Seeing that I haven't posted anything since July (yikes!) made me realize how far gone this year is. So, in closing out 2011 with a final post I would like to go back almost 20 years and showcase a pet project of mine. Ever since I was very young, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" has been a part of my literary, entertainment and animated life. I grew up with the very odd "Mister Magoo" version which was televised in the early '60's. Especially strange but catchy was the song "Razzleberry Dressing". This was a play within a play retelling of the Christmas classic, a theme played out over and over in dozens of versions even into our day. Then there is Albert Finney's "Scrooge", which in my opinion is still one of the best cinematic musical renditions. I have a tiny and age worn Rand McNally edition of "A Christmas Carol" dated 1938 from my mom's family. It is something that I get out every year and read - if not the whole thing - some of my more favorite sections sitting by the fire sometime on Christmas Day without fail.
I think that this story, so ingrained into our collectives psyches, has done more to crystallize our image and general philosophies of Christmas than any other secular story in the western world. It was inevitable that I would do my own version of "A Christmas Carol". In the early '90's I was looking for a project that I could sink my teeth into and could use to showcase my illustration and storytelling abilities and thus teach myself book layouts. Early on I had decided I would do my own abbreviated version of the story, something which is still an ongoing process; I have lost count of the number of revisions of the text.
An early illustration in the set establishing mood, style and characters |
Shere Khan as he tries to escape the fire in the jungle |
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In this post I will diagram some of the challenges in creating settings for a picture book. Once I receive the manuscript, do the layout of the pages (another whole sidebar series I will try to cover later on) and create the characters then the backgrounds need to be designed. In a fictional, completely fantastic story the artist can create and design a world utterly from scratch. This means interpreting the story according to the dictates of the artist's imagination. But since we are all much more comfortable with being able to identify everyday objects used in even a fantastic setting means basing at least some of those designs on our own everyday reality. Even Dr. Seuss had in his drawings identifiable rooms with what looked like functional doors and windows; furniture that appeared to be dressers, chairs, and beds.
My own exploration of Chinese art and landscapes c.1995 |
But even a fictional story with an actual historical setting requires a lot of research. For something like the "Kung Fu Panda" series of movies, the characters are anthropomorphic animals playing out their drama in a very believable medieval Chinese setting. I noticed in both movies that an extreme amount of attention was paid to making sure the color schemes, textiles, furniture, interiors, decorations and landscapes were based on traditional historic Chinese models. For "Ross the Reader and the Great Balloon Race" the story took place in 1885 America. Highlights were to include scenes depicting Washington, D.C., Niagara Falls, Yellowstone National Park and San Francisco.
Endpapers for "Ross the Reader and the Great Balloon Race" |
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Alan F. Stacy,
on 6/6/2011
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Over the next month or so I will diagram and breakdown how I put together an illustrated book with sketches and descriptions of how the process evolves. For "Ross the Reader and the Great Balloon Race" the project began in March of 2010 when I was asked to illustrate this 3rd book for the Grand Prairie ISD by Belinda Jacks, then Director of Library Media Services for GPISD and her team (Carmen Galindo, Monica Dubiski, Kyla Schooling and Kathy Brundrett). After an initial meeting in which Belinda and her co-workers described the project I jotted some of the more notable impressions and concrete details of the story and settings: a balloon race (obviously!) set in 1885 America and highlighting Washington D.C., Niagara Falls, Yellowstone National Park, San Francisco and of course Grand Prairie, Texas. So after reading the manuscript (which underwent some later text revisions without changing any of the concept, characters, scenarios or settings) here are some of the initial sketches I did almost immediately after that first meeting. After that it was more a matter of re-designing/retooling the main characters who had already appeared in two previous books, illustrated by another artist, Ross Edgerley. It took a little bit of adjusting to his style but it was inevitable that I would add my own interpretation to the characters. Since I am a costume designer I had an overall concept of what clothes looked like in 1885. But for more specific detail I referred to several sources including Douglas Gorsline's "What People Wore" which has an extensive section on American costume of the Old West. Coloring was subject to interpretation as the drawings in Gorsline's book are in black and white but I knew what dyes were available then from descriptions and photos of existing costumes in many museum collections.
Alan F. Stacy,
on 5/29/2011
By: Blog: Drawn from Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
Since this is brand new as of today I am just letting you know I'm here. My latest book, "Ross the Reader and the Great Balloon Race" for which I did the illustrations, came out April 20th (available at the link below). As with most books and creative projects, it is always a journey in the process of creation. I ventured into new territory in that all of the artwork (with the exception of the sketches and dummy), page layouts and text setting were done in photoshop by me. I have done computer graphics for over 25 years but this was a new challenge. I invite you to comment on the pros and cons of doing work like this on a computer as we all embrace the changes that technology throws at us on a sometimes daily basis. Also, any comments or questions about my work are welcome.
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