Learn with Me
One-on-one coaching, portfolio reviews, drawing tips, navigating mental road blocks and more!
When I was in art school learning how to become a children’s book illustrator, I struggled. My drawing skills did not improve for the first two years and I can still remember overhearing a conversation in the corridor of one of my teachers during a life drawing event: “I have been here for 20 years, and it’s funny, some people come in and make remarkable progress in such a short amount of time, and some… have been here for 3 years and they are still almost where they started even though they practice.” I crunched, because I identified so much with the latter. I was scared that I just didn’t have it in me. I was also having a very demanding side job of at least 20 hours a week and I was across the globe far away from my family. Maybe all these things contributed to me not really being able to focus or retain information. But, it was right there and then I knew something had to change. I was fortunate enough to be able to quit my side job when I met my husband and I looked for one person in school, one teacher, whom I trusted, and to whom I could cling. I decided that it was over with being stubborn, with knowing it better, with thinking that I was better than I actually was and seeing things for what they were. I decided that if I really wanted to
become a children’s book illustrator I would have to listen to the person who was actually trying to help me. To this day I owe all of my initial growth, the hardest growth, the early stages growth, to this one teacher. They became my mentor and my skills started to improve drastically and I started to believe in myself. It was because I saw that the teacher believed in me that I chose to believe them when I wasn’t believing in myself yet - if that makes sense. I trusted my teacher and I started to blossom. I still believe that if you want to become a children’s book illustrator or a better artist, what you need most is not an expensive art degree, but consistent and devoted mentoring and coaching from 1 person for as long as it takes you to see breakthroughs. How I got an agent after graduating is a story for another day, but after working in the field for over 4 years now and having published 7 children’s books with some of the largest publishers in the world, I am ready to give back what I received myself and what I consider crucial if you want to grow your skills and become a successful children’s book illustrator.