Illustration Friday and Serenity watercolor

     This past weekend my husband took me to the Ohioana Bookfest in Columbus. I wasn't sure what to expect. I had designed a few bookmarks, for children to color, for the Society of Children's Book Authors and Illustrators, and I wanted to see what other people had done for that display. I figured there would be some books for sale and maybe an author or two. (I did not do my homework)  There were close to a hundred authors and even some illustrators!!! I sat in on four of the 30 panel discussions, the last one of the day being the one related to children's picture books.  I might as well have been sitting in the presence of rock stars. Jeffrey Ebbeler, Tim Bowers, Jane Dippold, and Tammie Lyon were so friendly and down to earth. I was so inspired!
     So. . . now.  At last.  I'm feeling more focused.  I keep saying that I am going to put together a good illustration portfolio. I keep planning to redo certain pieces or fix some of them up and polish them up a bit more. Well, I'm not just thinking and talking about it any more. I'm going to do it! I'm pulling back out some of my favorites, including many from Illustration Friday, plus I have a short list of new pieces I want to do. There's a SCBWI conference in Northern Ohio that I want to attend in September and I want to be prepared.

     This is Serenity, my first redo.  I had done it previously, and rather roughly, in colored pencil.  Today I did it in pen and ink with watercolor. 

I also finished this. I owe a debt of gratitude to the website Illustration Friday for all the Friday prompts. A section of my portfolio is going to have my IF submissions so I did this heading.