I have been working obsessively on a book project the last couple of weeks, to the point where I forgot to even post here. Meanwhile Etsy shut down my shop for no apparent reason…
Also we had a lot of sunny days, so I am using any hiking opportunity I can get.
Here is a first sneak peak of the main characters.
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.
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!
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.
For all the dog people out there, I have been drawing dogs all weekend. Well, actually the same dog over an over again. Character design for my new book! I will be giving you a sneak peak soon, so watch this space.
Meanwhile I am still enjoying these two. The sun came finally back to Reykjavik but so came the wind and it feels like – 24 degrees Celsius out there…
Here is part two of my little children story in 3 acts. Part one you can find here.
Another older watercolour illustration.
Tried another perspective and experimented with coloured pencils just for fun.
There is always someone who needs to clean up the mess. In this case the teacher.
What other kind of chaos could the pets cause?
Changed perspective for this one.
More watercolour and ink.
Have a great week!
Tried something slightly different with this guy. Instead of the usual ink I used a coloured pencil for the outline.
What do you think?
Another kid with her pet. Is it just me or do her eyebrows make her look like she is planning to cook the pig…. ? 😀
Watercolour and ink.
Another character design practice for Take Your Pet to School Day.
Watercolour on paper.
Part of my character design practice from last year for Take Your Pet to School Day.
Do you have a pet?
Melanie Franz 