With so many out of school Oliver Jeffers, Mac Barnett and Mo Willems, Tony DiTerlizzi are doing a daily read, chat, draw of their books and characters.

How cool is that‽

Oliver Jeffers reads and discusses one book per day on Instagram Live:
https://www.instagram.com/oliverjeffers

Mac Barnett reads and offers a running commentary on one book per day on Instagram Live:
https://www.instagram.com/macbarnett

Mo Willems does a drawing and shows dummies, sketches and finished art for a character each day on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/RmzjCPQv3y8

Tony DiTerlizzi is doing a live drawing each day on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TonyDiterlizzi/

Thought I'd share a recent master copy study. The top image is by Kenard Pak. There was a fairly spirited discussion in my agent group about mediums and techniques he used to create it, so I decided to have a go at how I would have made the image. (FYI -- a whole bunch of physical media pieces that are composed/layered digitally)

But the great bit is how master copies like this give you permission to do things that you might not otherwise think of. I will definitely be incorporating elements of this method into future work!

Call this a shameless plug for my SVS Dynamic Expressions class if you like (enrolling now) -- but I'm kinda' excited that the new Venom movie is coming out. I've been fairly mixed on this so far (still wounded by Spiderman 3) but gotta' say the trailers make it look pretty good!

I spend a lot of time dissecting picture books. Trying to understand why I love certain ones and why I'm non-plussed by others. Then I try to bring that insight to my own books.

This is a page turn from one of my favorites "Nothing" by Jon Agee.
Check out how he uses the slow build of sequential images on this spread . . .

. . . to really pay off the utter insanity of this one*.

*That said, I do think there is a missed opportunity here.
Dutching the camera to shift away from the perfect 90 degree angles of this spread would have added to the overall sense of frenetic energy, and the kind of social pressure craziness that ensues for the next few pages.

This is a super smart book. Totally worth a check out from your local library.

@Laurel-Aylesworth There are no rules to laying out a dummy. Every book is going to be different. I'm a fan of taking various books that are either similar in subject matter or that "feel" similar to the book I'm dummying up. Photographing each page and laying it out as thumbnails. Then looking to see what choices the illustrator made. I find it's easier to see patterns in pacing, compositional choices, color scripting etc.

For example in Dan Santat's BEEKLE it's clear the choice to deviate from full bleed spreads is a choice rarely and carefully made. Everything is full bleed spreads except two where he uses vignettes to both speed up (pg 21-21) and slow down (pg 36-37) the action.

The first time I read it, I found the tree spreads on pgs 26-27 and 28-29 to be oddly flat and out of place with the other illustrations in the book. It wasn't until I laid this out that I realized Dan was trying to mimic/foreshadow Alice's drawing of the same tree on pg 35.

Also the desaturated/monochromatic quality of the images starting on pg 18 and continuing through pg 23 becomes more obvious.

I'll also often go through and try to simplify the images into simple black, white and grey shapes so see how value and silhouette affect the experience of the book.

When I did that to BEEKLE I realized that the little white shape of Beekle always appears on the right page of the spread -- except for pg 18-19, 22-23, 26-27 and 28-29. These are the moments in the book where Beekle is feeling unsure or overwhelmed.

These are some of the highlights from this particular book breakdown. Do this to a few other books and you'll start to see how other illustrators approach laying out books.

I think it's fine to post about this. Will did a FB live video this morning talking about this very issue. He has a characteristically calm and reasonable response to the change in the project status.

As for your question about making/selling fan art: There is clearly a market for fan art out there. But it is important to understand what you are doing when you make fan art and even more importantly when you try to monetize it.

Whether you are making money or not -- the mere act of creating fan art is a copyright infringement. The important bit is whether the fundamental infringement rises to the level of an "actionable" infringement.

I was drawing comic characters from the age of 8 when I got my first X-men comic from a friend at school. While all those drawings were "technically" infringements they never rose to the level of "actionable infringements". Along the way I got more invested in the Marvel characters, I became a little "cooler" to my friends at school, and I learned how to draw.

So yes -- I think that fan art can be a useful and productive thing.

It's when you try to monetize fan art that you need to go in with eyes wide open. Understanding that the fan art you make is fundamentally an infringement. You are creating copies and derivatives of intellectual property created and owned by someone else. If you are going to use and generate income off fan art, without negotiating a license beforehand with the Intellectual Property (IP) owner, you need to have a full and complete understanding of the Fair Use Defense. And in the case of some characters, you need to understand Trademark Law.

Which goes to the second half of your question -- is it worth the risk trying to sell it?
I have made concerted effort to study copyright law and how it pertains to illustrators. In the absence of a license from the original IP holder I have landed on -- No -- it is not worth trying to sell it.

It is, in my opinion, always better to negotiate a license with the IP holder if I want to sell fan art.

And I want to clarify -- the term "negotiate" can vary in it's meaning. Most people think it means "pay" (and often it does) but it can also just mean "ask and get permission".

This is simply a variation on the @demetrius post above but one of my favorite methods is pulled from Norman Rockwell. Basically he renders the "imaginative" part in a higher key than "reality". Definitely color casts it as well (usually in the old-timey yellow ochre)

@JODY I'm reminded of Franklin Booth, who wanted to learn pen and ink. He did many copies of other artist's works. Only --- he accidentally copied wood engravings! (thought they were pen and ink pieces) Very different process. But in doing so he became one of the BEST pen and ink artists ever!

Because your post is so timely I'm gonna jump in and do a demo/plug for the upcoming SVS class Dynamic Expressions: Drawing Heads and Hands. You've got a solid foundation here. I cannot recommend your exercise of 100 hands enough. This is a great way to get good at hands! The thing that I would encourage you to do is really nail down the underlying geometry in hands. Try to emphasize lines of action (see finger tips in stage 2). I'd also recommend that you draw hands in contrasty lighting. Form shadows are going to do wonders for your understanding of the geometry that make up hands and fingers. I can tell that you are a detail oriented artist (from the attention paid to shading and wrinkles) but hold off on that until you've really nailed the base drawing. And when drawing hands watch out for finger positions that look odd - even if that's EXACTLY how the hand was posed. I'm constantly repositioning my hand reference so that the final drawing "looks" right.

@heidigfx Happy to get into the specifics. You ready‽ Let's dig in!

Illustration Size: This really means the size of the book. That is determined by your editor and art director. In my experience illustrator has little to no input on this. (although I'm sure there are exceptions)

Illustration Number: While the page count of the book is set by the publisher, typically the number of images is initially determined by the illustrator as they go through and create the rough dummy of the book. That number may increase or decrease through the editorial process as the illustrator along with the editor and art director decide (for example) to make a spread with two full page illustrations into a single full spread or break up an image into a series of sequential spots etc. (My own habit is to over illustrate in the rough sketch stage and then progressively eliminate images that are unnecessary or overly complicated)

I should note that I am thinking of trade picture books here. If you are creating a book for the educational market the art direction tends to be more specific and heavy handed.

Cover Illustration: (Again, thinking trade picture books) Cover is always included in the advance against royalty payment. The choice to make the cover illustration front cover only or a wrap around illustration is something determined in conjunction with the editor and art director.

Thumbnailing: Do as many rounds as you need to make the project successful (i.e. TONS!!). Only show the "rough" dummy to the editor.

Revisions: I incorporate editoral suggestions after submitting the rough dummy. I will incorporate editorial suggestions after submitting the finished sketch dummy. And that's it.

Character, Set, Prop Designs: It is not uncommon to create a sample character design (usually of only the main character(s)) and even a full color sample illustration of what the illustrator imagines the book will look like at the very start of a project (after the contract has been signed -- I don't advocate working on "spec"). This gets everyone on the same page visually. Everything else can be approved or commented on when evaluating the rough dummy and the finished sketch dummy.

Payment of advance against royalties: Broken up into thirds. 1/3 on signing the contract. 1/3 on submitting the finished sketch dummy. 1/3 on submitting the final art. I don't submit an invoice for trade picture books. Typically the editor triggers that payment within the publishing house. If needed I will e-mail a reminder. You certainly could submit an invoice if needed.

Contracts: I heartily recommend that you familiarize yourself with book publishing contracts, but it is more likely that the publisher has their standard (also referred to as "boilerplate" contracts). These are (by their nature as contracts) negotiable, but it's unlikely that you'll be submitting your own book publishing contract. That said, SCBWI has a contract available:
https://www.scbwi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/The-Book_The-Essential-Guide-2016_online-1.pdf

I like the one available in the Graphic Artist Guild's Pricing and Ethical Guidelines:
https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/1507206682

I particularly like Tad Crawfords Business and Legal forms for Illustrators:
https://www.amazon.com/Business-Legal-Forms-Illustrators-Crawford/dp/162153488X/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1541528399&sr=1-5&keywords=tad+crawford
as I find he does the best job of not only providing a contract but clearly breaking down what each clause of the contract means in plain english.

@Casual-T Well done!

This is excellent! Congratulations!

@Whitney-Simms When are you doing the Facebook Live? That's a great way to build an audience!

With so many out of school Oliver Jeffers, Mac Barnett and Mo Willems, Tony DiTerlizzi are doing a daily read, chat, draw of their books and characters.

How cool is that‽

Oliver Jeffers reads and discusses one book per day on Instagram Live:
https://www.instagram.com/oliverjeffers

Mac Barnett reads and offers a running commentary on one book per day on Instagram Live:
https://www.instagram.com/macbarnett

Mo Willems does a drawing and shows dummies, sketches and finished art for a character each day on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/RmzjCPQv3y8

Tony DiTerlizzi is doing a live drawing each day on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TonyDiterlizzi/

nicely done!

@AnnaDaviscourt Not moving. Way too big of a fan of PDX!

For what you are looking to do -- I would say learn the rules so that you can confidently break them. I'm introducing some of that wonky perspective into my own work and that's how I did it.

But I'll tag @Lee-White in this message to find out if he had a different path in achieving that effect.

Since you clarified that you intended the table and chair to be parallel to the bookcase then I wanted to provide a rough draw over of what the basic shapes should look like.

Couple things to remember:
If one vanishing point is fairly close to the station point (where the viewer is positioned in the image) in this case VP1, then you know that VP2 is going to be waaaaaay further out. Seriously, it's much further than you "think" it should be. A chronic problem with so many perspective drawings is that the vanishing points are just too close together.

The second thing is when doing perspective drawings, don't let it get too complicated too soon. Keep things as simple cubes and rectangles first. Then carve cubes into cylinders and cones. Then start adding in sloped planes and give objects thickness. All the while making sure that the shapes you are creating conform to linear perspective.
Save compound curves and details for the very end.

You can see me doing this with the chair. I start with a very stiff, cardboard thin, uncomfortable looking chair. In this drawing I then tilted the back and lopped off a triangle from the front of each arm. But with both "details" I made sure everything was tracking back to VP1.

If I were to continue refining the chair, I would start adding thickness to the arms and back. Eventually adding cylinders (and the associated ellipses) to make the curved arms, etc.

When you build up a drawing in this way it becomes a bit like a puzzle. But one with very clear "rules".

Great feedback from everyone, and you may have already solved this issue, but I noticed that many answers above were by qualified with variations of "if you are trying to do . . . "

So what I would like to suggest is that when posting an image for critique/corrections make it as easy for everyone as possible. Rather than guessing what you are looking to draw, show members what you have in mind. This is fairly easy with a simple plan view drawing. See below:

Here I've made two educated guesses as to what you want this room to look like. In one the lamp table and the cat chair are parallel to the bookcases. In the other I guessed that the lamp table and cat chair are parallel to each other but at an angle to the bookcases.

Every time you twist an object in a room you create a new set of vanishing points.

These concepts are introduced and discussed in more depth in the Basic Perspective Drawing class here on SVS.

Glad that you are enjoying it!