Ebook

The second part of the Illustration Futures project was to create an ebook.  I decided to do it as a children's short picture book about the creation & birth of an Emperor penguin chick.  I was highly inspired and learnt a lot from the film March of the Penguins.  Thus, that was my first port-of-call.

After making notes on the film I split it up into sections and then started to cut what wasn't necessary

Then from (happily) re-watching March of the Penguins to check I didn't miss anything out and could get a better feel of the film, I created these illustrations.  I love how traditional and aged the pencil lines make them look.

To make sure my thinking was on the right track, I created a 'Creative Synthesis' list on the problem:





Before starting to create idea's, I looked and reminisced on the successes of past penguin animations, and analysed why they were so successful in creating a connection with children.

A very helpful book to use with aiding an illustrator create successful work is:

This is where I learnt more about the physcology of composition:



THIS WAS THE POINT AT WHICH I DECIDED I COULD START TO DEVELOP SOME DESIGN IDEAS:

This then led me to start designing my characters from photo's I had taken in Berlin zoo:

The "Bloomsbury Guide To Creating Illustrated Children's Books" also was a helpful tool as it displayed examples and tools of ANTHROPOMORPHISM.  I created the following images with the tools I learnt from this research in mind:

I liked the strong, assertive lines that the Indian ink and biro created, as well as the soft and delicateness of the watercolour.  However, after developing these designs into being more fitting for a childrens book I decided upon coloured pencils.  Annotation surrounding the following illustration explains why:

In the development of the characters I also experimented with typography and image.  I created the following images in the print workshop and am pleased with what I've achieved threw developing my outcomes:

 The second of the last 2 images was an improvement on the first.  With the first one, the beak (A) blends into the body too much and its not defined. So with the second i raised the beak up and away from the body, making it compositionally improved and clearer to see.

The last image I created in the print workshop was created using varying sizing lettering, placed in a certain way that it created a image using text.  This way of using type really interest me.

All of this research and development of a character and idea has led me to create this illustrated children's EBook:

A Story of Love

The Emperor penguins start their journey by leaving the ocean and heading on a 70 mile walk to where all the Emperor penguins meet.

When they arrive after a very long walk, they search for and find a mate.

The female produces an egg and the couple carefully practice passing it between each other.  This is so the male will be able to take care of the egg whilst his partner goes in search for food.

The female penguins find a break in the thinner ice and dive down for fish, krill and squid.  Once she is full, she heads back to her partner and egg.

Under the father’s careful eye, the egg hatches into a beautiful, fluffy chick.  The father still needs to protect it from the 100mph winds and storms, as he would if the chick were still in the egg.

The famle returns and feeds the very hungry chick.  The family are reuinted for the first time.  The parents both go back and forth to the ocean that gets closer because of melting ice searching for food.  Then when they are ready and strong, the chicks return to sea.

...

4 years later:

4 years after the chicks went to sea, they return to do the walk their predicessors and parents took before them.  This is a story of love.