I have this quiet idea in the back of my head that one day I may write and illustrate my own children’s book (shhhh, don’t tell anyone!).
I began the day feeling like an interloper, but very quickly relaxed and giggled into the day.
The chairs, Vivien French and Lucy Juckes were warm, passionate and most of all I could relate to them.
There were four speakers throughout the day, all of whom shared their experience and knowledge and I learnt a huge amount. This came as no surprise as I am am not trained in illustration so am a blank canvas.
I got a great deal from attending this conference, but the biggest thing I took away was about confidence. All the speakers discussed this in one way or another:
- Know yourself – know your style and target market. Make this obvious to others by using adjectives that describe these things as your tags on your websites and social media channels.
- Be true to yourself and develop over time, demonstrate this in sketchbooks and portfolios.
- Do not be scared to innovate and/or collaborate, there are times where as a freelancer you are really busy (been there!) and times when you are not. Use this down time creatively and be bold like Alison Carmichael. See her attention grabbing postcard that she sent to art directors and designers (please don’t click if you are easily offended) here: alisoncarmichael.com/ct/
Having started the day feeling out of place, I spent my last 5 minutes of the day speaking to Vivien and Lucy sharing my sketchnote (above) with them (mainly because Nicki Field of creative production agency, Jelly London told us not to be wallflowers). They loved it! I left feeling like an illustrator. Not necessarily of children’s books, but of conversations.
To find out more about Picture Hooks, visit their website: www.picturehooks.org.uk
