More sketches ... and plans

As you can probably tell from the subject matter, I do most of my sketching these days during church.

 

One month ago, I went from working a part-time office day job for a tiny non-profit to a full-time administrative position at a mid-sized university.  The increase in income and benefits are a welcome relief, and I get to interact with a lot of interesting people, but I do miss all the extra hours I had for writing and drawing.  

As I've been learning the complex systems of a much larger organization, I've put my own creative projects completely on hold (unless you count sketching during the sermon).  I wanted to be sure my new employer reaped the full benefits of my mental energy.  But now that I'm more accustomed to how things are done, I feel free to pour some of that energy back into art.  Yesterday, I began sketching from imagination again with a vague idea of producing a Christmas card design.  The pencil sketches, above, of kids making a snowman are from my first stab at getting into that mindset.  I'll do some more this evening and hope to have a Christmas card image ready to submit to an online company for printing by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend.  

I also have a novel waiting for its writer.  It's one that I was deeply into writing this past summer, but had to set aside in mid-September when someone near and extremely dear to me had a stroke.  That special someone is now recovering nicely, and I will happily re-enter my fictional world during the university's generous Christmas vacation.  

Life changes my plans

Sorry for taking so long to post again. In mid-September, someone extremely near and dear to me experienced a medical crisis that, while her condition has improved somewhat in recent days, has not fully cleared. Circumstances have demanded that I make more use of a different set of skills for a while.  I did get a bit of sketching in before the crisis hit, however, and managed a few quick sketches during Sunday morning sermons, but getting a sketch done each day of the week has suddenly become a low priority.

Here are the sketches I did manage to get down before life changed my focus:

You might get the idea, from a few of the sketches above, that I was having some headache issues during the week of September 9th.  You would be quite correct.  Don't worry; they were not serious.  They seem merely to have been related to a combination of tension (as I was engaged in a search for a new job--having determined I need the full-time-with-benefits kind at this point in my life) and ragweed allergies.  The headaches seem especially inconsequential given what happened at the end of the week.  At any rate, I was clear-headed enough to have fun trying to translate the pain into drawings.

Here are the Sunday morning sketches from my little Moleskine:

You may notice that the last sketchbook page above is dated 10/6/2013.  That's because I have decided to revamp my September challenge to make it an ongoing one in which I attempt to average a sketch a day from here on out.  Here's hoping life will allow ...

Big batch of September sketches

As you can see, I was in a rather pensive mode in the middle of last week.

On Sunday, I did a bunch of quick sketches of people in church in my little Moleskine again.  It's a lot easier to draw the folks sitting in the pews than it is to draw the musicians and the pastors, who keep moving on me.  

When I'm out of the house, I'm usually drawing with a ballpoint pen.  At home, I tend to use pencil, at least for preliminary sketching.  I think I'll try practicing more with using the pen at the outset.  See if I can develop a more confident ink line.

Now I need to go do my sketch for today.  I'll post it with my next batch.

Illustration Friday: Robot

Illustration Friday: Equality

Jeremy wishes Mom weren't always so keen on keeping things equal between him and Melody. But he's not as miffed as he would be if he knew that Melody is pulling Mom's arm to the left.

Meanwhile, Mom is thinking, If this cake were chocolate, I'd so be splitting it three ways!

Novel Illustrations

I think I may be finished with the latest round of revisions to my middle grade novel manuscript.  Before I start querying, I want to have a few sample illustrations--two or three black and white interior illustrations and a color cover piece--to accompany the package.  That's what I'm working on now.  The following sketch is from the opening scene:

My original thinking was to work up a final version in pen-and-ink with a tonal wash. To that end, I inked what was essentially the same base drawing (without shading) that you see above.  The result was such a disappointment that I'm not going to post it.  Part of the problem is that I drew it too small to get a real handle on the facial expressions.  Also, the characters, who are supposed to about twelve years old, looked too young.  Today I've been redrawing the same picture at a larger scale while aging up features slightly.

You will notice that I haven't done any inking or shading at this point.  As I was drawing this I started thinking of other possible ways of completing the image.  I have Adobe Creative Suite 5.5.  I have the day off from my day job tomorrow.  Maybe I'll see if I can work this into a strong image in the forgiving layers of Photoshop.

Illustration Friday: Shiny

Illustration Friday: Suspense

Jorge was afraid to open his locker . . . ever since he first heard about the thing.

Little did he realize, the thing felt exactly the same way.

Sketching...

I seem to be neglecting the blog these days.  Sorry, folks.  I've been concentrating my creative energy and time on writing my latest middle grade novel and learning Adobe Illustrator (using Classroom in a Book).  I still sketch a bit in the evenings, however.  Nothing geared toward any particular project at this point--just whatever comes out of the pencil.  Here's a taste:

A cold turn in the weather had me drawing kids in winter wear.  Today the weather has turned again, and I'm thinking perhaps I should redraw these guys in shirtsleeves.  

I've decided not to sign up for the Sketchbook Project this year.  I've done the project for the last two years.  I got a lot out of the process, but I don't think I need their challenge anymore. Also, I'm not interested in the new printed book they're introducing this year.  I intend to keep taking frequent pencil-dives into my sketchbook, but on my own, and loosely, without a unifying theme or structure.  Involvement in this wonderful community of illustrating bloggers is sufficient stimulus to keep me drawing regularly.

Book cover sketches

This weekend I started work on a cover illustration for my portfolio. In the interest of tying the task in with the middle grade novel I'm in the process of writing, I'm doing a front cover mock up based on it. This is the idea I sketched up first:

The scene is one I thought might make the most intriguing cover. The two girls are peeking in a neighbors window. The title is just a stand in. (I'm nowhere near choosing a final one.) I didn't quite like the way the figures are dwarfed by the title text. They also seem a little too stiff. The tree shape's not working for me either. After much struggle with pencil and eraser (I was covered with rubber crumbs by the end of the day yesterday) and a little inspiration from Ernest Shepard's Winnie the Pooh drawings, this is what I came up with:

I'm still not sure of the layout of the text and border, but I like the proportions in the picture. I think I'll go ahead and get to work on the illustration in watercolor and ink. Then when I have my new Adobe CS 5.5 (on its way!), I'll play around with the other elements.

Shadows rough sketch

Before I did the mixed media version of my "Shadows," I worked out the composition in the pencil sketch below:

That sketch has been in an open sketchbook on my drawing table for the past few days. It has been catching my eye everytime I pass by. I kinda like the noir look of the black and white image.

I haven't been doing much sketching (okay, not any) since Saturday. I've been trying to write a short story, but it's not coming together very well yet. Perhaps I need to goof off to get the creative juices flowing better. Time to pull out the treehouse sketchbook again and play.

Struggling with the next sketch

 I've been sketching like a maniac, my hands covered with graphite, but I'm almost there with the companion piece to my Penny, Doily, Zip picture:

I'll sleep on it tonight. If I like it in the morning, I'll start prepping the sketch for transfer to watercolor paper. Time to start thinking about colors/fabric patterns for Mrs. Doily's dress. What would make a nice complement to Penny's clothing colors (pink and blue with touches of red)?

100th Blogpost and Mrs. Doily

Exciting news! This is my 100th blogpost! And it's only taken me 2 1/2 years to get here... I really should post more frequently.

But on to something even more exciting ... my next illustration! When I was hurriedly preparing to meet with an art director from a super fabulous children's book publishing house last month, I painted this "finished" illustration to accompany the book dummy for Penny's story:

While the string of images shows abundant activity, it runs a little short on distinctive characterizations. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) I aim to remedy that problem in my next picture. Penny's look changed in the last two pictures (see my previous blogpost), as did the cat Zip's. While the old lady, Mrs. Doily, has the most character in the image above, she could still do with a bit more, especially in her face.

At my portfolio critique, the art director had an idea to spice up the tension in the picture book's plot. Her idea made me think of a bazillion more story problems the increased friction between Penny and Mrs. Doily could spark. (Penny's picture book is fast growing into a chapter book.) She also got me thinking of a new look for Mrs. Doily. At first I thought I'd make her skinny. I was imagining all the visually fun things I could do with her lanky lines. But I wanted to keep the crazy curlicue hair. So I sketched. I came up with the thin figures you see below. (I had some others that I won't post because their faces are dour, and I don't want to make readers unhappy when they visit my blog.) I think she looks something like Ms. Frizzle meets Amelia Bedelia. Not what I was going for at all.

Did you notice that one of the Doilies in the image above is not slender? She's the one I've decided to develop  for my next portfolio piece. Here's a close-up:

This pencil sketch doesn't look hugely different from the image at the top of this post, but I've worked in a few subtle changes that should become more apparent after I've given it the new style treatment with more line-work and layered colors. You may be able to detect that Mrs. Doily is plumper. I thought that would make her look a lot more amusing when she's on a step ladder (from one of my chapter book ideas). I've also tried to make her facial expression more readable. I think I need to work on that a bit more. Penny and Zip will have their new colorings, of course, and I'll use some more ink line to define the woodwork and door better. And I'll probably keep the door white. I think I may also extend the image to include their feet.

Another redo

Here's another "finished" portfolio piece from my picture book dummy:

The cat is not showing up too well against the tree trunk. And the girl's expression is, well, expressionless.

This evening I have been resketching the scene with the darker version of the cat and a slightly better view of the girl's face. Here's what I have worked up so far: 

(Sorry about the uneven quality of the scan. I didn't want to have to rip the page out the sketchbook yet, so I couldn't fully close the lid on the scanner.) I want to do more with this composition, but not tonight. I'm going to try more inking and less of the soft wash in my final pictures.

Tomorrow I don't go into the office, so more time for drawing. Yay!

Adding more character to my characters

Here is a piece I completed last month for the portfolio:

It is part of a picture book project that includes a full dummy and a couple of other "finished" pieces. An art director has now seen it and deemed its character depictions lacking. After her excellent explanation, I am inclined to agree. One gets very little sense of a unique personality here. Neither the girl nor the cat really leap off the page. Soft and sweet as the scene may be, it is forgettable and a good example of why I need to ramp up my characters in general.

This evening I began sketching my way toward improvement:

The cat, Zip, is meant to be a highly curious and active guy. I heightened the color contrast of the cat's fur to reflect his bold personality and shaped the pattern on his back to help highlight his movement through the story. The girl, Penny, has a passion for drawing. I've opened up her face more to reveal its expressions. (If you click on the image, you'll see more detail.) I've darkened her hair so she doesn't fade into the cat's background. 

I need to live with the drawing a little while before I determine what else needs changing. I welcome any ideas/reactions in the comments below.

Next (tomorrow evening, if I have time) I will redraw the other two images I had "completed" for this picture book. Perhaps drawing  Penny and Zip in other scenes will give me fresh ideas for the image above.

Sketching again...

I know I haven't posted anything new in ages, but I have a good excuse. Honest. I have been working on a picture book dummy for the past couple of months. The project was not for a publisher, but for the portfolio. I just didn't want to post the work here in case a publisher actually does want to go with some incarnation of it down the line.

My deadline for the project was March 12th, the date of my SCBWI critique with an art director from a major children's publisher. So the dummy draft is now finished and it and my portfolio have been pored over by a professional.

After receiving the art director's feedback, I have decided to concentrate my energy and (currently) limited time not on picture books but on building up my chapter book/children's novel portfolio pieces. I have also been advised to strengthen the depiction of characters in my work, to make them less generic. So I am pulling out old pieces like this one

and working on ways to ramp it up. Here's pencil sketch I did last night.

I like the pose better. I think it helps to see the girl's face - her fear - but it's not quite there yet. The characters are still not distinctive enough. We'll see what happens if I push the features further. 

Stay tuned!

Cats

I've been drawing cats in preparation for designing a cat character for my picture book. I feel the need to get myself to the point of more easily drawing the cat from any angle in any pose. This kitty needs to appear in every spread in the book.

Just a little sketch

A little sketch I did based on a photo on the cover of a children's clothing catalog. I was delighted by the pose.

More character study sketches

Character sketches

This afternoon I've been working on the look of a character for a picture book I'm writing.

Jillian is a girl who loves to draw fairies.