C.S. Jennings's Blog, page 2

"Supermoon." Experiments with technique.

Click to embiggen.
Line, Col-Erase black.

Sketch : Bear Learns to Stand, or Bear Does the Twist, or Bear Has a Back Ache

Playing with Col-Erase black.
Sort of loving Col-Erase black.

What if I'd drawn ... Paddington?

Alternate Title 2: Icons of My Childhood
Alternate Title 3: Score, Paddington-1, Illustrator-0.
Alternate Title 4: A Journey in Character Development 

The idea for this project, when I began with Babar, was to play with character development. I wanted to approach the titans of my childhood as I would a book project I'd received. A bit of description from the publisher, a raw manuscript, and Go! Develop our character! 

April was my last post--there were things happening in May I knew would keep me from posting--but in the time passed I've been sketching Paddington. Roughing him. Playing with him. What would my Paddington look like? (As always, click the images to see them bigger.)


The final version.
I tackled him after Babar because I figured he'd be easy (easier than, say, a Pooh, or a Cat in the Hat). Turns out, he meant a LOT to me as a kid, was there in a time I needed him, and so--not to drag it out--I found myself pushing aside the cobwebs of memory and experience to forge my version of him. Here's who the character is to me.

He's a mess. His big hat and coat surround him, creating a physical barrier to protect this kind hearted fellow who is finding family after losing his own.

My style is a little more angular than I felt appropriate, so I rounded out the corners a bit to carry his personality.


I saw something I was looking for here.
This is the sort of journey in character development some characters take me on. Many times, the primary character gets the attention from the development team at the publishing house. Jacob Wonderbar went through a few versions, as did the main character, Chip, in The Incredible Rockhead. Secondary characters get love, but they will generally only go through a couple of approvals. Paddington took me for a ride.

Really, really soft style.
The back story of the creation of Michael Bond's brilliant character adds extra layers to the him. (He wrote the first book in ten days!?) I read it again during while working on it. It is still something special. (It is out of print now?)

This guy. I like him. But you put a hat on him...
... he looks like a panda.
Character development is following paths, grabbing the hand of an idea and seeing where it takes you. Sometimes you end up at a dead end and you have to turn around. I step away and take a day or two, let my brain percolate on it. I will often then push the character through extremes.

Taller, sporting a more "Peru" hat.
(For the record, bears from Peru are mostly black.)
Polar opposite of above : simplified "barrel shape."
Simplified cuteness.

Thumbnails of a couple of compositions.

2 Minute Sketch : Hawk Hood

The illustration that arose from my statement "I have a hawk in my hood."*
 
The shape my self portraits start with. #GoneNubHeadin
* Meaning, there is a hawk that lives in my neighborhood.

Aloha

Do you know that moment, when you are drawing a character, trying to figure him/her out?

Sketch after sketch, none right, until ... that moment.

Pencil moving across paper, maybe you're working on some other problem all together and ...

"Oh. There you are."




Oh. There you are.

What if I'd drawn ... Babar?

Click to Embiggen

I've had an idea knocking around in my head. What would my childhood favorites look like if I'd (gone back in time as the illustrator I am now and) drawn them?

Babar Loses His Crown was in my top five books as a kid. The mystery of the mustached man. The deadline of finding his crown. All is lost, and .... !

Even today, Laurent de Brunhoff's Babar holds a special place for me.

I'd love to spend some more time with him--put him in an environment. With what has to be done this week, I won't get the chance.



On my desk.
* This illustration is not for sale nor will it be used for anything other than a respectful, loving homage. No claims of ownership are made of this copyrighted material. All rights remain with the holders thereof.

Tiger Dad!

 So it was time to do some art for the Austin SCBWI conference auction. I broke out the graphite and did this piece.


I drew this first, but decided to do something more "kid's booky" in tone. Although, you know, I think everyone appreciates the message.

I BEEN SQUARIZED!!!!

All the cool kids made square avatars for their Twitter profiles. But, like, I totally had a plan to make a square avatar, like, geeze ... when did that Titanic movie come out? Because that's when I came up with that idea.*


While I was working on it, there was the black line art. And you know what I thought, it's what everyone is thinking right now, am-I-right?


Cheshire C.S.!

Click Image to Embiggen

*It is, actually, not.

Corgi Type Thing (And Two Other Corgi Like Things)

Sketchbook time!

I was noodling in the sketchbook and this fella showed up. If there was color, you would see he has a long nose ... but really. He is sort of corgi, but missing the corgi thing that makes a corgi a corgi. Probably what I would do were I do take this to final is stretch him out a bit and turn his head so we could all see that super sweet corgi nose. Corgi!

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Other Corgis I Have Drawn

For a corgi-owning friend's card.
(Oops. This one has a tail.)
Strangely, this is the study for the card above.
(Sans tail. I don't know what happened.)

Drawin Me Some Prezdents

The Rough (submitted to the client)
Lincoln : Pencil Line and Final Color Comparison
This was for an assignment, a quiz on President's Day. (As you can see, I decided I nailed George in the rough.) I don't draw historical types a lot, but I enjoyed it so much, I may start doing so for recreation.

"Yo, C.S., it's Friday night! Let's party, son!*"
"Nah, man. Got's ta be drawin some prezdents!"

* Because this is the sort of call/text I often get.

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