Susan's sneak peek

When I work on pieces for Illustration Friday, I usually brainstorm a bit in my sketchbook until I get something I like. Sometimes the final piece will stick closely to the original idea or change into something completely different. I never really know how it will turn out until it is finished, which is part of the fun.

Here are some sketch ideas for the theme: Monster

Monster and girl?....


More monsters and girls...


What about circus monsters?.....


Yep, it has to be circus monsters...



And the final piece: Send in the Monster Clowns...

Holli's sketchbook peek

Just a little peek from my sketchbook. Some sketches that never materialized.

Paula's Sketchbook Sneak Peek

As far as sketchbooks go, I don't really have a sketchbook devoted to my illustration work. For the most part, I sketch out my ideas on the computer which makes it easier for me to comport the drawings into roughs and then to finished art. I DO use sketchbooks, though, for the sketches from life that I try to do frequently; the landscapes, buildings, plants, etc.. The example below is typical of a sketching excursion. I have a few small 4" x 6" sketchbooks and an assortment of pens and pencils that I carry in a small bag which I can easily take with me when I go bicycling or walking, to events and activities, and so on. The sketches below were done this past Monday, when I rode my bicycle over to the yacht club and did a study of the boats in the water (sorry that sketch is upside down for viewing but that's the way it is in the sketchbook), and then over to a park where I've been doing a series of sunset sketches (the one below is colorized here).



Below: It's a little different, though, if I'm writing something to go along with a sketch. Below are my sketches and ideas for the Illustration Friday topic, "Poem". When I work like this, I tend to grab whatever paper is nearby. I must have done this at church, hence using part of the bulletin for my notes. Things like this I usually toss out, but perhaps I should keep them around for a bit? I really don't need the extra paper in the studio. And don't you just love the little clip art pencil and pad, demonstrating HOW to use the "sermon notes" page? ("Ohhhh...So THAT'S what you do with this piece of paper. I wouldn never have known!") Heh!

Anette's Sketch Book Sneak Peak

Here's a few sketches I made when I planned an illustration for "Illustration Friday" earlier this year. I usually sketch a lot of tiny thumbnail sketches to find the right idea and plan the composition. Then I scan the sketches I want to work more on, and I do some color tests in Photoshop. It's much easier to start working on a final illustration when there's a good plan behind it.

Jannie's Sketch Book Sneak Peek

Us ladies here at Illustration for Kids thought we should show a sneak peek into our sketch books this week. Above is a spread from my molskines, when I was thinking about doing this illustration for Illustration Friday's topic, "Cars."

Summer Promo Piece - Jenn's Illustration

Here's the pencil sketch and the final painting for my contribution to our summer mailing. My original thought was to make a little fish annoying all the big grown-up fish around him. I really wanted the little fish to be red, or orange or some other bright, warm color that would stand out against the water but Pixar already has pretty substantial dibs on clown fish so I settled for something called a neon wrasse. I hope neon wrasse are ocean going fish.

Illustration for kids mailer-Jannie's piece

This is a good opportunity to show what I had originally sketched and what the final piece turned out. Usually, my process is to sketch by hand, scan it, then redrawing it in Illustrator. But as of lately, I've been working straight on the computer, especially personal and promotional pieces (where I don't have to show a clean sketch to a client). I do, however, have an idea of what I like to do...and its scribbles and sometimes even writings in my sketch book.

Summer Promo--Paula's Illustration

We here at IFK are posting the images we created for our summer mailer and discussing them a bit. I work digitally so everything below was created in Painter X using a Wacom tablet. I use the tools and brushes in the program in a 'traditional' sense. Another way to look at it is, if I was creating this image without a computer, it would still look the same.

Our theme was "Make A Splash with Illustration for Kids!", and we all agreed that a beach or water scene would compliment the slogan. I took note of the the image that I was next to (in this case, Jenn, who did a 'water' piece, mostly in blue) so I decided to do a beach scene--having the primary color a yellow hue--so our pieces would compliment each other. I enjoy doing scenes where there are groups of people or animals with lots of things going on so that's the direction I took this. Below is the finished art:



Below: My rough for the idea and the initial inking. I wasn't sure if this was going to be in pen & ink, thinking I might go more painterly with it. But I thought this piece more naturally asked to be drawn in a cartoon-ish style in line & wash. I had completed the piece with the first boy looking down at where my name would be, but I changed it out to a boy splashing water with his foot to, again, tie in with theme ("Make a splash...". Get it? Heh.).



I must have had too much time on my hands or something because, at some point I decided to try another idea and make an image where the characters weren't so small and intricate. The mermaids came to mind so I worked this up. In the end, I chose the beach scene. Now...What to do with the mermaids...

Hello little fishes!

Here's the illustration I made for our summer postcard. Summer for me is spending time at the sea. It brings back so many memories and great feelings. This is painted with acrylic paints on watercolor paper, and I have also used a bit of pastel on top of it (not much, but you can see it at the top of the boy's hair).