I just attended an SCBWI conference in Hillsboro, Oregon and I thought I'd share a few things I learned. I attended a panel hosted by David Hohn, an artist based in Portland. He went into detail on his illustration process, from brainstorming to the finished piece. It's making me think there's a better way for me to create illustrations, which means experimentation.

David likes to start with  divergent thinking, that is unfiltered word mapping of what he's going to draw. An example he used was from Treasure Island, where the words he jotted down for Long John Silver included the obvious like "pirate," but also more outside the box words like "gangster."

Another big thing he talked about was getting the tones down before coloring. This is something I'm going to try for and see where it takes me.

The conference covered other topics too like what sort of books agents and editors are looking for, book banning, AI in the publishing world, how to write stories, and making the sort of books we want to see. I would have liked to go to more panels, but alas, I couldn't be in two places at once. SCBWI conferences often have too many good things to choose from!

And while I was in Hillsboro, I took the opportunity to eat at Jollibee since I don't get to do that every day. The spicy chicken sandwiches and ube pies are delicious!

I included my six page Treasure comic in my portfolio at the conference. It's still in a rough stage, but I've decided to post it as-is on my website. I plan to do more work on it, but for now I'll direct you to this link to read it.

I've been chipping away at this project for a while now and I hope to be able to have something to show around to art directors and agents. Think of it as the "pilot episode" of a larger work, in this case a middle grade graphic novel. Eventually I'll post the whole "pilot" on my main website, but for now, here's a bit of a sneak peek.

I can't believe April went by so fast! I've been busy with life, but I manged to pound out a script for a short comic. I've been sketching away, trying to get everything in place. My goal is to have at least a couple pages done so I can present it to art directors and/or agents at SCBWI conferences. I won't say too much about it now, but it's part of a science fiction adventure story I've been dreaming up.

There's still a lot of work to be done, but if nothing else. It'll be a real learning experience. And speaking of, I recently learned a bit about repairing electronics. Some years ago, I purchased a secondhand Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP. It was well-used. The outer casing had scuffs and scratches, and for some weird reason, a tiny hole in the hinge, as if someone had tried to run a thumb tack through the plastic. 

I've watched a fair few of Odd Tinkering videos on the YouTubes. In fact, I'd say that was the catalyst for my desire to try refurbishing my Game Boy. I decided to give the system a new shell and a fancy IPS screen.

It was quite the challenge dislodging the hinges from the old Game Boy and I had a heck of a time connecting the new screen's ribbon cable to the motherboard. I was legit afraid I was going to break something, but thankfully everything looks good so far. When I powered it on, I felt such a wave of catharsis! I kind of want to do it again.

However, tinkering with more Nintendo handhelds will have to wait. I've got some drawing to do. Until next time!

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go on a Disney cruise with my family. I had never been on any kind of cruise up until recently so I wasn't sure what to expect, especially since it was a ship to Mexico, a country I had never visited. Plus my Español isn't very good. Still, you don't get to go on cruises every day.

The ship itself was very nice. A bit tricky to navigate sometimes, but thankfully there were directories on every floor so you could find where your activity of choice was being held. And boy were there lots to choose from! How-to-draw sessions, trivia games, and live entertainment including magic shows, piano concerts, and Broadway-style plays just to name a few. 

The food was amazing! Especially at the themed restaurants like the Animator's Palette, Lumiere's, or Rapunzel's Royal Table. I made an effort to eat healthy foods, especially at breakfast, but the ship had a whole slew of other things like pizza, french fries, ice cream, and all of the other indulgences that come with vacations. 

One of my biggest highlights was the excursion on Progreso, an island off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. The area has a lot of history. For example, 66 million years ago, the asteroid that caused the extinction of all the nonavian dinosaurs landed where the island is today. Yucatán is also home to the famous Chichen Itza ruins, which is the best-preserved of all of the pre-Columbian Mayan settlements. It was an incredible sight!

Oh, right. I'm an artist and this is a blog about what I've been up to, art-wise. Actually, I made plenty of time to draw. To pass the time while waiting for activities to start, or even during quiet moments in my stateroom, I sketched one of my original characters in the Procreate Pocket app on my iPhone. One of our servers at the on-board restaurants saw me sketching and asked me to draw something for him. Since he was originally from Portugal, I decided to draw a ceratosaurus, a dinosaur who roamed what is now Portugal in the Jurassic period. I also wrote "thank you" in his native language for his excellent service and for being a really cool guy in general.

I think I ended up catching some kind of upper respiratory bug on this trip, but when you're around this many people this sort of thing happens. All in all, it was a fun trip and if given the opportunity, I'd gladly do it again! In the meantime, I'm going to continue sketching and developing stories. And if you ever go to southern Mexico, be ready for high heat, humidity, and street vendors trying to sell you stuff.

 A certain dinosaur-themed attraction at a certain theme park in Orlando was recently closed indefinitely. I'm glad I got to see it for myself about seven years ago, but it makes me sad I won't have another chance to experience it. But c'est la vie, what can you do? I chose to draw two of the dinosaurs from the attraction-in-question in a medieval bestiary style.

Did you know I've done some bestiary illos before? And not just dinosaurs; I've also done folkloric creatures from Japan and Australian mammals too! You can check them out here.

This is a sign I designed for my dad, who wanted an enamel sign to honor his grandparents who had farm in Wyoming, raising sheep and growing beans and sugar beets. Multiple signs were printed, most were given away to my aunts and uncles as Christmas gifts, and I received mine just a few days ago. The whole thing was done in Adobe Illustrator and the signs were printed by the good people at Ramsign. They turned out great and my family has been overwhelmingly positive about the end product. Thanks Ramsign, and thank you, Dad!   

In other news, I bought a 64-count box of Crayola crayons on a whim and I've colored a few sketches with them. The iguanodon pictured above is one of them. So why the crayons? I figured they would help me approach my sketchbooks as a space to play and what's a better way than to be a kid again?

It's been a year, and an eventful one at that! I've been working on trimming the fat on my website and my socials to better highlight Erick the illustrator. I've also done some traveling to visit family and chipping away at other projects. For want of something more to post, I'll share a few of my 2025 highlights:

Books I read
The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White, Redwall by Brian Jacques, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (full-cast edition audiobook) by J.K. Rowling, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, A Comet in Moominland by Tove Jannson, Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jannson, Visitations by Corey Egbert, Tessa Miyata is No Hero by Julie Abe, The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson, and many others!

Movies I saw
Jurassic World: Rebirth, Fantastic Four: First Steps, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, Wicked, and Wicked: For Good

Other
I also started exercising more regularly and I'm trying to eat healthier. It's done wonders for my energy levels! I also got a Switch 2 and played Donkey Kong Bananza and Pokémon Legends Z-A. Good times!