Guest Group Critiques
With special thanks to Honore Daumier, Giusepper Castiglione, Alexandre Brun, Camille Leopold Cabaillot, Ars Hoya Wolfe, Fernando Yanez de la Almeda, Edouard Dantan, Rembrandt, Adriaen Van Ostade, Alexander Calder, Julie Lake, Scott Mitchell, Donna Warwick, Eric Niells, Phillip Wade and Clay Leben.
Welcome! – And how this works
We're so glad that you've joined us for Guest Group Critiques!
On this page of the site you'll find new information about the upcoming session (such as who the critiquer and what, if any, the assignment will be and your date-and-time details.) You'll also find two important page links:
- One to the Google Drive shared folder to upload your work to for the month's specific critique.
- The second to the unlisted YouTube 'Watch Page' for the live event.
As soon as everything is set, we'll also send these links and details out to you in an e-mail.
The words, "guest critique" or "critique" will be included in the subject line of your e-mail to make the messages easier to spot.
Uploading your images to a critique session's shared folder
Each month you'll be sent a link to the Google Drive shared folder for the next critique. The link will take you straight to the shared folder. The page will look look something like this:
You might see a prompt on the page to sign into your gmail or Google account. Do it.
When you click, the prompt at the top right of the page should change.
You might be prompted then to open your Google Drive. To do that, simply click once on the blue "Open in Drive" prompt box. (You need to be in Drive to be able to upload a file or folder into a shared folder for a session.)
When you click, you'll see another change appear on the shared folder page (this time on the left of the page.)
Once you've opened your Google Drive (by clicking), you'll see this new navigation sidebar open up on the left side of your screen. Click on "New."
Clicking on "New" will open a small sub-menu where you'll see your next set of options.
Choose "File Upload" or "Folder Upload," whichever applies. You'll then be taken to your own computer's files, where you can then select your image(s) to upload to the shared folder for the session.
You'll also receive a separate link each month to the unlisted YouTube page where the live critique will stream at the appointed time.
Send your work 'to the cloud'
You'll need a Google Account (or a gmail address) to access your Google Drive.
Before you upload your file(s) into a critique session's folder, you'll want to open your Google Drive in your browser.
Watch the tutorial video above. (If you find the video confusing, scroll to the bottom of this page for the step-by-step screenshots tutorial that walk you through the uploading process.)
Scans or digital photos you've made of your work should work fine for this, but just make sure these do justice to your original images. (You might need to experiment a little to find how to achieve best results.)
Handle and organize your illustration image files pretty much the way you would your digital photos. For our sessions we suggest that you resize your images to about 500-600 pixels wide and save them as . jpg files.
Before you upload, please include your first name and last name initial in the file name and save and upload that version of the file that way (so we know the piece belongs to you.)
Remember there's a step-by-step screenshots tutorial on uploading available to you at the bottom of this page.
Learn by lurking
Yes, you can always submit work to be looked at, even if you can't attend a live session and catch the critiquer's comments in the replay.
Yes, you can actively participate in a live session without having uploaded anything in a session. Submitting work is not a prerequisite to attending.
You'll benefit as much by watching someone else's work being critiqued and the pressure will be off you then.
We ascribe ardently to the "fly on the wall" theory of education.
In fact we suggest that you think of these critiques more like interactive shows that you absorb passively, than as monthly guaranteed one-on-one consults.
Whether we get to every piece that's been uploaded for a session – or not – will depend on the volume of work submitted each time.
For everyone's comfort we try to limit the time of each session.
On occasion guest instructors provide their contact information, inviting you to get in touch with promotional samples.
They might make themselves available for paid one-on-one follow up consultations.
In this way a Guest Group Critiques can function as a networking meet and greet. Publishing is a people business after all.
However, any such consultation is between you and the instructor and lies outside the purview of Guest Group Critiques.
Talk back to us
Communication is vital for a good critique. Feel free during the live sessions to post comments and ask questions of our guest critiquer, via the comments section on each session's unlisted YouTube watch page. The critiquer might have questions for you, as well.
If you find the comments functionality not working for you on the page, you can text your comments or questions to me (Mark@ 512-656-9217) and I'll relay the information to the critiquer in real time during the live session. (Please just don't go crazy. 🙂 )
If a broadcast seems to freeze on you during a live critique, try refreshing the page in your browser. That often fixes things. If we experience a true technology fail in a session, we'll schedule a re-do.
On assembling your portfolio
Here's a great post by another Giuseppe – Penguin Random House children's book division art director Giuseppe Castellano – on how to plan your illustrator's portfolio. (Thank you, Virginia!)
Live Critique: May 24
Characters and stories are still the coin of the realm in children's publishing, says agent and artist rep Nicole Tugeau. Hence her assignment to us for the May 24 Group Critique session.
As our special guest instructor for that month, Nicole will pick out 15 sketches from our May shared folder, asking their artists to bring the sketch to a full color final art finish for her to examine in the live critique on May 24. Deadline for your sketch: May 2.
Check out the artists Nicole work with on her agency site. And 'like' her agency's Facebook page to follow what her artists are doing.