Children's Book illustration

Your final children's book is Due December 7th. 

Must demonstrate use of reference. 

All accessories and background should be referenced too.

Must Use the rule of thirds or have a valid reason for breaking them.

There must be a clearly defined horizon line.

There must be clear hierarchies. 

There must be a border.

Final image size 9 * 12 with a 1 inch border.

The image must be based upon text in the story and clearly illustrate the plot of story.

The character design must be original. 

If you use the same character design as the book or another found one on line you are clearly violating copyright. This is a violation of the law and will result in being Fired. 

Final Children's book thumbnails and character designs due...

Your final children's book thumbnail drawings and character designs will be due on November 27th. At this time you should have exactly what page you are going to be designing for selected and be refining which thumbnail was the best. Your character design should also be finished at this point. 

There are so many ways to approach your design as every day we have discussed a fresh approach to improving our work. 

Thumbnails are to test the possibility of an idea. If it doesn't work you have only spent 5 minutes on the concept. You move on and create again. 

They are also the blueprint to your success as they will guide you to when produce your larger image. 

Remember to use the rule of thirds. Just as grammar guides the rules of composing our written language, there are artistic principles that guide our visual language. 

Push your boundaries, we can always learn a trick to make us better, but you first must discover what it is that you would like to do. Let your imagination run wild. Have fun! If you are not willing to do this... then your audience won't have fun either. 

Our job is to make the ordinary extraordinary!

Your imagination is the director! Your skills are the special effects department. If there is something you can't figure out how to do simply ask or look it up. There are resources everywhere. 

We want something to transcend our boring everyday lives.

Empower yourself and again most importantly have fun! The more you care the more your audience will too.

Don't Be Scared...Hands and stick figures

 

Don't be scared!

If you can draw stick figures great! We've been learning on how to use stick figures to create complex forms. One of the hardest forms for young artists to draw is the hand, and feet can be tough too. 

No one likes being called out for being afraid but a lot of young artists hide the hands because they are scared to draw them. However, look at how wonderfully they convey the story!

We look to faces and hands to tell us if someone is dangerous or friendly. We look at hands to evaluate what people's intentions are.  We use hands to express emotion. 

Hands are a critical part of the story! Don't be a bad story teller. Here are some tutorials on how to draw hands.

Again don't be scared hands can be fun!

Will Terry

This week we are studying Will Terry and how to create interesting character design. We also are discussing how our environment helps shape our characters. Though sometimes its our characters that directly impact their environment (See Image below.)

We will also be discussing how to transform the ordinary to the extraordinary. Many of our favorite stories, movies, and television shows are retellings of older stories. What makes the new ones compelling is that we have better context to them. This means we can relate to the newer version of the story better. This can be a result of reinventing the artistic style or modernizing the characters, or both. Terry's characters have an energy to them that is charismatic and engaging. What this does is make the viewer want to be a part of their character's journey. 

The gesture is critical in selling the emotional state of the character and drama in the image. If there isn't good gesture in the image then the will appear lifeless. What makes Terry's image here so compelling is nearly everyone can relate to the actions of the character. The gesture here is not only believable, but punches up the storytelling. 

Good character design should have a voice. It should be easy to imagine what that character would sound like. There are two amazing things happening with Terry's image below. First, what an awesome incorporation of a character that has a disability. Disabilities are a part of life. This creates a not only a more interesting character design, but believability. The disability in real life is a huge asset in the design because it automatically makes this character more compelling. Second, the overbite has a sound familiarity that gives context to the audience to the sound of the character. The glasses give a nice assist in selling that sound narrowing the possibilities for the audience's interpretation.

When you combine all the elements Terry is utilizing you get into dynamic children's book images. That are exciting and fun. Remember at one point children's books were the video games, movies with special effects, television shows of their day, Terry captures that excitement with solid design skills. For example, look at how he incorporates diagonals to create energy.

This picture is exciting!

Practice character design by do a master study of this drawing...