Jodie Field

When making the PDF in InDesign I found I had to add pages to fill out my book to make it work for blurb.com, so i could get it published professionally, I found it very difficult with the pages as the website was very confusing as it kept changing the minimum page requirements from 22 to 24, I also had trouble with the sizing, for some reason even though I did the PDF in A4 it wasn't the right size for blurb. To help and change this I made sure I had 24 pages by including information pages and pages of my favourite illustrations. Fortunately on the website it helped my change the sizing and gave me a preview to help visualise it and check everything over. I have now ordered 3 published books.

My final Illustration was by far my favourite piece to draw, this is because I knew how gruesome and different I could make it look, I wanted it to look gruesome but also not too disgusting to stop people from reading. To add the blood I used a wet brush to give it a more stained blood look, I wanted the blood to be in random places but the most of it to be around the face. I wanted to add the eyes in as in the story it says the birds peck out there eyes, I thought it would add a more sinister look to it as it would connect more to the story. I made sure the saturation for this page was the lowest as it was the last Illustration and I wanted it to show the message and look very different from the start.

 When creating all these different Illustrations I wanted to try different layouts and poses as I didn't want each page to look the same. My favourite piece to draw was definitely the stepmother cutting the heels, this is because I wanted it to look as gruesome as it could but also loved how the layout looked. My least favourite piece is the Carriage this is because it looks very quickly done, it doesn't look as well thought out as a lot of my other illustrations. I would try and improve it by adding different textures and shadows to make it more fancy and professional.

 When doing a lot of the middle illustrations I kept some of them quite simple as I didn't want all of the Illustrations to be distracting from the text. My least favourite illustration is Cinderella in front of the fire, I feel like the door is just there and isn't really fit with the rest of the picture, if I could do anything different I would add a floor to make it fit in more. My favourite piece is the doves bringing Cinderella her dress, this is because it links into the cover well and i think the text will look well around the image. If I could change anything I would try and blend out the tree leaves more as it looks very sharp and not very blended. I love how through out the illustrations they are equally getting darker and less colour just like i had envisioned.

The second Illustration I did was the last page with Cinderella image, this was a strategy I had as I knew it would help me develop my work, I wanted the princess to look very different and Tim Burton styled, I also wanted Cinderella to look pretty but also very tarnished and bedraggled. I kept the royal horse exactly the same as the first illustration but I changed the colour to be white as it shows royalty and simplicity. I wanted the prince to look very regal and have a normal look that wasn't too distracting. After doing my illustration I lowered the saturation as I wanted the book to go from bright to dark, to show how life isn't always happy. If I could change anything I would try and add something into the background as I think its just very plain and missing something.

My first Illustration I did was difficult as I didn't feel confident draw a horse, as I didn't want it to look too realistic but I also wanted it to be in my own style, so I looked on google to and took some inspiration from pictures of horses and drew from them in my own unique style. At the start of this book I wanted Cinderella to look happy and normal to then change throughout the book. As for textures I wanted the slab/rock path to have a more rocky texture so I chose a dry blotchy circular brush and chose multiple shades of brown to give texture and definition. I wanted to shade and highlight everything softly to add a non realistic look to make it look more caricature.  If I could change anything I would try and add texture to the walls of the house, as it looks very plain and doesn't look like bricks, I would also change the pose I chose for Cinderella as I think her hand behind her looks out of place and doesn't work well. The Stepsisters and stepmother was the...

After looking at different books for inspiration, I chose to do go through the Grimm Brothers Cinderella story and split the story into parts and write down what illustration I want to draw that links to that section. In my book I did quick drawings of how I would layout the pages as well as helped me visualise how the book would look. I didn't want to spend too much time drawing a perfect detailed draft as it was only a draft and I could always change my thoughts and ideas when putting the book together. While drawing my illustrations I chose to tick off what I had done to keep myself organised and keep everything neat and tidy. When starting my FMP illustrations I want to start with my first and last illustrations as they are the most different and I thought would help me change Cinderella's look evenly throughout the book and look professional.