African Children's LiteratureBlog TourChildren's literatureIllustrationLantana PublishingNansubuga Nagadya IsdahlSandra van DoornSing to the Moon Blog TourUganda
The stories within the story: An Illustrator's Perspective by Sandra van Doorn
I have another special treat on the blog - a guest post from illustrator Sandra van Doorn, as part of the Sing to the Moon blog tour. This now makes two guest posts on the blog, so I am now triply excited - is triply a word?
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| The original drawing over the cover for Sing to the Moon by Sandra van Doorn via Instagram |
I am obsessed with illustration and design - so there was no way I was going to miss out an opportunity to have Sandra van Doorn share the process behind the illustrations created for Sing to the Moon. Thank you Sandra for the guest post. Sing to the Moon written by Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl with illustrations by Sandra van Doorn is out October 11.
Creating
a scene
I think illustration should always go
deeper than the text. A book is a magical world and it is important to create a
wonderful universe for a character, invite our readers into a special place.
In many ways illustration is
similar to creating a movie scene. I always ask myself - where is the light
coming from? What mood do I want to create? What is happening to the main
character, but also what else is going on simultaneously.
My favourite spread to illustrate this
concept in Sing to the Moon is the veranda scene. While Jjaja is clearly busy
working, the boy has his version of helping - he is having tons of fun climbing
a tree – while the little white dog is always up to some mischief.
Birds are flying around. A spider is
busy spinning a web. A cricket is
standing by. It adds many layers to the story, which invites the reader to
pause, question and explore a new world. I want the reader to stay a little
longer…
Drawing
technique:
I usually sketch and colour with dry
pastels, on thick cartridge paper. I like a smooth finish, so there is much
blending involved. Detailed work such as drawing birds or leaves is very time
consuming. So depending on the complexity of the illustration it can take up to
3 days to finish one spread.
Once my drawing is done I scan it and digitally
adjust some colours and add a background which I create separately with pastels
too. At this point I might decide to add a bird, or an insect or a flower -
which I would draw and add as a layer in photoshop.
I try to stay as close to the real
image as possible, but if I feel some colours should stand out a little more I
do that with photoshop.
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| Illustrations by Sandra van Doorn courtesy of Lantana Publishing |
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