Working from Nature

For the last section in the Introduction to Illustration course, we studied Natural Science Illustration and worked on rendering things from nature with our pencils and inks. 

Acorn Squash and Gerbera Daisies Pencil and Micron Pen on Bristol Board

The best part about this was that we all got to visit RISD's Nature Lab, which was wonderful. I'm going to have to find a good excuse to sneak away there for a couple of hours, because they have so many animals and things in their storage, and I only had time to draw ONE owl... and they have three! He still needs some work, but isn't he so fluffy and cute? :)

Great Horned Owl (fairly certain it is, anyway)
2H Pencil on Strathmore Drawing Paper
(Thanks, Jess, for the pencil!)

I will keep both of these images in my online portfolio, probably in the Sketchbook and Fine Art sections.

Even though I've had experience in all three sections, (Children's Book Illustration, Comics, and Natural Science Illustration), taking this Intro course was helpful because it confirmed my suspicions: that I love to draw pretty much anything. I got a few more pieces to put in my portfolio, got a better idea how I want to do Bungee Bunny's book when the time comes, and got really vamped up about drawing more from life.

In all, I got quite a bit out of this course, which goes to show that one learns something new every day. Or re-learns. Hoot to that!

Building Characters builds... er, character!

Some of my most recent lessons (for both classes) have been about creating character profiles and character traits. For my illustration class, I chose to work with a little dude I made up years ago, who will be starring in his own picture book in the future. I've got his story all ready and waiting, so when I am finished with Super-Secret Project #1, and perhaps a #2, Bungee Bunny will become Project #3.

Anyhow, in the Introduction to Illustration course we talked about comic art, and the different styles it can be drawn, and how artists tell their stories with pictures.  But the number one thing of importance is your character, who needs to feel real all on his/her own. Our assignment was then to create a character, draw him from different angles, and show why he is special.

Bungee Bunny character art.
Bungee Bunny is the property of Melanie Linden Chan!

(Please forgive the watermarks, but as my little guy is so cute, he will be coveted. Kindly refrain from stealing him from me, because I have big plans for him and I'd rather my dreams not be crushed. Much appreciated.)

We also talked about this in the Book Dummy class; how your character must really be his own self, and look and act consistent throughout the story. Some students chose to draw their characters mimicking a favorite artist, (for example, how would Bungee look if Van Gogh painted him? What colors, textures, or lines would he use?), or picked out swatches of fabric patterns that their character would wear or like. Then we all did character art and turnarounds, although mine isn't quite web-ready yet so I will share it with you soon.

Character art is a great way to get yourself ready for producing a comic book, graphic novel, or a children's picture book. Do one for each of the characters in your story- you won't regret it!

From Start to Finish: Fairytale Open Book

My first completed project of the new school year!

The assignment was to illustrate the front cover of a children's book (any classic story that no longer has a copyright issue, which would be a folktale, fairytale, or is over 100 years old and deems it public property) in any way we choose, in any medium. The only rule was to leave room for text. I chose to go with a Fairytale Collection book or an anthology of fairytale characters, because I simply cannot choose just one story!

I began with a sketch on scrappy paper (I do my best work on garbage paper that should be recycled... fresh clean new paper is so uninspiring), then scanned and re-sized, added a few things with tracing paper, re-scanned and re-sized, and then transferred it all onto watercolor paper.

I used my own mixture of ink for the lines and underpainting: burnt umber and black makes a nice chocolatey brown. I chose to stick with only three or four colors for my palette, which I wanted to keep warm: Cadmium Red Medium, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Cobalt Blue, and Lemon Yellow for some brightness.

Brown Ink Stage.

Some color added.

Pretty much done here.

And here it is in the final scanned form:

And that was it! No secrets, just plain old art. I didn't add any touches of colored pencil or caran d'ache, or even gauache for that matter. Simple yet effective! I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out. I wonder what I will be doing next?