More times than not, when concocting new illustrations I inevitably start devising grandiose stories that grow with each stroke. Yes, this is why I love writing and creating, something coming out of nothing. But here’s the clutch, I have perfectly fine stories started already that still need lots of rewriting….some with sketches, some with none at all. This illustration, Robot Baby, was just finished for a SCBWI conference, along with at least 6 others for my portfolio. But, now I have a whole story swirling in my head. I think it’s a pretty good one, so much so, that I did another illustration to this Robot Baby story.. Someday, if it really does come to fruition, that would certainly mean doing these over, errrggg. Doing something twice makes me want to run the other way. I remember when my good pal, Valerie Coursen, was doing her illustrations for Mordant’s Wish and she repainted this bowl of a hundred different(and fancy) buttons, over and over again…jeez, and I thought the first one looked just fine. Patience and Perfection are the pages I need to take out of her book….and looking on the bright side, I can always use my Robot Baby illustrations to pitch the story to my agent and editor. But, first, I do think I should push my other stories to be finished and then move on. So my vote is, Story first, Illustrations second…sometimes, if you can help it.
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