My process of children's book illustration
From conceptual drawing to watercolor painting
Conceptual drawing
As soon as I receive a manuscript from my editor or art director, I read the story many times. Soon the story becomes a movie in my brain. I can see the people, their ages, the locations, and the emotions I wish to convey. Then I use a big piece of drawing paper and start sketching, to put the movie floating in my mind down on my drawing paper, scene by scene. This is called the conceptual drawing stage. In this example, I used charcoal to draw, then applied a light wash with gray ink.
I don't think about models in this stage. All the drawings were right from my imagination without any photo reference. This is a very important stage in the entire illustration process. When I finish the conceptual drawings, I send them to my art directors for their feedback. There usually are requested changes, which means I need to modify my conceptual drawings until we are both satisfied.
Then the next step is research and finding my perfect models.
