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Seems I've developed a habit of drawing Santa puppies each year.
Last year, we adopted a gorgeous puppy from the RSPCA and my brain had turned to puppy pulp from adoration. So, it was only natural I would draw a Santa puppy.
This year, I'm illustrating a picture book, featuring the cute fur-character above. Everyone else was wearing Santa hats and I didn't want the puppy to feel left out. This sweet, heartwarming Christmas story, written by Lili Wilkinson, will be published in time for Christmas 2017 by Allen and Unwin.
I'm currently up to the exciting colour stage of the picture book and have spent this week preparing and experimenting. Ignorant onlookers may call this part of the process, procrastination.
I've been working out my character colour palette, making my own texture brushes using pastel, pencil and watercolour, and experimenting with some new brushes I recently purchased from Kyle T Webster. I'm having so much fun procrast... I mean, preparing.
The deadline is fast approaching, so I'll be busy working on this book for the entire school holidays. My children have had to make their own fun at home so far. The inside of our house has turned into a paper jungle of lanterns, snowflakes and streamers dangling from windows, ceilings and fans. My husband and I pretty much have to crawl around on our hands and knees, so that we don't tangle ourselves up in it all. FYI - children design Christmassy lands for child height people only.
Our house is feeling festive at least.
Merry Christmas!
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| A small section of some final drawings from the book. |
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| A small section of my children's paper jungle. |
Back in May 2013, I posted an interview with Celia Lee, an editor at Cartwheel Books / Scholastic, and Celia invited Inkygirl readers to submit manuscripts for a limited time; apparently Celia received over a thousand submissions (!). A couple of years later, I met Josh Funk at nErDcampMI and found out that he had sold one of his picture book manuscripts to Celia as a result of my Inkygirl post, and it was being illustrated by Michael Slack.
I'm thrilled that PIRASAURS! is launching this week from Cartwheel/Scholastic. You can find out more about the book at the Scholastic page about the book, Josh Funk's Pirasaurs! page (where you can also find lesson ideas, reviews, links to other interviews and more), and the trailer below:
I asked Josh Funk how PIRASAURS! got created, and here's what he told me:
On February 27th, 2013 at 2:53 in the morning, I woke up. I don't remember what I was dreaming of. I don't remember what I watched on TV the night before or what I ate for dinner (or late night snack). I do know that I sent a text with a single word to myself:
pirasaurs
Ok, maybe that's not a word (yet). But it was a single string of letters. And I knew what to do with them.
Over the next two days, I furiously wrote a story featuring pirate-dinosaurs and a slew of other characters. It was my first time using internal rhyme (rhymes within a single line of text) and I had a blast with it. It turned out to be sort of a concept book. There were a bunch of crazy characters. The ending didn't really make all that much sense. But about 40 hours later, I had a full first draft that was ready to be sent to a critique group.
Here is the opening section of the 'Concept Book' version of Pira-Saurs!
I brought the manuscript to my critique group twice over the next three months, and while much of the manuscript was tweaked, the opening Pira-Saurs! section stayed pretty much the same.
And then on May 20th, 2013, Debbie Ohi posted an interview with Celia Lee, editor at Cartwheel Books an imprint of Scholastic. Within a week, news had spread that a fancy Scholastic editor was accepting unsolicited submissions of picture books for ages 0-5. The funny thing was, Pira-Saurs! was the only manuscript I had that really fit the 0-5 age range. Most of the manuscripts I'd written fell more into the 5-8 area (although I personally believe that most of what I write is good for anyone between the ages of 0 and 92).
So, in late May, I sent Pira-Saurs! to the Scholastic offices in NYC via snail mail. I never sent Pira-Saurs! to anyone else. And then I went about my business, because at the time, I had no book deals, no agent, and really, I'd never received any positive feedback on anything I'd sent to an industry professional up to that point.
PIRASAURS! author Josh Funk with his editor, Celia Lee
And then on July 9th, my phone buzzed. I'd received an email with the subject "Pira-Saurs! for Cartwheel Books" and everything slowed down. I was used to getting email rejections, so when I saw that it was a writing-related email, I instinctively thought, "oh, well, another no." But a few more synapses fired and I realized that I'd only sent Pira-Saurs! to one person, and it had been snail mail. And why would an editor bother sending an email rejection to a snail mail submission? That just wouldn't happen. Could this actually be good news?
Yes! Celia Lee had found the manuscript and liked it! It wasn't perfect (yet), but she wanted to work on it before bringing it to acquisitions. The next ten days were a flurry of emails and brainstorms and waking up in the middle of the night with new lines and rhymes. And on July 19th, Celia thought the manuscript was ready to bring to acquisitions. Hooray!
Or not hooray? On September 5th, Celia wrote back that Scholastic was going to pass on Pira-Saurs! ... but, they editorial team liked my voice and writing style. Celia asked if I would write another story, this time featuring just Pirasaurs - and cut the rest of the slew of other characters. My answer was "Of course!
But all I had were those three stanzas. And I needed to create a whole story with a full plot and compelling characters. And as an unpublished, unagented writer, I felt I needed to strike quickly before Celia Lee forgot who I was. I frantically wrote a draft, shared it with a few critique partners:
Thank you, Paul Czajak for suggesting I add an adventure and Anna Staniszewski for pushing that I add a little heart. Within a week of rejection, I had sent Celia a brand new completed manuscript. We revised it over the next few days, and on September 19th (which happens to be Talk Like a Pirate Day), I handed it off to Celia to take to acquisitions again. I didn't hear anything until a month and a half later, I received an offer on Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast and subsequently signed with an agent. At that point, Celia mentioned that the editorial director and art director were trying to set up a meeting to discuss potential illustrators before taking to acquisitions. I was told this was a good sign. And by late January of 2014, 8 months after Debbie's interview, Scholastic offered to acquire Pirasaurs! And pretty quickly they found the perfect illustrator... Michael Slack.
Illustrator Michael Slack's creative space.
From Debbie:
Illustrator Michael Slack worked with art director Patti Ann Harris, editor Celia Lee and designer Jessica Tice-Gilbert for Pirasaurs!
Michael says that he did a lot of sketches early on. "Pages and pages of dinosaurs, hats, swords, and cannons."
"Once I found the characters I did a few rounds of really loose thumbnails. After I had the story pacing in good shape, I switched from pencil and paper to digital to create the sketch dummy. Ultimately I ended up with three different versions of the dummy. The final illustrations were digitally painted in Photoshop."
Thanks to both Michael and Josh for sharing about the process of creating PIRASAURS!
You can find out more about PIRASAURS! at the Scholastic website.
More about Josh Funk and his work at JoshFunkBooks.com.
More about Michael Slack and his work at Slackart.com.
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For more interviews, see my Inkygirl Interview Archive.
I used three black Polychromo pencils on this one. Almost - two are total stubs, and one has a little life left in it, barely. This was a lot of fun to do! Its all colored pencil - no digital at all. All I did at the end was use Photoshop to clean up around the outside edge (erase the paper texture), and a weird blob that's on my scanner that I always have to clean up on everything I scan (sigh). This stayed remarkably clean, otherwise. I resisted the urge to 'nudge' a few values here and there, because I figured I'd end up redoing the whole thing once I get started. That's the good and bad of being able to fuss with things digitally - you can go on forever. No, I decided this was done, and left it alone. Onto the next one!
By:
Amanda Francey,
on 6/22/2016
Blog:
Amalou Studio
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Another new video showing more of my illustration process from the picture book Take Ted Instead (written by Cassandra Webb).
This video shows my illustration process in fast forward. I scanned my pencil drawing and greyscale watercolour washes, then coloured in photoshop.
I originally illustrated this for the cover of, Take Ted Instead, a picture book written by Cassandra Webb (New Frontier Publishing, 2016). However, I had to change the orientation layout of the boy and Ted to standing position, so the illustration would fit nicely around the words.
Here it is all finished. If you saw the last post where I was still in the drawing stage, you'll remember I had him with a pitchfork, flinging pancakes off the roof. Yeah - this is way better. Consider that a peek into the mind of an illustrator, somewhere in the middle of the 'brainstorming and tossing out all ideas' phase of putting together an illustration. You have to 'go there' and sit with things for a while. Sometimes they're weird ideas, sometimes they work, and sometimes you wake up the next day and go "whut?" and keep going.
So this is a style I used to do a long time ago, and for whatever reasons, started evolving into doing other kinds of art for children's books (and other things). I'm going to back to this, because its what I love to do. I consider this a kind of 'warm up' piece, feeling my way back to this. Its all colored pencils. And what I love about it, and is a kind of healthy breakthrough for me, is that
its not perfect. You know, like my photo-realistic food illustrations. It was a relief to just have some fun with a piece for a change.
I decided I need a nursery rhyme for my portfolio.
So I found a sort of obscure one - King Boggen.
"Little King Boggen he built a fine hall.
Pie-crust and pastry-crust, that was the wall;
The windows were made of black puddings and white.
And slated with pancakes, you ne'er saw the like!"
It has food, architecture, and is a children's book thing, which hits three of my sweet spots!
I found a couple of versions of the rhyme. One doesn't call him "Little" King Boggen, and there are other fiddly bits in the text that are different. But I decided to go with "Little", and make him a kid. I also toyed with the idea of making him a dog or other animal (well, it doesn't say the king is a person, does it?), but then stuck with the kid. I did like adding the dog though, and fell in love with the idea of the King being a chef, and the "fine hall" is a table-top size creation that they then enjoy eating.
So this was my first version.
An earlier incarnation . . .
And some revisions to the dog . . .
Then, after sitting on it for a day or so, decided it was too static and predictable.
So I sketched around a bit more, and came up with this ~
The Fine Hall is now a real building size, and everyone's moving around. I added the cat having a wash, and the bird making off with a pancake from the roof. The dog is leaping for a pancake (like a frisbee), and the King is just a weird little guy with a fancy pitchfork, picking pancakes and bits off the Hall and flinging them around. More fun, right? (and fyi, "black puddings and white" is blood sausage (black) and pork/oatmeal sausage (white), which will be the panes of the windows).
I have the dog just about exactly how I want him, and the cat needs a little refining.
But the King needs some work. Not sure exactly who he is - how old, is he jolly or bland or goofy, or what? And what exactly is his outfit? And let's get those legs just right . . .
And the hands - blimey. The top one holding the pitchfork is in probably the hardest position I could possibly create to draw. (Try holding a broom or something, and see how odd your arm/hand looks from this angle).
Still trying different things . . .
and that's where I've left it, for now.
Of course I googled this to see who else had already illustrated this, and found this 1915 image by Frederick Richardson (1862 - 1937) ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And then, I'm also working on the next Drawings of Knitting coloring book.
This next one will be full of more 'normal' drawings of knitting (not so 'arty'), and will have Fair Isle designs to color.
I'm going to do a couple of Fair Isle versions of each design, then have one, or maybe two, "blank" versions (like the mittens below) so that people can make up their own designs if they want to.
So here are some mittens ~
And here is a very work-in-progress Turtleneck Sweater. This shows exactly how I create these drawings. I sketch out the basic shape and design, then lay in the rows of stitches, very roughly, with "V's" to show where each stitch goes, then I painstakingly draw each stitch with the black 'ink'. After that's done I'll erase out the background guidelines, and clean everything up. There are always "overdraws" and bits that haven't quite joined up right, that need touching up. Its very fiddly, and I have to take quite a few breaks.
Its Memorial Day weekend here in the States. Regular working people get a 3-day weekend. Not the rest of us though. I'll be doing more of this, and maybe some weed-pulling if its not too hot. I hope you all have a good holiday if you get to have one!
Take Ted InsteadWritten by Cassandra Webb and illustrated by me.
It's bedtime for one tired little boy. Why should he go to bed when everyone else in the house is still awake? He has a plan to keep himself wide awake . . .Take Ted Instead is available to purchase from
New Frontier Publishing Store or your favourite Australian bookshop:
Boomerang Books,
Angus Robertson,
QBD,
Booktopia, just to name a few.
It seems so long ago since I completed the illustrations for
Take Ted Instead (way back in May last year). Here are some illustrations from inside the book . . .
And some of my very early sketches and storyboard layouts . . .
More illustrations and sketches from
Take Ted Instead are on my
website.
I just love Inktober! Here are a few of the sketches I created this year. You can follow me on
Instagram to see what else I'm up to.
I'm working on adding more middle grade art to my
website. I'm also writing middle grade stories now. So much fun! I like writing exciting adventures with a dash of kookiness.
I recently finished the artwork for my book Brunhilda's Backwards Day. The book will be published in fall 2016 by Sky Pony Press.
Although I can't share a lot of images from the book yet, I wanted to share a little sneak peak of Brunhilda's dress. In the story, Brunhilda wakes up one day to find things quite different than she is used to, and all she can find to wear if an annoyingly fluffy pink ballgown! Well, I just coudn't skip on the opportunity to make this dress look as ridiculously ruffly as possible.
But then, guess what?! I had to paint the darn thing no less than 20 times in the book! And I had to adjust it all according to the lighting and mood in each picture. Yes, it was a pain. But in the end, it was all worth it. Long live the ridiculous fluffy pink ballgown! I can't wait to share the book with all of you next year!
I made this little movie of a rough drawing I'm working on... just for fun. The rough drawing is always so much fun, because it's all a discovery. Invention, artistry, problem solving - an excellent diversion when one finds oneself imprisoned in a quiet distant room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W71_6biMnSY&feature=youtu.beIt's not much of a movie actually, but I was in a hurry and it was fun - my two excuses. Maybe I'll make a better one some time. I think it might require 30 minutes to do an in depth drawing demonstration - so one does what one can.
I don't want to think about the file size of a 30 minute .mov file - or how long it'd take to render!
Onesie Mumsie
Written by Alice Rex and illustrated by me.
A charming story about a girl who refuses to go to bed until she has tried on all of her onesies.
Onesie Mumsie is available to purchase from
New Frontier Publishing Store or your favourite Australian bookshop:
Riverbend Books,
Boomerang Books,
Angus Robertson,
QBD,
Booktopia, just to name a few.
Onesie Mumsie book reviews…
Aussie ReviewsBoomerang Books
I can't show most of what I'm working on right now, but one thing I can show is this little lady. She's currently starring in a story I'm working on. I think she's up to no good.
Some of my pencil roughs from Onesie Mumsie (written by Alice Rex) due for release April 1, 2015.
One more day of pushing the pencil and dropping in color. Bunnies, Foxes and a picnic.
The fox sketch from the bottom was redone, to add more clothes. And then swatches of foxy patterns were added. Onward and upward with the Arts!
Keep those peepers peeled for updated information, coming soon!
Just finished reading Uncle Montague's Tales Of Terror by Chris Priestley, with wonderfully creepy illustrations by David Roberts. I've always been a fan of scary stories ever since I was little and I used to write a lot of scary, sinister short stories in grade school. My eighth grade teacher attended my I'M BORED book launch, which was a total (and wonderful) surprise, and apparently he was telling my husband about how many of the stories I wrote back then were very dark.
I don't read as much horror now but I do still love indulging in creating creepydark illustrations sometimes, just for the fun of it.
Speaking of illustrations, here's a fun interview on The Independent's children's book blog with illustrator David Roberts. Interesting that David says he doesn't think much about the age group when he's working on book illustrations. He says his work is more a response to the story. His tip for aspiring illustrators: "Don't be afraid of that vast expanse of white paper (or I guess these days you could say computer screen). Sometimes your mistakes can be good and you can always start again if you don’t like it."
Chris Priestly advises young writers to have at least a rough outline of their story. "Give yourself a decent start and plan where you are going. You don’t have to stick to it – but it will make your life easier and it will mean that you will be less likely to give up."
More info about Uncle Montague's Tales Of Terror on the Bloomsbury website.
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Find out more about Donalyn Miller's Book-A-Day Challenge on the Nerdy Book Club site, and you can read archives of my #BookADay posts.
Here's a step by step of how I did my Dickens inspired holiday card. I think it took about 5 hours or so... and was loads of fun.
I did the first drawing #1 about 6 months ago... and left it in my sketchbook. But I chose to work it up more for the card. Steps 1, 2 and 3 are the drawing evolution.
The line is pencil on WC paper... the color and shadow is all photoshop.
Its still 10 days away, but the next week will go by in a whoosh! of activities, so I thought I'd post now and have that one small thing crossed off my 'to do' list. (That didn't sound very festive, did it?)
Oh, I'll get festive. Sometimes it takes me a while. Its like before you've had coffee in the morning, and are not at all awake, then all of sudden you come to life and can function. That's how I am with Christmas. I kind of start the season all draggy, then at some point it kicks in and I'm good.
I finished my Christmas art! This is "Kitty's Christmas Tree". Its my first foray back into watercolors after a pretty long hiatus, and I had a blast. Of course I had to add some colored pencil to it too, for detailing. I could have done more, but decided to leave well enough alone.
And no, I did not count how many pine needles there are. If you are some sort of savant (like Rainman) you may do it for me if you like.
In addition to all the usual busy Christmas things to do, I'm getting a new fence put up in the back yard. They were supposed to start it today, but it was raining too much. (Wait, did I just say "raining TOO MUCH"?) Yeah. Drought for how many years, and now we've had storm after storm. Crazy. So hopefully tomorrow it won't be too bad and they can get going on it.
Tonight I'm putting up the tree, and am anxious to see how my newest kitty, Tracy, will behave with it. He's so young, and a real climber - I have a feeling it won't last long in the vertical position! Fingers crossed.
I hope all of you have a peaceful, healthy, joyous, warm, cozy, happy, (what have I forgotten?) Christmas or Winter Solstice or whatever else you may celebrate!
What people think I do all day...
What my cat thinks I do all day...
What I really do all day...
I have fantastic news! I am now represented by Justin Rucker of Shannon Associates! I'm thrilled to be part of such a wonderful agency. I have been a fan of their artists for a long time and am proud to be included amongst such talented people. I'm looking forward to a long and successful partnership.
This has been a long journey for me and I'm so happy to have reached this goal. Now on to the next one.
And because every post should include art, here is a completely unrelated sketch.
By:
Mark G. Mitchell,
on 11/19/2014
Blog:
How To Be A Children's Book Illustrator
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Oh, my. Yes, painting old buildings in watercolor — not latex. You’ll want to see illustrator and fine-arts painter James Gurney dash off an urbanscape — before the time’s up on his parking meter. Former National Geographic magazine illustrator of archeological/historical subjects. Author-illustrator of books for children and adults. An exquisite, if occasionally quirky teacher of drawing and painting,... Read More
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cute puppy!
I can see why your pup ends up in your art. My art is inspired by things in my world.
Thank you for stopping by so that I could see your charming art.
Wishing you the best with your project.
Thanks Tammie Lee :)
Hope you've had a wonderful Christmas! Thank you for popping in my cosy blog. x