Late last year I was contracted by Flinders Press to illustrate a picture book. The picture book, Lazy Saturday Afternoon, is a story in song by Author Songwriter Bryant Oden, creator of the extremely popular Duck Song and is slated to hit shelves Fall 2011.
As a special treat to KatGirl Studio fans, Flinders Press has graciously agreed to let me share some of the process of what goes into the creation of a picture book. This process will be serialized here in my blog. So stay tuned for The Making of a Picture Book.
The manuscript I received for this book was already broken down into page by page sections, which is not always the case with the manuscripts that come to me to illustrate. Furthermore because of the special nature of the story they also included illustration suggestions or “illustrator notes” as they are sometimes called. This also isn’t typical but is much appreciated since it will save on the amount of revisions I’ll need to do later.
First I start by thumbnailing the entire story, these are very loose little sketches which are more or less like post-it notes to myself. They are not intended to be seen by anyone but me and if you, the viewer look below I’m not sure you will understand what was going on. After that I hit the books, internet and my photo archives and do extensive reference gathering. My roommates, pets and random objects I own are also routinely photographed as reference. Sometimes I even build little models on my desk to look at while I draw.
All my drawings and paintings are 100% digital so I open my reference and start sketching away in Painter. I used to draw by hand on vellum with blue lead and then scan them in pieces. Once in the computer I would clean up the drawings and then start painting. But this past summer I made a custom brush in Painter that responds exactly like the blue lead I used to draw with. The difference between the two is virtually indistinguishable.
That’s our first segment of The Making of a Picture Book. Thank you for joining me on this journey and I hope you will join me again for further installments.
Fantastic! This really is one of the best websites I’ve ever read on this subject.
This is very useful articles for web designers like me. I read it and find it very useful.
I love your work and I cannot wait to see your WIP on this new book.
Excellent blog here! Also your site loads up very fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as quickly as yours lol
Sure thing, I use DreamHost. Their service is excellent.
Hi there, You have done an incredible job. I will definitely digg this and personally suggest it to my friends. I am confident they’ll benefited from this website.
Thanks lots for this information. Keep up the great work! I’ll be returning often.
Really great blog, thanks for taking the time to write it!
Thanks for all the info, your blog is extremely helpful.
Hiya, may I know what theme you are using for this site? it looks nice
I use a modified version of Elegant Theme’s Deep Focus theme.
I really like and appreciate your blog article.Much thanks again. Great.
I’m a blog crazed person and i love to read cool blogs like yours.
I’m always looking on the internet for tips that can assist me. Thx!
This is very interesting post. I really liked it. Please keep posting such an informative posts
But if you are working with online portfolio’s and showcases, it is likely that you would want to minimize the use of colors to put emphasis on the content.
I disagree wholeheartedly my use of color is one of the tings that draws people into my work and one of the reasons my clients choose me.
Fantastic web site. Lots of useful information here. I’m sending it to several friends and also sharing in delicious. And of course, thanks for your hard work.
Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my myspace group? There’s a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Cheers
Sure thing =^.^= Feel free to share any of our articles in the blog.