Entries by johnmanders

More Henry sketches

Here’s the thumbnail sketch for the opening spread of Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates.  Like in a movie, this establishing shot offers a broad swathe of visual information that tells the reader where the story takes place.  The crew of the Salty Carrot frolics in a tropical lagoon where their dear old barky is […]

Fireflies

I want to warn you ahead of time that I don’t have the finished illustration that would normally follow the series of sketches below.  I must have gotten rid of it, or else it’s boxed away somewhere in my attic (I moved last November and am still unpacking). A while back I got an assignment […]

Welcome, Game Artisans

Another discussion about how much to charge for creative work here. Keep in mind that your day- or hourly- rate is your minimum—it’s what you need to make in order to survive.  What you charge may exceed your rate.  It’s not how much your overhead costs, it’s what you can negotiate. For more info on […]

Circus posters

Pete & Fremont and Pete’s Disappearing Act are circus yarns spun by the incomparable Jenny Tripp.  Both stories are narrated by Pete the poodle and seen from the point of view of the animals in Circus Martinez. To promote these two titles, Jenny and I thought it would be fun to produce a few circus […]

Asterix le Gaulois is 50 years old!

Nous sommes en 50 avant Jèsus-Christ.  Toute la Gaule est occupèe par les Romains…Toute?  Non!  Un village peuple d’irrèductibles Gaulois rèsiste encore et toujours à l’envahisseur.  Et la vie n’est pas facile pour les garnisons de lègionnaires romains des camps retranchès de Babaorum, Aquarium, Laudanum et Petitbonum… 50 B.C.  All Gaul is occupied by the […]

Storyboard

Leda writes:  “I’m curious, John, just how detailed your story boards are. Can you post a portion of one?” Here’s a complete storyboard for a coloring book idea I had to promote Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies.  This is only 12 pages; a typical picture book is 32 pages.  Even so, this will give you […]

Model sheets

Before I start a new project, I read through the manuscript a few times.  My first step is to doodle some aimless drawings—to warm up, I guess—then I begin the serious business of drawing thumbnail sketches in the form of a storyboard.  As I’m doing that, I stop every so often to work on model […]

How To Become An Illustrator, Canto IV

Step Four.  Promote. Once you’ve got your portfolio together, you want people to see it—specifically people who can hire you. Let’s make this an assault on multiple fronts.  You young illustrators have many media available for self-promotion. The world-wide web. Get yourself a website.  It doesn’t need to be fancy, just a place to put […]

Pierre le chien

Besides picture books, I’ve done a couple of chapter books that were lots of fun for me.  Chapter books are for an older audience (9-12) and the ratio of words to pictures is very different!  There is typically one black & white image per chapter, plus a color image for the cover. Pete and Fremont […]