Friday, March 8, 2013

"THE GIFT" - Children's Book Process Pt 2


As I mentioned in my last post, the next step in my process for creating this next book of mine is to lay out the color script. What I do for this step is I take all my thumbnails and lay them side by side in photoshop. Then I create an equally sized window below it and start laying in some color based on some pre-meditated choices I've already made. This isn't by any means final, but more of an 80% work in progress :)

The best way to imagine a color script is to think about it like a visual soundtrack for your project. Just like a good movie utilizes music to accentuate the highs and lows of a story, so too must the color help serve the emotional weight of your story at any given moment. 

Think of your favorite sad scene - now imagine listening to the music without the context of the movie or dialogue. Chances are you'd still be able to tell that the scene to which that music belongs to is sad. It is the same with color - taken alone without the context of a layout or drawing, the color of any given piece should (hopefully) resonate the emotion behind the overall illustration.

I apologize for the overly censored image above as I am not usually one for obtrusive watermarks or highly edited images. It's not that I'm afraid someone's going to steal my art, it's more that I don't want to give away too much of my story before it's finished. Also, the color script may and probably will change as the process continues, so I don't want to commit to something so forthright here in my blog. Like I mentioned before, this is my first time really documenting my process, so I'm still learning how, when, and what to share. 

If anything, I hope this inspires you all to really think about your color choices in the future. I'm by no means an expert in the area, but it's always helped me make better choices when I'm weighing them against what my narrative intent is.

Happy Weekend!

6 comments:

  1. Do you teach? You are very diligent. I can't stop smiling while I read your post. It's like listening to a professor. :) Ah, yes, you found my main blog Ces and Her Dishes. Thank you for your comments. My email notification is sick. It is very temperamental. It notifies me of new comments when it wants to. I just happened to see your comment from March 1st today. I used this program to enlarge and refine your slides. Wow! Hehehe. Okay just kidding. I was watching "The Following" and they had showed an episode where they refined an overly pixelated image. :) Have a great weekend.

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    1. Thanks, Ces! I did in fact teach, but I don't currently. I've always enjoyed the act of sharing information, whether it was as a student mentor, a teacher's assistant, or even a teacher, so I'm happy to be able to continue it with whatever observations I can share. And yes, I too am a fan of that show, and anytime any show or movie does that, it makes me laugh and cringe at the same time :)

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  2. hmmmm.. the color is taking shape. Looking good. And looking forward to seeing more, I like the idea.

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  3. I'm very intrigued by your process and am finding it very helpful. I'd love to put together a story book one day, and it never occurred to me to pay attention to the color script. Fantastic! I cannot thank you enough for sharing all your wisdom. Have an excellent week!

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    1. Thanks, Bella! Happy to share anything I can as I get so much inspiration from everywhere on the web as well.

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  4. Wow, this is super, Mauricio! I'm so impressed with all of your hard work and dedication to this fantastic project. I know it's a labor of love..you can definitely tell! Keep up the great posts and I continue to be inspired by your hard work! : )

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Thanks for letting me know what you think :)