Hello Everyone!
Recently I posted a flier and some information about our upcoming book release, which we are very excited about! And even before that, I posted some brainstorm sketches of my book. But between the two posts, I have been working very hard to complete my recently completed book, A Monster Tale: Being Comfortable in Your Own Monster Skin! In this post I will give you readers a break down of my process!
Writing Wonderland.
I took out a full week to write both of the stories in my book. I am not too fond of writing, but with my book I was able to be in control of everything that was said, I was allowed to write down anything that I felt was necessary. The writing process was not as challenging as I anticipated it would be. It was actually an enjoyable experience. I was able to do this at my own pace, and be as creative as I wanted. While writing, I had to make sure that my writings, correlated with my drawings, which also effected the flow of the stories. I think that finding the right flow was the most challenging, I mostly worked on this through the editing process. I wanted to make sure there was enough repetitiveness to connect to children, but at the same time, it needed to sound intelligent, so it did not speak down to a kid, making them feel too little. In the end, I feel like the writing in my stories turned out successful and it goes hand in hand with the drawings.
Sketchy Sketching.
After my writing was complete, I was able to begin the sketching process. I started by having all the words for each story organized by page, and I used my brainstorm sketches for guidance. I spent around 10 hours sketching both of my books, this totaled in approximately 23 pages of drawings. Not only did I sketch pictures but I sketched all the words of the stories as well. This took a lot of focus so it was often times draining to work for continuous hours on this. I sketched all the pages in this week with pencil and on thick pieces of paper that was durable enough to endure water colors, for the next step of my process.
Painting Potato People.
After my sketching process was complete, it was off to the next phase, painting! I was really excited for this step, because it really made my sketches come to life. It helped the characters become real, whereas before they seemed dead. Although very worth it, this step was at time dreadful. It took even more focus than sketching, because there was not any room or time for mistakes. This step took a little longer than I thought I would, if I could go back, I would definitely want to start this much earlier so I did not have to rush in the end.
“When it’s Time to Change You’ve got to Rearrange!”
I took a week dedicated to digital editing. I was able to scan each image into the computer, which made it possible to edit each page digitally. This made it much easier to refine every image, leaving each image close to perfect! Going into this step I anticipated the editing to take much less time than it did. I thought it would be very simple, however I was mistaken. This step also took longer than I thought it would. I had limited time because I only had access to the materials I needed for 2-3 hours a day, for only about 4 days.This made things difficult, and stressful, but i powered through, and this step made everything look refined and like a real book.
Laying Out Shelby & Friends
The final step in my 5 week process, was the digital layout. I used a template from blurb.com to create my book. This was a challenge because I was not too familiar with the program, so I had to teach it to myself in 2 days. It ended up being simple to use, just a little tedious. This step helped me see my book come to life, and it proved that even though I am just a high school student, I can still create quality work, that might even have the potential to compete with the big guys!
-Audrey
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