Inside the Illustration

Spread 6: Penny

No, I did not just create this page to have a rocket because I needed a word that rhymes with “pocket.” In fact, at first I wanted the penny to be on the ground and not in his pocket. But then again, I wanted the readers to know that symbols don’t always have to be searched for and found. Sometimes, they can be with you the whole time! Also, I did not intend for this character to look like Harry Potter, but since I am a Harry Potter fan, I am not sad about it! Little secret - the boy on the right is a mirrored replica of the boy in the pool playing with the beach ball on the butterfly page. 

I did the initial line drawing with a graphite pencil on white paper. I colored in the drawing with colored pencil, blended slightly with a Q-tip, and finally outlined with a Sharpie fine tip marker. The vertical lines that are present are from the texture of the paper. I scanned the illustration, did a little photoshop / post-processing work, and finally formatted bleeds and copy in Adobe illustrator. 

Hardest part: Creating depth within the composition and motion within the figures

Easiest part: The kid catching the rocket (right)

Favorite part: The main figure’s round glasses