Illustration Bootcamp {Part 2}

Howdy!


I'm back to finish posting about my experience at Illustration Bootcamp. If you missed Part 1, check it out here!


I went into the weekend knowing how to draw, but I wanted to refine my skills. I have had my own freelance business for almost 5 years, but there was so much more about the biz side I wanted to learn, such as licensing work, getting a rep, self-promoting, etc. 

Lindsay and Meg are teaching us the ways.

Over the course of the weekend, we had many opportunities to self-reflect about our illustration careers. We pondered questions such as:

•What makes you unique as an illustrator?

•What reaction should your audience have when they see your work?

•What do you want to achieve with your work?

•What are your dream projects?

•Who are your illustration heroes?

•What is working for you in your career so far?

•Who are your competitors?

The myriad of questions were great. I really needed to dig down and consider why I was choosing this path. Though some were harder to answer, the end result was pleasing: I had even more reasons to believe this is what I want.


We also got to listen to many illustration pros in the Minneapolis area talk about their jobs. The variety was excellent, and it was nice to hear their perspectives. Meg Hunt, our guest instructor, took some time to meet with each of us individually and talk about our work and our futures. She was so incredibly down to earth - I could have talked to her for hours!


In between the streams of information, excellent conversations and really good food, we also got a bit of time to draw. Our assignment was to interpret our idea of Summer in a small illustration. I decided this was the time to experiment a bit. Since I haven't had a lot of experience painting with gouache, I figured this was the place to do it. Here's my interpretation:

At our final dinner of the weekend, we were all presented with a certificate and this cute little book:

What was in the book, you might ask?

Well, all 18 of our Summery illustrations! Can you believe it? The Light Grey team scanned, sized, printed, glued and bound all of our illustrations into this amazing accordion book. I will treasure this collection forever. 


Hanging out with my fellow bootcampers was a blast. The conversations couldn't be beat! They are so talented and we learned so much from one another. And I feel made a lot of good friends along the way. I just wish I could see them more often!


The Light Grey team took some great photos of our weekend. If you'd like to peruse, check 'em out on flickr: 


All-in-all, it was a fabulous weekend. It was a great way to inspire and motivate my new illustration career. Now I just need to find more time to draw!