Crafting a Dummy with Heart and Soul: A Creative Incubator for Illustrators 2018

Find balance with words and pictures as you polish your picture book dummy for submission.

At last! You have a project to submit to a publisher. Do you feel satisfied with your work? Is there something more you could add? Is it your best work?

Being an illustrator is a journey, an organic process that continually changes because we are always growing as artists. Do you feel inspired? What makes your art stand out?

Whether you are working on your first picture book or you are reinventing yourself to renew your enthusiasm, this workshop will bring out your unique personal expression to help you craft an exciting, lively dummy.

Faculty members Floyd Cooper and Melanie Hall will guide this special workshop that provides a creative, stimulating environment. Floyd is the illustrator of nearly 100 children’s books and the winner of many prestigious awards, including several Coretta Scott King Awards and Honors. Melanie is the illustrator of over 30 books and winner of the Parent’s Choice Award and Sydney Taylor Honorable Book Award. Over the course of three days, Floyd and Melanie will work with you individually and help you to discover and showcase your strengths.

With lots of individual attention and class feedback, you will perfect your picture book dummy to get it ready for submission.

So how do you create a lively, beautifully illustrated book that gets attention?

Presentation, presentation, presentation!

Floyd and Melanie will review the basics of creating a dummy for a 32-page picture book and help you create successful illustrations from sketches to final, perfected dummy. How do you decide what images to illustrate? Floyd and Melanie will guide you. Learn to make good compositional choices for the greatest dramatic impact, and discover ways to update your page designs.

During these three days, enjoy the creative excitement as Floyd and Melanie show their work, discuss media and techniques, share their experiences, and give expert tips.

Note: To participate in this workshop, you must have a completed manuscript and/or sketched dummy, and you must provide a short description of your project two weeks before the workshop.

Please note that we are still adding faculty to this workshop.