My thanks have to go out to Jackie Hosking from the PASS IT ON newsletter. In the opportunities section of issue 321, back in December2010, Jackie listed a new on-line children's magazine 'Literature For Kids' was seeking stories, poems and reviews. The magazine has themed issues and although I had no stories that matched the current theme, I contacted the editor and offered to submit a cover illustration for consideration.
Happily, the cover was accepted for the February Issue of the magazine with the theme of Love and Friendship. You can see a copy of the cover art in my Illustration gallery or visit the magazine ste at; http://www.literature4kids.com/
I recommend to all the writers out there, if you don't already subscribe to the PASS IT ON newsletter, it should be the next thing on you To-Do list.
Showing posts with label illustration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illustration. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
What is Tersa? Competition
What is Tersa?
That is the question. Personally, I thought it was quite obvious and I'm actually a little worried about some of the opinions I have heard. It made me wonder if it was literally time to go back to the drawing board.
The sketch was done as an illustration of one of the characters in my YA novel manuscript ‘Eyes In The Dark’ and I was very pleased with the result. The picture was one that I showed at my ‘Bless the Beasts and the Children’ exhibition. During the evening, I overheard several people discussing the picture and they all had differing opinions as to what exactly Tersa is.
Frankly, it doesn’t leave an artist with a great feeling when people can’t figure out what the subject of their picture is. It’s not such a problem if you are an abstract artist but in art I like cows to look like cows and trees to look like trees and Tersa to look like … well Tersa.
So I have decided to run a little competition to get a consensus of what people think Tersa actually is.
The Prize
A signed, limited edition print of the picture with certificate of authenticity.
I will select two correct entries at random. The winners will be announced on the 1st of September and both will receive a prize.
So please, leave a comment and let me know what you think.
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