I'm writing and illustrating a book, "Milkweed Manor." All the characters are animals and the story takes place in a little animal Community in the forest behind Milkweed Manor. I've written all eight chapters and have edited them sufficiently to behind the illustrations.
I've been working all week on this first one. This is the main character, Colwyn, on his journey to his new home at Milkweed Manor.
This first illustration is important because the medium and style I use here I'll be using for the whole book. I've already had two false starts before I finally reached this point.
The first try was watercolor over pencil, but once I had the watercolor on I realized that the body was too long! So back to the drawing board, and onward with try number 2, which was watercolor.
The watercolor choice was definitely not a good one. I'm not quite sure what prompted me, but, in the end it just wasn't working out. I haven't done much watercolor, so why would I choose that medium for such a large and important ptoject? Good question, right? It's just a shame that I wasted so much time before coming to my sense.
So I thought some more about the medium and decided that I should use the one that I like the best, feel most comfortable with, and also feel fairly accomplished at. I chose pencil drawing. In the end, I'm trying for the look of a lightly tinted pencil drawing. Here's the first layer, all #2 5mm mechanical pencil.
I have more layers of pencil to go, then I'll have to make the decision on how to add the color tints. I'm making an extra drawing with a few leaves and a berry so I can experiment a bit before I commit myself!
P.S. This image is a scan. It has more contrast than the original - not sure why.
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