Page 7/8 Changes

I was advised to make some changes to page 7 and 8 in the book.

I carried the background of the sky across to the next spread, I then experimented with the layout of the wording.

I settled on this layout after asking several different people. I thought an adults opinion would be more valid here than a child’s would.

I added a cloud as well as finishing off the cloud on page 7 onto page 8.

I am much happier with this spread after carrying out these changes. I feel that they make a huge difference and I would now consider this one of my favourite spreads in the book due to its brightness and energy.

Page 27/28

This spread is the final one of the book. It is the spread that is ended with a realisation made by Gonzo that facing his fears was a positive thing to do and reflects on how positive having self-confidence is.

I decided to place Gonzo back in his kennel, where he first was seen as being both frightened and alone. His expression is happy and cheerful which shows just how confident he feels after saving Ruby.

I went with a white page on the left. I thought that it was a good finishing piece for displaying Gonzo’s satisfactory thoughts.

Pages 25/26

This spread originally aimed to show how proud Gonzo feels about what he has done and ended up also highlighting the connection with the loyal friends at the end. I used my storyboard initially as a design guideline, but I decided to change this.

As Ruby is a prominent character in the story, I felt the need to show her more on this page. This meant I had to make Gonzo look a lot smaller in order for the contrast to remain correct, so I decided to just show the top of Gonzos head, in a close in shot of his face on page 25.

I am really happy with the facial expression I have chosen for Gonzo as he looks very cute and appealing to those of all ages. This was important to make him seem friendly again after the stern look he developed in the previous page.

 

I tried drawing Ruby in a couple of different ways before I decided on the way that I liked.

Final Design:

 

Pages 23/24

This spread is where Gonzo scares off Clancy from the garden. The words are “Clancy Cat grew alarmed and jumped back from it’s prey. Gonzo stood tall as he scurried away.” The word ‘scurried’ meant I needed to draw Clancy appropriately.

From drawing Gonzo on each page, I have developed a system. I begin with his outline with the use of the pen tool. On most pages, I have drawn his body, tail and head separately for colour and shading purposes. in the original storyboard, I had drawn Gonzo’s face with a smile but I realised that Clancy has not yet left the garden, meaning his face should be stern and intimidating.

After I get the outline to a satisfactory place, I then add shading and remove the outer black lines to replace it with hand drawn lines that I achieve with my graphic pen and pad.

Clancy needed to be drawn at an angle where he is scurrying away, while still holding a glare at Gonzo. Capturing this angle was important but also tricky.

The illustration below was the design that I came up with for Clancy. A look of fear is evidently in his eyes.

After experimenting with ways to lay out the lines, I thought it best to put the two sentences on page 24. If I were to put the first sentence on page 23, it would meant that what the lines read, would be backwards to the illustration layout. This means that Gonzo basically the whole of page 23 to himself and looks very large and prominent. I am happy with the overall design.

Completed Design:

Pages 21/22

This page is the page where Gonzo ‘faces his fears’ for the sake of his loyal friends safety. I had planned from the beginning of Gonzo leaping through the air at Clancy Cat during a moment of bravery.

I began by placing the storyboard into Adobe Illustrator, for my design guideline, and lowered the opacity as usual.

Getting Gonzo’s body outline as well as mastering the facial expression from the start is one of the most crucial parts. Gonzo is almost always the focal point of each page, so I always have to make sure he is drawn correctly.

Clancy was the next important thing to draw. This page shows a completely different side to Clancy, one that is frightened and intimidated. He is not the scary beast that he was on previous pages and I need to portray that accurately. I thought I would need to change the direction of which the eyes are positioned, but I discovered that I could keep them the same and simply change the eyebrow direction to give a different facial expression. I experimented with different mouths also.

I drew Clancy’s fur completely upright, portraying that he has gotten a huge fright and jumped out of his skin with fear. This technique is often used in different illustrations.

Next was adding in the detailing. Shading Clancy and giving him his correct outline is really important.

This was the finished Clancy that I came up with.

With the inclusion of the garden wall, the dark night sky and the rain drops, the spread all came together like below.

Completed Design:

Proposed Changes

After meeting with my supervisor, she suggested some very valid changes which she thinks I should make to the book so far. I have documented the main ones below.

Page 7/8 – To bring the background of page 7 right across to page 8 and display the text in this an alternative, more spread out way over two lines in two paragraphs.

Page 11/12 – To bring the background right across again and change the way the word ‘noise’ is displayed.

Page 13- Change Gonzo’s expression slightly.

Page 16 – Bring the wall further out, finish it.

Page 17 – Change the word devilish – could be a source of conflict in a children’s book.

Page 19/20 – Change the wording and make some changes to the spread.

The text in front of the the dark background needs revising. Consider a lighter grey.

Pages 19/20

“Gonzo grew panicked as Ruby Robin was in danger, he terribly feared this unwelcome stranger.” This spread aims to show Gonzo in a dazed and panicked state. I had originally thought of just placing Gonzo’s face on the right hand page with red and green lines behind him to make it look like he’s confused.

The reason I originally wanted lines of red and green was because I wanted to keep the colours used on the pages in sync. Green is a prominent colour in the book and red has and will also been used on pages also. After showing this pages below to different friends and family, several agreed that there should be more of a ‘warning’ feeling incorporated to show the panic that Gonzo is feeling.

With the use of this feedback, I then experimented with the use of a warning sign but I wan’t too happy with this either.

Several people suggested the use of yellow and black lines to portray ‘warning’ and ‘danger’. I then changed the lines and thought it was quite daring, but interesting also. The page I have settled with currently is below. However, I think I will be re-visiting this page before I sent it off for print and see if I can improve it in any way, as I am not fully satisfied with it at the moment.

Current Design:

Page 17 / 18

Page 17 is a vivid shot of Clancy making his way over to the tree where Ruby lays asleep in the darkness. I intended this shot of Clancy to be the scariest, where he is seen in full form with his hunched back and his intimidating eyes.

I initially began by setting up my Adobe Illustrator document and placed my storyboard into this file. This helps me as a guideline for where things will be drawn and placed.

Drawing the main characters and aspects of the page is always important to start with.

Making Ruby appear to be asleep was an important factor. I drew her eyes closed and added some eyelashes.

 

After completing the spread, I experimented with different ways to lay out the words. I felt that laying them out very spaciously would add to the suspense.

This is the page that I have completed. I am happy with the overall look and feel of the spread as it is exactly how I had envisioned it from the start. The inclusion of the moon also adds to the spread.

Completed spread:

Page 15/16

This spread is the first one where the character of Clancy Cat is introduced. I wanted to have Clancy sitting in an upright position and to look very authoritative and intimidating. Clancy is after all, the villain of the story.

I had the vision in my head to draw Clancy from a distance and for Gonzo to spot him from far enough away. I achieved this by drawing the back of Gonzo’s head, making it visible on page 15 and then to have Clancy on page 16.

Keeping the ‘wall’ visible in the scene was important as it was the wall that Clancy climbed over on the previous page.

I felt that experimenting with the layout of the words was not as tricky as it was for other pages, as there is only two sentences used on these pages as opposed to four. I felt that these sentences sat perfectly around what was happening in the scene and I was content with the outcome for this.

Overall, I am happy with how this page turned out. I aimed for Clancy to be the ultimate focus on the page and that is why I chose to not have Gonzo’s expression visible, yet him to still be present. I feel like the wall also works well in the spread and I plan on using this in pages to come.

 

Page 13/14

Page 13

Page 13 is a more simplistic design that aims to portray Gonzo ‘stepping out of the scene’ as such, with his thoughts. Again, I spaced out the words on the page in a way that the emphasis is on ‘no clue’. Drawing Gonzo’s mouth correctly was an initial struggle.

 

Using the bubbles coming out of his head is a good way to show children that the dog is thinking. It is a simple and easy representation for them.

Page 14

Page 14 is the first page that the stories villain, Clancy Cat is introduced. I wanted to introduce him in a way that is chilling to the reader. Clancy is supposed to be scary. On page 14, the text and scene are shown separately, where the boarder brings the reader back into the scene, showing Clancy creeping over the wall.

Finalised Spread: