This choice has held me up for some time!
I have to pick between:
pen and ink with water color,
or ball point pen and water color,
or graphite (pencil) with watercolor,
or gouache paint,
or acrylic paint.
I have the most experience doing children's book illustration in acrylic paint, but I really love making art that involves more use of LINE. So I'm testing a couple things out. These are small 8x10'' cold press illustration board.
TOMORROW: I paint on these with watercolor! Then we'll see how we like...
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Hippo n Flamingo is pen and inked (the kind you dip in an ink bottle). I really like the look of it, and it's very fun to work with!! Downside is... I keep smearing the ink all over before it dries. Oops. Can you see the smudges?
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Hippo n lightning bug started out a test with black Prismacolor pencil (it's great to draw sketchbook with) but it wasn't working with the illustration board very well. The lines were too soft and the detail wasn't showing up. So I gave up and covered what I had and finished with ballpoint pen instead!
"You Should You Should" will be published by the end of the year in ebook form with new Publishing House "Familius." If it does well, it will go to print! You can read the story Here.
Looking good, Ginny!
ReplyDeleteI don't know enough to make suggestions on your choice of medium, but I like the detail that the use of line offers. Looking at your portfolio, your palette is very distinctive; will you try to achieve the same rich colors in watercolor, or instead develop another "style"?
I found a couple of smudges after you mentioned them and think you did well to keep it to that few! I lived in Belgium when I was 10 and we used fountain pens for our schoolwork. I smudged a lot, and that was with cartridges!
One thing I noticed in Hippo + Flamingo (who has great expression!) is that the perspective on Hippo's head seems to not quite work. On one hand it looks like it is viewed from almost directly underneath, but then you can also see a lot of features you would see if you were looking at him in profile (most of an eye, an ear, his gritted teeth and his hat), a bit like a Picasso portrait, though not that extreme! Not quite sure what to do about it as I guess you need the eye and teeth for expression - perhaps tilt his head a bit more towards us?
I'm looking forward to seeing how the sketches color up!
Thanks Roelant! Good to hear from you. I'm honestly very concerned about that--will I be able to achieve the same rich colors? Will I be trying to develop a new style? Is there time for this and do I feel confident enough in venturing in new places I'm more unfamiliar with when I'm working on a book and am looking for the absolute best solution?
DeleteYeah smudges are difficult to avoid. Thanks! Wow Belgium huh?
Thanks for pointing that out--I see what you mean about his face problem! I'll work on that before I do the final. It is hard to find good reference for that perspective of a hippo. Haha, it does seem picasso-esque huh? Thanks again!
I like the idea of using watercolor over a line drawing. Your line is really great! I think acrylic would cover up the line quality.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Hmmm... I'm still quite unsure. I like the line, and many like the line... but would children from 3-8 like it more than the bright colors of acrylic? And am I confident enough in it? Thanks Lee!! I will need it.
DeleteIt has been a very long time since I have been in the art groove of things, but one thing I do remember is trying to convince my aunt (who is an artist and used to do only oils and acrylic) that water color can offer just as vibrant colors as the others as well as a light touch they will never achieve. I eventually got to her and only paints with water colors now. I know that was a long story for a comment box, but I say go for the water colors. I remember them being my median of choice way back in the day.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brad. I dunno... I'm not very use to water colors and... maybe I just have been away from painting for the summer too long, but I just finished one with water color and I hate it. lol I could keep working on it to fix it up, but I don't even want to. I'm sure if I had slowed down and done more planning it would look much better... but water color is just so unforgiving. Ya know? Thanks for the perspective. My professor told me the same about the bright colors. I won't bag the idea just yet.
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