Drama in the Theatre: Scene Process
For most projects I begin with a brain dump, mind map, or some kind of storyboard, where I spew out all of my ideas onto paper. I like to think of these ideas as clouds swirling in my head. Some are light and fleeting, some are heavy and storm-like, bursting at the seams with inspiration. This particular idea of a dancing bird, has been brewing in my head for quite some time. I decided to sketch out vague little thumbnails on paper, and rearranged them on my drawing board until a narrative began to emerge…
Hello my festive friends! It’s November!
To celebrate the longer nights and frost-filled mornings, I’m sharing another processes post with you! I wrote a similar post back in January, so what better way to welcome in the penultimate month of the year by revisiting some of those techniques! Some things have changed, some have remained the same. Either way, I hope you enjoy it!
A cloud of ideas
For most projects I begin with a brain dump, mind map, or some kind of storyboard, where I spew out all of my ideas onto paper. I like to think of these ideas as clouds swirling in my head. Some are light and fleeting, some are heavy and storm-like, bursting at the seams with inspiration. This particular idea of a dancing bird, has been brewing in my head for quite some time. I decided to sketch out vague little thumbnails on paper, and rearranged them on my drawing board until a narrative began to emerge.
Before I begin working on a scene, I like to get the skeleton of the narrative sorted, aka the storyboards, which over time can be fleshed out with colour and imagination. For this post I’ll be showing you my process for the theatre scene! I loved the idea of all those rich golds and reds filling the page, and my inspiration for this came from the Royal Opera House in London.
Out of the sketchbook and into the fire
As with most projects, I start out with a lot of messy sketchbook work, where I figure out the atmosphere, composition and content of the illustration. Some days I fill pages upon pages, and some days all I manage is a few brush strokes. But! Progress is always progress, so whatever happens, I like to keep my critical brain out of this initial stage, and trust my intuition by letting the ideas flow.
I knew the audience was an integral part of this scene, so I played around with different expressions and costumes until I felt that they worked well together on the page. I’ve tried to make more conscious choices when it comes to diverse characters within my work, whether that involves gender or age or race, and with this in mind, I attempted to create characters with a good balance of sensitivity and playfulness. Once I’ve tested each section like this - the orchestra, the stalls, the curtains, the audience - it’s time to pull them all out of my sketchbook and start playing!
Playtime
In my previous post I also called this part of the process experimentation, but play sounds so much more inviting! Essentially I use this time to piece together each part of the illustration on the page, testing composition, materials, colour etc, etc. Each time I complete a test I can step back and evaluate the entire image without burning myself out, or wasting time and materials on full size illustrations. For this particular scene I also tested different paper, opting for a smooth watercolour paper rather than my usual Bristol board, which wouldn’t have supported the large washes of paint I wanted to use. I shifted a shadow here and a music note there, until I felt that everything was just how I liked it.
This part sounds simple, but in all honesty I’ve found it can be quite disheartening. Every test begins with, “This is my final test!” but inevitably there’s always something I want to change by the end and I have to try again. I do however try and limit myself to three tests; not only do I get bored of drawing the same scene over and over, but endlessly trying to improve something inevitably feeds into procrastination, and I believe that some of the best illustrations are born from spontaneity.
Finals Finals!
Once I’m satisfied that no more improvements can be made, it’s time for finals! Hoorah! Overall this piece took me two days, working on it for several hours at a time. If it wasn’t for the effort I put in at the experimental stage, this section of the process would never go as smoothly as it does. Making sure that you test an illustration thoroughly means that you can be confident with the how the final piece will turn out, and be happy in the knowledge that you only have to create it once!
For this project I chose to work with gouache and pencil crayons (a mix of prismacolor and polychromos) on watercolour paper. I’ve been chopping and changing my materials this year, and honestly I’ve enjoyed discovering what works best for me my practice. I think a lot of us assume that once we get comfortable with a style or medium we’re not allowed to change. But experimenting with different materials can be one of the best ways to learn about what we do and don’t like. Whatever your style is, OWN IT! But if want to try a new medium, own that decision too! I think the best artists out there are the ones who are open to trying new materials and not being afraid to integrate them into their current practice.
Cleaning up
The final step was to scan and edit the illustration on my computer. I decided to add the music notes digitally, and balanced out any colour hues that had been altered by the scanner.
And there you have it! One scene done and dusted. What do you think of the final image? Do you have a different approach to this process? I’d love to know in the comments!
Gems from October…
*Every year my family and I visit Cholmondeley for some gorgeous autumn colours. I shared some photos from last year’s trip if you’re in need of some satisfyingly seasonal content, that one may be for you!
*Since watching Howl’s Moving Castle I read the book throughout October and loved it! It was interesting to see how to plot differed from the film, but overall it was a great Autumn read.
*Last month I met Hannah of Humbug Art at her lovely studio in Eccles. Hannah facilitates a bunch of art classes for all abilities and ages, so if you’re in the Manchester area you may want to take a look at what she offers! You can see her latest classes here.
*And if you’re interested in art workshops, I’m co-running online illustration sessions throughout November. You can sign up here if you haven’t already got your ticket!
Have a magical November friends!
Until next time,
Catherine
Prickles the Curious Hedgehog: Scene Process
To begin, I must point out that the process I follow for most book projects is far from coherent. It’s essentially a long stream of problem solving in which I have to, at some point, decide on my characters, colour scheme, narrative flow, setting, the message I’m trying to convey, the number of pages, the size of the book … Right?! So many options. So. Little. Time.
Happy happy New Year!
I hope this first post of 2021 finds you well, and that January was kind to you. Like most of us I transitioned from Christmas to New Year reluctantly, and have spent the first month of the year still at home, trying to balance staying busy with the constant disbelief at what’s happening in the world. Anyhow, I hope this month’s post provides a little light-hearted relief for you. Enjoy!
Today I thought I’d show you a behind the scenes look at how I created this illustration, which is taken from my children’s story about a curious hedgehog named Prickles.
Begin at the beginning
To begin, I must point out that the process I follow for most book projects is far from coherent. It’s essentially a long stream of problem solving in which I have to, at some point, decide on my characters, colour scheme, narrative flow, setting, the message I’m trying to convey, the number of pages, the size of the book … Right?! So many options. So. Little. Time.
I usually start with the text, as it’s the base of my narrative. I wrote this particular story myself, and it’s about 400 words. Once I was happy with the basic narrative outline I then started with visual research. I used to love visiting museums and galleries to begin a project, finding ways I could inject culture and history into my sketches. I also think external sources can add depth and context to images that may seem one dimensional if they haven’t been developed enough. But of course, with the UK being in lockdown yet again my chance of visiting a gallery was zero. So I began with a pinterest board, collating illustrations, fine art paintings for colour and atmosphere, photographs, and anything else that sparked inspiration.
From there I did a huge brain dump of messy, sometimes questionable sketches, of everything and anything I wanted to include within the book. I had to look at a lot of references for the animals, to get the proportions right. Then, with enough research, I started on my storyboards. These are just thumbnail-sized sketches where I plot out the narrative, and decide on what will happen in each scene. As you can see, for this scene I decided fairly early on that the burrow would be the main feature of the page.
This sketch was just smaller than A5.
Development
Then comes development. Fleshing out the narrative by building up characters, finding the perfect setting, asking whether it is day or night? What kind of flowers grow there? Where do the characters live? How do they travel? etc etc. After playing around with the content, I scanned the thumbnail sketch, and sized it up to A3.
Using my lightbox, I then traced the scene onto plain white paper, and worked on the finer details, making sure I could get it as close to the final image as possible (making most of the decisions at this point makes painting the final illustration a lot easier). Of course there are always slight tweaks to be made, like removing the table, or changing the string of lights to tree roots.
Experiment, experiment and experiment some more
Like I said earlier, my whole picture book process is far from coherent, so although this scene looked pretty straight forward, there were other scenes that required a LOT more work, and I can restart them multiple times.
Luckily though, I was happy with the way this scene looked, and I was ready for experimentation. The way I differentiate development and experimentation is this: While development grows your content, characters, story etc, experimentation grows the medium, style, composition. See the difference?
I have to say, this is my least favourite part of the process. I KNOW, controversial, but always find I have the urge to jump to the final artwork as soon as I have the rough sorted. But I know that experimentation can be the difference between a mediocre spread and a spread that really sings. So I reluctantly kept my nice smooth paper away from my desk for a while longer, and worked on some smaller tests first. I think one of the reasons why I don’t love experimenting, is because it’s is the part where self doubt can kick in. As soon as you think you’ve cracked it, you realise there is a better way of doing it and the process starts all over again. I spent about a week making test after test, some days it felt like I’d made no progress. As you can see, I was mainly working out colour, and how the mediums would work together as a whole.
Diving In
Inevitably there comes a point when you don’t physically have any more tests left in you, and it’s time for the MAIN EVENT. I chose to do the final illustration on bristol paper because I’m used to working on that, and I find the paint/crayon combo works well on the smooth surface. I used mainly Faber Castell Polychromos and Carandache Supracolor crayons, and acrylic gouache.
To get an accurate outline I used the pencil sketch I’d made earlier, traced this with my lightbox using a peach-coloured pencil, and sat down to paint. I’d say the whole piece took about two days to complete. I then scanned the image, cleaned it up on Photoshop, and added the text.
And there you have it, one scene complete! What do you think of the finished illustration?
Of course, this is by no means the exact way to create a spread. I’m sure most picture book illustrators work differently, this was just an insight into the way I work, and how I navigate my way through a project. I hope it was insightful in some way! I’d love to hear your thoughts, or if you have different ways of working through a project. You can see the finished scene here!
Aside from illustration, here are some things I’ve been loving this month…
*I finished reading Ballet Shoes and it was wonderful. I also got this book for Christmas which I’ve been dipping into intermittently. It’s full of stories from neglected women from history, which is fascinating.
*I’m obsessed with this recipe at the moment, I’ve already made it four times since Christmas. It’s the ultimate comfort food and has enough pasta and cheese to keep me satisfied throughout winter!
*I’ve been loving the sketchbook characters by Claire Powell recently and have been inspired myself to start a small sketchbook project. I’ll be drawing from my pinterest board and posting on instagram over the coming months!
*Since I’ve been busy drawing I’ve needed a lot of music to keep me occupied and I’m slowly working my way through seven years of BTS albums which, as you can imagine, is taking a while. Recently this song has been a favourite, It’s an oldie, but it makes me hopeful for Spring.
Okay that’s enough for now, I can feel a headache coming on.
Sending you all much love and optimism for February. Remember, they can’t cancel the Spring.
Catherine