kevinspear.com » children’s illustration

Lavishly Illustrated

speartoons — Wed, 05 May 2010 05:00:59 +0000

Cartoon of a boy and a librarian. The boy asks, “How can you tell if a picture book is just illustrated or lavishly illustrated?”Most times, when a publisher describes their picture book, they say it’s lavishly illustrated. Does that mean it has real gold leaf and uses the most expensive dyes in the process? It could mean the illustrator used Photoshop Extended instead of the standard version!

I lavishly drew this in Adobe Illustrator with a little Photoshop thrown in.

Illustration Friday-Wilderness

speartoons — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:57:00 +0000

Illustration Friday-Wilderness, originally uploaded by speartoons.

This is my sketch for Illustration Friday. This week’s word is “;wilderness” Whenever I think of wilderness, I envision the old Hanna Barbera, Yogi Bear cartoons. As a kid, I thought everyone was mean because they wouldn’t feed the bears. This is how I would have liked those cartoons to turn out.

My idealism changed when we went on a vacation to the Smoky Mountains and I saw a bear charge a tourist. That settles it. It’s not a good idea to feed the bears.

I drew this in Adobe Photoshop

Blog link: What size should I illustrate my children’s book?

speartoons — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Heather Castle’s blog has some great information for aspiring children’s book illustrators. Her latest post tackles the question, “What size should I illustrate for children’s books?”

http://blog.illustrationcastle.com/2009/11/03/faqs-what-size-should-i-illustrate-for-childrens-books/

The biggest takeaway from this is don’t provide finished illustrations for the whole book. It will take you forever and won’t help you sell the book. Provide sketches and perhaps one, finished illustration.

You never what to hear from and editor who says, “The story was great, but the illustrations are a bit off.” I’ve seen it before. It happens. Your illustrations may be great, but not quite the angle the editor would like to go. Or it could go the other way. The publisher loves your illustration style but thinks the story is drivel. If that’s the case, you have quite a portfolio piece, but a couple of illustrations would have sufficed.

It’s the KISS method, friends! Keep it simple, Silly!

Maurice Sendak Video

speartoons — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:00:00 +0000

The Drawn blog has a post about a Maurice Sendak video.

http://drawn.ca/2009/10/14/maurice-sendak-on-what-being-an-illustrator-means/

I found it interesting he didn’t know how his illustrations work. He said the only thing he has control over is his graphics. It led me to realize when you think too hard about the arts, it can cripple you. The key isn’t to spend so much studying that you never actually draw. The key is to do the dirty work day in and day out.

If I’m not plugging away each day, I get rusty and cranky. If you love to draw and write, do it every day no matter how you find the time. Five minutes in a day is better than none at all.

The Business of Children’s Illustration

speartoons — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Paige Keiser at the Fox in Socks blog has an interesting post on the business of children’s illustration. http://paigekeiser.blogspot.com/2009/10/5-quick-tips-to-getting-published-in.html

Not only is it her professional advice, but the advice of other pro illustrators. Illustration is a business. Sure, the artsy part of us loves to be free and unfettered. But if someone wants to make a living in the field, they have to put in the hard work just like any other business.

The post is chocked full of practical advice. I recommend checking it out.