#PBDummy challenge: Storyboard thumbnails

24. February 2011 · Comments Off · Categories: Books, Daily Doodle Challenge, Illustration, Thoughts · Tags: , , ,

creature for Feb 24, 2011

I spent the morning going over bills and making calls to companies. Somehow, no matter how good a mood I am in before I do these things, by the time I am done, I want to rip things and stamp my feet. I guess I need to meditate on why that is.

I decided to play some soothing music and do my daily doodle to try and get my happy on again. Getting there. Slowly.

The picture book dummy challenge is moving forward over at #kidlitart. (Twitter chat) This week we start on thumbnail story boards. You can read the challenge post here. The chat is tonight at 9PM eastern for those of you who want to stop by. You don’t have to be doing the challenge to join the chat. Anyone interested in kid lit art can be included in the conversation. Just be warned it moves at light speed!

Just a reminder of our schedule for the challenge:

Here is the schedule as it will be presented during the challenge. Blog posts will introduce each step by providing key points to consider, resources, and chat topics for that phase.

Jan. 6-Jan. 13 (1 week): Pick your project

Jan. 13-Feb. 10 (4 weeks): Draft the story

Feb. 10-Feb. 24 (2 weeks): Develop the characters

Feb. 24-Mar. 10 (2 weeks): Storyboard text and art

Mar. 10-May 5 (8 weeks): Produce tight, full-size sketches

May 5-Jun. 2 (4 weeks): Produce final art of two spreads

Jun. 2-Jun. 16 (2 weeks): Comp the cover and assemble the dummy

Jun. 16-Jun. 23 (1 week): Research submissions; prepare dummy package

Jun. 23-Jun. 30 (1 week): Submit

Jun. 30: Wrap party!

That’s it! Nine easy steps to dummy success!

If you are taking on the challenge, please stop by my blog and leave me a comment on your progress (or lack thereof.)

What makes a good story ending?

03. February 2011 · Comments Off · Categories: Books, Daily Doodle Challenge, Illustration, Thoughts · Tags: , , , ,
creature for February 3, 2011

Creature for the day

Over at Twitter #kidlitart, my cohost @BonnieAdamson and I (@WendyMartinArt), are gearing up for tonight’s chat (9PM eastern every Thur.)

Last month we began the Picture Book Dummy challenge. Basically, the members of the chat are putting together a picture book dummy from start to finish. The challenge ends in June.

This evening is the last week we will be discussing ‘story’ in manuscript form. Next week we begin the section on character development. For the illustrator, this is the meat of the project.

I decided I needed to follow along with the group in order to be better able to judge what topics need to be addressed as we move forward. So I dug out an old manuscript I had been noodling with as a self promo piece. I wrote it originally way back before my first book was published. Since that time I have joined the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators, been to several national conferences and local ones as well as some intensives. I’ve learned a lot, grown as both illustrator and writer. The document I opened, in a word – sucked.

So I began over. I have a fun story at about 450 words. The only thing it’s lacking is a great ending. Plus, with the current trend to shorter and shorter picture books, I have only 50 words to do it in. Less would be better.

What makes a great ending?

On  Marisa Montes’ web page, she states, “There are two endings to a book: physical and emotional.  What did the characters go through and what is their response?

The “physical resolution” means the solution to the puzzle, the problem overcome, the plot resolved.  The “emotional resolution” means how did the characters feel as they went through this experience and how were they changed.  At the beginning they might feel worried; at the end, relieved or happy.” (Scroll to the very bottom to see her book map.)

In short, the end of the story, should wrap up the action in a satisfying manner. The main character should have resolved some issue and there should be a bit of a teaser as well.

Teaser? I know you are scratching your head on that one. What I mean by that is the end should be a very tiny bit of a cliff hanger. Not so much that the book seems to be cut off in the middle, but enough so that the reader gets the impression that the story continues beyond the last page of the book. No ‘and they lived happily ever after,’ that’s just a yawn!

 

Manga Studio EX or why I love Twitter

31. August 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Illustration, Thoughts · Tags: , , , , ,

I am having a love affair with Twitter. For me, it has been a wonderful experience. Better than any other of the myriad of social networking sites I have joined. Some I never developed. Some I developed but no longer visit on a regular basis. And some I signed up for a profile and after a while decided they weren’t for me and deleted the profile. All of them pretty much worked the same way, and as a person of visual output outweighing my verbal output, keeping them up to date and useful to my business wasn’t really giving me a measurable return. I like things I can quantify and measure. I get free stuff by being on Twitter. Artsy stuff I really want, but can’t justify spending $$ on because I have to buy more every day things like food, socks or school supplies.

I have been on Twitter for about a year now. I have connected with art and writer friends around the world. And I have conversations with them. Learn about things I am interested in and find out new information about things I never knew. I ‘attend’ several weekly chats, and in fact, I even co-host one called #kidlitart specifically focused on the business of art in children’s book illustration. All the chats are live streams inside of Twitter’s main stream and while anyone can ‘attend’ most people utilize a software organizer like TweetDeck or TweetChat to keep up with the flurry of tweets a chat can generate. (To see archives of previous chats go to the KidLitArt blog.) Another thing I’ve accomplished is connecting with businesses in a meaningful way. Hence the free ‘stuff.’ Did I mention this is stuff I really want?

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow artist tweeted she had intentions of buying Manga Studio EX and posted a link to the software’s web page on SmithMicro’s web site. I followed her link and became enamored with the program. A smattering of tweets between us over the next several days discussing the program followed. She went out and purchased it a few days later, while I decided I would have to put off a purchase of new software indefinitely. While the Manga Studio EX program is inexpensive as far as programs go, my priorities on where my funds are to be spent do not include new software for a while. Meanwhile, I spent delighted and drool-inducing hours watching youtube videos of other artists using Manga Studio.

Then I got an email! Someone at SmithMicro had seen my tweets and visited my web site. She viewed my portfolio and found my art unique, pleasing and appropriate for use inside of Manga Studio. Since my style of work is NOT manga but Art Nouveau, I guess it was unusual enough to warrant a ‘new’ usage for the company’s software. The email offered me a free copy of Manga Studio EX in exchange for a review. How fast do you want to bet I replied in the affirmative?

Several days later, I had the program install on my dinosaur of a MAC and was reading my way through the manual.

I had a work in progress at the pencil stage. I decided to use this pencil sketch for my trail run with MS EX. To make matters a bit more interesting, I am also finally using the stylus I have had for a while, but never utilized because the end result was never ‘organic’ enough for my tastes. So I am also learning how to use my Wacom tablet at the same time.

I am moving slowly forward with figuring out the program capabilities, but I thought I would share my progress with images from start to finish. (I am working in MS instead of doing my daily doodles. After all I only have the same 24 hours a day as everyone else. something has to be put aside.)

pencil rough for Snow White - Bad Apple

pencil sketch imported into MS EX and beginning inking (evil queen) - Bad Apple

The pen tools in MS EX are GREAT. I have total control over thickness and I am sure once I get used to the stylus I will have enough control over placement to forgo paper pencil sketches as well if I like.

My Twitter friend says she’ll still use Photoshop to lay in color. I’ll have to finish with the inking before I start coloring. Since I use watercolor for color because I like the bloom and mystery of it, this will also be an experiment to see if color is more ‘organic’ in MS EX.

More to come.