Thursday 3 May 2012

Illustrating a Children's Picture Book: Dog in Class!


Yesterday was great - I had an entire, more or less uninterrupted day of working on the new roughs! It's really helped me to get properly warmed up with the characters and things are starting to take shape. 


Remember on Tuesday I was thinking about what Sparky might get up to in his lessons? Well, that afternoon I had a go at drawing the 'Quiet Reading' class above and I'm really pleased with how it's looking. I drew the Music lesson properly too: 


I originally sketched him with his head in a trumpet, but when I looked up the picture reference, the trumpet end wasn't really big enough, so I've gone for a French Horn instead, which is somehow funnier anyway. 

Yesterday I mostly worked on re-drawing the lunchtime scene (which will sit on the opposite page to the two illustrations above), working up proper characters from my original sketch and making the ideas from that first visualisation fit the shape of the space. 


When I was done, I had an empty corner in the bottom left, so I thought it was a great opportunity to re-introduce the poor teacher (who we meet when Sparky first arrives at school). Things are a bit fraught from the start, but by now she's at her wit's end!

That first 
illustration, introducing the idea of Sparky at school, will be a double spread and it's what I am working on today.

2 comments:

Alex said...

As a teacher I find this whole concept hilarious. We try so hard to keep control and the idea of a pupil who is enthusiastic, cheerful, energetic but utterly out of control just makes me giggle (even if it is a dog!). I will look forward to seeing this in the bookstore.

Alex x

Vivien said...

Sounds like a really good and funny book - it made me smile! Very interesting to read how you're working it out.