Staying On Course by Russ Cox

©2012 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio

Since returning from the NESCBWI Conference in late April, I have been heeding the advice I have received from friends, agents, and art directors who have told me how much they love my drawings and sketches. With that advice, I have started playing around colorizing my sketches and drawings so that the looseness and energy does not get lost in the final art. I have been doing a doodle a day (and filled up one sketchbook since returning) which has lead me more down this path. This is the first "official" illustration I did with this looser style. The idea came from a conference doodle that I liked and thought would make a good promo piece.

I quickly worked out a composition based on the doodle. I wanted a slight over the head perspective that would focus on the characters and their "vehicles".

I then refined the sketch a bit more, developing the characters and the space crafts.

Once I got the characters heading the right direction, I did a final, tighter drawing that stilled kept the freshness of the previous sketches. This was scanned in at 300 dpi so that I could render it digitally. I left room at the top left for my contact info.

I imported the drawing into Painter. With the sketch layer set as the top most layer, and set to "multiply", I began laying in a background tone and blocks of color. Painter has this cool feature which will allow you to set your light direction as you can see with the gradated tone. Previously, I was doing a grayscale underpainting but I thought the color blocks would achieve the same effect. Plus I wanted to keep things spontaneous and fresh. Oh, I used the gouache brushes for this illustration.

With the color in place, highlights were added on a top layer. This allowed me to drop the white over top of the sketch as well.

I felt that the final illustration looked a little flat so I went back in and added some darker tones and lightened ares of the road and grass. I think it looks much better.

Since this is a postcard promo, I sketched the main characters from the front for the back of the card and will keep it as a black & white piece. All that is left to do is put it together and send it off for printing. 

Everyone put your hands together and give a great big cheer for Debbie Ohi as she will sharing something truly amazing on her post in two weeks. Thanks for reading and make sure to check out the other posts from my fellow Pixel Shavers.

Ciao,

Russ

www.smilingotis.com
Smiling Otis Facebook Fan Page
Smiling Otis Studio Blog

Digital Sketching from Hazel Mitchell

Lately I've been working a lot more with digital sketching, getting my thoughts right onto the screen with no premeditation or thumb-nailing. Really this has been an exercise to stop me overworking, to play more and to have some fun! I have also been limiting my palette by using online palette suggestions (I use http://design-seeds.com, although there are many others out there).

It's been taking me in a different direction and got me out of my standard tools/colours/process. So I thought I would share a few of the sketches I have worked on this last month. Most of them were 15 mins to an hour and I draw on a Wacom tablet and use photoshop CS5.

Thanks for stopping by Pixel Shavings! Stop by next time to see what Russ Cox has on the menu.

Hazel Mitchell

http://hazelmitchell.com

http://hazelmitchell.blogspot.com

 

 

 

  

 

 

The Evolution of the Bunny by Sheralyn Barnes

I loved Fred’s post last week.

 I think he hit the nail on the head about what it takes to be a children's illustrator

and it made me think a lot about my own learning curve on becoming a children’s illustrator over the last two years. So I thought I'd touch upon some of his points...the ones about attending conferences, learning as much as you can, and being open and relaxed to what comes your way.

 I find myself constantly trying to convince fellow writers and illustrators who truly want to publish children’s books to take the plunge and go to not only the regional SCBWI conferences, but also either the New York or LA ones if they can. To attend one of the larger conferences is a pretty big financial commitment, so it’s understandable why people hesitate. I still find it hard to believe that I ignored my doubts and dire financial situation and went to my first New York conference back in 2010 . But I did, and it is probably one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. Since that time I have

 attended two more conferences in LA, one in Nashville, and one in Minneapolis. As the time to commit to going to the LA conference this year grows nearer, again I find myself doubting whether it is important to go. 

So, to reassure myself, I put together this Bunny Timeline. 

This little furry guy is someone that I've been experimenting with since my first New York conference. I've used him as a gauge for what I've learned in the last two years as I've dedicated myself to becoming a professional children's illustrator. Some of you may recognize the first three images from previous posts. When I look at these illustrations now, I can see how with each conference (and the workshops, keynotes, and critiques that go with them) I have learned so much more about what it really is to illustrate for children. Every conference has been important in giving me new insights as to how to be a better. Not to mention the daily influence, support, and inspiration of the great illustrators that I have met at these conferences. When I attended my first regional conference in 2009, I was naive enough to think I knew what I needed to know to be a good children's illustrator. I thought with a few tips, tricks of the trade, and connections, I’d be working in no time. What I learned is that I had a lot to learn if I truly wanted to be good and get published. I could draw well (my degree is in fine art, not illustration), but I didn’t really understand everything that went into a great illustration...especially aspects of story and character development. Attending conferences has continually given me the inspiration and information I need to make illustrations and children's books that I can be proud of, not to mention given me an incredible community to be a part of.

So here is the set up for this first page scene:

A bunny is anxiously awaiting a mouse friend to go find shelter in a barn

as an impending snow storm looms large and threatens their very existence!!!

Rabbit 2010

Here, I found reference photos of wild rabbits (since he was wild right?)

I added a snowy background.

  I thought his looking off into the distance would build intrigue.

What I've learned since:

Wild scrawny, mangy looking rabbits are not necessarily instantly lovable, 

even if they are decently rendered.

I LOVED my rendering of the front paws here.

 I was so in love with their artistic nature that I neglected to

 really assess whether the overall image told a story or was endearing to the reader.

There is absolutely no sense of alarm here.

I was just learning to paint on the computer and this is my

 first real image done entirely digitally.

 I was still using a mouse to draw on the computer. Egads.

 I bought a Wacom tablet and watched many tutorials

 on painting in Photoshop after completing this image.

Rabbit 2011

Which brings us to here..... 

after about 4 months spent learning how to paint in Photoshop.

 I decided that my rabbit needed to be less mangy and skittish looking.

 I also discovered that my obsessive nature of wanting to make things

 look real exploded with the endless ability of the computer to detail things.

And of course...looking back, I obviously still hadn't caught on to giving

 this guy any sense of alarm.

I was very proud of this piece when I showed it to Dan Santat in a critique in LA. 

Dan replied that it was a very nice "portrait" of a rabbit.

 What it wasn't was an illustration that told a story. 

WOW. Big light bulb over head moment there.

Rabbit sketch fall 2011 (post Dan Santat critique)

This critique with Dan became the subject of one of my posts 

here at Pixel Shavings and this is the sketch that I made following it. 

I realized that I tended to make my characters very stoic. 

And decided that as an illustrator I needed to work on 

creating more emotion and to develop more of a story in my scenes.

 I could draw well enough, what I needed to work at was a becoming a better actor and director.

I remember starting to think of my characters in these terms: 

Would I hire them for the role in a casting call?

What qualities would I look for if I were holding an audition?

Bunny 2012

Which brings us to the present.

After taking the time to watch and re-watch Will Terry's great videos,

 and taking in more great insights from the posts of my fellow Pixel Shaving's buddies,

 I began to work on my character design.

 I didn't want this to be a "rabbit". He's a bunny. HE is the LOVABLE character in the story.

 I needed to make him instantly endearing from the start.

 I upped my cuteness factor and this is where I ended up.

 I also warmed him up a bit color-wise, with hopes that it would help the reader warm

 up to him as well.

 I added a hint of the story in the illustration, rather than just a background of snow.

Thus ends my bunny evolution. Time to move on to other things.

 I'm sure that a year from now I will have an entirely new perspective on it all.

 And that is great.

That is why I will be taking the plunge for another conference this year. 

It just gets better and better all the time!

Thanks for checking in!

Sheralyn Barnes

www.sheraynbarnes.com

Gladys And Her Cat by Russ Cox

© 2012 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio

In celebration of Valentine's Day, I decided to work up a sketch I had lying around my studio that I called "Gladys And Her Cat". It is based on how children usually carry a cat around the house. I though adding the drawings hanging on the wall would help emphasize her love for her cat.

This is a tighter version of the sketch. I lightened the nose and mouth on Gladys so the line work would not stand out in the final art. The line work was converted to a dark purple to give it a bit more life than using black.

Using the multiply layer in Photoshop, I did a grayscale underpainting which I duplicated and then added a red tint. This makes it a two layer toned underpainting so that I have a dark value to paint on which helps the final art colors pop.

Working like a traditional painting, I started from the back by painting in the walls, patterns, baseboards, and floor. This helps me decide what colors to use for the main images and prevents color revisions later on by trying to get a background color to work with all of the main elements. The final art layers are set to "normal" but have my brushes set to 20-45% opacity. By doing this, it allows me to build up the color.

I then painted the drawings by using a crayon-like brush. I though the paper should be a few colors like construction paper. The dog and mouse were painted next.

Continuing moving to the front, Gladys was painted in the next step. I thought having her as a redhead would help solidify the concept of "love". 

The valentine's card and cat were painted. I used my orange cat as a model for color and attitude. Sometimes I will play with the saturation if I find the colors getting flat as I work. Gladys' skin tone got a mild boost so she looks more lively.

I thought I was about done with the illustration but the floor seemed too bare and boring. Building on the drawings in the background, I decided to add some additional drawings on the floor with a few crayons laying about. I quickly sketched the new items out, scanned them, and added them onto a new layer which I multiplied so the white drops out and the line work is  showing. Working digitally allows one to add and subtract images as they work without having to start over. 

The final image has the new elements painted, some of the line work beefed up and highlights added. 

You can view more of my work at:

www.smilingotis.com
Smiling Otis Facebook Fan Page
Smiling Otis Studio Blog

Tune in next week to see what the talented Debbie Ohi has up her sleeve!

The Comfort Zone by Sheralyn Barnes

This week I want to sing the praises of my online children's illustrator community. I can't imagine living the life of a freelance artist without the amazing people that I have gotten to know here in cyberspace. It's magical. It sustains me. It all started with sitting next to our own Hazel Mitchell at the 2010 New York SCBWI conference illustrator's intensive. Who knew?

Since that day (and thanks to Hazel's wonderful go getter personality), I have had a constant stream of inspiration and education from other writers and illustrators all around the globe. Here again I sing the praises of the SCBWI conferences, for every one person I have met at a conference, there has been many many others I have met through them. It really is amazing. On those dark days when the freelancing life seems a bit overwhelming, encouragement is just a click away.

 I want to mention another illustrator, Will Terry, who I've also met online. Will just recently launched a really cool site called http://folioacademy.com. At this site you can download art instructional videos made by both Will and other artists/illustrators. I've mentioned Will here before after watching his "How to Paint in Photoshop" video and finding it very insightful. This video helped me to make the big leap from oil to digital painting. Will is a tremendous illustrator with lots of experience and he is incredibly open about sharing his techniques and professional experiences. Even more, he offers all kinds of insight on his blog for free. Being a really big fan of his use of color, I recently purchased his "How to use Color" video and found it (again) incredibly helpful. It's not my normal self to sound like an info-mercial, but I share this because I feel his videos have helped me to fill in the gaps of my knowledge about book illustration. My college Drawing degree didn't address many things that an illustrator needs to be aware of, and these videos are a great help.

So for my posting this week, it's another exercise in painting in Photoshop and trying to add a bit of the advice on color that Will demonstrates in his color theory video. I have by no means, mastered his stunning use of color. In fact, I found myself still straying back to my usual choices. It will take a little while to understand, but it's a start and an exciting new challenge.

Many thanks to all of you out there in my cyberspace studio! 

Thanks again for checking in and checking Pixel Shavings out.

It's an honor to be here among these great illustrators. Look for another great post

from John Deininger next week!

www.sheralynbarnes.com