I want to improve my portfolio, let’s be real it’s not great. When I created my website I was doing it with a specific mindset. I just wanted to get my art out into the world, rather than hide it away due to my fear that it isn’t good enough to have on a website. It means though that it seriously needs an upgrade as it doesn’t showcase how I want my art to look. Not only from a style perspective but also the images look stiff and I know if I put it out to any art agents, art directors or publishers, I would get a series of rejections.
That’s where creating some new portfolio pieces comes in, specifically making a book dummy.
What do I want to achieve?
I want to create a book dummy consisting of:
A couple of coloured double page spreads,
A black and white storyboard of the whole book
Character designs of the main characters
What text am I going to illustrate?
Over the last 5 years I have taken part in the Make Art that Sells illustrating children’s book course run by the amazing Lilla Rogers and Zoe Tucker and the course provides a series of children’s book texts to illustrate. They are always amazing, engaging stories so I know that I am sitting on a pile of gold to get me started on my quest to improve my portfolio.
There is one story in particular about a cheese and a pickle going to an art gallery that I really loved the idea of last year, but I never got round to finishing any of the work I started towards it. Therefore my goal is to use this text to create some new artwork. I am hoping once I get into the groove of creating this dummy book then I can look towards creating dummy books of my own story ideas.
So what is the plan?
This is a great question! In fact I was chatting and reading posts from Yves Kervoelan about this specifically as he is running a challenge this month to illustrate a children’s book. He gives a great example of the type of action plan needed to create a children’s book. If you haven’t read his posts then they are here.
Here is my rough plan that I pulled together after reading through the text and knowing my goals:
Week 1: Action Plan/ Research/ Sketching
Day 1: Read through text and make notes on characters, environments, poses, emotions etc
Day 2: Create moodboard for the text looking into not only character designs but also interiors and exteriors
Day 3: Character design sketches of Cheese and Pickle
Day 4: Play with colour palette
Day 5: Sketches of poses and interactions between Cheese and Pickle
Day 6: Day of rest but have some fun if I want to
Day 7: Day of rest but have some fun if I want to
Week 2: Composition, Flow and Narrative
Day 1: Thumbnails of book layouts/ Play around with composition
Day 2: Thumbnails of book layouts/ Play around with composition
Day 3: Sketch out roughs of spreads and test flow
Day 4: Sketch out roughs of spreads and test flow
Day 5: Black & white of spreads
Day 6: Day of rest but have some fun if I want to
Day 7: Day of rest but have some fun if I want to
Week 3: Illustrate first double page spread
Day 1: Choose spread to illustrate from thumbnails / colour roughs
Day 2: Colour roughs of spread & Draw out final spread
Day 3: Draw out final spread & Paint/ Colour final spread
Day 4: Paint/ Colour final spread
Day 5: Paint/ Colour final spread
Day 6: Day of rest but have some fun if I want to
Day 7: Day of rest but have some fun if I want to
Week 4: Illustrate second double page spread
Day 1: Choose spread to illustrate from thumbnails / colour roughs
Day 2: Colour roughs of spread & Draw out final spread
Day 3: Draw out final spread & Paint/ Colour final spread
Day 4: Paint/ Colour final spread
Day 5:Paint/ Colour final spread
Day 6: Day of rest but have some fun if I want to
Day 7: Day of rest but have some fun if I want to
Obviously this plan could and probably will change as some tasks will take longer than others. It also depends how sucked in I get into each exercise! I have a tendency to always want to spend more time exploring characters than focusin on backgrounds! However it is a way to keep myself accountable.
If you want to see how my progress goes I’ll be posting a weekly summary of each week and what I have achieved etc as well as some notes here and there on specific topics I am really enjoying! Please consider subscribing as it is completely free!
Until Next time,
Em X
Hello, fellow MATS student! I love the 'Cheese and Pickle' text too—I even created some artwork for it! I've been feeling pretty stuck with my portfolio lately, so working on a book dummy might be just what I need. Looking forward to seeing your work!
Ah! I happen to be working on a book dummy at the moment, for similar reasons. But I have definitely not set myself a timetable because I know I'd rebel against it in a rage - even just thinking about it makes me feel squirmy. 😅 But I have written on my whiteboard "Gulls" so that I stay focused in a very vague way. I might as well have written, "I'm not telling you what do, but remember that story idea about gulls? It's a fun story..." It's like walking on eggshells around myself sometimes. 🙄