project details
Client: Len Saunders
Completed: 2009
Project Duration: 6 months
Budget: $250
Introduction:
Buddy Bea is a children's book about life, love and loss. A friendly bird befriends a little leaf bud and their bond develops over the course of the leaf's lifecycle until it is time to say goodbye. This was the first big project to present important lessons early on in my freelance career.
Problem:
When the client first approached me with his project, I fell in love immediately with the story and the chance to bring his characters to life. He hadn't had much luck with illustrators and so this was my first real chance to test my skills.
solution:
I started with a rough layout of the book, deciding which pages of the manuscript would be combined across double page spreads, which ones would stand alone as full pages, and where in the story it made sense to include full illustrations without text to stage a change in tone or setting.
Problem:
The options for execution in terms of media were near limitless. I wavered between wanting to produce this project digitally or take a more traditional approach. Knowing how colors appear differently from medium to medium, and how each art style can bring with it a unique feeling or atmosphere, I knew I had to match the right visual voice to the bittersweet tone of the story.
solution:
Deciding to use a soft watercolor approach paired with the graphic quality of pen and ink, I started with sketches for the characters, including rough layouts for scene composition and character placement. I also took into consideration text arrangement, and left areas blank or at least uniform enough to harmoniously place a few sentences of the manuscript.
Putting so much time and passion into this project blinded me from the true problems of freelance. The legal side. Our initial agreement wasn't very inclusive of the illustrator's rights going forward, and aside from the fact that I gravely misjudged compensation for this job, the promised "exposure" was null and void the moment this client's publisher insisted on in-house artwork. And so another illustrator's vision for the story went to publication.
I still regard this assignment as one of the most influential experiences of my career. I learned so much about what I was truly capable of, as well as how to structure my own contract agreements to protect my rights as an artist. I also had a lot of fun making the work, despite the eventual outcome. Good thing I always retain the right to display any work that I produce!
