I have been a member since 2013. SCBWI immersed me in the industry and helped me hone my skills and find my style.
My favorite mediums are Procreate and traditional textures. When working on picture books, I typically start by focusing on one illustration to capture the overall vibe, colors, and feel of the project. I will develop this illustration as much as I can. Next, I create small thumbnail sketches to see all elements together on one page. This allows me to ensure that the angles and character sizes vary enough to create dynamic illustrations.
After that I create a rough dummy from the thumbnails, and I make sure to put something on each page right away to avoid the "blank page freeze." Once I'm satisfied with the flow of the story, I refine the dummy with a few finished illustrations to share with my critique partners or agent.
For individual portfolio pieces, I always strive to tell a story or convey a strong emotion through the illustration.
I’ve been illustrating since 2012 when I started on a whim. Reading picture books to my kids and helping out with art programs at their school sparked my interest. I am self-taught in illustration but I was a classically trained glass painter in my native Austria. Plus, I studied graphic design later on.
I do have two dedicated art spaces. One is wherever I park myself with my iPad and the other is at my desk to finish illustrations on my Cintiq.
My dream book would be anything with animals. Currently, I am working on a new dummy with my agent. I have three published books that I’ve written and illustrated.
For new illustrators starting out, I have a few suggestions. I used to struggle with finding my style. After an insightful portfolio critique I realized what I naturally enjoyed illustrating ended up being ‘my style’. So, I would recommend looking at other work for inspiration and if you feel a strong pull towards a certain style, give it a try. In my case, I loved the simple graphic style of my Tyrolian folk art roots.
I am currently working with my second literary agent. I connected with my first agent through traditional querying, and together we published two books. However, when he left the industry, I was fortunate to find my current agent through a close friend of mine.
My published books include:
Zoo Zen, a yoga story for kids (Sounds True, 2017)
Cat Ladies (Abrams, 2020)
The Glow Show (Sourcebook 2024)
Good Morning, I love you, Violet! (Sounds True, 2024)
All eyes on you (Sounds True, 2025)
You can connect with me on:
@susischaeferart and https://www.susischaefer.com/
Some things you might not know about me are that I scuba dive, preferably in warm water. I love bugs and find them fascinating. Also, I love parasailing but am nervous about flying in airplanes.