A Niche For All

I recently smacked myself on the head because in all my work creating a portfolio of books covers, I have been neglecting possibly my favorite genre: middle grade fiction.

I had previously lumped everything post-picture book and pre-adult fiction under the umbrella of "Young Adult" but in reality there needs to be some separation there. Older YA fiction novels have taken off on their own, and really deserve their own category of mysterious and magical photo manipulations. Which I love, don't get me wrong! But I often find myself taking a different path.

So I started to look up some great middle-grade book covers, and I stumbled upon Gilbert Ford's blog, which has some great examples to get me inspired:

Gilbert Ford

So much color! So much creativity! So much playfulness! Let the games begin!

Anamorphic Art

Check out this article:
Anamorphic Art with István Orosz

"Anamorphosis is an art of distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to use special devices or occupy a specific vantage point to reconstitute the image. The art of Anamorphosis was invented in China and brought to Italy in the 16th century, about the time Renaissance artists like Leonardo da Vinci were mastering 3-D and discovering slant anamorphosis."

Basically it's way weird.

The Really Medium Show

Over the weekend I set up a table at the annual "Really Big Show" put on by my local chamber of commerce. They put on a few annual craft/vendor shows, and I wasn't sure if I had ever been to this one, but generally they are well attended. This one has a theme of home and garden, and with the recent popularity of my wooden spoon garden markers, I thought this might be a good opportunity. I brought along a bunch of my painted shoes as well, because I am trying to branch out into my local market. Joined kind of last minute, but what the hey:

Attendance Friday was quite slow, not picking up until after 5pm. I thought, with this being a garden show and all, my garden markers would be a big hit. They were a decent seller, but I expected more. I gave away quite a few business cards, however and I'm hoping some custom shoe orders will roll in later. Saturday saw more attendees, but I think the weekend was still a bit of a bust.

Many of the vendors I talked to seemed to feel the same. The Chamber puts on another craft show in the fall, which I remember being much bigger. I might end up there, and I'll probably try the SummerFest this year as well. I thought about traveling to other shows in the state, but I think I'll keep it local this year and test the waters a bit first.

Interview With Sarah Andrews

The next interview I found is with Sarah Andrews, who is the art director at Meadowside Children's Books. What I found most interesting is that Meadowside is expanding into the YA market. Any expansion of YA fiction bodes well for all cover artists.


Q: What kind of content should an illustrator looking to attract the attention of Meadowside include in their portfolio?

A: I really love to see the process - a throw-away sketch can often be the start of a great idea! So it's useful to see as much as possible and it might be better for an illustrator not to spend months getting a single picture book just right, when (for instance) we might have a similar idea already in development. That time might be better spent working across a variety of ideas and projects, since just one drawing could spark something special or strike us as perfect for a text that's been waiting for an illustrator.


*sigh* I guess that means I should start sketching more. I haven't just doodled in my sketchbook, when I wasn't brainstorming a specific project, in what seems like years. It couldn't hurt.

Your Content Strategy

“Your Content Strategy Should Be as Easy to Articulate as a Children’s Story Book”

Children's book authors may point out that a children's book is hardly easy to create; however, a good children's book flows in an manner that's easy to read and understand. Stefanos Karagos believes you should approach your social media with a plan in mind. Create content that matters; don't just spam your Facebook page with photos. He has an excellent slideshow that demonstrates his viewpoint (no, seriously, it's a very cool slideshow!) Take a look below:

Visual Content Rule The World from Stefanos Karagos

Interview With Zoe Tucker

Today I'm reading an interview with Zoe Tucker, an Art Director at Alison Green Books. One of the first things she says about the children's book process is something I hear repeated time and time again:

"Well, in a nutshell, it all begins with a good story."

She sheds a bit more light on the job that falls to the illustrator. It's not just about having "pretty" art, or a colorful image. Good things to think about when illustrators are creating portfolio samples as well:

"The characterization is key to everything. It’s very important that the main character can ‘carry’ the story convincingly. Can they make lots of facial expressions, stand in different poses, sit down, kneel, twist etc? Rather annoyingly, I’m sure, I usually ask the illustrator to do pages of characters roughs, working on body shape, expressions and poses."

She likens the thumbnail sketching and planning process to planning a storyboard for a film:

"Films are rarely shot from the same one angle and likewise in picture books, variation in perspective and scale can help add drama and energy, whilst a minimal linear approach can keep a story quiet and simple."

If you want to read the entire article, and see all the lovely pictures, check it out below:

Interview with Zoe Tucker

Designing Characters With Shape

I stumbled across a couple of blogs talking about Luigi Lucarelli's character design, so I thought I should check it out for myself. I haven't gone through all the videos yet, by far, but they seem to be a great resource for children's artists, animators, and concept designers as well.

Luigi so far seems to be just starting out, having worked with a few clients such as Six Degrees Games and Fuhu Inc, but I can easily see him working with Dreamworks, Cartoon Network, and the like. Maybe he'll start teaching, and take these tutorials to a classroom.

Youtube:

Designing Characters With Shape

DA Portfolio:

Luigi Lucarelli