This past week has been a very busy week - I delivered all illustrations on Tuesday and slept the whole of yesterday. I'm finished!!!!! 34 double spreads!!!! Will post a few pages for you to see - Book will be out about the end of July. Here the close up of the pic below I promised to post. - June is starting next week, the Cape Town Book Fair is on the 16-19 June and the South African chapter of the SCBWI is going to have a stand st the fair so the next two weeks are going to be EXTREMELY busy with preparation. But today I'm taking the day off! Have a jolly day
In Gordon's Bay the sun is shining - we had some rain last night so it is a cool day - wonderful for my crayons - if it is too warm my crayons get too soft! - Here is how I do my skin colour for the little girl in the book I'm working on... I put down a wash of cinnamon colour then darken shadow areas with the cinnamon pastal on top of the wash - then smooth the whole area with the salmon colour pastel - then work on top with white pastel -blending and lightening the areas nearest to my light source - if I want to darken areas more I use the cinnamon again or add some periwinkle blue and blend it in with the cinnamon or salmon pastels - For my line I use my line Indigo blue oil pastel - not black - I find black too hard and if I want an even softer out line I use the cinnamon pastel - sharpened to a sharp point.
Thought I share with you two test illustrations I made for a book I've written (Work in progress - dummy completed - still have to submit to publishers.) Goodnight, Grandpa is based on a true story. My son Markus was 3 years old when my father died in hospital. That night we had not yet told him that his Grandpa had died. After midnight Markus came into our bedroom and told us that Grandpa had just visited him in his room. Wide awake and in a clear voice he said, “Grandpa came to say goodbye and then he flew away”. For the little boy the encounter was absolutely real. The story stayed with me and eventually became a picture book.
