Meet my morning picture book critique group:
I did it! I actually illustrated a whole book! Only 100 or so more to go 😉
How it happened:
My friend approached me and asked if I’d be interested in illustrating a poem she’d created and recited for her daughter when her daughter was little. Having never illustrated a full book yet, I jumped on the idea as a great learning opportunity. Although I have a lot of stories I’ve written myself, I keep hitting that wall of doubt about not being good enough to even attempt such work. And, tackling both the words and the pictures made that wall twice as big.
Illustrating for someone else freed me up enough to push through the doubt (well, a lot of it, any way). AND printing out the pictures and assembling them on the wall in our living room created this impromptu critique group comprised of my kids, who happily told me what I missed and waited eagerly for each new picture.
I’m debating trying something similar with the 3rd draft of the YA story I’m working on…. Could be fun!