Book Illustration Cycle

 

Embarking on the unknown journey as a Children’s Author of my children’s series “The Adventures of Jessie and Rocky Rockstar” has been a fascinating process, especially the book illustration cycle.

These books are about the coolest little puppy in the world “Rocky Rockstar”. He’s a rescue puppy we got for our beautiful daughter Jessie. Since he became part of our family, life has been incredible.

He’s a crazy, loveable cross between a Foxy, Staffy and Cattle Dog that looks like a Tiger. Painting this picture of Rocky Rockstar’s characteristics has been an important aspect of the book illustration cycle.

The first step in this book illustration cycle was communicating with my publisher Ocean Reeve about the types of illustrations I had visualized for my children’s series.  What was important to me was the vibrant depth of colour and the authenticity of the real-life characters in the illustrations.

Ocean offered me several children’s illustration styles to choose from to ensure I had the right fit. Once I had chosen the illustrator the next step was to gather photos of Rocky Rockstar as a puppy and Jessie when she was about 8 years old.

Once I was happy with the photos, my next step was to submit them to the illustrator for the first black and white concept drawings. When those black and white book illustrations came back to me, I remember the excitement I felt in my stomach. My first children’s book Puppy Rescue was coming to life, and it made this incredible experience of being a new author a reality.

The feeling intensified when the coloured book illustrations were sent through. I could visualize my book being read to children and the smiles on their faces. Now, I dream of one day reading these books to my grandchildren in bed at night.

The book illustration process has by far been the most exciting part of creating a children’s book series. Now I can’t wait to have these books in my hands and offer them to your children.