Another page almost finished for my upcoming children’s book. It will be total 32 pages and I think almost finished are about half of them. So expect more progress shots coming up.
The biggest part eventually will be the scanning and editing of the images. But that is for next month. Goal for this is to finish most of the drawings.
Have a great weekend!
I am currently working on illustrating a children’s book that I have written. Inspired by our loveable and sometimes silly black family Labrador and why she sometimes barks at night.
After a lot of ups and downs the last months and being stuck in the Hendrix’s pit pf despair for what felt like an eternity (see image below), I have been on a great climb for the last week! And I have been really enjoying it!
I am trying to make the most out of the current momentum and therefore have been drawing the last couple of nights. Sleep deprivation is a small price to pay to get out of the pit I guess.
Do you know about this long project arc? Have you been there?
I am currently redrawing the frog page which I have posted previously. The first rendering does not fit the overall style of the other illustrations anymore and I wanted to tweak the composition a bit. I can really get lost in the hatching now. It is rather soothing.
New printable design in my shop. Plus it has been raining cats and dogs all day. Must be related…
This week I feel like I have been all over the place. New uploads to my Etsy shop, book illustrations, people drawing…. And nothing really got finished… Oh well..
At least I haven’t spilled any ink today…
What’s next?
More people… I guess I spend about 2-5 minutes per person.
I totally forgot about One Week 100 People this year! I had so much fun doing this challenge last year and I actually was looking forward to it again but completely forgot to check the dates. So it apparently started Monday the 11th and runs until Friday. I started to play catch up last night and just went to my Pinterest board from the previous year as there are about 300 people pins that I never got to.
Drawing feels much easier than in the previous year, although I think I haven´t sketched any people since then. Anyhow, great practice and warm up for other drawings. I will try to make it to 100 until the end of the week. Currently I am at #37.
Are you taking part?
This is another test page. Trying to figure out the overall style I want to have….
I have inked some more pages since doing this that I am more happy with. Still need to scan them. So watch this space.
Happy Monday!
Super windy today. So this drawing fits the mood perfectly. Madame Woof Woof also feels like curling up.
Drawing for my upcoming children’s book titled Madame Woof Woof.
Took a break from inking over the weekend and instead added new designs to my Etsy shop.
I guess this is more for me than anyone else. I am really bored of this book project right now and even thought about quitting. But then again, that is not an option.
You can find this design either as print or postcard printable in my shop.
Happy work Monday!
Rendered another book page. I like how it turned out but after having rendered a few other pages this one does not fit in the overall style. so I will have to redo it.
Do you like the composition?
Still working on this page. After some feedback changed it from the previous one, to the one below. Definitely an improvement but not quite there yet. What do you think?
So I spent the last month working on my book. It took me a while to actually figure out the final style that I wanted to go for. Now I kind of figured that out.
Next I am still in the process of tweaking some of the compositions. I liked the initial sketches and all but now that I am doing the fully rendered pages, I feel that some of them fall flat.
The story is about Madame Woof Woof, a black Labrador, and all the different reasons of why she barks at night.
More doggies. I had so many ups and downs this past week. One day was great and I was all happy about my book progress and the next I felt like I cannot draw a single line and I should give up then and there. Quite a rollercoaster. And the progress is slow. I am seriously considering to start going digital after this. It will certainly be quicker. On the other hand, having ink stains on my hands is also fun….
But I ran out of paper and now I cannot find the same paper in the art supply shop anymore… bummer. Will do another shopping spree tomorrow to see what I can find. Until then, happy weekend!
I am still having fun coming up with new designs for my Etsy store. I have been adding some more cards since Valentine’s Day.
This is one is my favourite at the moment. What do you think? Perfect for your mate, friend, colleague.
More doggy sketches on this sunny day. Currently my illustration process alternates each day from “I love it” to “I hate it all and I cannot draw shit..!” I suppose that is normal? Either way, I decided to push trough and get all the pages done by the end of this month. So watch this space.
As you might guess from the sketches, Mouse´s favourite past time beside eating and running around is napping. I mean, dogs sleep 12-14 hours per day. I am pretty much envious at this point as I have been sleep deprived for a month.
I have been pretty much drawing dog after dog, exploring different poses and especially sleeping positions. Dogs can look too funny while sleeping.
I was stuck with my book dummy and some of the spot illustrations I wanted to add. So now I have a huge number of sketches from which I will pick my favourite ones.
Actually it’s supposed to be character sketches for the same dog 🙂 I mentioned previously a book I am working on. So this is it. The original idea started 2 years ago with the first sketches, and it has been brewing ever since. As I am not a writer it took me a bit to put the story together and to have it professionally edited.
Since getting into illustration, I realized that for many illustrators it’s a race to the bottom with some authors not willing to pay more than dumping prices. So I decided I would rather do my own stories and illustrate them. I know that marketing will be the hardest part, but I will deal with that later.
Anyhow, since I started working on this book I have been coming up with multiple other story ideas, so there will be no shortage of ideas to explore once I am done with it.
Inspiration for the story is Mausi (Mouse, yep, what started as a nick name when she was little became her actual name.), my sister’s adorable Labrador. She is gentle, loveable, cheeky and a bit gaga at times, especially when it comes to water and sticks.
Ok, last greeting card design for now. At least for today. I somehow feel like making more cards, but I guess I should stop the procrastination and keep working on my children’s book!
Are there any other card designs you would like to see? What’s your favourite animal?
If you need a last minute Valentine’s day card you can find it here in my Etsy shop as printable download!
Happy Valentine’s Day or Friends Day as the Finns call it! 🙂
Happ
I decided to set up an Etsy shop for printable wall art and cards and have been having fun the past week in coming up with designs. I think it is also a way of procrastination from the task at hand, which is getting my illustrations done for my latest book project. I still haven´t managed to posted about it…. Maybe tomorrow.
Anyhow, I have been having fun learning more about photoshop and designer and mock ups, so it is not all wasted time. Apparently Valentine’s day is just around the corner and I thought I experiment with that. Here is one for the honey badger in your life! What do you think?
You find the download in my shop here.
Melanie Franz 