How does one pick the images for a children's book illustrator's website when one hasn't any illustrations from a published book to use? Well, it's not easy!!
I have been looking at professional illustrators' websites and they look awesome. They look awesome because the illustrator has picked images from the books they have illustrated. They look awesome because the illustrator is successful - they are a good illustrator and are published! Any publisher checking out these websites for a book they have in mind know they are pretty safe in offering the work to these people.
I am not a published illustrator. Yet. I took several courses so I know the language and requirements for illustrating a children's book. I have lots of images of my work. But I don't have any published images.
So do I pick a variety of images? Do I show I can work in watercolour, pen and ink, graphite, and digital? Do I chose just two of these: maybe pen and ink and graphite? What if a publisher is looking for watercolour images and I miss out because I did not pick watercolour images to post? How do I show continuity with my characters? Should I create sample illustrations of a story I have written or perhaps use a famous one? How many images should I post: too few and the publisher might think that's all I have and too many might make for an unattractive web page? Argh!!
However, I have had a lucky break or win in this case. I won a hour website critique from Aron Nels Steinke, the author/illustrator of Mr. Wolf's class from the 2021 Picture Book Palooza offered by the Children's Book Academy. Awesome.
So stay tuned as I pick the images of an unpublished children's book illustrator (yet) with the goal of picking new images from my published books in the future. As I said, "Picky, picky, picky."