), refined drawings, painted little color comps and started painting. The entire journey is exciting, but painting is my favorite part!

ooops! Lulu doesn't have an InDesign plug-in...

click the image to get the complete instruction for exporting your InDesign file to PDF.

You can download the correct size template for designing your book and use InDesign for creating page layouts. Then export the file to pdf to upload to Lulu.

For those using Blurb, the InDesign plug-in makes the process a bit simpler.

The Eric Carle Picturebook Museum

http://www.carlemuseum.org/Visit/Virtual_Tour

current exhibition at the museum:

Beyond Books: The Independent Art of Eric Carle
September 30, 2012 - February 24, 2013
Eric Carle is primarily known for The Very Hungry Caterpillar and over 70 picture books done in his colorful collage technique. For the first time, fans will have a chance to see the remarkable variety of paintings, sculptures, and personal sketches that he has been making privately for more than 60 years. Starting with his career as a poster artist in the 1940s and carrying through to the street photographs he is shooting today, this exhibition, Beyond Books: The Independent Art of Eric Carle, provides viewers a chance to see what Eric himself calls his “ArtArt.” This selection provides a surprisingly intimate window into the full range of his imagination and talents. The categories include: 1)Early posters and book jackets; 2)Linoleum cuts, created for several adult titles by other authors; 3)Caricature notes: funny and irreverent hand-drawn notes written to friends; 4) Non-representational art or “Art Art:" abstract painted tissue paper collages created between picture book projects; 5)“Name Art:” names of close friends and colleagues captured in his famous painted tissue paper; 6) Metal sculptures/Glass sculptures: forays into three-dimensional realms, including metal sculptures and painted glass assemblages in collusion with his friend and renowned glass artist Tom Patti; 7) Costumes/Drawings: costumes and a set for The Magic Flute stage concert performed by The Springfield Symphony in 2001; 8) Photographic street art: Studies in colors, shapes, and textures, Carle’s recent “found art” photographs have their roots early in his career; 9) A large Tyvek mural (approximately 10 x 20’) for other participating venues.