Case Study: Part 6, FINAL ILLUSTRATIONS

This is a follow on from my last post. You can see my draft illustrations in the previous post now it’s time to reveal some of my final illustrations. I used Photoshop to colour the draft illustration up into its final result. In this post I will talk you through some techniques and processes I use.

Colour
Colour is important when creating a set of illustration. You want them to all fit together and look like they belong to the same story. So although you might play around with moods through colour you want the overall palette to be consistent. Colour can play a major part in your style and portrayal of a story. One technique I use to create a colour pallet for a book is to research online. Go through lots of illustration websites and art sites and grab images you like the colouring of. Then I choose one that I think will work with my book. I then use this image to pick my colours from using the eye dropper in Photoshop. That way I end up with the whole series following the same palette.

Texture
Texture is very popular in children's books as it gives an artistic aesthetic. Illustrators who create illustrations using mediums and materials children create with themselves are able to relate to children very well. I also think with the large amount of computer generated illustrations and graphics now days it is nice to add some traditional elements even if it is digitally. I collect textures off Google, this is a little dodgy but as long as you are manipulating them enough that they are no longer anything like the original image you are not doing anything illegal. I then use lots of filters and effects in Photoshop to get the aesthetic I am after.

Light Source
One of the keys to making your illustrations look professional and correct is having a consistent light source. I do this by drawing an arrow on its own layer and locking it. That way I always know where the light is coming from and I add my lighting and shadows to suit. Play with your light source to create atmosphere and you can manipulate it to suit the image however it still should work technically. If something is completely out of light there should be no highlights on it.

Hierarchy
As children’s books are aimed at younger readers you have to make sure you are helping them read your illustrations properly. For example in my book I have a small fly buzzing around the room. This would be hard to spot a lot of the time so I have added white behind it and its trail so the reader can understand that the fly is buzzing around. Use light and colour to point you reader to the action in your illustrations.

Here are a few of my final illustrations.

Case Study: Part 5, DRAFT ILLUSTRATIONS

After creating the storyboards I have the visual flow and structure sorted for my story. I have created multiple compositional thumbnails for each page and decided on the strongest ones. It is now time to create the draft illustrations. This part can vary a lot as everybody has their own way of creating artwork. In this post I will run through the way I create my draft  illustrations and you can alter the process to fit your style.

Using the thumbnail storyboards as a guide I start to draw a pencil draft for each page. I start by checking the dimensions my book will end up. In this case I decided to base the format the images around the iPad screen as this will be my first platform for publishing the book. The iPad screen is a lot lower resolution than print so I need to create the illustrations bigger. This way I can also use them for the print version of the book. I created the drawings double the size of the iPad screen and added 3mm of bleed. This is a lot bigger than I will need them however it is always better to work bigger as you never know when you are going to need to blow something up. A lot of illustrators work to double scale as it allows you to get more detail. So I have my dimensions set on the paper, now I create a template of this format. You can go over the outline of the page with a dark maker so you can trace it for each one or create a few boxes in Indesign then print out as many pages as you need.

The way you draw the draft is completely dependant on style. As I will be using these drawings as the main outline for my finished illustrations I will be drawing a lot of detail and in a very neat and tidy manner. I use a lot of reference for my characters as it helps to get everything looking correct. Things like ethnicity, body positioning, hands and feet are tricky to draw from you head. The easiest way to find reference images is Google. I usually have about 10-50 images that I have collected for each book. Characters are tricky to get looking consistent throughout the whole book so it is good to create some character pages and sketches before you start. This way you have a reference your own characters. These are a few I have created for previous books.

Here is a list of other handy tools that might help you while creating your drafts.

Mirror
I find this extremely helpful when I am trying to draw certain expressions or gestures; you act it out in the mirror. It is also good to look at your drawing in the mirror some times as it shows you mistakes you have missed.

Light Table/Window
You often need to create multiple versions of elements or get the same position so tracing can be very helpful.

Kneadable Eraser
These are great for thinning lines and rubbing out very fine detail.

See below a few of the draft illustrations I have created for 'Catch that Fly.' When creating your artwork try to get all your characters in three quarter or full frontal view as children have trouble recognising characters from the back. Make sure you read through the text several times with the drawing you have created to make sure they work nicely together.

Preparing a Manuscript for Illustrations

Your story should be 100% complete before you even think about getting an illustrator or starting to illustrate it yourself. In my experience as an illustrator this is one of the most frustrating mistakes authors make and it ends up adding hours of the illustrator’s valuable time to the project. The illustrator is illustrating the book as a whole so the entire story needs to be complete and edited. A book is not something that can be created in bits as it is designed to be read from start to finish.

When you have had your story assessed and edited and you are happy to proceed then start to prepare your manuscript for an illustrator. If you haven’t written your book with page breaks in mind go through the story and figure out the appropriate breaks for the flow of the story. Make sure this is clear to the illustrator in your document. Either label each page break or even separate into different pages of the document. This stops any confusion and allows the illustrator to design each page with the flow of the story.

For example:

Page 4-5
Jack and Jill ran up the hill,
to fetch a pale of water.

Page 6-7
Jack fell down
and broke his crown

Next make sure you make it clear what your expectation is on each spread. If you imagine your characters to be dressed in fancy dress then make sure you tell the illustrator. As you are the one who has written the story you need to be clear of what you had in mind when you wrote it. A good thing to communicate to your illustrator is the target market of your book. They are designing everything to fit a specific audience so you don’t want your characters to be 3 year old Caucasian if your target market is 6 year old African Americans. You can do this by writing short illustration notes on each spread. This is not always needed if you have no specifications and are happy to leave the creative freedom to the illustrator that fine too.

Illustration notes
When writing illustration notes make sure you are clear and precise. You are purely letting the illustrator know what you would like communicated in each image. Sometimes it is obvious from the text in the story however if not be sure to point it out.

For example:

Jack and Jill ran up the hill
To fetch a pale of water

Note: Jack and Jill half way up the hill with empty pale

Be sure not to give too much detail as to the organisation and composition of the scene as this is best decided by the illustrator. A professional illustrator knows more about composition, viewpoint, colour, design and visual story telling than you as a professional writer so let them do their job. The more you trust them and respect their creative input the better result you will get.

Make sure you don’t forget about the cover illustration and any other design elements you might need from the illustrator in the brief. For example you might want some of the illustrators work on the end pages or title page.

Size and format
An illustrator cannot start the job without a clear and precise specification of how the book will be published. Make sure you have done your research and know what size you will be printing your book and where. Once the illustrator has completed the artwork you cannot change the size of your book very easily and it often involves a lot of redrawing and cropping. I have heard of authors who have just chosen a generic size then once they got to the printers found out it will cost them twice as much to print that a specific book format. This is still important with digital books for iPad and Kindle etc. The illustrator still needs to work to a specific size or sizes. If you're creating a book on CreateSpace or Lulu make sure you look through their standard book formats.

Quote
Before the illustrator starts the job they should have supplied you with a full quote of the exact time it will take them to do the job. It is also good to have a terms of agreement figured out so you are both clear about what is being supplied for the amount quoted and the time it will take. Make sure you have a full understanding of how much it will cost per hour if any extra work is needed over the time specified in the brief.

Communication is the key to a successful working relationship with an illustrator. The clearer you are about your expectations the better and faster your job will be completed.

How to Find an Illustrator

Once you have your manuscript ready and you are happy with your story it’s time to start thinking about the illustrations. If you are trying to get your book published by a publishing company you don’t need to provide illustrations as they will take care of that. However if you are self publishing you will need to find an illustrator. My advice would be not to attempt the pictures yourself unless you have some form of art or illustration training. It’s not as simple as just drawing a few pretty pictures. The illustrations are a major part of the sales of a book and if done badly they can ruin any chance of becoming a successful book.

Don’t approach an illustrator until:
You have your manuscript completed
You have had the manuscript edited
You have chosen your distribution methods
You know what sizes and formats you require
You have an exact target market and description

Budget
The more you are willing to pay the better result you are likely to get. Like anything the more experienced illustrators charge more than the less experienced. However there are a few ways to bring down the cost.

Students
Illustration students are a good option although they have no experience they are full of enthusiasm and have the correct training and resources around them to create a good result. If you are patient and willing to help a student get some experience this is defiantly an option. A great way of doing this is to contact your local design school or university that offers illustration. Talk to them about running a live project as part of their training. Get each student to create one illustration from your book then pick the style you like the best and reward that student with the job of illustrating the whole book. I would also offer them a small cash prize/payment for doing the work. Most students are very keen to get exposure and experience and are willing to even work for free sometimes. You could even offer them royalties if that suits better.

Online Freelance Sites
There are a lot of online freelance websites that offer illustration. You can have someone from anywhere in the world illustrating your children's book. This can be very economic however it comes with risks. As there is no guarantee that these people are experienced and know what they are doing you must be very though rough with you brief and communication. If the illustrator cannot break down the exact process they work in and exactly what you will receive for you money keep looking. Keep all the terms of the agreement clear and precise.

Illustration Agencies
There are thousands of professional illustration agencies throughout the world. These are the true professionals they have a very high standard and with that charge a very high price. These agencies represent a group of illustrators and act as a middleman between you and the illustrator you choose. They know the process inside out and will create professional advanced artwork. The illustrators they represent are the best of the best and are usually highly trained, full time and very well paid. If you know nothing about illustration and want a bestselling book these people are your best bet.

A Friend or Family Member
A lot of people know someone who is good at drawing or art in their family or group of friends. And it seems like the obvious choice to get them to illustrate your book. The problem with this is that being good at drawing or art is not all it takes to be an illustrator. A lot professional illustrators train for four years have degrees and have a wide knowledge of how to communicate a story visually. If you want an amateur book then use a friend or family member. However if you would like to one day get into the books stores and be taken seriously then hire a professional.

Directly Approach an Illustrator
Another way of getting an illustrator is to contact them directly. Go to the bookstore and pick out the style you would like for your book. Write down the illustrator of the book then go home and type their name into Google. If they don’t come up type their name then illustrator. Most illustrators have websites and are always looking for new exciting projects to work on. This is a good option if you have a budget as you can negotiate the rate and requirements directly with the illustrator rather than relying on a middleman. If you want someone from your own country go to the bookstore staff and ask them if they have a local section you can browse through.

I am an illustrator and am always on the lookout for new exciting projects with creative writers like you. Check out my work and see if my style suits your story http://www.amyburrell.com/. Contact me via my website email.