What makes a Character who they are?

    I finally have my act together so without any further ado here

are my character sketches of Maddie Hatter.  These were done

for an Illustrator Intensive with Laurent Linn from Simon and Schuster

Books for Young Readers.   He advised me to show more emotion

and expression.  He liked some of my details,  such as the tea cup hat

with Maddie's hair "spewing  out"!  He also liked the fact that the bird

was holding his own little toy cat.  He stressed that "everything is a 

character" in illustration, meaning how and what you add to the work

helps show who the character is.  Styling is important. 

    I learned a lot from doing this project.  If you are an illustrator I highly advise taking an illustrator intensive at conferences if you are able.  If not, try choosing a popular fairy tale or character and reinventing it in your own style.  I am very interested in starting an online critique group, perhaps this would be a good way to start.  If you are interested please email me at pixiebprints@gmail.com.

My next step is to just start drawing faces with different emotions, from kids to critters. 

Stay tooned folks, promise I will be a more timely blogger!