If at first you don’t succeed…you know the rest. Boy has that been true for me lately as I work on a kids’ version of our upcoming Sudoku book to support Feline Trap, Neuter, Release programs! Lucky for me, I love the illustration process, so it’s all good.
After completing a book for adults, we at Ari’s Garden were anxious to do one geared toward the younger crowd. Part of that involves making it appealing looking to kids. So we scrapped the photo we first had planned to use, and I got to work drawing. My first cat illustration looked like this:
I liked it, but then Jen mentioned that he looks like an illustration for a younger-kid’s book, and ours is geared toward 3rd grade and up. She was right. I needed a new look, and this one took some thought. What, after all, makes one illustration look young, and one older? Okay, this guy is colored sky (or dare I say it?–baby) blue. What if I made him dark orange?
No, even in dark orange, his face is sweet, his stance gentle, and I just don’t think he’s older looking enough.
Then I realized–to look older, the animated cat needs to not look sweet and cute, but rather, funny or funky–a little off beat. I grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled another cat–this time being careful to not make it too perfect. I focused on getting the general shape of a cat, but used more angles, not the soft, curvy lines. I let myself exaggerate the shapes as I went. I came up with this:
Okay. Now that’s better. Whereas the above cat might be found in a book of nursery rhymes, the one to the right might be more appropriate in a joke book. But then Jen and I realized–it doesn’t look happy. Now that’s not good–not for a book that’s supposed to communicate “fun!”
Back to the drawing board. A couple of smile lines and wrinkles above the eyes later, and I got this:
Now that’s more like it. I don’t know what color he’ll be in the end, (part of that will be determined buy the placement of other colors on the page) but at least I have the “flavor” of cat I’m looking for.
That last quirky looking and happy cat can have Any age, and can be up to mischives (written like it sounds but I think the spelling is off track) as well as looking forward to a god treat or meal… Love the look of it, and I think she or he can have Any colour!
Thanks Harriet! At the moment, he’s become a yellow tiger cat and is the largest cat on the kids TNR book. Still tweaking that cover, however, so we’ll see….
I like your final version! Fun and inviting.
Thanks, Michelle! Just what we’re aiming for!