Perfect example as to why every illustrator should learn basic layout design.

by Aidana WillowRaven

In college, I took a design elective as part of my fine art curriculum. I had no intention of being an ad designer or a logo designer. I only wanted to draw and paint for books. I took it because in my first semester we had to produce two framed and matted originals for finals. Before I put my illustrations under glass permanently, I wanted to sell a few of them as prints at an upcoming con. I went to a design shop, paid $45 an hour to have someone 'clean-up' the original for print. I watched over his shoulder as he worked. All he did was scan my drawing, open it in Photoshop, select the eraser tool, and erase all the little blemishes the scanner picks up that the naked eye tends to ignore on original works.

Granted, it was a tedious job. It took him three hours to zoom in and painstakingly remove every stray pixel, but was it worth my paying $45 an hour just to use an eraser tool on zoom? At that time, yes. I didn't have the software or the skills to do what he made look so boringly simple. But take a wild guess what class I added to my schedule the following term? You've got it. Introductory Computer Design.

Now that I've been in the business a while, I don't see how illustrators get by without knowing at least the basics of design and book layout, but you'd be shocked to find how many have no idea how to regulate  the size of their 'canvas' to accommodate room for text in a book.

Many illustrators have a hard time guessing how much 'negative space' to leave for the text. Why is this a problem? It leaves it up to the designer to either cut and crop the art work or to ask the illustrator to re-do or adjust it to accommodate the text.

When I am going to illustrate a kid's book, I first layout the often rough draft in InDesign. I figure out what parts of the text are most visually interesting on that page or spread (note I didn't say in the whole book -- save that for the cover art, if you really want to do it), rather than doing a bunch of illustrations that may not be able to be used due to poor placement.

Then, I create a 'canvas' for that particular page or spread using bold colors and sections. One section represents where I can freely place 'viable' art, and the other block represents where the text will be. This is where my 'negative' art will be or where I'll chose to 'fade to text'.

I do this right in the layout, right beneath the text, using the rectangle tool. Then I hide the text and copy/paste the rectangle into Photoshop. Once there, the image tab will tell me the exact size I am working with. At this point, I can either pull it into my 3D software, or I can print it out and re-scale it manually, to use it as a template for my physical composition.

The negative-space art can be anything from a faded area to a blank space to nondescript imagery (like sky or grass). Nothing that could conflict with the text visually, or the designer, if it isn't you, can place a text box or erase it out, and it wouldn't disturb the important art elements. Personally, I am a control freak (accepted this years ago) when it comes to my art, so I'd rather be the one deciding how my work gets presented; that's why I do the design for all of the books I illustrate. Let's see the composition before the layout.

Now if this were a 'normal' art work, there may be a feeling of 'weight' on the left more so than on the right (probably why my sub-conscience stretched that rope clear across the page to the other end and slightly pointing toward the barren corner ;P) , but as you already know, this in not meant to be a stand alone piece. On the other hand, I also feel an illustration or cover art piece should have the strength to carry itself, too, probably why I chose to include the full scene, to give the art itself a 'base'. 

Even if you don't wish to become a designer, you can see how KNOWING for CERTAIN where your art can and can't go on your 'canvas' ahead of time is a big help in deciding your colors and composition. That's why I encourage every illustrator to take a basic layout and design course. The most it can do is increase your skills and your art. Now, let's put our finished composition in the layout:

I don't know how well you can tell, but I initially had planned on fading out the tied-down rope, which ran through the first few lies of text, but I felt it took something from the visual. Luckily, I'm the designer, so I had the luxury to shift the text down a little bit. If I were just the illustrator, the designer may have chosen to alter the illo in a way that I would not have liked.

So you see how knowing design can help you plan the composition, and how it can help protect the work as well.

Next article, we will go over the post-work techniques I used on the above digital painting.

Aidana WillowRaven

Art Director & VP of Operation

4RV Publishing

Preparation process: getting ready to print

by Vivian Zabel 

          Most writers and illustrators know that a manuscript is edited, formatted, proofread, designed, copy-edited, and approved by the author and, if illustrated, by the illustrator. They know that they need to have all errors corrected and all revisions made before a final approval is given.

          Then why do so many want to add something or change something after the final approval? A message stating, "Since this hasn't been sent to the printer yet, please change my name to XYZ," or "I want to add a dedication. I realize I should have done this earlier, but ..." is not a message any designer or editor or publisher wants to receive. Each person seems to think his or her manuscript/book is the only one the designer or publisher has on the schedule, that anything else can wait until this person's additions or changes are made. Never mind that the staff has moved the files to the printer and begun working on the next item.

          So, what is the process leading to a book being print? Let's look at what happens.

1. The manuscript is accepted and a contract offered.

2. An editor is assigned, and editor and author work as a team to make the manuscript the best it can be. If an illustrated book, illustrations are finished.

3. The manuscript is proofed by the head of the editorial department or other editorial staff.

4. The designer formats the manuscript, including cover, illustrations if any, dedications, acknowledgements, author bio (and illustrator bio, if illustrated), and all other components.

5. A PDF proof is sent to the author and illustrator, if there is one.

6. Author and designer copy edit the PDF/proof.

7. After all corrections and revisions, a final PDF proof is sent to the author for a final approval.

8. Designer then prepares a distilled PDF of the interior and of the cover, which is sent to the person who uploads files to the printer. In the case of 4RV Publishing, that is the publisher.

9. After the approval by the author (who should have examined the proof PDFs very carefully before approving), changing anything is too late and is costly. 

10. IF an author decides changes are needed after the files go to the printer, the author must pay for time involved and fees to the printer.

          After files are sent by the designer to the person who uploads them to printer, the designer begins working on the next item or items on his/her schedule. Any changes to a project passed on results in the designer having to neglect someone else's project, disrupting a schedule already filled.

          Therefore, a note to writers: Be sure you send any wanted dedications, acknowledgments, short bio, and photo to the head of the art department and publisher at the beginning of the editing process. Illustrators need to send their short bio and photo in early in the process, also.

          Let's all work together without creating problems along the way, problems that can be avoided with a bit of forethought.

4RV Catalog




        

RESEARCHING YOUR ILLUSTRATIONS ~ The trouble with Frogs

by Ginger Nielson

You, the illustrator, have been chosen to illustrate a manuscript. Your publisher thinks it fits your style.  It is a story about a magical jumping frog with some big problems. You might have some as well. Truthfully, you have never had much contact with frogs.

Now what?

For any picture book there will be an amazing amount of time spent drawing, painting, collaborating with an editor or art director.   There will also be a certain amount of research to be done.  Even a book about an imaginary frog will take time on the part of the artist to not only interpret the vision of the author, but to actually take a look at real frogs.

This can be done by observation of the real thing... photos you take, photos others provide to you and internet and periodical searches.  Even videos can help.

Did you know you can stop a video on You TUBE while you make a quick sketch of your subject?  This can be very helpful if you don't have much access to the real thing.
You may want to watch the way a real frog moves. What does it look like in and out of the water.  How does it jump.  How does it catch food.

The searching and gathering of the information is step one.  The next step is to fit the character you are drawing or painting into the specific style of the manuscript and your own artistic style.

You may need to provide extremely detailed and realistic illustrations.  On the other hand you may need to be quite whimsical in the approach to the character.   This is true not only for frogs as noted in this example, but for all the characters.  Humans, animals, and anthropomorphic animals need to have one thing in common in a picture book:  "Character."

The above illustration was used for T shirt design 

Even Lizards can be comical or whimsical and still be based upon the actual observation, photos or videos of lizards.

How do you arrive at the essence of your character?  Partly through the manuscript.  Partly through your own talent and experience and partly with the aid of the editor or art director's comments.

Finding the right tone for an illustration will depend upon the tone of the text.  An illustrator will do the best job for a client when the illustrator has a good grasp of the manuscript and has read it over a number of times.  The effect can be different with each reading.  Some facts that jump out at first may become less important if another aspect of the story seems to be more important for the reader to "see."  This can also mean not using an illustration and substituting it with another. An illustrator needs to be willing to give up some images just as a writer needs to be willing to give up extra words.

Getting from "here to there" in an illustration takes time and study.  It means preliminary work before you jump feet first into the water.  The work an illustrator does to perfect a character before creating pages and pages of that character is an important part of the journey.  The big PLUS is that it may not only make the work more enjoyable but create an opportunity to develop a character that is also quite memorable!

My best advice to any illustrator is to always have a camera with you as well as a sketchbook.  If you are lucky enough to see something unusual, interesting, or something that actually pertains to the work you are doing at the time, you will have the tools you need to record the moment.  You never know when an opportunity for a great resource will pop up right in front of you.

You are invited to my website *:)

and my blog~