My '30 days to illustrate a book' personal challenge

[KatrinaF]

Hey all,

Thought I'd share my progress here as I attempt to illustrate a kids book in 30 days.
I wrote a story about a year ago and have decided to just go for it and make a book - or at least try and share my process along the way. I'm on Instagram at kjf.illustration if you want to follow there. I'll try to post here daily if I can. Feel free to ask questions and I welcome thoughts and comments!

The title is Boats are Boring. I grew up on a 35 ft 'Ketch' sail boat as a little kid so I have a personal connection to the story.

Day one: I laid out my 32 page book with text and started rough sketching.

[lpetiti]

@KatrinaF I'm SUPER curious about the timeline. Most books take at minimum 3 months, so why choose 30 days? It seems like, even with the idea, there wouldn't be much room for error or experimentation.

[Blitz55]

That sounds difficult, but maybe doable? All the best, looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
I do believe I'm already following you on Instagram actually.

[KatrinaF]

@lpetiti
I know! I always bite more that I can chew! But I did a version of INKtober where I did 31 8x8 full color illustrations. I nearly died but I did it! LOL At the very least I'll be close and have a book dummy.

@Blitz55 Yeah - could be a train wreck but It'll be fun to watch! Thx

[KatrinaF]

Day 2.

Worked more on page lay outs and character designs. Can't get the characters to look the way I want so I'm going to keep fine tuning the layouts in the mean time.

Gak! They look to 'comic book' so I need to change it up to more basic shapes.

[Griffin McPherson]

This is a huge undertaking. Can’t wait to see your progress! I couldn’t imagine doing this in 30 days

[KatrinaF]

@Griffin-McPherson Thx Griffin! It's gonna be quite the ride!

[KatrinaF]

Day 3 and 4.

(BTW Text is not finalized yet)
Worked on Character development, color roughs, several single page sketches, 4ish spot sketches, two double spreads. Videos are on my Instagram. kjf.illustration

[danielerossi]

@KatrinaF I drew a book in 2 weeks once! I ended up extending it to a month since I needed to make factual edits and learn a few advanced Illustrator and Photoshop features. My book was more text with spot illustrations. I agree and attest that it’s way too short of a time frame Plus, I was up until 1 or 2 am a couple of nights. Crazy but I look back with a smile.

The book was for giving away copies at an upcoming conference. I told the organizer about my crazy idea and he ended up using it as a swag bag item!

[KatrinaF]

Day 5

Worked on taking roughs to clearer sketches.

[KatrinaF]

@danielerossi I'm glad you look back on it with a smile!

[KatrinaF]

Day 6

Worked on two half pages playing with composition and color. Didn't get as much done as I wanted but at least I got some pieces worked on.

[KatrinaF]

Day 7 and Day 8

Day 7 was tough but started the final lines of the 3 spots where Kit and Scott go camping on his Yacht. I originally ad the tent made out of Louis Vuitton fabric... and may change back to that or Gucci, cause why not, he's rich.

Day 8 I spent on figuring out how I want to color them. I wanted lots of texture with watercolor and brush strokes with scrapes and grunge. So I spent some time figuring it out with these pieces. The are NOT done by any means! Phew. I do like the one with Kit whipping her fishing line out of the water as she waves to Scott on the Yacht.

If you are wondering about the magnet and the keys it will make sense in the book. At the end I'm going to have some insights into when I lived on the sail boat. I used to 'fish' with a magnet and find all sorts of stuff . I even had to 'fish' our boat keys beside the dock when my dad dropped them. After that he got a key chain that floated - oh and our boat was called the Karma.

[KatrinaF]

Day 9 of my '30 days to illustrate a children's book' personal challenge. I got so much done! These are NOT done but I'm about 85% there. feels happy with self

I also love my character with the Pink hair - Doug. They are so sweet! and they love butterflies. #transkidsmatter #transrepresentation