May catch up

A new book and a new sketchbook practice

I’s already June but since I didn’t post anything last month, June can wait – let me first catch you up on May news.

• This year, my portfolio for the Bologna Book Fair included a few board book covers, and one of them—featuring a little red elephant—seemed to make quite an impression (the image below is from a recent Kidlit Art Postcard day). Since I came back I’ve been developing a full story behind the cover and working on a book dummy. Last week the dummy went through final edits and is now ready for submission – Hooray!

• Meanwhile, my picture book idea about the bat and his beloved banana plushie is going through some revisions; as I work on tightening the plot, I continue sketching the two characters to come up with more background stories and get some fresh ideas.

• I find it challenging to maintain a regular sketching practice while working from home, especially since I spend most days alone – with only my dog for company and accountability.

  I love joining online sketching sessions whenever I can (like the next ArtGym, hosted by Adam and Katie). Since a lot of these events are organised by artists on the other side of the pond, that means afternoons or evenings in my CET time zone, the hours when it is much harder to get motivated and commit to practice.

  So I decided to set up my own online sketching session, adjusted to morning time in Europe, held every week for approximately one hour. Last Wednesday we had a trial run, I set up a Google meet with some of my fellow illustrators and after spending a few minutes chatting about our current projects and sketching goals, we silently drew in each other’s company for the next 45 minutes and showed each other what we’d drawn at the end. So far there are no special plans, programmes or prompts that we follow, for now the goal is to stick to a regular weekly schedule and see how it goes. Who knows, if it develops into something bigger, I might include it in my future Substack content, I’ll keep you posted.

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Until next time,

Wishing you a productive and creative month of June,

Damjana