Ideas

So from my initial thoughts and bullet points, I decided to use the mind map ‘Picture books’ to see where this would take me, which I used for my Critical Review questions and start point.

I then set out how I needed to record what I was doing into sections for my blog, so I came up with:-

Research

Ideas

Design

Final artwork

Reflections

I then moved the mind map onwards and picked out some key words:-

I then had some further ideas bounced off this mind map:-

Landscape- moody, rainy, dank, dark, clouds, woodland.

Fantasy- creatures, made up characters.

Composition- unusual viewpoints

Colours- Autumn colours, colours I wouldn’t usually use, Red, Brown, Khaki greens.

Textures- experiment with paint, mix colours, granulation, alchemy, layering, mixed media.

I then went on to do another mind map for the colours and textures that could be used.

From this I was coming up with an idea and a sense of what I was thinking of, I then moved onto the moodboard to find things that feature some of the above ideas.

I found this really helpful, and found some good visual pictures to help bring to life what I had chosen from the keywords and ideas.

I think I’ll move onto a brief of some sort to pull together what I’m trying to achieve, and work further onward to come up with the main idea.

I looked at the forums and friends work for this assignment, as I was thinking do I need to come up with a whole story and illustrations for a whole book!? But I found out from most of the contacts that it’s best to concentrate on sections of the book, or a few illustrations as a overview, otherwise it would be too much work.

Brief

Overview

Create 4-5 illustrations for a children’s fantasy story

What type of project

Picture book Author/ illustrator

Project description

I’m looking for 4-5 illustrations for a children’s fantasy picture book, age 3-9, the child can read it, but also the parent can read it to the child.

Simple words, mainly about the visual pictures, could be a silent book?

The book has to have a lot of atmosphere, wonder and magic in it, a book to get lost in another world.

I’m looking for 1 spread, 1/2 page, spot and cameo illustrations, and maybe a panorama.

Looking for 1-2 new characters

Details/ deadline

5 weeks due on the 17th March 2023

Target Audience

Children age 3-9 years old

Skills I’m looking for

Illustrator/ Author good at watercolours and mixed media, character development.

Moody, atmospheric painterly style, with texture and detail.

Good story telling from the visuals.

So I now have a better idea of what I need to achieve, writing this down in a make believe brief is a good component of my creative process.

I am now going to move onto a few thumbnails for each illustration to see what I can come up with.

I did a few for the spread page, and a few for the cameo.

Then a few for the spot and 1/2 page.

This gave me a few more ideas, of a fantasy land, a hidden world in the woodlands.