Happy June my Beautiful Butterflies!!
We're officially in the heat here in Houston. And goodness, the sun is already kicking! I'm definitely a cooler weather girl, but alas I try to make the best of the summer with cute summery outfits, dipping my feet into the water, and enjoying some refreshing drinks.
Last month I promised you I would share what I've been working on, and let me tell you it's been a long time coming. I wrote a children's book about 6 years ago to be exact, after the birth of my niece Penelope. But once I wrote the book, I found myself so intimidated to illustrate it. So instead, I decided I needed to practice more and I found myself knee-deep in my "animals in clothes" series.
Months later, and many illustrations later, I found myself creating my space series, and on time went. I kept thinking I would go back to it, but I never quite did. But at the beginning of this year, I revisited the story and honestly quite enjoyed it. So, I thought this is the year that I'm going to start the illustrations. I have one book under my belt, and many illustrations in my portfolio, while the task still seemed daunting I decided it wasn't as daunting as before.
So this past January I set out on an epic research of book sizes, thumbnails, and book styles, and I sort of jumped in and have really found my way. I've just been in the sketching phase, but I'm really enjoying it so far and finding confidence as I re-work (and re-work some more) these illustrations. I can feel the color phase fast approaching and I know that will be a beast, and I will likely feel overwhelmed yet again, but I'm okay with that.
I'm planning on self-publishing this little lady since this project is more for me, but I thought I would share a few little behind-the-scenes snippets. The style and look will surely change when I get into color, and I'm sure so much re-working will happen, but a small little sneak peek of where I'm at is always fun.
I started with incredibly rough thumbnail sketches.
I started playing around with character styles, which have constantly been evolving through my different rounds of sketches and will likely change more as I get into color.
I've been reminding myself to enjoy the process as I go, instead of itching to get to the end. This is a labor of love and I want to learn and appreciate it.
I'm all about these little doodles. I just started printing them out from my iPad so I can play with the continuity of the style.
Here's a quick photo of me drawing on my iPad. I find that I sketch quicker on the iPad because of how I can alter and change and move around my ideas, but when it's time to paint it will be with a paintbrush.
Well, friends, that's all I feel comfortable showing so far. Just a quick little preview of what I've been working on behind the scenes. Hope you all have a great June and I will see you next month.
xoxo
Rachel