Book Dummy 101, Part I: Getting Started

Last semester I took the Book Dummy class, and boy was that intense! There was no time to update my blog or write about what I had learned each week- every day was go, Go, GO!!!

But as busy as I was, it had been quite rewarding. Taking the Book Dummy course has helped me not only to (almost) fully complete my first book dummy, but I also now feel confident enough to continue on my own with the rest of the stories brewing in my brain. And the best part is, I can now finally share it with you!

First Thing's First...


1. You Need a Story.
And it better be good! Get rid of those typos and grammatical errors- before you start drawing, your manuscript really should shine all by its lonesome. This also means there aren't any holes in your plot, either. This step wasn't necessarily required in this particular class, however, because each student began in different stages. But if you're just starting off, this step will save you time and headaches and all the back-and-forth stuff you don't already have time for. Seriously, take a writing course if you are going to be an author/illustrator. Because editors also don't have time for those who don't take the time to be serious about their work. Perfect your story. Or find an already perfected one to illustrate.

2. Pace Out Your Story
Pacing is SUPER important. Grab a few picture books and ask yourself why you think they put those particular words on those particular pages. Is there suspense created? A surprised revealed only when you turn the page? Do they need to slow the story down for the full emotional effect? Pacing and page-turns help turn a story almost into a movie- a whole production. Everything placed on that page was put there for a reason. Once you figure out those reasons, and learn to recognize them, put those skills to use with your own manuscript. Then take your MS (manuscript) and break it into numbered pages so you can actually see it for yourself.

3. Work Out Some Thumbies and Make A Storyboard
Okay, so now you've got your story broken down into pages, draw up a grid of page layouts so you can get some basic thumbnail drawings down. It doesn't need to be pretty, just recognizable. Step back and take a look at your completed storyboard. Is the pacing working? The general story playing out the way you pictured it? Is there plenty of action where it is needed? Do this step a few times if you must- try to work out as many kinks as possible. Then take a look at your compositions. Do they help or hinder the story? Mull it all over, pose like Rodin's Thinker, then move on. There's still plenty of time to change things around a bit!

First-Pass Storyboard for my dummy book!

4. Cut and Paste
This is the step I took to help me visually see my words right there in front of me, the way they would look in print. I printed my manuscript in size 18 pt, then sliced up each sentence and pasted them all down (according to my basic sketches) onto 8x10 paper with a Post-It glue stick. Then I stuck the pages into a binder and read them like a book. Some pages had too much text, but the pacing worked. So I worked on those sentences until everything looked like it was where it should be. The re-positionable glue is great for re-arranging. And yes, I know I could do this on the computer and save paper, but I needed something tangible in front of me to get a better feel for my book.

Sample page layout, complete with notes and reminders.

5. Scan, Resize, and Print!
As I worked on my medium-sized thumbnails, I found myself getting frustrated that I had to draw blobs for my text, and in the right place, on forty different page layouts. So to save myself some time I scanned all of my text layout pages and reduced them to 50%, and then printed those pages. I now had my entire Mini Dummy ready to be sketched without having to mess around with guessing where my text should go. Even better, I could do my sketches onto tracing paper (in my case, parchment paper) and re-do them as many times as I wanted. I hate erasing stuff. It is messy, and you lose so many good little sketches due to wrong placement or size, etc. I just keep moving on, and scan the things I like and ignore the things I don't like.

Well! If you've been following these steps, now you've got yourself a nice foundation to work upon! Your MS is as shiny as you can make it, your pacing helps move the story forward, creates tension and reveals surprises, and you've got everything laid out for Part II: Drawing!


I'll see you at the next posting of Book Dummy 101! To Be Continued...

From Start to Finish: Mooin, the Bear's Child

Project Number Three has commenced!

You may notice that I've still got a little bit of work to do on my two previous projects, however, as many of you students out there understand... What Teacher says, Student does!

Our third and final project for Children's Book Illustration II is a storyboard and a double-page spread of a folktale.  It must include a child, and it must be completed in acrylic paint!  It can be any size, theme or style we choose, as long as it matches well with the story.

I chose to do the Native American tale of "Mooin, the Bear's Child."  In this class, I have done a Japanese themed project in watercolor, a Chinese themed project with acrylic and cut paper collage, and I think it will be fun to try a Native American theme for the last project.  I love nature, and all things woodsy (my daddy does woodworking- love the smell of sawdust!) so I am entertaining the thought of painting this all on pine... but I guess we'll see how it goes.  Art tends to have it's own mind when it comes to things like this!

Our first job was to paginate the story, which means we need to break down the story's text and determine where it will go, and on what page, in a way that enhances the story.  I've learned in my writing class that this is also an essential part of writing a picture book - you need to make the story build itself up, create tension and excitement, and slowly bring it back down to a conclusion.  And you can do all that not only with the plot, but also how and where you place the text.

Here's what my story looks like paginated:

 

The next step is to do a storyboard, or a visual layout of text and page composition of the entire story.  This includes things like borders, square-ups, and page bleeds.

Mine read from left to right- across both pages. 
(The pages are numbered...follow those and you'll get the idea!)

Then we choose our favorite double-page spread that features a child, and we work on possible compositions:

(I didn't include the ugly ones...maybe one day I will when it won't be so incriminating!)

Then we need to work on the final sketch.  This part is much harder for me, because my story is about bears, and I've never actually drawn real bears before!  So I went surfing around the web and watched some nice bear videos, clips from Disney's Brother Bear movie, and browsed Google images.  I also reserched Native American iconolgy and symbols, because I might be using them for a border. 

 Here are some sketches I can now use for my composition:

That is all I've got right now, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done!  I've got more wrestling bears, boys, and comps to draw, and some serious polishing up to do.  Though I've got an image in my head, I'm still excited to see how it all turns out!

In the meantime, Happy Drawing and Writing to you!  :)