How I Illustrate

I call this blog Words and Pictures, so I thought it was time to let you into the artistic part of my brain.


When I sketch and paint traditionally (pencils and paints), I usually start with plain white paper but this is a digital painting and I usually do those a little differently. I usually start with a coloured background, chosen depending on the mood I want to express.


Subject: Groat.

Groat is a character I have been developing for a possible graphic novel project.

(I have always liked the classic TV show 'Land of the Giants' and thought it would be pretty cool to on day write a story with tiny people living unknown along-side us).

But, I didn't want to write about fairies or pixies. I wanted something different. I created the Scarrow. The scarrow are about 6cm tall and basically humanoid, tribal and have no knowledge of metal or humans.

Back to Groat. He is a very large, scarred and often aggressive lizard that wanders the countryside near the Scarrow's Territory.

Preliminary sketch.

I wanted to highlight Groat's massive size compared to the Scarrow so I decided not to sketch him completely. I thought if he crept up on one of the Scarrow and they turned in surprise, what would they see?

A big mouth and a big eye.

Detailed Sketch

After I have sketched in the basic shape, I add some detail to the sketch to give Groat some character. I wanted him to look old and gnarly so I added lots of bumpy scales, especially around the eye.






Basic Colour Block

Next I blocked in the basic colour scheme as a guide and to sort out the tonal values of the picture. (Ratio of dark to light)


A lot of people tell me they cant draw to save themselves. I believe they just stop before they add the detail.



Adding the Detail

The focal point of the picture is the eye, so that's where I started to add the detail. I sketched over the scales to darken and texture them. Added in some hot red and yellow tones to draw the viewer's eye to meet Groat's.

More Detail



Basically, I continued to fiddle in the detail out toward the nose and mouth, adding some highlights to the darker scales.

This is the most time consuming part of the painting.

The more detail you want to add, the longer it takes.



Final Painting
















I continued to darken and texture the picture to give it a solidity. Finally, I added in a dark background with just a hint of stems and foliage



This digital painting was created on my A3 size Wacom graphics tablet and stylus and took about five hours of sketching and painting tme to complete.

A little embarrassing - But Definitely Flattering

Following on from my last post...



One of my Year 6 test readers, read part of my book 'Paper Magic' out loud to his little sister in Year 2. Then he gave it back before she found out how it ended.



Over the last week or so, Mr Peter's Year 2 class has been doing writing. He reads sections from classic children's literature then as a class have disected the writing to help the children improve their own writing and comprehension skills.



While Mr. Peter's was reading from the Hobbit, the above mentioned student commented, "You should read Mr. Doherty's book. It's better than this!" She then continued to bother him enough that he finally asked me if I would read my book to his class.



So I spent the afternoon talking about writing, and rewriting and how when you finally have a book you are happy with, how you go about trying to get it published. That's when the fun started. I read the first half of the book, did some magic along the way and helped the kids make paper frogs.



I have been booked for a return engagement tomorrow afternoon to finish the story. The first part of the story went down really well. Even some of the wriggly boys sat listening for a good forty-five minutes. I was impressed. I have a little bit of magic tucked up my sleeve for tomorrows reading. (When I finally get published, school visits are going to be my favourite part of the job).



I was a little embarrassed about being held up above Tolkien (certainly not my claim - but it made my day all the same).



I thought, to make my book just a little bit more like a 'proper' book, I'd throw together a sample book cover. It definitely needs work - doesn't capture the tone of the story yet - but here it is.

PAPER MAGIC - Test Readers

It has been a long process writing Paper Magic.

That might seem strange for an 8000 word children’s chapter book, but Paper Magic started life as a picture book text called Marina Mack and the Magic Paper. Granted, it was a commercially unviable-long picture book text. After fourteen drafts I could only hone it down to 1600 words. That is where it sat, filed away for a couple of years while I worked on other projects.
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Last year, I redrafted Marina from a picture book text into a short story version for the Charlotte Duncan Award. Surprisingly to me - as some of my favourite children’s authors had also entered - the story was shortlisted.
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When Sandy Fussell suggested turning Paper Magic into a chapter book and offered to help with the editing process I couldn’t believe it. She is such a brilliant writer and generous person. Her help with the rewriting process has been invaluable. Each chapter of Paper Magic has gone through at least four new drafts. The last few chapters still have some minor polishing to complete them but I thought it was time to find some test readers to get a little audience feedback.
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Most of the children from the Year Six class I work with knew I was almost finished writing a children’s book. Five of them asked me almost every day, ‘Have you finished your book yet?’ or ‘Can I read your book when it’s finished?’ So I printed off a copy each for them to read.

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Thank you Hannah, Bethany, Jess, Lucas and Kyle from 6J. The verbal feedback so far has been very positive. Lucas’ mother told me he got home from school, sat down and didn’t move or speak until he had finished reading the book. It has now been read by her and her younger son Noah.
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The surprising thing has been a number of other children from the class, ones I wouldn’t have expected, have asked for copies to read. Again, thanks to Tom H. Maree, Mekaela and Kaitlin. One of the girls complained today that she had only read two chapters because her mum had stolen the book and won’t give it back until she has finished reading it herself.
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I know you can’t really judge a manuscript from the feedback of children that know you personally. Their comments are skewed in your favour because they do know you. Still, I’m more than happy with the test reader results. All the readers are all going to give me their –hopefully - honest opinions of Paper Magic after the holidays.

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I can't wait.

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Colour For A Cure!

I'm taking part in the Leukaemia Foundations Worlds Greatest Shave 2010. Please sponsor me!

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The funds we raise will help the Leukaemia Foundation to provide practical care and support to patients and families living with leukaemias, lymphomas, myeloma and related blood disorders.

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On Tuesday, a couple of year six girls from Eglinton Public School where I work, asked me (as a joke) if I would ever get my hair dyed. It was their little commentary on my grey hair.

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I told them if they raise at least $500 for the Leukaemia Foundations Worlds Greatest Shave 2010 I would shave or colour my hair - their choice which. They thought 'Hot Pink' would be just my colour. I think they were a little shocked when I agreed.
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The picture above is my photoshopped version of what I expect to look like by the end of the month.

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I'm going to do it properly too! Not spray colouring or a wash - I'm going to get it bright, pink and permanent colour so it will stay with me for at least a few weeks.
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So here is the challenge to all the kids and staff at Eglinton Public School.

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What is it worth to see me with Hot Candy Pink hair?

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My sons thought this was too good an opportunity to pass up so they have already thrown in some money for the cause.

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I really have to learn to keep my mouth shut!

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So, if any of my on-line friends wan't to help out and donate. You can do so through my profile page at the Worlds Greatest Shave site.

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http://my.imisfriendraising.com.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=340426

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Getting Back To Basics

I’m currently in the middle of rewriting and editing a chapter book. The editing process has always been a daunting task for me. I never knew if I was making things better or worse. That has changed recently. I’ve been getting some invaluable advice and feedback from Sandy Fussell, a children’s author I greatly respect.
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Now I find that I actually enjoy the editing process. And the editing has been going well until I reached a hurdle I couldn’t work out how to get over. In the story, the main character, Marina makes origami creations with magic paper. These creations become real if she wishes hard enough. There is a distinct pattern in the story which sees Marina make one of her paper creations in each chapter. That is until chapter six.
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When I started editing chapter six, I realised Marina had made a boat, then immediately made a captain’s hat for one of her new friends to wear. When one of the other children falls into the water and they discover she can’t swim, Marina turns the captain’s hat into a life jacket to rescue the girl. That is technically three origami creations in one chapter. It ruined the pattern of the book.
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I’ve spent a week now trying to figure out a way to fix the flow of the story without detracting from the story itself. Finally, I decided to get back to basics.
First, I listed everything that happened in the chapter in point form.


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· Children looking at their basketball floating in the middle of the pond.
· Amelia saying ‘If only we had a boat.’
· The hardest wish, Marina makes a boat.
· All aboard.
· Sam wants to be captain.
· Marina makes a captain’s hat.
· Sail to the ball.
· Amelia slips and falls in trying to save the ball.
· Boat is sailing away and Amelia can’t swim.
· Marina turns the Captain’s hat into a life jacket and throws it to Amelia.
· Amelia dries off, back on the boat.
· Home time.

Then I put myself into the heads of the kids to work out exactly what I know about them and how they would react to the events. The first three points stayed the same but I realised their reaction in the story to seeing a sailing boat materialise before their eyes was under done.

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Shocked expressions, a ‘No way!’ And a ‘How did you do that?’ weren’t sufficient. I also wondered if an 11 year old boy, two ten year old girls and a 7 year old boy would actually know how to sail.

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This was the point that opened up storyline to change. The changes have also led to greater character development of the secondary characters. Toby has shown himself to be a little bossy and dismissive of his younger cousin, Sam. When Sam wants to be captain, Toby tells him he’s too small. But Sam proves himself when they get into trouble.
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This is how the plotting developed.
· Children looking at their basketball floating in the middle of the pond.
· Amelia saying ‘If only we had a boat.’
· The hardest wish, Marina makes a boat.
· Reaction to the magic.
· All aboard.
· Sam wants to be Captain. Toby says he too small.
· Casting off, but no one knows how to sail.
· Wrong way Toby – chasing ducks.
· Working out how to steer.
· Against the wind - Stuck on the wrong side of the pond.
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Chapter six ends with the boat drifting closer to a strand of tangled reeds, with razor sharp leaves.
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Chapter seven starts as Sam takes over the steering and sails the boat to safety. That is when Marina makes his captain’s hat for him. The rest of the chapter stays close to the original plan and the pattern of the book is back on track.
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So the moral of this is. When you are stuck;
· Break it down. Not just into scenes – Go smaller, to the individual plot points of each scene.
· Look inside the minds of your characters. If you know them the answers will come.
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What I'm Reading Now! - #1

Jaguar Warrior – Sandy Fussell

Walker Books Australia
ISBN: 978 1 921529 29 0 (pbk)

I find myself very lucky this week to be reading an advance copy of Sandy Fussell’s newest book ‘Jaguar Warrior’. I am a big fan of Sandy’s writing. She writes historical fiction for children and her books have taken her readers on journeys through 13th Century Alaska (Polar Boy), 15th Century Japan and China (Samurai Kids Series) and now to the height of the Aztec world. .
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To date, Sandy’s CBCA 2009 shortlisted book Polar Boy has been my favourite of her books but Jaguar Warrior is shaping up to take the top position.
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POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT
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The story is set during the clash of the Aztec civilization and their Spanish conquerors. These huge events are seen through the eyes of Atl, a young temple slave boy who is set free on the eve of being sacrificed to the Serpent-Sun God to spread warning of the betrayal of the pale lords. To make things a little more interesting, the Captain of the Temple guard believes the only way to defeat the Spanish is to complete Atl’s sacrifice. He has sworn an oath to capture Atl and complete the ritual. Atl has to decide to run to freedom or throw himself into the path of danger and complete the task given him by the man who was about to cut out his heart. And only help he has is from Lali, the most annoying girl in all Mexica.
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LINKS:
http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/
www.sandyfussell.com

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Speculative Fiction Workshop

BLOOD, BOGGARTS AND BATTLESTARS: AN INTRODUCTION TO SPECULATIVE FICTION

With Margo Lanagan - at the NSW Writers' Centre.
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I find myself looking forward to Margo Lanagan’s speculative fiction workshop in March. Plenty of hands on exercises.
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As a reader, I have always been a fan of fantasy. (I do use always in a relatively loose fashion. I was a late starter as a reader finishing my first ever novel in Year 11 at school). Tolkien, Steven Donaldson, David Eddings, Susan Cooper, Anne McCaffrey and Raymond E Feist were all favourites once I caught the bug.
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I am also a huge fan of Science Fiction and horror movies but couldn’t really find as much passion for Sci-fi and horror books back then. I have since discovered some brilliant science fiction authors, particularly Elizabeth Moon. And Simon Haynes is great for sci-fi humour.
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I find that I still don’t like horror stories that rely on gratuitous violence and gore to be scary. (Scott Sigler could be the exception to that rule). That goes for books and movies. It just isn’t scary. The stories that give me delicious shivers are the subtle ones that sneak up on you. The ones that could almost be possible. Dean Koontz is the standout there.
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Now as a writer, I find myself drawn to the speculative end of the scale. I’m not really happy unless there is at least a hint of magic in my stories.
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Fantasy and Horror are huge in publishing at present, particularly in young adult and children’s fiction. This is thanks to the Harry Potter and Twilight phenomena. It’s hard to keep up with the new vampire titles. (Thank goodness they are on the way out). On the other hand, Science fiction seems to be dead in the water.

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So knowing that, why did I pick a science fiction story to write during last years NaNoWriMo. Seriously, I’m asking – I have no idea. Now I have the story in the form of a very rough first draft. But what do I do with it now? Are publishers even looking at science fiction? They don’t seem to be. Is it even worth the effort in re-writing and polishing my draft? Or do I write something more commercially viable?
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I’m hoping Margo’s workshop will answer some of my questions.