SCBWI Winter Conference: A Guide to Curating Your Best Work as Illustrators

My First SCBWI Conference in 2014

SCBWI winter conference starts tomorrow! I'm excited to meet the illustrators who signed up for 1:1 portfolio reviews with me—they'll be the first people I connect with during a weekend packed with sessions and gatherings I'm thrilled to be part of.

It has been exactly a year since I left the business side of the publishing industry to focus fully on making my own picture books. Having worked as a designer and art director for a decade, my favorite part of the job was always meeting illustrators—artists who, like me, are passionate about visual storytelling. I’ve had the privilege of working with everyone from debut artists to award-winners, as well as many aspiring creators. Today, I want to share some practical tips for selecting the pieces that make it into your promotional materials and portfolios. As artists, we are inevitably attached to all our creations, and it’s hard to look at them objectively. So, here are some questions to ask when you select your pieces.

For Promotional Pieces

• Subject matter: Can you envision the image as a page from a children's book? (Skip the figure drawing from art class—focus on narrative scenes.)
• Emotions: What is the character feeling, and what is causing that emotion? The story should be clear, not ambiguous. (Avoid simple "smiley face" closeups; even a cute face needs a story behind it.)

• Character interactions: If the piece involves two or more characters, show their relationship. Interaction is everything!

• Setting specificity: Ensure the environment is specific. While abstract backgrounds work well within a book, a promotional piece should show off your ability to build a world.
  
  

For Your Portfolio

• Appropriate subject matter: Include children from your target age groups (3–7 for picture books, 8–12 for middle grade, 13+ for YA), animals, and adult-child interactions.

• Compositional Variety: Vary your compositions, perspectives, and formats. Showing a mix of spot art, single pages, and double-page spreads demonstrates your range.

• Inclusivity: Show diverse characters in terms of race, gender, ability, and body type.

• Variety in settings: Include domestic, school, indoor, outdoor, urban, and natural environments.

• Consistency: Include sequential art pieces that demonstrate your ability to maintain character consistency throughout a story.

These points may sound clinical, but I hope they serve as a helpful checklist when you feel lost or wonder what might be missing. Above all, remember: it’s about emotion. Can viewers feel what the character is feeling? Does the piece tell a story?

My portfolio (l) and a dummy (r) I was preparing for the 2014 winter conference.
That's not the image I would include as a portfolio cover today. The dummy never became a book.

Like many others, I started my journey through SCBWI with my very first conference in New York in 2014. Later that same year, I attended a regional conference where I met my first editor, Grace Maccarone from Holiday House, who published my debut and four more books. SCBWI is where you hone your skills, meet industry professionals, find your people, and build a lasting support system. Whether you are attending in person or online—Happy Conferencing!

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Aram Kim is an award-winning author and illustrator of many acclaimed picture books, including the Yoomi, Friends and Family series. Aram's work has been recognized by the Junior Library Guild, Bank Street College of Education, the Mills Tannenbaum Award for Children's Literacy, and more. Raised in South Korea and now living in Queens, NY, she creates stories that bridge traditional Korean culture with universal childhood experiences. Find more about Aram's work at AramKim.com.