Am I Deserving???

So....this happened to me this week...

A special thanks to Nate William @n8w and Illustration Mundo @imundo 

To be featured on a site that promotes artists to Agents, Editors and Art Directors is a BIG deal.

To have been hand-selected by such a talent as NATE WILLIAMS is an EVEN BIGGER DEAL.

AND

then I did these...

 and got frustrated...

and wanted to go hide in a hole...

& someone said they 'looked forced'

and wondered if I was deserving of any sort of feature/highlight/accolade...

or if I will ever figure out my work...

or how to paint...

or really quit giving a s**t and just 

LOOSEN UP AND CREATE LIKE A KID AGAIN!!!!!

Will all this gnashing of teeth one day lead me to greatness??

Stuck...

I won't go into the details...but I am stuck...been stuck...trying to become unstuck.  Ever get that way in life? Creatively?  How do you become unstuck w/out becoming unglued?

Still sorting out this one...Dad's arm needs to move, need to add a moustache, I don't like how the bed blends into his pants and the negative/white space is driving me batty.

A Piece of the Pie

"Simple Simon" snapshot.

I want a piece of the illustration industry pie so badly I can't stand it.  So I keep cooking up kooky illustrations, concocting portfolio pieces, & baking up my style brand.

here is a peek at a piece I just completed for the 4th Annual SCBWI-Carolinas Art Contest.  I am stoked because Lucy Cummins, Art Director, Simon & Schuster, is this year's judge. She critiqued our portfolios at the 2011 regional conference and I just fell in love with her infectious enthusiasm for children's books and her uncanny sense of humor. I've grown tremendously since that review and I can't wait to gain further feedback from her professional eyes.