After a long period away from Children's Picture Books, 2004 ('Tomorrow' Published by Lothian Books & still available
on Amazon), to be precise, I've taken the plunge again. The script is in early development stage so all sorts of things could happen between now & the final draft, as is usual but I'll try to post tit-bits as I progress.
I love this early stage of a new script, in many ways it's a lot like a new love affair, full of unguided energy, a little trepidation, a big dose of fumbling fun, never fully sure of the direction. Watching the characters evolve from the most scratchy scribblings to someone who you would be happy to have around... of course, as the process moves forward you get to play inside these characters heads, a little like method acting, you live them for a short while, imbue them with a sense of self & place. However, this is a double edged sword (& I'm not speaking on behalf of all Illustrators, I've no idea how anyone else's head operates), for, in my head, the characters & scenes are fully animated, often complete with sound & of course as such they work perfectly but trying to encapsulate that as a 2 dimensional image is, yes challenging but often frustrating. & so there is always a slight sadness that (a.) I'm not an animator (b.) loaded with dosh or (c.) sleeping with someone from
Studio Aka... which, if anyone from the Studio reads this, I'm totally happy to do, just don't tell my wife.
So, it's fun & painful all at once (that's the process I'm talking about now not sleeping with someone from Studio Aka, that would be easy... move on!), just a little like life I guess. & in a way that's what's happening, as a Writer/Illustrator you are creating a little bit of life...
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| Development of Lucy (from left to right), one of two main characters. I like her high Seattle fringe. |
