New things

Today I have been trying to capture the iridescent quality that some beetles and insects have. To achieve this I have used a foiling technique that is usually used on fabrics but I've been using it today on paper and the results are pretty cool and iI'm happy with the outcome.

Starting collage

Starting to collage and finger paint onto some different types of paper for the inside covers I think I am going to try graph paper after this as I have seen some proper scientific drawings onto these and it looks really unusual but cool at the same time. If I mix this new style I've found with something very straight like the lines o the paper it just juxtaposes it really nicely. 

Book ideas update.

Following on from the previous post on hand book binding... I believe that I will be using fabric for my cover as I feel that it will make the product look a lot more at home in Liberty. After a discussion with Amy also, I must consider the type of paper I use, as it will most likely have to be non toxic if the product is intended for children. I am also considering making the edges rounded, as a child could seriously bash someones head with a hard corner. Another outcome of the talk with Amy is that instead of creating a box for the sketchbooks to be packaged in, a bag of some sort could work better. By using a bag, it will make the product more special as the owner could carry their products with them everywhere without hassle and fuss. I will obviously decorate the book bag in an exciting and colourful way, whilst still remaining true to the style that liberty promotes.  

something to keep in the memory bank...

On one of the few nights I wasn't doing something for this brief, I just trawled Pinterest and a came across this really cool illustrator. 

Maria Herreros is an illustrator and comic book artist based in Valencia, Spain. I've seen more and more stuff in this style recently but this is some of the best in my opinion.
I love everything about it, and how she still captures the person so perfectly without drawing in hyper realism. 

http://www.mariaherreros.es

Today

Today I tried to focus my drawing on colour and shape rather than the pin point detail style I have been creating my images in thus far. As the day went on the illustrations became more and more free and organic. 

With these next illustrations I tried using finger painting a little bit to practise on my shape and overall I was trying to move closer to making my work more stylised for this project. 

Looking into hand book binding

Although I have done this before I cannot remember for the life of me what the process goes like because I have the memory of a goldfish. So... after a quick google:

After reading through the tutorial on how to do this, it has actually come back to me a bit and once I find my feet properly again I can probably produce quite a few in one day. The only difference between how I did this process the first time and the one I have just read up on is the method of holding all the pages together. We used a needle and fishing wire rather than staples and I think I may employ the former method as there is no danger of any staples coming loose and stabbing a child.  Now the dilemma is whether I use fabric or paper as my backing on the sketchbooks... 

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-bind-your-own-Hardback-Book/?ALLSTEPS

Music

Although not a huge revelation, but music really helps me with the drawing process. This album is really working for me on this project because it's fun and makes me think of happy things... Perfect for creating illustrations for kids. So yeah...