Folktale Week 2018!

Hey there!
I’m joining the Folktale Week 2018! 🍁🌟🍄

(Watercolor, Ink and white marker on paper)

I’m copy&pasting the official text and can just recommend everyone to follow the linked accounts and the hashtag #folktaleweek2018 to see lots of great art! 🧡

Here is  Jennifer m. Potter s announcement & the officialprompt list!

“How it works:
On October 29th, we’ll release the prompts. Then for seven days starting November 12th, follow the prompts and create a piece of art. Interpret the prompts any way you wish and with any medium you like.

Use the hashtag #folktaleweek and #folktaleweek2018 to show your work and interact with other artists. The challenge hosts will be pulling work from the hashtag to promote in our stories! At the end, we’ll share our favorites in our feed!

The challenge was created to encourage artists from all around the world to share stories and explore character creation and visual storytelling. We want to see Your bewitching characters and dreamy scenes!

Many incredible artists came together to make this challenge possible. Be sure to check out their profiles for inspiration.”

I chose some German Fairytales, some might not be well-known in the US, so I am curious to see what the others are creating and what you will think about my work! I will use different techniques, so it never gets boring.

At the end of the Folktale Week, I will add all the pictures to an album on my homepage, until then you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook and see my creations there!

So let’s start with “Once upon a time…”,

Yours,     Corinna

 

Art/Work – Life – Balance

Now that I’ve spent a whole weekend with this motto and listened to two talks (by Jennifer K. Mann and Kirby Larson), I want to share some of my notes and thoughts with you on this topic.

• Acknowledge that your Art = Work.
• Your Work matters.
• Harvest “hidden pockets of time” (Mann), for example, while you’re commuting, at night, when your kids take a nap, …
• Try to find useful things (like information/ inspiration/ people/ material/…) everywhere you go
• Make your art/work portable so you can work everywhere! I try to carry a sketch pad with me at all times, and most of us are never without their smartphone, with which you can take pictures, take notes, do research,…
• Be aware of your needs, self-care is important!
• Keep a journal (whatever works best for you, a notepad, sketchpad, a digital note file on your smartphone, even Instagram is a journal!)
• Look for memories and experiences in your life that are worth being told and shared
• Engage friends and family to get some fresh ideas/ inspiration/help you get the time you need
• Establish (good) habits/rituals/routines, that help you start the day/your work  (like making tea or taking a deep breath, easy things. If you already have a habit you can try to add a new one to that)
• Enter competitions and take classes, be brave and learn! I submit to “draw this!” by the SCBWI every month and I’m always looking for opportunities.
• Disregard advise that doesn’t feel right or that doesn’t work for you.
• Life happens, be attentive! Everything has its time.
• Find someone that supports you (this can be family & friends, but it can also be a critique group/partner, fellow artists, …)
• Make it easy on yourself, let go of a clean house – it’s not worth it if it stops you from creating
• Build connections! Go to conferences, workshops, events, … talk to people and stay in touch
• “Don’t be afraid to make crap!” (Larson), in art quantity makes quality, you will always learn something (even if you draw the same apple a 100 times)
• Be a “Flaneur”, that is “a part of this world, but apart” (Larson), observe your surroundings, take notes of things you see without analyzing them
• Stop thinking, start creating
• DON’T QUIT !

In short: be good to yourself and others and never give up.

Don’t Quit!

Keep creating!

Corinna

 

 

 

 

SCBWI Monthly Meeting September 2018

Today I got up a bit early and headed to the Seattle Public Library in Downtown Seattle.

Every time I get there it takes me a bit to orientate and focus, as the architecture is just so intense – I love it there. After a few minutes I went to the Auditorium to check in and get a good seat. The different organizers of the SCBWI monthly meeting talked about their agenda and future events (like the “weekend on the water” in November) and then Jolie Stekly came up to the podium and talked about the publishing world and some basics when it comes to publishing children’s books (& young adult literature) and included a little get-to-know-your-seatneighbor activity.

I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot, I also took lots of notes of books to read, things to research and ideas how to become better in my art and what to do with it.

I can only recommend the SCBWI to everybody that wants to write or/and illustrate children’s books.

Jolie Stekly