I would like to describe in more detail how sketching in my job has positively changed my creative process. Let’s recap what I did for book 2. I started out with a very strong image that kept popping into my mind, kept me up at night, etc etc etc until I drew it to get it out of my head. This in turn unleashed a torrent of illustrations, an amazing experience, but certainly not a normal one for me. By contrast, coming up with the illustrations for book 1 came rather tortuously. The pages were an endless blank sea, much as I'm showing with this image of the thumbnail squares I recently faced filling in for book 3. The text has already been laid into each square, for pacing purposes.
 
As you know from the last post, this time I decided to try traditional sketches. With the text placed in each square, I had a starting point for the image that could go in the square, but remember, you don’t always have to “match” what’s happening in text with the imagery. Regarding text, you also don’t have to spell everything out; instead you can use it to suggest what might happen next, or what had occurred immediately before.
 
The hardest thing as an artist (who is constantly seeking the approval of others) is to try and remember that these thumbnails are not supposed to be masterpieces, and that we shouldn't hold them as precious. They are supposed to become a road map that tells a visual story. They also show you if your story is visually a cohesive story; can you tell what the story is about if there wasn't any text?  The thumbnail format will reveal these issues early on in the process, before your artwork truly enters the "precious" stage. And what’s more, if a thumbnail isn’t working, you can throw it out knowing you didn’t really spend much time on it.
 
Can anyone guess another name for this type of format? Answer, next post!

Hello friends of Centipede Dragon! I hope you are still out there.

I had grand plans to get back into the swing of things last November after Thanksgiving, but as you know, there hasn’t been a peep from me since. I mentioned previously that there was a fair amount going on in life, and therefore, something had to drop off the radar. Unfortunately, it has been these posts, but as I find them so therapeutic, I won't give up on them no matter how long the time in between.
 
I’m happy to report that one thing has not dropped off my radar: the continued writing and creating process.
 
My new(ish) job has indeed greatly impacted upon my time to create. But it has actually inspired me to re-think my creative process. Every day at work I am surrounded by incredibly intelligent and talented individuals, and what has that done? It makes me push myself beyond the "very comfortable Alice" that existed prior to January 2017. This has meant that I have taken a new approach to illustrating book three.
 
What is this new approach? Sketching! I’m talking real, pencil-to-paper, eraser marks everywhere, tiny 2.5 x 2.5” squares of drawings. You’re probably surprised to hear that an illustrator hasn’t been in the habit of sketching! I am guilty of neglecting this invaluable skill; a while back when project budgets started getting skinnier, I actually eliminated this step from my production process in order to save time. I began directly drawing in digital format, and while I always lamented that the quality of my illustrations suffered, the clients seemed to be happy, while I was saving time to take on more work.
 
Sketching, however, is more than producing a road map for your final artwork or a skill to lose if not used. It is practicing coordination between mind and hand, and it’s a thinking process in itself.
 
Therefore, I hope you’ll forgive me my post-writing absence. Know that book three is well underway, and could perhaps make a 2019 release date!