FINALLY a new post! "Grandpa colour study."

At long long last a new post. Everyday the blog has languished I've felt guilty not updating. If you've been checking from time to time, many thanks for your patience...and I'm back.

I haven't been away really but am busy working away on a 32 page children's story book idea. I have finished the text (till the next rewrite at least!) and have a basic structure for what will be single page or double page spreads. I have also pretty much sketched out the basic look for the characters and some environments (will try to post some sketch book pages in the next few days). Next comes more planning, this time sketching for the settings and secondary elements / action. After that I'll make a tighter plan for the page layouts then...eventually...the final art and book design. So not too much to do then!

This is the first idea for a children's story book that I've actually seen through this far (many rough sketches and notes for other stories...) and I'm really enjoying the work. I've been studying the children's book sections of my local bookshops, leafing through my collection of children's books and reading some 'how to' books on the subject of children's book illustration and writing. I can heartily recommend "Words and Pictures" by the amazing Quentin Blake, "The art of Eric Carle", "Picture This, how pictures work" by Molly Bang, and so far, "Writing with Pictures" by Uri Shulevitz is very interesting (though some of the colour seperation / preparation for print is outdated).

To cut the waffle, here's the first rough colour study for one of my main characters, just finished tonight. He is the Grandpa of my other main character, a small boy called Magnus. They both live in a lighthouse, on a small rocky island and along the way a Puffin called Piggy makes an appearance. I'll go into more depth later! Hope you like Grandpa.