I just found these photos of the decorations we did for Vacation Bible School at Third Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. The theme was pirates, and since I’m your go-to guy when it comes to pirate stuff, Michelle (our associate pastor) asked me to come up with something.
I sketched images for banners, then gridded them off and transferred the designs onto 12 ft lengths of Kraft paper. We grabbed every jar of poster paint in the playroom, then 3 of my Sunday school students, Emma, Charlotte and Hannah colored in the areas I’d outlined.
Michelle needed an area for kids to sit, so we bought a cheap rug and I painted a treasure map on it in acrylic paint. I don’t remember what the tiki hut was for.
https://www.johnmanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JohnManderslogo300w1-300x58.jpg00johnmandershttps://www.johnmanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JohnManderslogo300w1-300x58.jpgjohnmanders2010-01-16 10:02:112010-01-16 10:02:11Oh boy, more pirates!
Here’s the model sheet I came up with for Henry. This was a few years ago. I was working along the lines of classic model sheets for say, a Disney character, with the proportion lines and head-height. Nowadays my model sheets are a lot looser, with many more poses scattered over the paper.
https://www.johnmanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JohnManderslogo300w1-300x58.jpg00johnmandershttps://www.johnmanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JohnManderslogo300w1-300x58.jpgjohnmanders2010-01-15 12:44:262010-01-15 12:44:26Henry model sheet
The key idea to take away is this: creating a successful picture book requires having a vision for the entire project. You can’t think in terms of ‘one illustration at a time.’
Brian accomplishes that by making a little dummy—a cut-and-pasted version of the book made out of his sketches—so he can see the entire book while he’s still creating it.
https://www.johnmanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JohnManderslogo300w1-300x58.jpg00johnmandershttps://www.johnmanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JohnManderslogo300w1-300x58.jpgjohnmanders2010-01-10 07:53:122010-01-10 07:53:12The big picture
Oh boy, more pirates!
UncategorizedI just found these photos of the decorations we did for Vacation Bible School at Third Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. The theme was pirates, and since I’m your go-to guy when it comes to pirate stuff, Michelle (our associate pastor) asked me to come up with something.
I sketched images for banners, then gridded them off and transferred the designs onto 12 ft lengths of Kraft paper. We grabbed every jar of poster paint in the playroom, then 3 of my Sunday school students, Emma, Charlotte and Hannah colored in the areas I’d outlined.
Michelle needed an area for kids to sit, so we bought a cheap rug and I painted a treasure map on it in acrylic paint. I don’t remember what the tiki hut was for.
Henry model sheet
book promotion, illustration processHere’s the model sheet I came up with for Henry. This was a few years ago. I was working along the lines of classic model sheets for say, a Disney character, with the proportion lines and head-height. Nowadays my model sheets are a lot looser, with many more poses scattered over the paper.
The big picture
illustration processOver at How to be a children’s book illustrator, they’ve got some video of Brian Selznick explaining his creative process.
The key idea to take away is this: creating a successful picture book requires having a vision for the entire project. You can’t think in terms of ‘one illustration at a time.’
Brian accomplishes that by making a little dummy—a cut-and-pasted version of the book made out of his sketches—so he can see the entire book while he’s still creating it.