Ebooks are differenter than publication. One of the reasons I wanted to do this project, I knew it would help my own personal projects. I love animals, but being able to paint someone else's pictures (like teaching) means I can rethink some of my projects because the process is self-clarifying. I will share the finished second illustration and a few changes, because it will no longer BE the second illustration. I'm currently reading Will Terry's WONDERFUL, must read-blog (to me at least! http://willterry.blogspot.com/) and already stumbled over an affirmation (remarkable how comforting it is to have that kind of reinforcement, kind of like I'm on the "right track").
In his post on "I live to Create" he shows his process of one of his drawings. Somewhere down the line he notes how his character wouldn't fit through the door. "This is where I realized that my little mouse would never fit through the door. Sometimes when I get working along I lose objectivity and this is a good example. I had to come to terms with the fact that if I wanted it to look right I would have to spend an extra hour or so fixing my mistake. So, I had to cut out little mouse and move her forward in front of her vegetable basket. In the past I would have settled. In the future I'm sure I'll be able to spot the places where I settled in this image." Not to mention, the fact I learned a few neat tricks (I actually "mastered" Photoshop, because I've taken his online course through his Folio Academy).
Anyhow, this has been true for me. In this example, you can see the original drawing of the characters in Oscar's dream sequence...
What I realized after I'd colored most of them, the proportions didn't work. I enlarged and cut and pasted and learned quite a bit in the process. I now feel enough confidence changing in the middle (or even the end) isn't so scary and far superior to not being happy with the result.
What I ended up with...
I like it far better as far as proportions go (HA! the ADD, dyslexia which CAN be amusing and informative kicked in, and I'm going to talk about how it is to work with THOSE kinds of differenter, and I'd written "propoortions" before I corrected. Talk about FREUDIAN, lol!). But now I don't care for the colors or composition. It's interesting, but it's too busy and I don't think it will translate to a small screen, which is a goal.
I'll be reading the rest of Will's blog before I restart, but restart I must. Don't get me wrong. I will probably use this as a start, and I will more than likely keep some of this flavoring (not to mention I have to be considerate of the REAL colorations and animals. Who knows, I may cut and paste, remove, redraw and play with this particular drawing. But I'm sure what I end up with, won't look like this, and I will like it better. It will be more of what Oscar ordered, because I can tell, he'd really love to have his story told to the very best of my ability. So another cup of peach tea and then back to the mulberry tree, with me!
