Now we all know that picture books will be read out loud to kids. So this means that it is absolutely vital for writers to read their work out loud as they draft it so we know how it sounds. However, even that is not fool-proof. Read on:

We all develop tricks for reading our work out loud as writers. We slur the right words, say bits quickly or slowly, mispronounce things that need to rhyme… Which is great when we’re doing a book-reading to an audience but tells us nothing about how we’ve actually written it.

You absolutely have to get someone, hopefully a few someones, to read your work to you out loud, uncoached and uninterrupted. It is only then that you’ll know if all the things you thought were in there, actually are. If they aren’t, take notes. You can fix it.

Fast bits can use fast words. Try short sharp words like slip, trip, skitter, hop, pop… with few syllables or long round vowels. Look for fun quick patterns like “quick as a wink”. I love the difference between slide and slip – is the action long or quick?

For slow bits, sentences can be longer, more tricky to say, with longer vowels and words that force the reader to change their pace. All around the soft slow snow drifted…

Bad rhymes can always be fixed with a rewrite. Never ever leave a bad rhyme, thinking no one will notice or care.

Don’t write a sentence around a word that rhymes!

Look for the sentence that captures what you need then rewrite that until it works. Be prepared for it to take a long time to get it right. Rhyme should never be a distraction – it should make something a joy to read.

This sounds terrible but I’d rather not ever have suggestions from the author on the visuals. The exception being something vital that is not mentioned in the story, but is intrinsic to it (like the character is in a wheelchair, or is a moose).

Generally, a story has to be divided visually into scenes that make sense – the writing is half the work, the pictures are the other half. Usually they have different roles to perform and the illustrator, the visual one, is best at working out that visual realisation of the book. Often too, it is not until the illustrator starts to rough out a storyboard that flaws in the story become evident – too many back and forth scene changes, too many concepts in too quick succession, too many words for the readership and the format, repetitions that serve no story function, unbalanced action (nothing happens for 90% of the book then everything exciting happens in only one sentence), too long, too complex for the age group…When I say they’re flaws – it’s not that it isn’t a great story – only that it won’t work elegantly in the picture book format.

There is nothing like putting it roughly into a dummy book to see, finally, how it reads.

Someone was asked to do illustrations for a friend’s book and wondered how to charge for them:

It is quite unusual to do the illustrations for a book before taking it to a publisher – unless of course it is to be self published, or simply to be enjoyed by the person commissioning the work. My rule of thumb is to have a think about how much time each one will probably take you (including creating roughs, going to and fro with them – which could be longer if the commissioning person gets very prescriptive and involved) and then think about what your time is worth. Everyone charging the same hourly rate doesn’t work – so I can’t suggest one. If you are starting out and you keep getting stuck on an aspect of an illustration then you could be charging more than someone who is experienced and has become faster with time – this should be to their benefit, not detriment. It also doesn’t take into account the level of detail, professional design, instinct etc that is specific to each illustrator. Most jobs take longer than I expect and I never stop until the job is right. So I end up not taking on certain types of jobs as I know that they just can’t pay well enough for the time and work involved. The question you have to answer is what is your time worth, and are you gaining any other benefits like exposure, experience, potential future income that might be factored in?

For Trade books (the ones going into book shops) the illustrator is usually assigned a royalty by the publisher, as well as a smaller up-front payment (an advance). The size of the small fee is hopefully compensated for by long term payments over the life of the book. When books don’t get a royalty you really have to get full compensation for the work straight away. And it has to feel fair to you – if you price something at mates-rates as a favour and they go on to publish the work and it is very successful – how will you feel about it?

A final thought – try not to give away copyright. If someone insists because they are self publishing and paying you up-front, try to license use of the images for specific purposes. You may want to reserve the right to sell art prints or use them on greeting cards one day. So long as they aren’t in competition with the book (ie. you couldn’t sell them to someone for another book) there shouldn’t be a problem. Originals are never included in the price of a book commission. They are only paying for the use of the images. If they want the originals, they can pay for them as artworks.

For suggested rates and conditions go to the ASA website.

Combine, mix well, allow to simmer unexamined, then draw quickly.

Who would have thought? I’d like to know more about them.

Drawn in the lounge, 11-11.06 pm on Monday 1st March, 2010.

Here’s the Mondoodle. It’s a bit of a case of… here’s one I prepared earlier. Because Of COURSE I wouldn’t get distracted during a tough deadline! That’s just not me. I have a steely resolve. I’m known for it. It’s practically a hyphenated middle name. I will be drawing something fun today but I’ll have to wait till I’m in class tonight for that. Hmm. Yes. There’s that Steely-Resolve against distraction at work again.

Drawn on the tablet (a week or two back) but completed today! Monday 22nd February 2010, 3.49pm.

I’m wrestling with a change in technology with this one… but I will prevail. And you know why.

Let me know any quick-draw suggestions please! I’ve had one bat suggestion so far. I’m trying to think of the twist…

Although I didn’t know what else would be in the picture when I began with the walrus’ head, I made sure it was placed in the upper right third so that there would be plenty of room for the rest of the picture, whatever it was. Unless I am doing a character study where I want the main character to be staring out at us, front and centre, I usually place main features off-centre. Here’s my reasoning for it: nature is generally wonky – most things that we see are in flux – the sun moves across the sky, people move through their environments, shadows lengthen and flutter, stars in clusters wheel across the heavens, rain falls, wind blows, observers glance about and what we see with our peripheral vision is usually as important as what is in front of us when forming our feelings about a scene. Balance, when it occurs, is something that stands out. If you capture it in a picture it is there forever. Three boats scuttling past each other may line up for a second but that is one moment in a minute of drawing-closer. What moment would best describe the scene? Showing them in a regular line? That suggests that their natural state is order, predictable and stable. That would be false. No, I would draw one dipped, one turning, one close, one far and one passing… Where we place things tells us about their natures.

In this scene, although I started with the walrus, the real focus is on the environment – the whole ensemble. The bird-lady is central but absorbed, she is not engaging our attention. The walrus, although dominating by his size and plainer form (amongst a mass of pattern), is not king of this scene. He is off-centre and asleep. It is not a portrait, it is an illustration. It shows you a moment of a story – it allows you to glance in a carriage and wonder who these people are, where they are going and what their individual stories might be.

As for design… the shapes lead us around the picture fairly evenly.These below images are blurred to signify a trick Ido all the time when I’m painting or drawing… if I make my vision blurry I can better see the shapes, darks and lights and the structure of the piece, rather than getting distracted by the details. So, looking at the picture again, I’ve drawn in some of the things that are intended to direct your gaze a little. Here’s a summary…

All three main figures face the same way and create a diagonal sweep up to the right (arrows). Although the inside of the train is fairly dark, there are passages of light on the figures which are a counterpoint for the outside light. In the same way, outside, there are darker shapes and the dark point of the balloon. Where possible you want light against dark or dark against light. After all it is the presence of shadows that define shapes. It is the clustering of shapes and the passages of light that show us where to look, what is important, and how things relate to each other. In any picture, especially one with lots of detail, you usually need to have something that stands out that says – look over here, I’m important! There are three punctuation points for me here (circled). Three things that intentionally draw the eye: his bowler hat (very dark on a light background), the dark of the lady’s hat in the centre of the picture and the ship outside the window. There are also three small details of similar type, tone and size that hopefully form a chain, leading you into the landscape outside the window.

How much of this is designed and intentional? As I said, I didn’t plan it. But I am drawn to certain ways of doing things. I know I like threes in uneven clusters. I know I like lines that skirt the picture. I know I like to use a rule of thirds for where important lines and shapes should occur (a third up/down and in from an edge). I know that a white space needs a fleck of dark and a dark space needs a fleck of light. I know that relentless detail must be harmonised by something plain. And so whether it is intended or simply occurs, it is much the same. This visual expression is a language we speak with greater fluency the more we practise it. The exciting thing is that every artist speaks a slightly different dialect and would draw the same scene in so many different ways… I love that.

I hope you enjoy it.

And while I’m thinking about drawings… Any requests? Any particular animal?

No-Vacancy Gallery

ELISE HURST paintings & etchings

Opening Night: Thursday 20th May 6 – 9pm
Exhibition: 20th May until 2nd June

I’ll be painting throughout the exhibition and will host a special family day on the first weekend so you can bring along the kids to check out the work and enjoy the brilliance of my fairy-bread-making skills.

The opening should be a great night. I can’t wait!

]]> http://www.elisehurst.com/journal/2009/12/the-exhibition/feed/ 3 http://www.elisehurst.com/journal/2009/11/mondoodle-16-11-09/ http://www.elisehurst.com/journal/2009/11/mondoodle-16-11-09/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:37:12 +0000 elise http://www.elisehurst.com/journal/?p=981 Does it count if you can see the drawing completed in under the ten minutes? Possibly.

I felt like doing something quite different today. My first jobs in illustration were doing fantasy work for some role-playing manuals. I did a lot of dragons and creatures back then, for fun as well as for work. And there was quite some zombie phase too. Ah zombies… I still get to draw them at schools from time to time. It’s funny how there are some things that I can write or draw that are in many ways not to my taste at all – I can draw zombies with relish (confusing expression in this context) but I find it hard to watch zombie movies (like that new series on SBS – eek). It’s rather akin to being able to drag my fingernails down a blackboard to watch people squirm, but not being able to take the sound myself if someone else does it! But you see, it’s so much fun drawing to get a reaction.

Don’t worry – no blood and gore here, just a creature of the night… of some kind or another. (You can turn off the notes from the bottom right triangle.)

Drawn on the tablet in my (sparkly clean) studio, at 3 pm

Monday16 November 2009 .

In other news, we had a fun market in the Brunswick Town Hall on Saturday – the Teeny Tiny Sisters Market. I met a lot of lovely people… signed lots of books and sent prints to good homes. For those of you watching me struggle with the rabbit – we’re on the home straight now. I hope to finish her off this week. I have an idea…
We’re back in normal market-mode again from here till Christmas. Check out the dates on the right – there’re some extra ones appearing just before Christmas.

It’s HOT today.

Maybe I’ll get out of the house soon and give myself a chance to do the Mondoodle in cafe comfort. For it IS Mondoodle-day.