TODAY'S FEATURED POST

Making Books is a Team Sport – On Becoming a Author

Kirbi Fagan

The submission process for writing illustrators isn’t a linear path. Today, I thought I’d outline the process on becoming an author-illustrator while sharing a bit of my own experience of emerging from the slush pile. Submitting Solo Most illustrators will relate to pitching their artwork to an art director. I walked that path standing in line or paying for portfolio reviews to get my work seen for many years. Mailing or emailing an art director…

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EVERYDAY ORIGINAL

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YESTERDAY’S POST

Image

Short Take: The Picture In Your Head

Gregory Manchess

October 1, 2025 - It was a long time before I got comfortable with a painting not living up to the idea or picture in my head. It took a lot of training or ‘dirt time,’ as we used to call it, to get even close to matching my initial idea in pigment. There was a lot to learn and experience. But eventually the two started to get much closer, and this allowed me to understand not only that I was getting better, but how I was getting better. I used it to measure my skills. The closer it was to the image in my thoughts, the more confidence I built to be able to capture whatever image I wanted. But it still wasn’t exact. That’s because the real reason is far richer than I expected. I’ve researched a…

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