So What Style?

I have decided after looking at my research in my books, and on my blog, that I will go down the route of combining the elements of cartoon with realism.

I have developed two sketchbooks as part of my research, one is practise and experimentation with the cartoon form, whilst the other is experimentation with the cartoon/realistic form, the form I now believe will work most.

There is a reason as to why I feel this cartoon/realistic hybrid route will be better than going down just either a strict cartoon/realistic approach. I feel like children will respond more to the cartoon visual style, however I feel a hint of realism may make the book stand out a little amongst many children's books that purely stick with an overly cartoon format of illustrations. Also, expanding upon just children, adults may tend to go for this type of book, over a realistically illustrated book, as they might see it as more child friendly.

Example of my hybrid style. These styles (above and below), combines the cartoon form, whilst taking into aspect various realistic forms, such as the markmaking fur.

Personally I feel children's books overdo the 'full on' cartoon form slightly, as it doesn't really teach young children how certain animals truly look. I feel by adding a bit more realism to my illustrations, I can maintain the appealing cartoon style, whilst giving my animal characters a realistic anatomy.

I strongly believe this is the right balance of how to create my illustrations, I will place an example below, of how I would expect an illustration in my book to appear.

Thomas.

Realistic Style?

For my development of the illustration side to my narrative piece, I will be researching different paths to go down, in terms of my illustration style.

One possible style apart from the cartoon form that I can go down the route of, is creating my illustrations in a realistic style.

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs47/f/2009/150/3/5/Wolf_Drawing__by_PaNdAz333.jpg < image reference at this link.

This image above is an example of a highly realistic style of creating illustrations. The image is a graphite sketch, and is very accurate when it comes to the anatomy of the animal.

This image situated above, is an example of a realistic sketched rodent, in this case a hamster.

This style is used in a variety of children's books, however in the modern day era, this is becoming less commonplace, as a more cartoon-like visual style has been coming into place, and has been since around the 1950's.

http://wolfchild1219.tripod.com/images/OneWolfCover2.jpg < image reference at this link.

(Above), an example of a children's book, containing a realistic style painting. It is also themed with one of my animal choices.

An example of a cartoon/realistic drawing.

I believe a pure realistic style may not be adapted toward the modern day children's sector, however, mixing it with a few elements from the popular cartoon form, and it may be the style that works for my book. I say a good ratio in terms of style could be 70:30, cartoon and realistic respectively.





Thomas.

Cartoon Style?

For my development of the illustration side to my narrative piece, I will be researching different paths to go down, in terms of my illustration style.

The cartoon style may appeal more to children, than say realistic forms. If you look at the majority of children's books, you can visually see this trend.

(Some examples of this trend below)

http://www.childrensbookillustration.com/illustrations/zoom/20110216144359c20ad.jpg < image reference at this link.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AGJ3G7K6L._SL500_AA300_.jpg < image reference at this link.

http://www.childrensbookillustration.com/illustrations/zoom/201211141105493c59d.jpg < image reference at this link.

This cartoon-like style is very commonplace in the sector of children's illustration. Traditionally books used to contain more realistic style illustrations.
For example in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, the illustrations are quite realistic in terms of anatomy, and style. I do quite like the scratchy pen style, and the use of basic tones.

http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alicepic/alice-in-wonderland/1book24.jpg < image reference at this link.

This shows how times have changed, and how the children's illustration sector is differentiated from times of old.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxqvtBSEWD27awvT-Z8FeXMKbmluq6ZrsZNwVG20OwdHnoLp4JfjEPrbjE_pGfMq8Fbzj6k2wbjh-OugkEJHKA3nOjqT15gWGF5OJcWHXvbdwVMep_ML7JdiV-NhEzyryU2GJaVYm5dw/s1600/bowers_hamster+with+treat.jpg

An example of a simplistic cartoon mouse.

In comparison I will research the realistic style, and compare the two later on.



Thomas.

Random House publishing research

Random House "ranks among the top five children's illustration companies in the UK". And "It's titles have won every single UK children's award". The company hires well known illustrators, and some notable ones who have worked, or are working at the company, include "Quentin Blake, Helen Cooper and Shirley Hughes.


< Image and info, all taken from this main site, the link that I provided above, is my reference point.

Random House also publish popular, and "bestselling writers" such as Jacqueline Wilson, Roald Dahl, Micheal Morpurgo, Phillip Pullman and Anne Fine.

http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/division/about-random-house-childrens-publishers-uk < Here is a link to a portfolio of their published books.

Well known authors, such as R. L Stine, have had their books, published by Random House.

The companies main corporate workers, include Gail Rebuck, who holds the post, of chair of the penguin random house UK board. In 1982, she was one of the founder directors of Century publishing, and as a publishing director of their non-fiction list. With rapid success of this company, Century was acquired in 1989 by Random House Inc. Random House Inc is the world's largest English language trade publishing group. When Century was merged with Random house, Gail was quickly appointed chair, and chief executive in 1991, only two years after the merge.




Thomas.

Initial story ideas, and related research

For my book, I have been doing some brainstorming, and ideas I can put forward to the final book.

A brainstorm in my development journal.

For starters I want my story to be aimed toward the children's illustration sector, the reason why I have chosen this sector, is due to the fact that the children's book sector is a booming market, that seems to be increasing year on year. I also want my story to be simple, yet deliver a clear message.

Because the theme of the story has to be based around 'exclusion', I have a initial base to start with.
I would like to incorporate animals into my story, and allow them to be my key characters. I love working with the theme of animals, and this has clearly been reflected in the past in module one, in the reportage, animal, digital manipulation, and the book of drawing units. My favourite unit from last module was the animals unit, as a side note. I do enjoy working with canines and rodents, so I may progress the idea of using these types of animal for my story further.

My graphic piece will be entirely thought up by myself, as well as being fully written and assembled by me, but I will research other books that feature a similar theme of exclusion, and are in the children's genre of book publishing also.

A draft few ideas floating around my head, is perhaps a story in which a small mouse (or rodent) is excluded from everyone else, maybe due to an unlikable trait, or another issue such as size. This character (who would be the protagonist), must try to find the way to be accepted into the pack.
I could tweak this idea, with using a different plot. An alternative plot could bring in the themes of friendship, or maybe bullying. An anti-bullying children's novel is a good idea, this is something I may look into. I could create a story in where the protagonist is bullied, and runs away.*

*: This idea has been taken through to a final draft, which has been tweaked slightly. I have decided to make the protagonist have a smaller statue than all the canines, and this is how he is excluded from certain activities. Instead of the character running away, the protagonist and the major character try to find a way to overcome his size. Eventually the protagonist overcomes this, by the pair assembling a pair of stilts, and because of this, he becomes the tallest in the land, and is no longer excluded.

I will be writing in the third person.
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Book Research: 1
I have been thinking for days, of a story that is based around the similar theme of exclusion, and that story is called The Ugly Duckling. This story is about a duck, who is excluded from a group of other ducklings, due to the grey colour of his feathers.
The Ugly duckling was originally written by Hans Christian Anderson, in 1843. It is a literary fairytale, and was originally written in the Danish language, before being translated to English.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9fZM-61R7LF2CP0hBvqEtMygkqd978L5GnZCX3edMoFs84kGLAoIUYzCTiCAppzZlyGj2roT7cpa2_igkzEmsKPQBRPIpJRCn707jB6aXaFdBfa1aJe-ovsyEhhNFx-lebmq0Lw7C2Y/s1600/ugly_duckling_lg.gif < image reference at this link.

This book also contains a theme of animals.


Book Research 2:
Another book that contains a similar theme to exclusion, is Rapunzel. Rapunzel is a story by the brothers Grimm, and is considered a fairy tale, very much along the lines that little red riding hood, three little pigs, and Cinderella follow. Rapunzal (the antagonist, is excluded from normal life, due to her powers). The copy I have, is very structured in a way that appeals to the children's market, and seems to appeal more to little girls, than that of both sexes. This particular book is illustrated with simple images, by Emma Lake.

Book Research 3:
The Witches is a children's book that is written by the author Roald Dahl, and illustrated by Quentin Blake. The illustrations in this book ha a very rough and scratchy style, this is a path I may wish to go down, and incorporate a similar style in my own illustrated book.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9IY9ALBOn6ZTDAVWX2T8BYSZPQ_tUkV9y-HdXZx36HFBUvPtoKIXJdZ-sm2VIAB9JjyoOqVBkvtzMxZyAjlFMOww1dXM7mH-8Ul-Jy59pCQTnCLhidRN_dGc9kMJ5ok6wOvD3c_aa0EU/s1600/the+witches+kids+2.jpg < image reference at this link.

Thomas.

Sara Ogilvie

Today, I had the privilege of having my first hour long session, based around narrative illustration. For the talk today, a freelance illustrator called Sara Ogilvie, arrived into the studio.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3649/3334650640_f26c60e1ac.jpg < image reference at this link.

She was born in Edinburgh, in 1971, and she currently lives in the city of Newcastle Upon Tyne. She graduated with and illustration/printmaking BA (Hons) degree, as well as PG diploma in 1994, which she received both from the Edinburgh College of Art.

http://www.saraogilvie.com/index.html < image reference at this link.

She discussed certain topics, such as how she bagan her professional career, and also what is involved in the development of creating illustrations for a book. She also detailed how long the development of illustrating a book takes, she claimed that the average time for development is around 10-12 months. She said that she tended to juggle book projects in amongst each other, so that there was always a piece nearing completion, in order to have a steady income, which is important not just for an illustrator, but anyone in a profession.

I personally thought that she was a very talented and successful illustrator, and I really did enjoy the work that she has produced for a large assortment of novels and publications.


http://www.saraogilvie.com/ < a link to her webpage.




Thomas.

Sketchbook Development

Today as part of narrative illustration module, I begun my primary development for the creation of my book.

I bought four separate sketchbooks.

The first two sketchbooks I bought.

Two will be for the creation of my characters and illustrations (A4), one will be for the plan/development of the literature side of things (story), and finally, one will be for the tying together of the illustrations and the body text, in a rough format.

For my character and illustration books, I will initially, from the first few pages of each book, spend a large section of each book sketching a variety of characters in different poses and colours. One will be down the route of the cartoon-like style, whilst the other will be down the route of a more hybrid approach (cartoon/realistic) I wish not to go fully realistic in my illustrations, as I feel this would work more for say, an adult audience, not a children's. This development phase will help me to practise perfecting different animal anatomy, as well as to help develop my styles, and also my characters in terms of expressions, poses, visual look, and also the personality of my characters. I aim to make this the book that brings my featured animals to life.

For my story plan book, I will use the pad to jot down initial ideas and concepts for the book, as well as one or two drafts, before I finalise the story.

In my third book, I will write the draft story down on the paper, and place a few sample illustrations amongst the text, to indicate what each scene will look like, where the images will be placed, and how the flow of the book will look, sound, and feel like.

All of the books are very important, and each one plays a very crucial part in the development of my book.

Alongside everything, my narrative illustration blog online, will accompany my research.


Thomas.

Nobrow Books Research

Nobrow is a book publisher that began operations in 2008. It specialises in providing a platform for illustrative art, graphic art, and also comics in the United Kingdom, and worldwide. It began operations in the middle of the financial crisis, which hit in late 2008, and managed to come out of the recession in tact, and as a very successful and popular book publisher.

http://www.nobrow.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/nobrow_promo.jpg < image reference at this link.

The company uses a wide range of good, and fine materials, and uses a process called spot colour printing. This is where pure pantones are combined to create vibrant and colourful pieces of artwork. You can see these in the examples of artwork above.

Nobrow books are printed in runs between 1500 - 6000 copies, and their books are distributed across the world. They have a base in France, which publishes French editions of Nobrow's popular books.

They work with a good range of artists and illustrators such as Jan Van Der Veken, Jon Boam, Ben Newman, Patrick Hruby, Golden Cosmos, Stuart Kolakovic, Gwenola Carrere and Eda Akaltun. All of the prints that these artists produce are numbered and signed by the artists, before being released for sale.

Nobrow uses an interesting simple colour palette, that I will detail in depth, within a standalone future blog post.

Nobrow can be contacted at this adress > info@nobrow.net

http://www.nobrow.net/?pagename=about < Information referenced from this weblink

Thomas.

Target Market For Narrative

This is a blog post, detailing a few of the areas I could choose to be my target market, for the eventual creation of my book.


Children's Book Market:
The children's book market, is a very niche market, aimed solely at children and parents, and these are the ones who mainly purchase in this genre of books. This market in itself is a very big, and exciting one.

Children's book publishing is a very rapidly growing frontier, and it has been growing substantially year on year, since 2009. This growth as of now, doesn't indicate any signs of slowing down, as the population only increases, and parents want the best for their children, as it's been proven that items, such as well developed books at a young age, aid in their development.

For publishers, it is a booming market, and is the most booming, out of all the book genres. It is a very desirable market, for not only a publisher to go into, but also for an illustrator to venture into. As you can see in this link below, to an online book store.

 http://www.whsmith.co.uk/dept/books/home?page=1&results=60&sort=asc_bestSellerRanking

The amount of children's books up for purchase, is almost numbering 46000 (including sub genres within). This is still very huge, and on this site, there are more children's books, than other genres such as crime, mystery, and even biographies. This most likely reflects the whole industry. This is the main reason, why I have chose, to research into this market the most.

It is a very promising entry market, for any kind of illustrator, especially in particular, a 'fresh out of university educated' illustrator.

Image taken myself, in a WHsmith outlet.

New Adult Fiction:

The new adult fiction market is a term that encompasses novels, involving characters who are in their late teens, to early 20s, usually with the theme of the characters exploring what it means to be adults, and revolving round the theme of growing up. 

The term 'new adult fiction' first appeared in 2009, with St. Martin’s Press, who "launched a contest calling for novel submissions that would appeal to 'new adult' readers in their early 20s." The contest excited authors and readers. Some well known authors who delve into elements of this genre include J.K. Rowling.

Here, I will quote a useful point in this article, which I will provide the link for below.

"a study released last year by Bowker revealed that an astounding 55 percent of the readers of books intended for ages 12–17 are actually over the age of 18".

Interestingly, companies such as Random House and Harper Collins, are players in this newer, emerging genre market, which seems to be one that is growing. In conclusion, this market definitely seems like an interesting sector, that is developing in narrative.

Ditto.

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/new-adult-the-next-big-thing < reference for new adult fiction research at this link.

Poetry:

Poetry as a market is a very varied one. There is a market for both adult and children's poetry, and the latter can be seen in such books as Colin West's the big book of nonsense, and related themed works.




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Update:
I have decided after my research in this blog, that I will go down the route of developing narrative toward the children's market. I have chosen this market, because of the popularity of this market, as well as the fact that it is a booming market. This sector is expected to grow for many years to come, and I wish to take advantage on this. In my opinion, it has never been so good, to be entering this sector. It looks very promising.







Thomas.

Route Choice

I have finally decided, after narrowing my choice of books down on the list, which option I will go with. The book I have chosen isn't an actual book, but a commercial brief.

This professional brief was set by nobrow, and it involves the process of writing a short story, and coupling it with my own drawn illustrations. I have decided to take some influence from my existing book research, in terms of genre, and I will be assembling an entirely thought up children's book, from start to finish.
The reason I have decided to go down the route of children's book illustration, is due to the fact that this is an area in book illustration that interests me the most. Also going off some of my research in professional studies I wrote not long ago, the children's book market is one of the most booming sectors in commercial book development and illustration.

The Nobrow brief.

Now that I have selected which list item to go with, I will begin the process of beginning work.
After a brief discussion with Ben, he said that my idea of working in a traditional book format over a picture book/graphic novel, may be more suited to my style, so that is what I will be doing.





Thomas.

Nobrow Brief

One of my options that is alongside the book choice, is going with taking on a brief that has been assigned by Nobrow. You can find the brief below this text.

This is a very exciting brief, that has been set by Sam Arthur. I am very excited to hear he will be visiting the studios very soon, as he will be coming into our university studios, on the 14th of February.

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You can find a link to my Nobrow research here > https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3328339341342284366#editor/target=post;postID=2197392785923736159;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=2;src=postname

I think this brief seems exciting, and poses a challenge, that I may want to take on for this narrative module.


Thomas.

Book 6: Carry on Jeeves

The book, carry on Jeeves (which was written by P.G. Wodehouse) was published in the UK in 1925, by Herbert Jenkins. It was published in the USA in 1927 by George H. Doran.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/34/CarryOnJeeves.jpg < image reference at this link.

The original book cover (above)

Before the book, many of Wodehouse's stories had appeared in a newspaper called "The Saturday Evening Post", and some were rewritten stories featured in the collection entitles, My Man Jeeves (which was published in 1919).

Thomas.

Book 5: The Iron Man

The Iron man, is a book written by Ted Huges. The book was adapted into a motion picture in 1999.

http://www.faber.co.uk/media/cache/5a/9c/5a9c79eee16d8f051fc40f8d18bdcb7e.jpg < image reference at this link.

This particular book, that I bought from amazon, features very simple, limited-tone illustrations, using a lot of line. I really do enjoy these types of illustrations, and I think in my opinion simple themes work generally well in a children's novel.

I grew up on this story as a child, and it was never the same after I watched the motion picture. However this book will always hold a place in my heart, even if I don't go down the route of using this book as part of my narrative illustration, I will be personally reading it regardless.

Thomas.

Book 4: Animal Farm: A Fairy Story

For my fourth book choice, that I have selected from the brief, I have decided to pick Animal Farm: A Fairy Story. This book was made by George Orwell.

I will admit, I have never heard of this book before, and when I heard the title, I assumed the book was to be a children's book. After reading into it, and doing some research, It was a shock to find out the true genre of the story.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/AnimalFarm_1stEd.jpg < image reference at this link.

The book basically has the theme of a 'dystopian type novel' and it was published in 1945. The book reflects certain events between the years of 1917, and the Soviet Union under the dictator Stalin. The book was originally to be called, Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, but was rejected by publishers in the US.





Thomas.

Book 3: The Orchard Book of Nursery Rhymes

For book 3, I have decided to go with looking into the Orchard Book of Nursery Rhymes. This particular book is oriented toward the children's illustration sector, and does not follow like a continued story. Each part consists of an individual rhyme, and these rhymes are chosen by Zena Sutherland.

I decided to opt for including this book in my research, out of the brief, because I am very interested in the theme of children's illustration. I love how the genre has it's own individual style of illustration, usually including very simplistic shapes, with strong bright colours and themes.

I am currently in the process of reading this book, so I will write my analysis in a future update, alongside this blog.



Thomas.

Book 2: The Big Book of Nonsense

For my second book choice, I have decided to choose a book entitled The Big Book of Nonsense, by Colin West. This book is a children's genre book, and already contains illustrations inside.

http://www.colinwest.com/about/ < image reference at this link.

Colin West was born in the year of 1951, and he studied graphic design at Wolverhampton polytechnic, as well as illustration at a different educational institution, at the Royal College of Art, London. After graduating in 1975, he produced his first book, "A Collection of Nonsense". He has produced in total, over 60 children's books, and is still working in this sector to this day.

The book takes all of his poems from the past 20 years, and places them into one large children's book.
Notably, all of the illustrations featured inside, are also created by Colin.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5177A9E07KL.jpg < image reference at this link.

The entire book is a list of different poetic stories, adapted toward the children's market. As a collective, the book is quite big, my copy totalling in 254 pages.


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Update:

Interestingly as a side assignment for this unit, I am tasked with illustrating a single poem from Colin West's "The Big Book of Nonsense". I have picked my poem, which is called "The Stately Ship", and I am very excited to take this task on.

Thomas.

Book 1: Hansel and Gretel

My first book that I have decided to choose for selected research in this new exciting module, is one entitled Hansel and Gretel. This book is today regarded as a 'classic' children's fairytale, and is well known by nearly everybody. The book I have acquired is illustrated by Pat Oakley.

http://novelnovice.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/grimms.jpg < image reference at this link.

Hansel and Gretel is a book, that was recorded by the Brothers Grimm. It was published in the year of 1812. The story revolves around a young brother and sister, who are being threatened by a cannibalistic witch, who lives in a house built using sweets and confectionary. This novel has been adapted multiple times, most notably as a opera.

I am currently in the process of reading this book, which I bought off amazon. I will post my review of this book, here in a future update.

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Update:
After reading the book, I have to say it was an enjoyable read. It is quite short, at least the version I bought was, however I really did enjoy the large illustration layout, coupled with the neat text. I thought the story was well written, and it kept my interest the whole way through.






Thomas.

Purchases

As part of making my mind up for which book to go for, I have selected the ones that have interested me most on my brief sheet, and I have purchased them on the Amazon online store, except for two, which is Carry On Jeeves, (this is my brother's copy) and the Nobrow brief.

The following selections include:

• Hansel and Gretel
• The Big Book of Nonsense: Poems to Make You Laugh Out Loud
• The Orchard Book of Nursery Rhymes
• Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (Penguin Modern Classics) by Orwell, George New Edition (2000)
• The Iron Man
• Carry On Jeeves
• Nobrow Brief

I will be reading each one fully, or the majority of each if the book is too large, when I receive them, and I will post blogs detailing each one, using a summary.

Thomas.

Choosing my book

My brief contains a list of books for me to choose to work with, as part of my second module, which is called narrative illustration.

The brief I was handed, contains the following books for me to choose. I instantly took a liking to the assortment of children's books on the list, so I have decided to take a look at some of them.

Brothers Grimm, Hansel & Gretel*
Roald Dahl, The Witches
Ted Huges, The Iron Giant*
Faith Jacues, Zena Sutherland, The Orchard Book of Nursery Rhymes*
Colin West, The Big Book of Nonsense*

Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Robert Louis Stevenson, Jekyll and Hyde
P.G Wodehouse, Carry On Jeeves*

Franz Kafka, The Castle
William Burroughs, Naked Lunch
Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting
George Orwell, Animal Farm*

Elenor Catton, The Luminaries
Alan Bennet, The Uncommon Reader

H.P Lovecraft, Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales
Frank Herbert, Dune
Edger Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars

Script John Mccrea - Judge Dredd
Nobrow Brief - Exclusion*



I have been thinking about which book to go for in this Narrative Illustration module, and have yet to come up with my choice. I will update this blog when I do.

My brief, with my choices. (also Nobrow brief)

* Indicates selected book.






Thomas.

Introduction to Unit

In this module, entitled narrative illustration, I will be looking, and delving into the narrative side of illustration.
The module description, and criteria are detailed below.

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"Through a series of Narrative Illustrations show an understanding and application of your creative and professional practice. 

Research new and established Illustrators and book publishing companies who work in narrative publications and relate these to your work. 

Document and evaluate personal progression to show understanding of your realised illustrations.

A series of workshops, events and talks will be held throughout this module.

Industry Brief (week 15-28)

Choose one piece from the given text, some of which will be provided by the

BA (Hons) Illustration for Commercial Application Industrial Liaison Group which will be delivered and presented to you as professional briefs.

Analyse the narrative you have chosen and identify the potential illustrative spikes. Consider a suitable genre appropriate to its audience and that reflects your own practice.

Working through the development of ideas show and document how you came to your illustrative conclusion through, design sheets, thumbnails, medium exploration, peer and audience feedback, and show any changes in direction made to the realisation of your work. 

Research and document the professional processes required for delivery of a commissioned illustration to industry.

You must produce a series of illustrations that aspire to industry standards and that reflect your personal practice and illustrative voice. 

The final pieces will be presented digitally as well as in its original format based on your research of the delivery of commissioned illustrations to industry.

Keep an extensive weblog of your research, contact with illustrators or companies, development of your work and ensure all stages are captured and that you reflect on all aspects of the assignment."

Thomas.