Tuesday, May 4, 2010

How long on one illustration is long enough??



I'm not a fast painter. I'm a fast sketcher. Going to color- I'm a sloth.

3 months to do a whole book- sketch to final was TOUGH!

So more food for thought - when deciding on deadlines - both as the editor/art director and as the potential illustrator - consider how long it takes to paint each page.

In the best of situations I take 3 days each. Say 4 months would be fab- sounds reasonable I think. I had two weeks. I had to do two a day for this project and in my opinion it shows. Live and learn.

Every experience gets you somewhere. And even if I trip over my feet and fall on my face - I am still moving forward. Onward!


10 comments:

Aja said...

Oh wow I can't wait- these pages look amazing!

Kelly Light said...

I wish I had more time- I will always look at it and think that- so not a great satisfied feeling-but Thanks!

Annie said...

Kelly, I just found your blog and im not sure of your methods... what medium are these in? They've got great detail :) love 'em!

Alicia Padrón said...

Kelly I know what you mean.. It always ends up taking longer than we thought it would and that's not counting if you need to start again on a spread.

But you know what? This is something that only you know. These illos are wonderful! I can already picture this book and it's awesome.

Remember that we are our toughest critics and we will always "see" that little something we are not too happy about on our work. But like you say, we move on and we get better and then we worry about another different thing we now don't like. LOL.. I'm not sure it ever ends.

But still is an awesome ride, isn't it??

Congrats girl! xo

Kelly Light said...

Annie- I color digitally in Photoshop- Thanks!

Alicia- Thanks too! Yeah- I'm sure we'll always look back and say if only ...

Unknown said...

Wow, two weeks is crazy! Is that all that common? If so, I guess you might have to find ways to streamline the process, maybe?

Since you work digital you could make your own library of "stock" objects (trees, skies, background textures)? Sorta takes the "human touch" out of it, but...

I TOTALLY understand what you're talking about though. Happens to me, too, and I know the feeling. (They do look great, BTW!)

Kelly Light said...

Hey Sean- Thanks- I'm way too picky to take short cuts. I know I'm a very very persnickety artist- and could speed it up. This was an unusual job- and I woulldn't take it on again with this deadline

Jill Bergman said...

Hey- these look great, Kelly! I can't wait to see Goldie's whole story.
Sorry you had such a short time to finish. I guess now you can make more informed decisions about whether you want to take a job with a short deadline.
Congrats on having this one behind you!

Amanda Baeza said...

slow or fast... I think the result of your drawings are fantastic! so magic...

froggie is... said...

oh sister - SING IT. went thru that 3x last year...the sketching was really fast, turned it in, they'd make adjustments that took eons to get back to me, thennnnn i'd get it back and "oh can we have the final in say, a month?" all w/in 3 months. (takeout sushi and a pillow under my fanny were my best friends. :))

sloth is a GREAT word, kel. that's exactly what it feels like, i suppose it's the building process, painting it all thru. and 4 months WOULD be bliss. but as far as your outcome... i know you're your toughest critic but it really looks great. truly. :))