I spent the morning going over bills and making calls to companies. Somehow, no matter how good a mood I am in before I do these things, by the time I am done, I want to rip things and stamp my feet. I guess I need to meditate on why that is.

I decided to play some soothing music and do my daily doodle to try and get my happy on again. Getting there. Slowly.

The picture book dummy challenge is moving forward over at #kidlitart. (Twitter chat) This week we start on thumbnail story boards. You can read the challenge post here. The chat is tonight at 9PM eastern for those of you who want to stop by. You don’t have to be doing the challenge to join the chat. Anyone interested in kid lit art can be included in the conversation. Just be warned it moves at light speed!

Just a reminder of our schedule for the challenge:

Here is the schedule as it will be presented during the challenge. Blog posts will introduce each step by providing key points to consider, resources, and chat topics for that phase.

Jan. 6-Jan. 13 (1 week): Pick your project

Jan. 13-Feb. 10 (4 weeks): Draft the story

Feb. 10-Feb. 24 (2 weeks): Develop the characters

Feb. 24-Mar. 10 (2 weeks): Storyboard text and art

Mar. 10-May 5 (8 weeks): Produce tight, full-size sketches

May 5-Jun. 2 (4 weeks): Produce final art of two spreads

Jun. 2-Jun. 16 (2 weeks): Comp the cover and assemble the dummy

Jun. 16-Jun. 23 (1 week): Research submissions; prepare dummy package

Jun. 23-Jun. 30 (1 week): Submit

Jun. 30: Wrap party!

That’s it! Nine easy steps to dummy success!

If you are taking on the challenge, please stop by my blog and leave me a comment on your progress (or lack thereof.)