Buy your ticket to the Illustrators Intensive TODAY!

Your experiences, interests, and passions are what make you unique as an illustrator and writer. But how do you incorporate these personal aspects into your work in ways that are compelling and relatable to even the youngest reader? The secret is building a strong emotional connection between your story, your images, and your reader. Powerful storytellers shape their experiences to create dynamic visual narratives that help us make sense of our lives. They reframe personal anecdotes that enable us to recognize ourselves in their stories. They capture specific and nuanced details that invite us into their world. As illustrators, they take advantage of color, composition, expressions, and body language to express the emotions of the experience, so that their fascination, excitement, and disappointment become ours. Their personal stories are grounded in the shared experience—as much about us as they are about them.That’s the thrilling alchemy of storytelling. Three successful illustrators show how their perceptions shape their unique styles and share the different ways they translate their distinct experiences into impactful visual stories that resonate with readers of all ages. https://www.scbwi.org/events/virtual-summer-conference-2026