Wally and the Whatifs Children's Book
Role Art Direction • Design • Illustration Project Illustrated Children's Book
Project ObjectiveIllustrate a children's book that teaches kids to face their worries and fears.
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ChallengeThe author, Amanda Garrigues, had originally hired an illustrator who created the drawing below. Unfortunately, that illustrator was not able to complete the project. Knowing the author had already experienced some difficulties getting the book off the ground, I was extra motivated to be her illustrator. Although I'd never illustrated anything before, I knew that the original drawing wasn't my style. The largest challenge was that I didn't really have a style so I had a long way to go between reading the script and getting the book published. Amanda also wanted an e-reader version of the book which meant I needed to format each image for print and digital use.
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Original Illustration Style
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Overall Outcome |
To kick off the project, I created an art direction deck for Amanda. It covered colors, styles, etc. to give her an idea of the direction I was headed. I drew up some quick sketches of what I imagined the main characters to look like. Luckily the author was on-board from the very beginning and approved the entire deck.
I started every illustration in pencil. Once I was comfortable with a sketch, I traced in it black marker. I then brought each illustration into Photoshop where I digitized the sketch and added color. The process was very time consuming but fun. Once I had a good drawing of each character, I was able to copy and paste them and change simple features like facial expressions and body language. Once I had all of the illustrations completed, I flew to Minneapolis and had a workshop with my family of artists who helped me make some finishing touches before we sent the book off to get printed. |
Amanda was thrilled with the outcome and the book continues to sell today on Amazon. She has even started a support group for children with anxiety. This experience led me to illustrate a second book, The Calming Circle.
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