Creating those first marks on a page is always an exciting time. Taking a story and visualising the characters telling an exciting tale is really a joy. This is my first draft at a new story, a Jacobite period tale of excitement and running! My inspiration to open the story was to have the main character running for his life, from this we flash back into what led him to this life threatening moment.
Illustrating a Book Round Up
Illustrating a Book Round Up.
It’s really all about communicating ideas from the moment you start the project, listening to the editor or author discussing their ideas and sharing your own thoughts and taking lead from the story. The illustration is the end result of that communication; an amalgamation of thought, insight into the story and your own personality that will infer extra detail and nuances that lie between the lines of text.
An illustrator uses their artistic skill to give those discussions form, through a process of character design illustrations, developing and enhancing the narrative in concept artworks and with feedback refining the artwork further until the illustrations are finished for publication.
Confidence in your skills and the willingness to push yourself with new techniques or varying or adapting your style that can help communicate the story best will always keep your creative energy flowing keeping the process fresh, fun and show you and your illustrations at their best. There should never be a workman like approach to illustrating a children’s book. Use that opportunity of collaboration to create something you can be proud of putting on your bookshelf.
The quality of the finished book can be determined on how good an illustrator is in storytelling and a good narrative illustrator can enhance the tale that the author has skilfully told into a complete package for the reader to enjoy.
Pen and ink illustration from The White Arrow Assassin