practice sketching

Today i decided that i would like to base my picture book on woodland animals. I started to draw a few as i haven't properly drawn in a while and needed some practice. After drawing these i took photos of them and edited them in Photoshop to create a poster style effect. I think i need a lot more practice and need to look at photos of animals to make my drawings more life life.

Author research: Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson grew up In London and lived with her parents, Grandmother, aunt, uncle and younger sister Mary. When she was young she spent her time writing shows and choreographing ballet for her and her sister to perform to the family. She studied Drama and French at Bristol University where she met her husband Malcolm.
Julia and her husband spent lots of time busking in many different countries before they had a family and Julia would write songs for each country. Busking lead to a career in singing and songwriting mainly for kids TV.

Julia mainly worked for the BBC and she also sung on the radio. One of her television songs A Squash And A Squeeze was made into a book in 1993 with illustrations by Alex Scheffler.

After this book was published she went on to write The Gruffalo Which was her real Breakthrough, which was also illustrated by Alex Scheffler. These days she writes books for children 7 years and upwards and she still prefers and finds it easier to write in verse.

When Donaldson is not writing she is usually performing at book festivals and theatres and she really enjoys the getting the children from the audience to help her act out the stories and sing the songs.

I like Julia Donaldson’s work because of the fact that she is so involved with the children and is a great practitioner with many more talents than writing.

Author research: Martin Waddell

Martin Waddell was born in1941 in Belfast, Northern Ireland He is now an award winning children's author. He has lived most of his life in Newcastle, County Down and is most famous for his creating Big Bear, Little Bear and Little Dracula series.
As a child, Waddell was often told stories in a lively manner. This inspired him and "the love of story" stuck with Waddell ever since. He aspired at a young age to be a football player and signed for Fulham FC youth team.

Martin was born during a bombing raid on Belfast in the middle of the Second World War. The first night of his life was spent under a table with a metal top sheltering him from the bombs.

Waddell writes all kinds of stories for children, including picture books. His books used to be published under two names: Martin Waddell and Catherine Sefton. His Martin Waddell books he describes as 'for amusement only'. He used Catherine Sefton so that he could write serious books that often look at how people relate to one another, and how they deal with different situations.

Martin has lived in Newcastle, County Down, not far outside Belfast for most of his life. As a result, and using his hometown as a background, he has written several novels describing how growing up in an era of political unrest affects the lives of ordinary people and especially teenagers.

Martin also writes ghost stories, largely for the fun that a ghost can add but also to show how the past always affects the present.

One of his most well known books is called can’t you sleep little bear this book won several awards such as the Nestle children’s book prize and the Nestle smarties book prize. I like Martin Waddell’s Children’s books because It seems to be that in most of his books he looks at the relationship between parents and children in a simple way that young children can understand and he always sends messages in his books such as “Can’t you sleep little bear?” that teach children not to be afraid.

Images from famous children's books

Judith Kerr

Judith Kerr is a German-born British writer and illustrator who has created both picture books such as the Mog series and The Tiger Who Came To Tea and novels for older children such as the autobiographical When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit which give a child's-eye view of the Second World War.

Kerr was born in Berlin but left Germany with her parents and her brother, Michael Kerr, in 1933, soon after the Nazis first came to power. They were forced to leave as her father, noted drama critic, journalist and screenwriter Alfred Kerr, had openly criticised the Nazis. His books were burned by the Nazis shortly after the family fled Germany.
They travelled first to Switzerland and then on into France, before finally settling in Britain, where she has lived ever since. She subsequently became a naturalized British citizen.
During the Second World War, Judith Kerr worked for the Red Cross, helping wounded soldiers, before becoming an artist. Although she dreamed of being a famous writer as a child, she only started writing and drawing books when her own children were learning to read.

I like Judith's style of illustration as it's simple yet eye catching with all of the bold and bright colours she uses, i remember being young and reading the tiger who came to tea and enjoying reading the book so much because of the illustrations and the way simplicity and bright colours capture you so much.

Mick Inkpen

Inkpen was born in Romford, Essex, England in 1952, and educated at Royal Liberty School in Gidea Park.

He is a friend of Nick Butterworth, who also grew up in Romford, and they collaborated on the 1990 "Wonderful Earth".

Mick is probably known for his more popular children's picture books Kipper and wibbly pig. He is a winner of the British Book Award for the best illustrated book, for Lullabyhullabaloo, and the Children's Book Award for Threadbear. Kipper won a BAFTA for best animated children's film in 1998.

Inkpen's style is very clear and simple but at the same time warm and lovable. His illustrations are continuous in style and you can easily pick out his distinctive work from others in a shelf in a book shop. he also portrays important messages to children through his illustrations as well as his writing for example in his book wibbly pig's silly big bear the message is that being kind and fun is just as valid as being clever and co-coordinated. i think teaching children messages through picture books is a fun and creative way for them to learn as they enjoy reading and when your a child you can relate and almost connect to the characters; I think Inkpens books do exactly this and very well which is what i hope to achieve when i create mine.

Barbara Firth

The multi award-winning illustrator of the classic Little Bear series.

After her schooldays were over Barbara studied fashion and pattern cutting at the London College of Fashion. She then worked on Vogue Magazines, producing step-by-step illustrations of knitting, crochet and dressmaking. However, it was years later as a freelance illustrator and working with Walker Books that Barbara was able to illustrate in her favourite field - natural history - and has gone on to illustrate many award-winning books.

Barbara Firth considers herself very lucky in her job; she has always from a very young age had a strong interest in natural history and loves to draw plants and animals. So was delighted to have the opportunity to draw bears for the book can't you sleep little bear. Firth spent a lot of time in zoo's studying bears and the way they live and move. She decided bears had very small, mean looking eyes and that she had to adapt them in her illustrations to make them less scary for smaller children.

"I have always been biased toward illustrating natural history, so it was a joy to be able to draw pages and pages of bears," Barbara Firth says of her collaboration with Martin Waddell on Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?, the first of their classic Big and Little Bear series.

Barbara Firth won the Kate Greenaway Medal and Smarties Book Prize for Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? The Little Bear series has sold over seven million copies worldwide. She now lives in Harrow, England.

Barbara's style is quite unique and she spends lots of time observing the things she draws in real life and making sketching before she begins her illustrations. her books are very recognizable as her art style is very much her own with it's subtle tones and and natural looking colours to fit in with her love of the world around her and her interest in natural history.

Alex Scheffler

Background

Alex Scheffler is a well know illustrator who is probably best known for illustrating and co-creating The Gruffalo With Julia Donaldson. Axel was born in 1957 In Hamburg, Germany. In The 80's Axel moved to England to study Illustration at the Bath Academy of art where he spent much of his time drawing sheep and peacock's in the grounds of Corsham Court and earned his first class degree. Scheffler then moved to London where he began illustrating for a variety of English and German Advertising companies, magazines and newspapers before moving into book illustrations in the 90's which is when the Gruffalo was created.

Style
Axel developed his style himself. But, he is a perfectionist and is not happy with his work on occasions. Scheffler finds it difficult to draw a succession of events and prefers to tell a story all in one picture; when you look at his illustrations over the years you can see his progression from pointy nose characters to softer styles.
There are many people involved in the publication of a picture book. He always starts with ink outlines and then colours on top of the inks and rubs in the colours with his fingers. At the end he reinforces the outline with the ink and adds details, such as lines for fur and leaves. Nowadays he is able to ask the publishers to make small alterations in Photoshop but, previously he was only able to change it by hand and then email the new version.


The Grufflo

The final product is very influenced by the editor and art director.With The Gruffalo cover Axel's original just had a shadow of The Gruffalo, but the editor wanted the Gruffalo on the cover so he redrew it. However, in the US they did not want the main protagonist on the cover so he had to draw another one where he hid The Gruffalo partially behind a shrub. This only appeared on the US first edition, the second edition adopted the UK design.

Axel's best advice to aspiring illustrator is to practice hard and always keep your illustrations in a sketch book and keep building on it.

Eric Carle Research

Eric Carle

Eric Carle’s books are published in many countries and many languages. Some book covers shown may be in languages other than English.

Carle was born in Syracuse, New York in 1929 to German emigrants Johanna and Erich Carle. The family moved back to Germany in the mid-1930s when he was six years old; his mother took the family back to Stuttgart.

Carle was educated there, and graduated from the prestigious art school, the Akademie der bildenden Künste, in Stuttgart. Eric's father was recruited into the German army during World War II and spent eight years as a prisoner of the Russians. "When he came back, he was a broken man. He was, in Eric Carle's own words in a Guardian interview a "sick man, psychologically, physically devastated."

Eric had been sent to the small town of Schwenningen to escape the bombings of Stuttgart. When Eric was 15, the German government conscripted him and other boys of his age to dig trenches on the Siegfried line. Eric’s wife told a reporter that she thinks he still suffers post-traumatic stress from those days. Carle longed to go back to america America, Eric dreamed of returning one day to the United States, so he moved to New York City in 1952 with only US$45 to his name.

When he finally reached America Carle landed a job as a graphic designer in the promotion department of The New York Times. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War and stationed in Germany with the Second Armored Division and appointed the position of mail clerk. After returning from the service, Carle returned to his old job with The New York Times and later became the art director of an advertising agency.

Writing and illustrating career

After noticing an illustration of a red lobster Carle had created for an advertisement, educator and author Bill Martin Jr asked him to illustrate a story. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? This was the result of their collaboration, and became a best seller. This began Carle’s true career; soon he was writing and illustrating his own stories. His first wholly original book was 1,2,3 to the Zoo, followed quickly by The Very Hungry Caterpillar.


Style

Eric Carle’s art is distinctive and instantly recognizable. His art work is created in collage technique, using hand-painted papers, which he cuts and layers to form bright and colorful images. Many of his books have an added dimension also, such as the very quiet cricket or the Very lonely firefly. Carle's readers often use his work as an example and create collages themselves that they often send to Carle; he receives hundreds of letters each week from his young admirers.

The themes of his stories are usually drawn from his great knowledge and love of nature— an interest shared by most small children. Carle attempts to make his books not only entertaining, but also to offer his readers the opportunity to learn something about the world around them. When writing, Carle attempts to recognize children's feelings, inquisitiveness and creativity, as well as stimulate their intellectual growth; it is for these reasons along with his unique art work that many feel his books have been such a success.

Quotes

“With many of my books I attempt to bridge the gap between the home and school. To me home represents, or should represent; warmth, security, toys, holding hands, being held. School is a strange and new place for a child. Will it be a happy place? There are new people, a teacher, classmates—will they be friendly?
I believe the passage from home to school is the second biggest trauma of childhood; the first is, of course, being born. Indeed, in both cases we leave a place of warmth and protection for one that is unknown. The unknown often brings fear with it. In my books I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun.” -Eric Carle.

Personal project ideas

For my personal project I want to make a children's picture book. I decided I wanted to do this because I really enjoyed reading them when i was younger and would love to be able to create my own. I am especially interested in the illustrations, I think every author and illustrator has their own unique style of illustrating and I want to look at many different styles and see how i could use and adapt them in my picture book. I am going to start my project by looking at various practitioners who create children's picture books and research 5 that particularly catch my eye.

After this i am going to experiment with a plot and story board some of my ideas then look at characters and eventually try different styles of illustration out on them that i will have found from my research. I am thinking of using animals as characters in my book so i am going o go to a farm and a zoo to take pictures of interesting animals that i could maybe illustrate for my book.

I also think its important for me to chose a message to portray to children in my book; many picture books have messages in them such as safety messages like not to play with fire or about general growing up for example going to school and respecting people and the world around you.