PROJECT: Book dummy 'Little Green Man'

Katrina Fowler · 18 Mar 2016, 19:03

@Chip-Valecek
Keeping consistent characters is SO hard! I still struggle with that, too. I just have to keep practicing! With the girl and boy above I put up dividing lines to help keep proportions. There a lot of images on google that can help with proportion. Just google 'Proportion Model sheet'!

Katrina Fowler · 18 Mar 2016, 19:12

The book dummy I'm working on is WORDLESS. I came up with the story based on a dream I had in HS. It's about the Green Man (Yeah google him) So I wrote it up and did the preliminary rough sketches. (Some really are scribbles that only I know what they are! LOL) Thought I'd share.

Katrina Fowler · 18 Mar 2016, 20:45

Refined sketches: pg2-3 and pg 4-5.

Chip Valecek · 19 Mar 2016, 01:35

Looking good, keep them coming!

Katrina Fowler · 20 Mar 2016, 18:26

Pages 6-7-8-9. Can you 'read' it without words? Too much like a graphic novel than a picture book?

Katrina Fowler · 6 Apr 2016, 21:05

I was wondering if @Lee-white, @Will-terry and @jake-parker thought if this was working as a wordless book or if it was reading more as a graphic novel. Sort of at a point where I'm struggling... All thoughts are welcome as I work on these rough layouts.

Dulcie · 20 Mar 2016, 20:33

How exciting to be putting together a book dummy! So far I’m getting this from your refined sketches (apologies in advance if this is totally off, but it’s an honest reading!):

that there’s a journey into a forest in winter, footsteps in the snow. A meeting between the winter girl and summer boy..they look surprised (especially the girl, a little horrified). Their gaze meets..she tells him to stop OR blasts him with winter vibes (not sure). He turns and runs away..she follows him…perhaps she is bringing the snow with her, in a trail?….She journeys through an autumn landscape (leaves on ground plus the animals look sleepy/hibernating)…more journeying through the forest landscape, she is still following him. He has travelled to a pond in the forest and is drinking from it…she catches up and surprises him there…she blasts him again with icy vibes! (oh poor boy) …but he jumps up, up, UP a rocky slope. She is left alone gazing up at him.

So I’m not sure exactly what the ending is. Sorry if I haven’t interpreted it very well, but I hope these thoughts are helpful to work out what parts of the story are coming across! It is pretty tricky creating something without words…good luck with it! I do like the variety of shapes and the overall feeling in the tree compositions btw. Look forward to seeing how it develops

Katrina Fowler · 20 Mar 2016, 21:08

@Dulcie You pretty much nailed it! You are amazing!

The story is 'finished' (all 32 pages) but I'm still plugging away at these sketches to get them just right before I head to final drawings and some completed illustrations.

The winter girl is waving hello to the greenman which does cause a cold winter wind to spook him. I think I need to change the facial expressions on Pg 4. I don't want her to be so 'horrified' just startled and then to looks more curiously at the green man. She follows into the deep forest where the animals are hibernating for winter. So glad you 'read' it that way!

Thank you again for your feed back on this so far! It is so appreciated as I create in solitude!

Katrina Fowler · 20 Mar 2016, 21:14

Pgs 14-15-16-17

evilrobot · 20 Mar 2016, 21:40

Just wanted to say that page 16 and 17 layout is so awesome.

Katrina Fowler · 22 Mar 2016, 22:06

Pages 18 19 20 & 21

Katrina Fowler · 2 Apr 2016, 19:54

Pages 22,23,24 & 25

Pages 26,27,28 7 29

Joy Heyer · 6 Apr 2016, 21:01

@Katrina-Fowler I am loving all these layouts...but this one doesn't flow as nicely...particularly the boy's head coming out of the gutter on page 25. It feels wrong. Perhaps if you zoom out more? Not as much as page 24, but enough so that there isn't a big floating head in the middle of this layout. The gestures and action of the sketches is lovely. It is very easy to understand what is going on. Can't wait to see the last 3 pages!

Joy Heyer · 6 Apr 2016, 21:05

@Katrina-Fowler These are wonderful! The lower illustration on page 12 doesn't quite read right to me though. I thought the boy was jumping down instead of up. Perhaps if the boy jumped from lower left, to center, to upper right? (Because the top boy is to the left, I started there and read down.) But I love the illustration of the girl looking up. Great!