I’m trying something new with my How 2 Draw site. I’ve selected 3 of my free how to draw lesson plans and have given them a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. That basically means they can be shared, distributed, copied and used however folks like as long as they don’t try to sell them, alter the content or claim the work as their own.
My Adventures in Mural Painting
Good supplies are worth their weight in gold.
A couple of weeks ago my good friend Paul asked me to paint a mural for him. He wanted something with a beach theme to go along with a giant wall mounted photo he had taken. Paul had recently sold his beach house and wanted something to remind him of the old place. The 6 foot beach photo would be the center piece of the design. Continue reading →
Creating Characters for a Children’s Book – Part 5
This is part 5 of Creating Characters for a Children’s Book. My homework for today was to begin putting together thumbnails for my interiors.
My thumbnails are coming along nicely. Since this book is 24 pages it will take a little bit of time for me to get through them all. In the meantime I’ve taken another look at the logo and adding the donut. My first attempt looked good but I ran it by Bob the Art Director (super nice guy) and he thought that maybe it should be a little more animated. At first I thought he was crazy but now that I look at it I think he was right. It’s important to keep an open mind when working on a big project.
Even though this is my own project and Bob the Art Director is not a real guy these kind of comments are not uncommon. There are a lot of little tweaks and changes that go on throughout the course of illustrating a book or a series. Sometimes even when you think you’ve nailed it there are still ways to improve. Again, keep and open mind and never , never take it personally.
Attempts #1 and #2
Homework for next time: Continue working on thumbnails. Start thinking about cover ideas.
Creating Characters for a Children’s Book – Part 4
This is part four in the series Creating Characters for a Children’s Book. In case you missed the other three here’s a quick review. Characters are all approved. Color is complete on two and the third one is underway. Based on the story line I thought it would be cool to add a donut to the logo.
My Homework was to add the donut to the logo. I tried a few variations and I’m not really liking it. It seems to be drawing attention away from the monster a bit which is not cool. I really want the focus to be on Greg and the type, not the donut. I showed my roughs to Bob the Art Director (super nice guy) and he agreed.
There are a couple of solutions that I think might work. The first one is to take the donut out of the logo and put it into the title of the book. The second, and the solution I like better, is to change the pose of the monster. The front of the book gets Greg in his normal pose and the title page get Greg with a new pose for this book the donut). The reason I like this idea better is because it will allow me to customize the logo for each book. This will make the logo and Greg the monster more fun and interactive. It will also allow me to have more fun and that’s the best part of all. I’ll run the idea past Bob the Art Director and see what he thinks.
Since I’m almost through with the character creation part of this book I think for the next post we’ll switch over to the actual illustration for the book. Homework for next time. Begin thumbnails for the interiors and cover.
Creating Characters for a Children’s Book Part 3
Chicken in color.
This is part three of Creating Characters for a Children’s Book. If you’ve missed parts one and two here’s a quick recap. I’ve been working on the characters for a new children’s book. One of the characters is done, another is in the color stage and one still needs a little bit of work.
Last night I finished up color on the chicken and completed the new model sheet sketches for Carl (the boy). As I was working on the story my alter ego Bob the Art Director (super nice guy) reminded me that Greg (the monster) loves donuts. It’s a pretty big part of the story. Taking another look at the logo I thought it might be a cool idea to get a donut in there somewhere.
So today’s post is going to be short and sweet. Homework for next time: Work a donut into the Greg the Monster logo.
Creating Characters for a Children’s Book. Part 2
This is the logo Bob the Art Director (super nice guy) asked for.
Good news readers… my sketches were approved!
If you follow along with my blog you’ll remember in yesterday’s post I showed you the beginning stages of how I create the characters in the children’s books I work on. This is part two of Creating Characters
( In today’s episode I will be playing the parts of both myself and Bob the Art Director).
So I submitted my sketches to Bob the Art Director (super nice guy) and he was kind enough to get back to me right away with comments. Turns out everything looked good and is approved to go to color with the exception of the boy. I noticed the boy (Carl) strayed off model a little bit so I’ll need to rework that one. I was pretty happy with the other characters so I will proceed to color on those.
You’ll notice in Bob the Art Director’s notes (see sketches below for comments) he needed a logo right away. This kind of thing is fairly common. At the beginning and end stages of a picture book there can occasionally be a bit of scrambling around as publishers gather things to help promote the books. In this case it was a logo of the main character done extra quick.
The next step will be to update the model sheet for the Carl and submit the color versions of the other two characters. Once those are done I’ll begin working on a cover and interior sketches. See you then…
Creating Characters for a Children’s Book
I illustrate quite a few books each year but I hardly ever get to show you guys the development process that goes into it. Most things are under contract and I can’t show them until they’ve been published (sometime that can take up to a year). Like most artist and illustrators I have about a thousand personal projects I’m working on at any given time. The nice thing about personal projects is, aside from being great fun, I can show the work whenever I like. I thought it might be fun to show you one I’m working on right now.
Step one for me is character development and model sheets. The two sort of go hand in hand. I prefer making model sheets for my characters. Even though it might seem like a little extra work it saves me time later and keeps me from making mistakes.
Character development begins with a sketchbook and whatever information I have about the story I’ll be working on….usually some kind of manuscript and or character descriptions. I begin by simply reading the manuscript. I always read it straight through the first time, no notes, no sketchbook then I read it again with a pencil and a sketchbook. The second time I read I take notes and do a bit of scribbling. Who are the main characters, what age group is this for, what is the mood? I try to address as many questions as I can up front. It helps me get a clearer picture in my head.
After I’ve read and understand the manuscript I like to get in touch whoever I’ll be working with on the project usually and art director or designer, sometimes even the author. You can pick up so much more with a simple conversation then you ever can by just reading the manuscript or a list of character descriptions. I always take notes when discussing the project. There is just way too much info to trust to memory.
Once I have everything I need I grab my trusty sketchbook and begin sketching. I usually do several sketch variations for each character. Occasionally I’ll add a few poses as well. When I’m happy with the results I send them off to for review. Sometimes we get them on the first try other times it takes a few more sketches. It all depends on the client and the project.
Here are the beginning stages of a project I’ve been working on. This is an example of the sketch/model sheet stage.
Cinco de Junius
Seth wearing a shirt featuring Junius art by Bob Ostrom Studio
I met Seth way back when he began his first podcast, Jack Wakes Up. Seth was one of the earliest writers to begin pod casting his work on iTunes and I’ve been a fan ever since. Some of you might remember our interview with Seth on Answers for Freelancers back in the early 1950′s. Seth has released a ton of stuff since then and on May 5th Seth will be releasing his latest novel Young Junius as a special edition.
That special edition will feature the art work of none other than Bob Ostrom Studio. What?! ….Yeah, that’s right I said it! Seth’s new book Young Junius will have a special edition release featuring a two sided cover with art by Jerry Scullion and Bob Ostrom Studio. I’m really looking forward to this one and if you’re a Harwood fan you will be too. Here’s what Seth has to say about it:
Cover design by Bob Ostorm Studio
What is it: Tyrus Books and I are printing a limited run of numbered, signed special edition copies of YOUNG JUNIUS for you, the die-hard Palms Family fans. This edition will have special art by my boys Jerry Scullion and Bob Ostrom, photos of some of the book’s locations, special embossed dust-jacket, cover art, all-cloth covers, and much more
If you want to find out more about Seth Harwood and the special edition release of Young Junius or you’d like to help get the word out for Cinco de Junius just follow this link over to Seth’s site and learn how.
Bob at Jerry’s Artarama.
Here I am with my canvass. Not quite finished yet but getting there. Rocking the glasses look for this demo.
Had a great time at Jerry’s yesterday. As usual I met a bunch of great folks and had a lot of fun painting. The theme for the day was Bats so I chose to paint one of my favorite super heroes.
I was using the Matisse Primary set of acrylic paints. I’d never used this brand before but they were great. I really enjoyed working with them and would definitely use them again.
I’ll be down at Jerry’s again for my cartooning class April 14th from 4 – 6pm. If you are interested please contact the Raleigh store for more info.
Art Demo at Jerrys Saturady 1-4PM March 27th
I will be at Jerry’s Artarama in Raleigh on Saturday March 27th from 1:00pm until 4:00pm. Please stop by and say hello if you are in the area. I’ll be working with acrylic paints on a large canvass. I haven’t quite figured out what I’ll be painting just yet but I know it’ll be big and I know it’ll be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there.
