Charlotte's Web by Hazel Mitchell

This weekend it's the New England SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) annual conference in Massachusetts. Every year there is a Poster Showcase Competition. This year the challenge is to redesign a landmark children's book cover. It was hard to choose! I decided on Charlotte's Web, because it involves animals and children in the drawing as well as being one of New England's most famous books.

GULP! There is, of course, a lot of responsibility that goes with reworking an already great cover. So I apologize to EB White and Garth Williams.

I decided to go for a much more emotionally driven version in an interior to create more drama. Here's the finished product:

It is created in pencil and then coloured in photoshop. I have also tried to stay much looser on the pencil work itself to create more feeling of movement - a trend I am working on in all my current illustrations.

Here's the process ....

 

First rough draft ....

More careful drawing ... note Fern's face shape changes and Wilbur is more pig like.

This is the the finished pencil drawing, then scanned into photoshop ...

Here it is during colouring ... I work as I would on a water colour from light to dark with few layers. I prefer to use the multiply setting on airbrush mostly and dodge/burn tools.

 

After feedback from crit friends I worked on the eyes, changing them back to my initial idea that she is glancing back. Also I got rid of her marshmallow mouth (see finished piece at top of this post). I also enhanced the shadows on the right with an extra layer.

The text was created separately in pencil, traced from a printout of a setup of the text on computer.

On a separate layer I dropped it in position and used the overlay and screen settings on brush to add colour and highlight the webs.

Here is the wonderful, wonderful original! I can't hope to come close to this classic, but I very much enjoyed working on the piece and will be interested to hear the reaction at NESCBWI.

Thanks for dropping by Pixel Shavings. Did you receive one of our postcards in the mail? If not please send us a message at pixelshavings@hotmail.com and we will get one in the post to you.

Call back next week to see what fab illustrator Russ Cox is up to!

Toodle Pip!
Hazel

see more of my work online at

http://hazelmitchell.com

copyright Hazel Mitchell 2011

Giants at the Grocery by Fred Koehler

So my daughter and I unrolled a yarn as I was getting her to bed several months ago that went something like this: A pair of young giants are sent to the grocery store to buy sprinkles to finish their mother's cake. But things go quickly awry when the giants get there at the same time as a giggling little girl. Because young giants are particularly terrified of giggly little girls. And so they had to get that little girl to leave. By any ridiculous means imaginable.

As my daughter fell asleep, I thought about the concept. It was simple. It followed all of the rules of a successful picture book. It left an endless canvas for illustration. So I wrote it down. And then I spent the next two months working on the concept illustration.

I shifted how I wrote and drew based on feedback from the SCBWI conferences I've attended, with debts of gratitude owed to illustrators like Dan Santat, Janeen Mason, Loren Long, Paul Zelinsky, all my friends at Pixel Shavings, and editors like Katherine Jacobs and Stephanie Owens Lurie.




I worked tighter, pushed the perspective, paid attention to where the text would go and what would get lost in the gutter.


More interesting detail.


Better reference material, like this grocery storefront from the 1950's.


Particular focus on the page turn, drawing your eye to what happens next.

I'll take this concept to the next SCBWI conference, send out queries, and cross my fingers. And if that's where it ends, it's okay. We're each born with a billion ideas in our heads and a lifetime to explore them. More will certainly come.

Check back next week for something fabulous from Sheralyn Barnes.

freddiek.com

Progression of Character by Hazel Mitchell

Welcome to April! It's my turn to GLOG this week and I have had an exciting week.

First 'How to Talk to an Autistic Kid' by Daniel Stefanski, illustrated by me and published by Freespirit Publishing, went on sale this week. It's a fun book with a serious message. The author is a 14 year old autistic boy and in the book he shares what it's like to deal with people who are unsure how to talk to someone with Autism. Whether you are in contact with someone who is Autistic, or know someone who is, this is an informative and sometimes humorous book. It would also make a great gift for a school or library!

Learn more about the book on Amazon

It was also really cool as I got to do the lettering for the cover and chapter titles too.

Second - I just got back from the Nevada SCBWI Mentor Program (my mentor was illustrator (and National Illustration Co-ordinator for SCBWI) Priscilla Burris. I have been working with her for 6 months. It has been awesome and if your an illustrator or writer I recommend you check out the next program. Also check out my Facebook page/blog for more information.

So! Here are some of the sketches of the progression of the character drawings for Daniel in the book ...

 

 Here's where we started ...

 Tried it with grayscale tints ....

 

 Then we tried a more sketchy outline and realistic look.

Hmm. It wasn't working, so Steven Hauge (art director) asked me to make him much more simplified and cartoony. I also made his limbs and neck thinner and his head slightly larger to make him look a little younger. I used a felt tip brush pen. Then scanned in the drawing and tinted in photoshop.

 We were almost there ... but the hair looked too much like a helmet ...

 So I tried some different styles, and bingo, we had a personality! Number 2 was what we went with.

 Here's the finished look. The illustrations throughout were tinted grayscale and teal as a spot colour. Overall it gives the book a retro feel that is easy on the eye.

It was great fun and a pleasure to work with Daniel Stefanski and Free Spirit Publishing.

 OH! One last shout out! PIXEL SHAVINGS artists sent out their first group postcard mailing this week.

If you would like one or would like to be added to our mailing list please contact us.

Cheers!

Hazel Mitchell

Thanks for visiting Pixel Shavings this week.

Find more of my work online at

hazelmitchell.com or email me at hazel-mitchell@hotmail.com