The Brave Little Tailor: Illustration Process

When I started this years big personal project, I knew it was going to be a lot of work...and boy was I right. As I'm nearing completion though, I'm really pleased with how it's all coming out. It's been really rewarding on so many levels. The friend's I've made, collaborating with writers, not to mention I have a large new body of work rolling out for the winter shows. One of the things I really like about doing these special yearly projects though, is seeing how the work changes from year to year, thinking about how the family has grown, and all the new things we do and are capable of doing. I'm really lucky to be able to do the things we do, and am so happy to share it with you all.

Today, I have a large set of images to share for the first complete calendar image. Showcasing the climactic scene of "The Brave Little Tailor", the idea is that the kids and us are acting out each of the stories in a theater setting. As I've been designing these, I feel like our love of the muppets and puppetry are really showing, and I'm reminded of one of the reasons I began drawing in the first place. In high school, I wanted to be a puppeteer and work in the Henson Creature shop. At any rate, This is my basic process for creating an image. I hope you enjoy it!

I started off with the thumbnails at the right of the page (the full size version is at the top of the post), and then rough in the major forms. I'm working at about 9x12 on bristol board.

Next, I pencil in the details of the characters, and firm up some of my ideas for the background.

Then, I ink the main characters and scan them into the computer. Without the background.

 

I put the background together in illustrator, right on top of the original pencil drawing. I also paint in a base color for the characters to help isolate them and unify their color schemes.

Here I put the final calendar layout over everything to make sure it all fits. I add a texture to the page, as well as paper textures to the background elements. I lay down color on all the foreground elements quickly to give everything a base to start from.

 The Characters are painted.

 Here I added some details to the background like the stage floor, shadows cast by the set, and the theater spotlight.

 And last I went in and added some detail to the set pieces, finished up the floor and added some sheep to fill in some dead spaces.

Thanks for stopping in. I hope this all made some kind of sense. I enjoy posting about process, so I hope you all enjoy reading about it. Ha-ha-ha!  If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you. 

Until next time, take care and be good!

Your friend,

Jeffrey

Photo Round-up For The First Week Of July

All these pictures were taken on my iphone and processed with instagram. You can follow me if you want too! My user name is redherringjeff.

We love the Muppets. When the Muppet movie came out on DVD we asked our followers on the Facebook who their favorite Muppet was, and then had the girls draw a winner out of  hat for a marker sketch. Steve Johnson, Co-Creator of the Qags game system, produced by Hex Games, told us his favorite was Gonzo. So I did a drawing of Gonzo playing Qags to give to him this past weekend at Die Con in Collinsville, IL.

We ordered a couple of new dresses for Abby from Olive Juice Kids, and they are pretty awesome. They are high quality, really cute and have a European design sensibility that we really love. Abby was so funny, we opened the box which was packed with all these great details (check out my instagram feed to see some of them) and tried both dresses on. Here she's waving hi. Ha-ha-ha!

Abby and I went to the Homegrown Etsy Show at the Contemporary Art Museum in Saint Louis last week. She saw this Giraffe shirt by our friend Amanda of Sprouted Designs and just knew that Olive would LOVE it. Olivia has been really into Giraffes lately, she has four toy ones that she carries around and talks about. I love it that the first person Abby thought about at the show was her sister, and she really didn't suggest getting anything for herself until the end when I brought it up.

One of the things that's amazing about Abby turning 4 is the focus that she's developed. All of a sudden, she will sit and draw and color for long stretches of time. I love it that she's so into making things.

Check out those fingers and toes! Abby drew this person standing under a rainbow the other day in sunday school.

Working on story breakdowns and character designs for the 2013 Handmade family calendar and book of tales. The idea is pretty ambitious, but I'm really excited about it. Are there any fairy tales that you'd like to see included? Let us know in the comments! 

Thanks for stopping in! Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Some things I'm into right now,

Olive Juice Kids:
Super cute clothes and accessories, made in love in the United States that have a wonderful European sensibility.
Doctor Who:
We're only two episodes away from the end of the current season. It's a really fun "Family oriented horror show." Exiting and often heartwarming, Amy and I have been watching an episode  most nights for the last couple of months. Fortunately, there's about 30 years worth of episodes left to catch up on while we're waiting for the next season. :)

Win a Kermit Marker Sketch

Mrs Handmade and I are long time Muppet fans. We enjoy them as much today as we did when we were kids, and we are all looking forward to the new movie coming out on November 23. In his speech to Doc Hopper at the end of the original Muppet movie, Kermit says:

“I’ve got a dream too. But it’s about singing and dancing and making people happy. That’s the kind of dream that gets better the more people you share it with. And…well…I’ve found a whole bunch of friends that share the same dream, and that makes us kind of like a family.”

We take a lot of joy in what we do, and with sharing it with you all. In that spirit, from now until when Mr. Handmade manages to check our FB page on November 23, we will be having a giveaway drawing for this marker sketch of Kermit and his banjo. All you have to do is leave a comment on the photo thread on our fan page telling us who your favorite Muppet is.

And like Kermit says, it gets better the more people you share it with, so let your friends know too!