Illo 2 - A Boy & His Wolf

A BOY & HIS WOLF

© Diana Ting Delosh

Ink & Watercolor

Well here it is Illo #2* - now this piece was a long time coming. Too many interuptions, obstacles both personal and professional -but here it is finally and I'm fairly happy with the finish.

I wanted to work on Book Jacket type art.  Several art buyers have looked over my portfolio and have stated that I should add more full color Jacket and B & W interior art for middle grade/YA books to my portfolio. Why - because midgrade/YA books are big sellers and the picture book market is slow right now. I should add that doing so has been on my to do list for awhile but it's the 12 Week Challenge that's galvinized this thought into concrete action.

The idea/assignment - Bk jacket art - I decided to redo an old piece that's been languishing in my flat files. There are somethings about it that I still like: the wolf and the dreamy forest. As for the rest - it's over wrought/overdone and what's with the boy's outfit? 

Decided to  loose the heavy distracting border, whale , eagle, etc. Stared at a lot of book jackets and noted that most titles were on the top third.

Used photoshop to isolate and enlarge what I wanted to keep in my new illo. Pencil now shows boy & wolf fills the jacket bottom two thirds. Note also that the boy is wearing a contemporary sweat jacket. Research and find good reference for clothes, wolf, boys haircuts etc.

 After the pencil, comes the inking and finally we're in the last stages -  the coloring. As usual I lay in my color. Work on the boy - paint in the wolf - now with more detail and depth then my older version. Paint in the background.  

Here is where it went awry. In the new version I put in a big tree in the mid ground. The tree top is where I envision the type. BUT I end up hating the tree top! Would probably look fine with type but as it stood - I just wasn't happy.  I am happy with the boy and I love the wolf. Now what? Feed my trash monster? Banish it to my flatfile? What? As this is watercolor, a transparent media, I can't just paint over the offending parts. I can paint the background on another piece of paper and splice it in via photoshop. OK that's a thought but wait this is a personal piece and there is no real size for me to stick to just as there is no deadline or client. There is only me to please. So what's my solution? Crop it! Yay! and I even like it now. 

Yes, yes one day I'll paint dreamy forests and splice in with photoshop but that can wait. Now I hear illo 3, Sandcastle Summer,  calling me as well as Ripple Sketches and gazillion other things to do.  Illo 4, 5, 6 will be randomly: The Reluctant Dragon, black & white, and TBD. 

*Refers to the Zero2illo 12 week challenge. Weeks 4 - 6: create 6 portfolio worthy illustrations. My personal challenge - create 6 people illos as my website is underpopulated with people.  

12 Week Challenge - Illo #1

Illo #1 - MOI at 9

FYI: see Zero2Illo.com for more info about the 12 Week Challenge.

My process? It begins with the assignment. In this case the assignment is illo-1 (6 people illustrations). As I also needed to create original art for the One of Us Exhibit (more about this later) - self-portrait, any medium, must be flat and 4" x 6". No problem -fits my 6 people illos parameters. Illo #1 would be me at 9. When I was 9, I loved to draw in the garden with my cat, Gracie beside me. I begin by doodling layout ideas in my sketchbook.

Once I've settled on a layout I rule out my paper and start penciling on tracing paper to size.

I use my lightbox to transfer the sketch to watercolor paper and refine the pencil sketch some more before I begin inking. When I've finished theink I scan it - just in case something goes wrong in the coloring step.

Before I begin to paint I tape the paper to my desk on all 4 sides to prevent my paper from warping. I like to start with my trouble spots like the girls face. There is not a lot of room for error in water color so I want to get past my tricky spots in the beginning. I put in all the shadows using either a bluish gray tone or a warmer brown tone -depends on what color goes on top. And then I keep painting - being careful to let areas dry so nothing bleeds or fuzzes unless that's the desired effect. When I think it's finished -I walk a way -take a breather and then comeback. Look it over and decide if I need to do any overpainting to adjust the color. For this piece I decided that the grass was too yellow & pale so I put a bluer green wash on the grass area. I wait until the piece is fully dry and then cut it off my desk. Scan - TahDah - here it is!

Moi at 9

© Diana Ting Delosh

Ink & Watercolor

Whew -1 down and 5 more people illos coming. Number 2 coming right up.

12 Week Challenge - Wk 1, 2, 3,

Found this neat Illustrations challenge at Zero2illo.com via Twitter! Basically the challenge is to take 12 weeks to make your illustration dreams come true. Unfortunately this Challenge began before I discovered it, so I'm jumping in somewhere in the middle. I'm fast forwarding through wks 1 - 3. May fill in with more details at a latter date -- or not.

WK 1 - ID your Dream Goal.

Easy -Children's Book illustrator! The broader picture to make a good living as an illustrator specializing in whimsical & decorative art.

WK 2 - Create a 1 page Strtegic Biz plan for my Project/art biz career

OGSM -Objective/Goals/Strategy/measures

WK 3 - The Biz

• Decide Biz structure: Solo player -Moi!

• Marketing Strategy:

- My audience? Art Dir, Editors, professional Art Buyers.

- My end users? Adults that buy kids books, products

1) Research where/what my art will be best received. Won't post my list of 10 companies here. Suffice to say that they will be trade pubs, Kids magazine, etc.

2) Plan 6 Portfolio Pieces to create for weeks 4, 5, 6. That's 6 illustrations "due" by Sunday May 23rd -that is if I'm to stick with the framework of the 12 week challenge.

I need to have more people pieces in my portfolio - show kids ages pre-school to YA. I've been telling myself that I need to add more people to my portfolio and here's my chance. 1 or 2 of my 6 illos will be a book jacket style art and another illo or 2 will be b& w interior style art. 6 People Illos coming up!

Well here goes. Wish me luck!