Ticker Terra: Behind-the-Scenes of My First Book Illustration
I had a chance to illustrate a children's book for a friend of mine and author Beverly R. Cole. I had a blast doing it. It's called Ticker Terra and it's available on Amazon.com.
Ticker Terra is the adventures of KC and Tay, a brother and sister who stumble into a new world. To their surprise, they find that the inhabitants of this new world, The Heartland, are slightly different from them. Well, most of them anyway! But they quickly become friends and form a bonding relationship with the leader, Oni, and thus begin an adventurous journey that will last a lifetime. In Ticker Terra, The Heartland, the two discover things are not always as they appear. There are giant beetle bugs, colonies of ants, and even talking Ladybugs! Wow! Another surprise, Oni, has a secret . . . a gift unknown to the outside world, as well as the many inhabitants of Ticker Terra. But there are also horrible greedy beings lurking . . . Boondogglers! Their ultimate goal is to capture Oni! KC and Tay are summoned in a very unusual manner. . from the pages of a book. They must save Oni from the Boondogglers! So with the help of a new friend, Dakota, the threesome set out on the Quest.
Below are some pictures of my design process.
Original Sketch
I started off with a simple pencil and paper from my sketch book. I drew the tree first to establish an central point. After that I began to draw the kids, monsters and lady bug. At first it seemed a little over whelming, being that this was my first time at illustration. But once I got started everything just seamed to flow. The butterfly was a little challenging at first. I kept trying to make it look realistic. But then I decided to just keep it simple. The backdrop of the hills, sun and clouds in the sky were pretty simple. I think the backdrop really helped bring the characters to life.
Finding the Right Colors
After finalizing my sketch it was time to add some color. This took much longer than I thought it would because of all the different shades. I ended up using about four different shades of green and about four different shades of blue. I must say I really had fun with this part though.
Finished Drawing
Once all of the colors were selected it was pretty much smooth sailing from there on. I'm very pleased with how everything turned out. I really like the colorful blend because of its drawing effect.
Final Product
After the drawing was finished it was time to send it off to the publisher. I scanned the drawing into the computer and adjusted it to match the publishers specs and added the title. Then I saved it as a PDF file and sent it off. The final product was awesome. It seems so surreal to actually hold the finished published book in my hands.
