For the moment I’ve vacated my mind of rabbits (a tough job) all to make way for a rather stubborn duck – the star of my latest picture book project. Although his title of ‘star’ is contentious. He may well be thrown from his throne by a character that is definitely, 100% NOT a duck. These two have been waging a little war in my head for the last few weeks, both competing for attention in their own unique ways. Duck is demanding and difficult but endearing in his own way. Not-Duck is free spirited and willful and also a little loopy. The project is still in the character design phase at this stage, but I’m almost ready to do up a storyboard. I’ve made the images below using ink, watercolour and digital collage.
Duck:
Not-Duck:
the Well Read Rabbit || Katherine Battersby 
They are gorgeous, Kath! Make sure you keep us updated on their antics, will be great to see how an illustrator develops a pb. You know, in my mind I can see great illos for the stories I write, but when I try to put them on paper…hmmm.
I love them both! Can’t wait to see what they get up to.
Thanks girls! Trudie – I think all creatives are blessed with an imagination that lets us ‘see’ our stories, but some use words to get them down on paper and others use images. I’m lucky because I get to use both :)
I’m enjoying seeing where these two take me…
Best of luck with the new project Katherine…. And don’t put any more pressure on yourself. If you did it once, you can do it again… But then again, didn’t I read you were a Virgo on here somewhere?… In that case it’s entirely natural isn’t it?
Take care,
Aaron.
Good pick, Aaron – I am as Virgoan as Virgos get! Most of the time it works for me, but it’s a deal – no more pressure :)
I do love the sound and image of Duck, Kath. Something very individual about him/her. You could do a lot with those eyes I can see. See you soon! love Sheryl
Thanks Sheryl! I had to think hard about Duck’s expressions – he goes through a range of strong emotions in the story but I wanted to keep his face simple. After a lot of playing I found that subtle changes to the shape of his eyes gives him that range.
Really looking forward to you coming home…
so love ‘Not Duck’ Hey, do you do ckasses? I so want to do some classes at some time. I’m fascinated by digital collage – what is that?
So lovely seeing you last night. I had a great time. Not happy it will be so long before I see your picture book, though. I’m dying to see it!
Bxx
Thanks, Belinda! I have done some classes in the past – they’re wonderful for being around other creative people, exploring new mediums and boosting inspiration. By ‘digital collage’ I mean that I scan in paper, objects, fabric etc, and then combine all the elements of the image on my computer (using a program called Photoshop).
It was lovely to catch up. I haven’t laughed so much in ages! I’m also a bit down about having to wait so long for my pb to come out – the waiting is so hard! I will just have to keep VERY distracted with other projects…