Concepts

[ginasketch]

Freddie and the Fairy concepts, based on Julia Donaldson's text.

This is a layout drawing I did to get a feel of how I'm going to do a double page spread. I already see a fatal error.:P Stuff shouldn't be down the middle.

This entry will remain locked until the end of the competition. please keep it that way! Character designs © Gina Allnatt. Text © Julia Donaldson 2009

Comments

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

Those are fabulous! I hope you win! :)

Yeah, I suppose it's best to keep anything detailed away from the centre of the double page spread. The wee doggie with the banana nose needs to move over a bit, or he'll get lost in the fold, and that would be a shame.

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

Thanks dude.

Yeah I love banana-nose. I'm keeping him in but will move him to the right a bit. I also still need to draw the Fairy Queen.

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

Banana-nose is excellent. And I look forward to seeing your Fairy Queen! :)

[karis-uk.livejournal.com]

They're brilliant :-)

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

Thanks.:)

[wieselkind.livejournal.com]

Very nice. I like the toucan ;)

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

hehe Thanks.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Oh, good luck, those would so deserve to win.

Completely OTT, I think you'll get something out of reading this.

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

vEry goOd. SuSPect GaNDalf

[ms-daisy-cutter.livejournal.com]

Awww, Harry Potter has a doggie! :D

/very cute.

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

Uh oh. I did worry that he kind of looked Potterish. Drawing humans for kids books is pretty hard for me. There seems to be this unwritten law where publishers want kids to look as bland as possible, yet all the animals/incidental characters seem much more interesting. Not sure why.

[ms-daisy-cutter.livejournal.com]

There seems to be this unwritten law where publishers want kids to look as bland as possible

Do you think it's perhaps unconsciously influenced by the perception of children as "innocent," or "blank slates"? Or do you think that the intent might be to better enable children to identify with the protagonists? (As in, avoiding the situation of "S/he doesn't look like me, so that can't be me," because young kids tend to be very literal?)

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

I'm honestly not sure. I might start a thread about it on SCBWI and see what people's opinions are. I know Little Tiger Press say they prefer thei protagonists to be animals, and 80% of the books they publish have only animal characters in them.

[saintsavin.livejournal.com]

*SQUEE* The cuteness level is off the charts! Love the toucan hiding down there in the spread ^^.

[pickled-jo.livejournal.com]

*claps*
Excellent!
Your so good at birds!!!
I just need to put the finishing touches to my spread page than I can post mine!

[pickled-jo.livejournal.com]

I've not done my main character bland.
Mine looks a bit 'cool' and maybe a bit of a scoundrel.

:S

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

I was talking of published picture books in general. I can't really think of very many stylized kids. Can you?

[pickled-jo.livejournal.com]

Max from Where the wild things are is pretty funky! :D

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

He was the only one I could think of too.

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

I haven't done my spread yet.

and Thanks! Look forward to seeing yours.

[appleredhair.livejournal.com]

Omg! This is exactly the kind of thing I love waking up to see. I LOVE the dog. And the birds. And the kitty. And the fairy-lady. And the boy. I love everything!

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

Glad you like. :D

[js84.livejournal.com]

Fantastic! The main character's sort of a cross between the style of Horrid Henry and Calvin and Hobbes but original in its own right.

The fairy looks a bit pantomimeish, which probably isn't a bad thing, but I can't help but thinking it's a hairy-chested bloke in drag every time I look at the fourth drawing. Maybe you could make it slightly more lady-like and either smaller or taller in comparison to Freddie.

Hope you get the gig. If you do, I'm sure you'll be sneaking in the odd toucan or beetle!