New posts coming soon.....but first BEA

Part two of the Redwall cover post (and many other updates) will come soon.... but first I need to head down to NY to attend BEA. I will be there signing books on Tuesday, May 24th. If you are the conference, be sure to drop by The Sleeping Bear Press Booth. I will be joined by the author of the Tugg and Teeny series and recently named Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis. Stop in to say Hi, get your copy of Tugg and Teeny signed, and hopefully, grab a sneak preview of the second in the series, Tugg and Teeny, Jungle Surprises. It looks fantastic!

Pastels, Redwall, and the pre-digital age, part 1.

I am on the middle of a huge project and crazy deadline right now so I can't share any of the current images but I have received a number of emails in the last few months regarding my pastel technique. As chance would have it, I stumbled across a few process photos taken while I was creating my cover for A Redwall Winters Tale by Brian Jacques. This is all pre-digital so please excuse any blurriness!

The image on the left is the finish line. But where did I start?

In a quiet studio...then in many meetings.

Everything that you read about the value of a strong showing at your point of purchase is true. The cover a picture book is incredibly important in the life and

success of the project. It is also one of the most difficult and sometimes frustrating parts of the process. When the time comes for an illustrator to do his or her job, the publishers, designers, authors, and editors have already invested a great deal of time and money in this thing. Naturally, when it comes time to decide what our first impression of the book will look like, everyone, including the folks from marketing, want a seat at the table. There are allot of people trying to steer this ship. To do your job as an illustrator, you need to understand the book so that you can be flexible in your solution, address as many of the needs expressed by all parties involved (wants are optional) AND stay true to the material.

Step 1. Understanding the material.

I am a strong advocate of designing the entire book and starting the finished art before exploring the cover image. Why?

Picture books become these strange little animals that come to life and run around in your studio. They often start to move in directions that you did not anticipate. It is akin to how many authors describe the phenomenon of their characters taking on a life of their own and telling the author where they need to go and what they should say. Unfortunately, in my experience, picture books don't speak English and you need to be attentive to them to see where these creatures need to go. Redwall picture books are not small creatures either,......more like....., pet sitting for your friend that owns an buffalo.

So I read, sketch, design re-read, sketch and begin painting the images keeping a watchful eye on where this thing is heading.

Next week, less pre-amble and more images. Here is a preview.

New book, hot off the press!

Working on the sequel right now.

Birds!

Came across this sketch from a recent project and thought I might share it.

My mentor and always my friend Brian Jacques.

I have just learned of the passing of my dear old friend Brian Jacques. I will try to put together a post in the coming days with some my memories of Brian so that you might know a bit more of the Brian that I knew.

He will be missed by so many.

Are you a fan of Redwall and collect original art?

Is this the piece you were looking for? If you collect original art and are a fan of my Redwall picturebooks, leave me a comment and let me know which piece you are looking for! If it is still available, I will put it on the list to post at ETSY.

Redwall Abbey Detail

Finally starting to unpack a few boxes. A detail from some Redwall original art featured at ETSY.

New art at ETSY!

Detail from a piece now available at Christopher Denise Original Art!

Big snow storm rolling in tonight.

Sketch from a recent project.

Less IS in fact MORE. A Portfolio makeover.

Three weeks ago I was lucky enough to find myself at the CTN Expo taking in the forum discussions, catching up with friends, and toting my wares around to the studios. I was not able to show the recent film work because the movies have not yet been made or released but I had enough new stuff that it was time to freshen up my book. Thus began the task of designing a new portfolio. There are plenty of places on the web with great advice about putting together your book, most notably Escape from Illustration Island, and most are well worth the time it takes to read them even for someone that has been showing work for more than twenty years. Much of the advice is standard so I will not go into the details but will share a few observations that I had in this most recent go-round.

First off it was far more difficult than I remembered so your first stop should be to check your calendar. The day that you read about a conference like CTN or Siggraph that you may want to attend, you need to build time into your production schedule. Treat it like a job because your next one may depend upon it. Build in time for going through your images, designing the thing, editing, feedback, more editing, and finally printing and shipping. I used Blurb and was very happy once again with the results though I would recommend spending the extra money for the paper upgrade.

OK, so you have picked some recent images of work that you like. These are pieces that you enjoyed making and show the type work that you would like to get more of. I put together a contact sheet like this:

The portfolio that preceded this version, and there have been many, looked wonderful but as a friend of mine pointed out it was a bit of an embarrassment of riches. It was well received but clocked in at a hefty 34 pages. Even people that loved my work were stuffed by page 20.

I was a prime candidate for a radical intervention on Portfolios Biggest Losers. If you have a copy, I am sure that it looks very nice on your coffee table but my goal this time around was to make something a bit more user friendly. How? Simple. Edit until it hurts. I am good at critiquing, in fact I used to get paid to crit and edit while teaching at RISD but when it comes to your own book, we all need a fresh eye. So I sent it off to my friend Buck Lewis. I received something like this back.

Ouch! Thought this guy was my friend?-well he is. Buck was able to cut through the redundancy and the fluff and get me to show a range of work that highlighted my strengths in character design and visual development. Trust the process and make the cuts. You want to treat your art director, recruiter, or production designer to a nice cappuccino and fresh croissant not the open buffet at the Radisson. Don't get stuck in the trap of thinking that "if they only saw this piece then they would realize I am perfect for their project". You want to show them potential not every single decent piece that you have created in the past year. Give them a taste, let your work shine, save some trees, and get a gig. Trust me-it works. I am lean after shedding over 20 pages of portfolio fat and my friends, family and most importantly, my clients are amazed!

Another glimpse behind the scenes...

It is always a huge compliment when people take the time out of their busy schedules to attend a book event with the kids in tow. Many thanks to all that have come out in the cold and told us how much they enjoy our new book, Bella and Stella Come Home! Thanks to the efforts of my wife, Anika (author of Bella and Pigs Love Potatoes) we have been able to share some of the behind the scenes material that usually never seen. We have printed out a few of the character sheets (seen on this blog) and have begun to display some of the book map and sketch material.

So stop in our next signing, get your book personalized with a drawing of Stella, have your photo taken with "big Stella", and take a quick look behind the scenes! We always try to make the time to answer questions about our books and process. So if your are in New England, come and see us this Saturday at Where the Sidewalk Ends in Chatham Mass.