Thumbnails

So the thumbnails that I'm showing you are kind of from a failed attempt. It wasn't a complete fail, but I found that another story I hadn't finished had a very similar story line. While I may go back to to these characters I'm fairly certain I wont be going back to this story.  I'm okay with that though, because I love the story I'm working on now!

I have a lot of thumbnail sheets in the Smart Dummies booklet. If those are two small for you then you can go to the same place now and download a bigger thumbnail set. I made it after I did this one. The one here is made by Alison Kipnis Hertz and you can get it by clicking on this text


Download the Smart Dummies booklet and a free thumbnail sheet here: http://daniduck.com/my-blog

I've got a lot of work to do for Mira Reisberg's Children's Book Academy: The Craft and Business of Illustrating Children's Books. I also just got a toddler on my lap so typing these last words is really hard!

Process Post

 I put all of this up on Instagram as I was working on it, but personally I think it's kind of neat to see the process of a painting all together in one place.

This is the the first full sketch I did for this illustration. I think I have some roughs somewhere, but those are even worse than this. 

Here is the full final sketch I created before I went into colors.

I had a lot of trouble with the paper I used. The color was not soaking in and not working right in general! I did get the paper replaced by the company but it was a lot of work to do to start over.

I traced the image and started over. When I trace my own work I'm not just tracing. I actually make an effort to change things. Some things I will erase and change completely after moving them to tracing paper.

Here is the drawing on the paper. I transferred it by using a burnt umber pigment on the back of my tracing paper (this can be done with crushed graphite as well). The drawing I did looks lovely right down to the erased bits I forgot to brush away. 

I had to go over some of the lines with graphite because I couldn't see the lines Usually I don't need to do this. Before I started painting I put down some masking fluid.

At this point I have a lot of paint on the paper, but I'm not happy with the shadowing at this point so I had to go in later to adjust everything.

This is what the final illustration looked like before I added inks. I'm not as happy as I could be about the clothing, but overall I like it.

I've been told that I should try leaving out the inks, but I think I would miss them too much. I love how different an image looks when it's complete. I'm noticing just now that maybe the colors could be adjusted to see to show off the wings a bit better, but other than that I'm happy with how this turned out. 

I don't have a title for this painting yet, so if you have any suggestions visit my Instagram page and give me a suggestion for a title!

The Right Tools

I was getting my haircut the other day and my hairdresser (Diane) and I got into a discussion about the tools we use.  I was fascinated by her insight on this, because what we do is so different. Fundamentally hairdressing and art is the same in many ways. You need to have better tools for better results.

These are a few of my favorite brushes!
I generally just use the tallest one (angled)
and the big round brush on the left.

Buying Higher Quality Tools Can Cost Less Overall. This seems counter intuitive. How can I possibly justify spending $100 over $25 on the exact same colors of watercolor paint and paper? The paint tubes may have less in them, and the paper may be the exact same size, but they are not the same! Quality matters over quantity.

1. The Frustration Factor

In my conversation with Diane, I said it might be okay to buy cheaper supplies when starting out. Diane corrected me right there. She said that it doesn't make sense to start out with cheap supplies because if you become frustrated with the limitations of the tools then you won't continue creating art. I know that this is 100% true.

I had some older acrylics that I was attempting to paint with, but unfortunately I was just becoming frustrated with them because they were old and the binder had separated from the colors. I could not get the paints to move across the canvas like I knew they should. It wasn't until I bought new paints that I felt like I could paint. With the frustration gone I was able to create work faster and better.

2. Better Paints Paint Better

One of my paintings that I had trouble with. The darker colors just wouldn't stay on the paper. 

When I first started using Daniel Smith watercolors I just bought one tube of red paint. I didn't have the money to be messing around. What I found was not only did the color flow across the page better, but I was using less of it to cover the page. Since I'm using less paint I'm actually paying less to paint!

3. Substrate is Everything

Okay you get these fancy colors, but you are actually wasting money if you are putting them on cheap paper. I bought a brand that I thought was going to give me good results. I think there was a problem with the sizing on the paper, and this could have been a factory problem, so I'm not going to name the particular brand I used. The problem was the paper got to the point where the paint wasn't soaking into the paper anymore. I wasn't able to add any more color to certain areas! The company I bought it from was able to replace the paper (I paid for the upgrade), but this doesn't make up for the amount of work that went into paintings that aren't usable anymore!

4. Acid Free Isn't Archival

One thing that you might not think about when you're illustrating is how long is your work going to last. You may just want to make work that you create and you don't care what happens after that. If you are buying acid free, know that that it is likely a limited time deal. I've made the decision to use archival for most of my illustrations now because I want them to last a long time after I'm gone. Also the paper I'm going to use most often, because it works so well (Arches), is archival.

My favorite pens!

5. Time is Money

One thing that you need to remember is your time matters. When you are creating something to sell this is so important to consider. Say you paid $10 for your supplies, so selling your work at $20 may seem like a fair price. Well, what if that item took you five hours to create? You are making $2 an hour when you sell your item. I don't know about you, but my time is worth more than $2. Working retail at $7-12 an hour seems like a better deal to me. If your supplies cause you to spend 2-3 times the amount of time on a project than you should spend, then those cheap supplies could be costing you money!

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I'm hoping this is something you will consider when buying art supplies! Buying more expensive supplies may just not work for you and that's okay. This is something I want people to consider because it will end up saving you money in the end.

I will make a post about where you can cut on expenses. There is so much in this post already I feel like I've got a lot in this one post. Please ask me questions and remember to enjoy making your art!

The Magic Mask Process

I'm going to put up some process photos so that I can show you some of what you might go through while you are working on your dummy. These are illustrations I did last year for the book "The Magic Mask" by Pamela Stadyk.  I'm going to show you the progression of images of three of my illustrations.

Thumbnails

More Thumbnails

 My thumbnail work is really quite crude. Some of what I have here is stuff only I can understand.

Facial Expressions

More Facial Expressions

Character Design

 You'll see by this point that I didn't do as much prep work as I should have. This caused a bit of trouble later because I wasn't as quick finishing up all my images.

A completely terrible start on Jade, but the dolphin is much like the final mammal.

This is very close to the final image here. I hated the positioning of Jade's legs. Also I think I made a few changes to the furniture.

This illustration was probably the most challenging. Trying to get Jade just have her head underwater was difficult. I played with several different angles before I got the right one.

I think of all the images this one changed the least throughout the whole process.

 After I had finished the images at this size I found out the size of the images were wrong and had to adjust all the images.

These are the final images at the time I sent them to Pamela. They weren't quite right. Part of the problem was a mistake I didn't catch. The characters needed auras in some of the illustrations. Thank goodness for digital illustration! I was able to edit the photos to Pamela's liking without having to redraw/paint them all.  

These are the final illustrations as they appear in the book!

It was a long process to get these illustrations from idea to physical illustrations. There were 8 illustration in all. The entire process took 2 months (I think exactly 2 months) Since I was commissioned by the author to do these illustrations there was a lot of back and forth that needed to be done. I'm happy with how the illustrations turned out, and learned a lot in the process.

You can see that I started out with pretty poor drawings. Don't feel bad if yours are bad too. You can end up with a polished book if you work hard!

Smart Dummies Prep and the Story

Start getting into your critique groups now! I will be asking if anyone wants to be in critique groups on Facebook. Feel free to write your own post looking for partners. Also send me a message if you need a group! Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/548159692008535/

Some of the things you may want to finish before the end of the week (click on the links for more information):

• Join a critique group
• Story
• Thumbnails 
• Character Sketches
• Register for Smart Dummies

Register for Smart Dummies here: http://daniduckart.blogspot.ca/p/smart-dummies_15.html You are NOT registered for Smart Dummies until you sign up at the registration page! You have until October 8th to register.

OMG! I don't have a story!! I'M FREAKING OUT!!!

If you are feeling like this first take a deep breath and breathe. Let's look into some options now for people who don't have stories. Anything that's not copyrighted is fair game. Old fairy tales, folklore, rhymes and songs can be used in your book. Make sure your story is in the public domain before starting. Here's a short list of book types you may want to consider:

• ABC 
• Counting 
• Nonfiction
• Old Songs
• Rhymes (Mother Goose) 
• Fairy Tales (Such as Grimm's Fairy tales. Hans Christian Andersen)
• Religious Texts (Be sure to have a good knowledge of the religion and practices before starting)
• Folklore
• Mythology (Greek, Norse, and Roman Gods)
• Concept Books (I like the definition I found here to explain concept books: http://www.summeredward.com/2013/07/childrens-book-genres-concept-books.html)
• Wordless or Almost Wordless

If you decide to go the wordless route (or want to write your story later) be sure to make sure you know your story inside and out. It may help you to write down what happens in the story even if the words aren't compelling. Be sure to draw a lot of pictures! You may even want to do detailed thumbnails (after creating quick thumbnails) to make sure you are familiar with your story before starting. I had trouble with this last year, and I don't want you to make my same mistake!

Let's Talk Coloring Books - Digital Hardware and Software Notes

I'm posting this today because I realized that I'm just not going to be able to get to this information in my presentation. This is more technical information than you may actually need. I have my thoughts on the software first, and underneath is information about hardware. While this is originally intended for my Coloring Book Presentation it's something that may be of interest to illustrators getting started in digital art.

Photoshop is great for creating digital images – it's arguably the best Program for creating digital images but not necessarily the best for coloring books. I do highly recommend it for illustration, but it's not necessary to buy if you are only creating coloring books or black and white art.

Illustrator - takes time to get use to if you've never used vector software. Like Photoshop: It's great if you are creating certain color images with a certain look, but not necessary for coloring books.

Painter – Best for creating digital paintings that look like traditionally created paintings. The software crashes a lot (I own painter 11), but is nice when it runs smoothly.

Gimp – Free Software. I'm only including it on this list because it's free. Useful and is similar to Photoshop. I feel like I have one arm tied behind my back when I use this.

Inkscape- Free software like illustrator

Krita – Free Software like Photoshop

I have not used Krita or Inkscape personally (other than a few minutes each) so I can't tell you how well they work. There interface is nice and for no money, it's worth it to download these and take a look. These free programs may not have all the same options as the programs they are meant to copy, but they can still be used professionally.

Manga Studio/Clip Studio – My personal favorite. I own EX4. I like the inking feature in this because you can come back an manipulate the image easily even after you save the image. The inking feature is much like illustrator's in that it's done in vectors. Unfortunately you can't save your image to work as a vector image (.eps in illustrator but you can save the ink lines as a layer and use it in Photoshop or other program to color your backgrounds. Don't buy this full price. Smith Micro often has great sales.

InDesign. - The best and easiest program for laying out a book. It takes a bit of work to get use to, but if you know how to use Power Point (or any Adobe software), then you can learn how to use this program. It is actually more intuitive than Power Point, and with all my years in computers, I find using InDesign easier than Power Point. If you are thinking of having a book printed of your work, you must get this software. The bonus is it's the easiest software for your local print shop to use, so they should be able to print your work fairly easily and quickly.

Hardware

Processor – Intel is important. AMD always gives me problems. Get a reasonably good processor. This will help the speed of your computer.

Hard Drive (Storage not to be confused with memory) – Up to you. 1TB is the norm and should be enough for most people

Graphic Card: Go with NVIDIA® GeForce® if you are going with color and possibly black and white. Go with the best graphic card you can afford. If you are 

Memory allows multiple programs to be open, helps your computer to run faster and allows you to work on large files. Get at least 8GB of memory. Most people don't know that it takes 2GBs of memory just to run Windows (it may be more with Windows 10). Memory is important so ideally get more (12-16) if you can afford it!

Printer: Inexpensive printer. Don't go with a photo printer. Often photo printers wont let you print (or scan) if all you haven't replaced an empty cartridge. If you are making high quality prints go with your local print shop. Because of the high cost of ink print shops are still cheaper than printing from your own printer.

Scanner: Epson with a large bed is best, but you can get by with a lower quality scanner.

Tablet: Wacom tablets are the best. Bamboo is okay, but it works basically like a mouse. The Intuos pro is very nice and likely the tablet you'll want for your work. The Intuos mimics the pressure and tilt of drawing traditionally.

Quilling in Style with Stacy S. Jensen -- Plus a WINNER!

I asked Stacy Jensen on my blog today because I happened to catch this wonderful post of hers just before Smart Dummies began:  In this post she created beautiful work just using paper. Stacy doesn't see herself as a visual artist, but maybe she should reconsider this view. I could see illustrations like these in books!

Stacy is a wonderful Writer and a lot of fun. I think if she wanted to she could also be an Illustrator with this fun quilling style. I thought that her style could help you see another way of crafting your art. Whether you use this style for inspiration, illustration or just to relax I'm sure you'll be tempted to try this style. It looks like a lot of fun!

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I write short picture book manuscripts.

My efforts to curl paper caught Dani Duck's eye, if you are wondering why a writer is among the guest bloggers.

I began quilling a couple years. I discovered quilling, as a portable craft I could take to a neighborhood meeting. I discovered this craft on Pinterest — not at the age of 12 like most people I know.

Thanks to the Internet, books and online groups, I've taught myself a variety of techniques and have an assortment of tools to crimp, coil, and pinch my paper strips into shape. I also have a large glue collection.

While quilling takes some time away from my writing, I find it feeds into my writing too.

I often put down my quilling to make a note for a new story idea or a story-in-progress.

I've used quilling over the last year to "illustrate" an image for a challenge:

I stretched myself really large in June when I participated in Susanna Leonard Hill's illustrator contest. I created a scene for the "Discovery" theme. (http://www.stacysjensen.com/discovery-stretching-for-a-contest/) It's a bit cliché with the large eye looking down into the grass. But it pushed me. I had a deadline and pushed myself to use new techniques.

When another friend asked me to participate in a #SpreadPoetryonFacebook challenge, I picked up my paper strips and glue. I created four projects for Emily Dickinson poems.

EXAMPLE

3- And another challenge to write a poem about Punxsutawney Phyllis by Susanna Leonard Hill, resulted in two quilled images and a video. (http://www.stacysjensen.com/punxsutawney-phyllis-teamspring/)

Dummies aren't really required for my one-panel projects, but I do create sketches for my work.

Dummies are part of my picture book revision process. They are more word based. I create doodles too. Since I write short, a dummy will often help me find mistakes in my writer logic.

I've researched a lot of quilling artists. While I haven't found one yet in a picture book, I have found several really cool paper artists.

Here are a few paper artist links for inspiration:

• Yulia Brodskaya http://www.artyulia.com/index.php/Illustration/PAPERgraphic
• Denise Fleming (http://www.denisefleming.com/pages/papermaking.html)
• Brittani Rose Gothard. (http://www.brittanirosepaper.com/book-illustrations.html)
• Marina Adamova (http://www.allthingspaper.net/2015/04/paper-illustration-marina-adamova.html)

Thanks for letting me to join you for the Smart Dummies Challenge.

Bio: Stacy S. Jensen writes picture books, eats chocolate, designs websites and quills paper. She lives in Colorado with her family.

Website: http://www.stacysjensen.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StacySJensen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StacySJensen

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Today I'm going to announce the Portfolio Review kindly donated by Mary Reaves Uhles! If you haven't read her post yet, you need to. Mary has excellent Time Management Tips you need to know!

WINNER

The winner of Mary's Portfolio Review is:





Meridth Gimbel

Congratulations Meredith! I'll contact you shortly about your prize (if you don't contact me first).  

Laying Out Your Final

It's often confusing for illustrators in how to set up their illustrations for publication. If you are creating an illustration for your portfolio or for a gallery you don't need to know this information. If you are working in a traditional medium this is vital to know. I've done several of my own layouts, but I still attempted to fact check this. I was very irritated to find very little easily accessible information about page layouts for books! Let me know if you notice any mistakes.

I color coded this chart. It is for a 8 x 10 picture book.

Yellow = Handling Area

Red = Bleed

Blue = Gutter

Green lines = Crop Marks

The areas that are red, blue and white will be filled with your image.

Masking area -- This is 2" so printers don't get your work smudgy. Mask this area off with masking tape. I recommend using cheap tissue paper on anything the tape didn't cover (including the back). Often the bottom of this area will be 3" instead of 2".

Bleed - This goes 1/4" into your 2" border. Your image needs to go out into this area. The bleed will be trimmed off your final book. You need the bleed on this (and anything you are printing) so that your image goes to the edge of the pages. Do not place text any closer than 1/4 inch to the bleeds.

Gutter - Unlike the bleed this 1/2" area will not be cut from your work. Do not put anything important in this area! In a picture book this area will likely not be seen (or seen well) because the inside of the picture is bound here. 

Crop Marks - This is where the printer will cut your image. This will be marked in black ink when you send out your final images. 

Measure your image carefully when laying out your image. A #2 mechanical pencil works well for lay out work. Draw your lines lightly. The image below shows more clearly where you need to make your pencil marks. Make them on the solid lines (edge of the bleed area) and down the middle. The only areas that need black ink are the crop marks, and that's only if the image is going to print.

If any of this is confusing please let me know! If you are color blind and can't properly see the above images, please let me know and I'll send you a black and white version.

Dream Maker: Anna Todaro and a Prize!

Anna Todaro is just a magical Artist and Illustrator. Anna's canvas varies on the job. She does face painting and as you can see she does a wonderful job! I feel as though her work comes from a beautiful fairy dream. When Anna takes what she does on faces and puts them into a picture book something magical happens. The beauty Anna puts on people's faces comes to life in her books.

Anna Todaro's books are "Everyone Hoops but me..." and "Silly Face". You can get both of her books in her shop: http://msannaart.com/shop. Anna is a Self-Published Author/Illustrator.

Be sure to check out the bottom of this post for a prize!

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Dani: How does face painting relate to your work in picture books?

Anna: I have been doing art fairs and independent art shows since 2004 and I love the work of creating an art booth with a world of my own making with books from that world and face painting for folks to get into costume. To answer your question, I must make sure that you know that I am an art fair artist. There are a lot of authors out there trying to promote their stories. While I would love to find the right manager or agent or publisher, not having one makes things much more difficult. Because I am a facepainter and because I do fairs, it helps me get my self published books out there where most other venues seem out of reach.

Dani: What are some of the surprises or hurdles you have to go through in self publishing?

Anna: Self publishing means you do not have a team. You are making the book yourself, words, editing, layout, cost of printing, promoting, researching. It's extremely hard. You also will find it much harder for anyone to take you seriously. Most contests are for published authors. A lot of the events for SCBWI are only for published authors (PALS). It is also hard to find a reviewer unless you want to pay hundreds of dollars for a vanity one. You need your book reviewed if you want it to end up at the library. It also needs to be hard cover for the library. The biggest hurdle for me is distribution. I sold out all three shops carrying SillyFace last month and am still in the process of trying to get over to restock them. I have thought about Amazon print on demand, researching and setting that up will also be all on me.


Dani: Tell us the best thing about self publishing your books.

Anna: You have complete control over your baby. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I suppose you also keep 100% of the profits if there are any...

Dani: What would you like other Authors and Illustrators to know if they are thinking about self publishing?

Anna: It is extremely hard to be self published. You are completely on your own.


Dani: How do you go through the process of making a book?

Anna: Me personally? Or in general? For me, it's about staying focused and organized. I write the story first. That part is easy. Next, I come up with character drawings. This process could take years. The hardest part is taking that step where I say, "ok, this is what this character is going to look like." I then photograph all of the paintings and edit them in photoshop. Sometimes I write my own lettering and scan it in, sometimes I just use a computer font like Courier New. Then I send it in to the printer and I wait and hope.

Follow Anna:

Anna Todaro

anna@annatodaro.com


Websites and Blog

http://www.msAnnaArt.com

http://www.AnnaTodaro.com

http://www.annatodaroblog.com


Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/AnnaTodaroArt

https://www.facebook.com/hoopingbook

https://www.facebook.com/sillyfaceboardbook

https://www.facebook.com/theHatchiCatchiWu

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Little-Book-of-Laughing-Board-Book/602435913231550


@%@%@%@%@%

PRIZE

One lucky winner of Smart Dummies will win a big prize pack from Renee Kurilla! Renee has kindly donated "Be Aware!: My Tips for Personal Safety", "Move Your Body!: My Exercise Tips" and "Keep Calm!: My Stress-busting Tips". Please comment on this post so I know you want these books! These books can only be shipped to a US address.

Rene is a wonderful Illustrator with a massive list of books she's Illustrated. Her wonderful illustration work can be seen in Orangutanka: A Story in Poems written by Margarita Engle. Coming soon is Burkley the Terrible Sleeper written by Mitchell Sharamat available for pre-order now!

Visit Renee's Website: http://kurillastration.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kurillastration
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reneekurilla
Instagram: https://instagram.com/reneekurilla/

Smart Tips for Smart Dummies from Cyndi (Kung Pow) Marko and a Prize!

Note: This post was updated at 8:30pm PST (To the tune of the Chicken Dance thanks to DH). Half the post was missing. It has now been updated!

It's so nice to have Cyndi Marko back on my blog! If you missed the first post check it out. Cyndi Marko is one of the members of the SCBWI Canada West Illustrators. She has a wonderful chapter book series called "Kung Pow Chicken". Her series is much like a picture book in the amount of pictures she uses to create her books. If you are interested in Cyndi's books go to your local book store or check out the link here!

Be sure to check the bottom of this post for a prize!

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Smart Tips for Smart Dummies!

I’ve learned a lot about creating dummies since I first started writing and illustrating books for kids eight years ago. Back then it took me six or seven months to make a dummy. Now I can complete a forty-page dummy, complete with covers, endpapers, and color samples, in about a week. No, I didn’t make a deal with the devil (but I am open to it if he’s got something awesome to offer, just saying); I simply drew so much that over time I got pretty good and pretty fast at it.

I’ve compiled some tips I hope will help you to create smart dummies!

SMART TIP: SEE AS YOU WRITE

I write picture books spread by spread. I have even created a picture book template in Scrivener that is separated into sixteen spreads. (I use a 40 page format that has 32 interior pages as well as front matter and front and back endpapers.) This helps me make the most of pacing and page turns. As a picture book writer, page turns are your friend! Think of some of your favorite picture books. How have they used page turns to add suspense, humor, or drama to the story? You can learn to do this, too! (If you’d like to see more about how I use Scrivener to write picture books, you can see my template and process here: http://cyndimarko.com/2014/08/25/authorillustrator-blog-hop-creative-process/ )

I also see the pictures in my head as I write. I make a lot of illustration notes for myself in the manuscript. (I remove most of them later on if I need to send the text to a crit partner or my agent, and only leave the ones that are needed to make sense of the text. If I send a text document with a dummy I remove all of them.)

SMART TIP: KNOW YOUR SPREADS FIRST

If you don’t write in spreads like I do, make sure you know your spreads BEFORE you begin sketching. The easiest way for me is to print off the ms and divide the text up using pencil to mark spreads.

But even being as prepared as possible, sometimes adjustments to spreads need to be made mid-dummy as the story and sketches evolve. Be flexible! (and know that changes are imminent once an agent or editor becomes involved!)

SMART TIP: KNOW YOUR CHARACTER(S)

I like to do a page or two of character sketches before I start the dummy. Once I have a character design I’m happy with, I draw them from a few different angles. Have you ever drawn a character that looked great in frontal view, and then realized they didn’t work in ¾ or profile? Yeah, me too. Also, make sure you can draw your character consistently each time. This skill takes practice. I used to find this challenging, but after drawing the characters from my KPC books several hundred thousand times *twitches*, I can do this easily now.

SMART TIP: WRITE YOUR STORY USING BOTH WORDS AND PICTURES

As I mentioned above, I use a lot of illustration notes. Sometimes these are to illustrate the words I’ve written, and sometimes these are to illustrate the words I DIDN’T write. Let your story be fluid and evolve. As I sketch, I make changes to the text. Sometimes I find a line of text has become redundant and I’ll remove it. Sometimes an illustration means I can remove descriptions from the text. And sometimes I find adding a line enhances what the illustration is showing. Let the art and text work together.

SMART TIP: KNOW YOUR PAGE

Before starting your dummy, decide how many pages you think it will be. There are several formats for picture books. The most common are 24, 32, and 40 pages. (See how they are multiples of eight? That has to do with how printed pages are folded and cut.)

When designing your compositions, be mindful of where the gutter lies. Try not to put anything important in the gutter, like faces or important objects. (The gutter is the space on either side of where two pages are joined.) Also, leave plenty of room on the page to place the text. This might sound like obvious advice, but trust me, it isn’t! (Says the lady who has made this mistake a time or two.)

SMART TIP: VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF DUMMIES

I like to use a lot of variety in my dummies. If the scenes are all from the same angle, with the characters the same size, the dummy risks being boring and predictable. But variation needs to be deliberate and purposeful! For example, if your character feels sad and alone in a scene, showing them from a great distance in a sparse background helps to illustrate isolation.

I have a standard view I use throughout that acts as sort of a visual normal or a starting point. From there I zoom in for a close up, zoom out to tiny silhouettes, look down from bird’s eye view, look up from worm’s eye view, but I always come back to visual normal. Think of yourself as a director and you get to tell the camera where to go…er, what shots to take!

I also vary the type of illustrations I use. I like to mix things up with spots (an object or character with no background), scenes-for lack of better terminology (an object or character with a background that is surrounded by white page), and bleeds (where the illustration fills the entire page.) I also like to incorporate at least two full spreads if I can (a single illustration that fills both pages of a spread, also known as a double-page spread.)

SMART TIP: DON’T TRUST YOUR BRAIN!

I keep an illustration journal. When I do a color sample for a dummy (and as I worked through the KPC books), I write down what color I used for each aspect of the illustration. Don’t rely on your brain to remember this information! I have a special notebook I keep on my work table and the only information I write in it is colors used for projects.

I also buy lots of those plastic palettes from the dollar store for my tube watercolors. I use a different one(s) for each project. I write the name of the color on each color well, and the project name on the back. When not in use I stack them (when the paints are dry), put the cover on the top one, and wrap an elastic around them. They are ready for use when you come back to that project later on. There are many ways to keep organized to maintain consistency as you work on color. Do whatever works for you!

SMART TIP: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE (hint: it’s not kids!)

Well okay, yes, *grumbles* we write picture books for kids. BUT we make dummies for agents and editors. Sell your work by helping them see the big picture. The more your dummy looks like a real book, the more agents and editors will be able to picture it on bookstore shelves. The more professional your dummy looks, the more professional they will think you are! (so far I’ve hoodwinked my amazing agent and at least a couple of savvy editors!)

I include front and back covers, I write (hopefully) clever back cover copy. I include creative endpapers. I make use of typography. I create copyright/dedication and title pages. The announcement from my latest sale actually borrows a phrase to describe the book that I wrote as a funny dedication!

Having a design background definitely helps when designing a picture book, but it’s a learnable skill. Look at lots of picture books and study their design. Read design books. (I recommend this one, The Non-designers Design Book by Robin Williams: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780133966152 )

Once acquired, an art director or designer will design the cover and title, pick the fonts, and design the interior layout. The editor will likely write the cover copy. But at the submitting stage it’s all about presentation. Make yours the best you can make it.

SMART TIP: BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF

Learning to write and illustrate well enough for publication is hard. Twice as hard as doing either of those things separately. Be patient with yourself as you learn your craft and don’t feel pressured to send queries before you think you are ready. (I waited four years!) And have fun!

Follow Cyndi:

Webpage: http://cyndimarko.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CynMarko

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PRIZE

One lucky entrant to the Smart Dummies challenge will receive a book from the Freddy Frogcaster series. Kindly donated by the Illustrator Russ Cox!  Series written by Janice Dean. Please comment below so I know you want this book!

The Lovely Lisa (Lionheart) Cinar and a Prize!

I met Lisa Cinar at the SCBWI Canada West conference last year. She had a fantastic intensive workshop for the Illustrators. I don't think I've ever worked that hard in two hours, but I learned and did more in that time that I had that entire week! If you need to hire someone for a workshop or presentation then she is the person to hire.

Lisa is educator at Emily Carr University (Vancouver BC) for both Writing and Illustrating picture books. She both wrote and illustrated Paulina P.(for Petersen) and The Day It All Blew Away which won the BC Book Prize!

She has lots of great samples of her work on her website, plus some fun coloring pages. If you haven't seen Lisa's Shop "Draw Me a Lion" then you have to go! It's a lot of fun to explore. While you're at it-- buy me a Lion!

Check the end of this interview for a great prize from Russ Cox!

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Dani: How did you get started in Picture Books?

Lisa: I was always drawn to beautifully illustrated books since as far back as I can remember. Not just books either, I was just a big fan of any images that I really liked from when I was a little kid to now being a 'grown up', whatever that means. I remember taking a class taught by the talented Celia King at Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design in Book Art Media. We made books that were one-of-a-kind art objects and learned different binding techniques, but we also briefly talked about publishing. Celia was a great teacher and I think it was in her class that I realized that I had always been drawn to picture books and that I wanted to try making one.

After I graduated school I wrote & illustrated my first picture book and then showed it to her for advise how to go about the publishing process. She suggested I look at books that I love and check out who publishes them. I did that and then I submitted my dummy book. When the publisher I had sent it to got back to me I was above the moon!


Dani: What is the most important thing you've learned in the PB industry?

Lisa: Determination! I think it's really easy for people to get discouraged because there is a lot of rejection in this field. The important thing is to realize that just because you haven't heard back from a publisher or art director doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't interested in your work. There are so many other factors to consider such as the timing of your submission in their publishing cycle, the fact that publishers only publish so many books a year and also something really obvious but easily forgotten... They are super busy people. They might just not have the time to shoot you an email back. Just dust yourself off, and try again. Get some thick skin! ;)


Dani: Has teaching changed how you approach Picture Books?

Lisa: Yes, I definitely think so! I have been teaching for five years now and having had the opportunity to share my enthusiasm for picture books with other like minded folks has nourished my love for the medium even more. I hope to inspire my students, but my students also inspire me. It's great that w
ay.

Also breaking down aspects of the creative process of creating a dummy book for my class really makes me understand my own processes even more than before. On the other hand I always stress in my class that while people's end results (ie. a physical dummy book) might look very much the same in terms of it's layout etc, everyone's creative process will vary. So far every time I have approached a story or book project the process has been slightly different. I think that realizing that this is a normal part of the process and in fact an important part of making each book unique is a great thing to have under your wing, instead of second doubting yourself for never being able to stick to a 'more regimented how-to-manual' so to speak.


Dani: What is the biggest challenge you find your students have with creating Dummies or Illustrations?

Lisa: I think the biggest challenge most students have is a mental hurdle vs a technical one. I see a lot people approach picture books assignments in a stereotypical 'kid-style'. I try to stress in my classes that instead of making illustrations that you think 'look like picture book illustrations for kids' you should just focus on making beautiful illustrations that you enjoy creating and looking at. I think that if you try to develop a 'kid-style' before you have actually developed a personal style of any sorts to start with, it can look forced. In order to achieve this I try to get them to have fun with the assignments. If you aren't having fun creating the illustrations try a different medium, scale, character or subject matter and start over. The love you have for your work shines through! Sounds cheesy but I really believe it's true!


Dani: Do you have any tips for those finishing up their Dummies?

Lisa: 

A) Yes! Be PROUD! It's hard work to make and finish a dummy book from scratch and stay committed! Make someone buy you a drink! You deserve it! :)

B) Be smart about who you send it to! Do your research on publishers and don't just blindly send it out. Look at and closely follow their submission guidelines. Every publishers is slightly different.

C) This is probably the most obvious sounding advise, but having followed up with a lot of my students I know that it's also the BEST advise I am going to give you! It's simply this: Don't forget to actually SUBMIT your dummy book! So many times once all the work has been done and the course is over, students start to second guess themselves. "What if it's not good enough"? "What if they don't like it?" "What if I never hear back?". Sure, there is always a chance you don't hear back, but the only way you're guaranteed to never hear back is if you never send it in the first place! So your chances are really muuuuuch better if you do;)


Make yourself a submission deadline in your calendar and then make that friend who bought you a drink for making a dummy book buy you another one for mailing it;) Best of luck to all of you and have fun!

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All Illustrations in this blog post were created lovingly by THE Lisa Cinar!

Follow Lisa:

Website: http://www.lisacinar.com/
Tumblr: http://lisacinar.tumblr.com/
Blog Lisa Created for Her Illustration Class: iheartpicturebooks.blogspot.ca

Lisa's Shop: "Draw Me a Lion" 

Lisa's Picture Book Editing Services: Http://www.lisacinar.com/info/picture-book-editing-services/

Lisa's Books:

Paulina P.(for Petersen)

The Day It All Blew Away

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PRIZE

One lucky winner of Smart Dummies will receive two SIGNED books in Puppy Pirates Series Illustrated and donated by Russ Cox! (Written by Erin Soderberg Downing.)  These can only be mailed in the US. Please comment on this post so I know you want these books!