For years people have been asking how long Eric spends on each illustration... and we didn't have an answer! Well, we tried to make a guess while we was working on the third book, and we think it is about 80 hours per illustration.
He starts with a series of sketches, to work out the composition of the illustration and the characters and details. Then, he transfers the sketch with a pencil to his watercolor board, adding in the details as he goes. Layers of pencil, colored pencil, and watercolor are added bit by little bit, in careful detail. He leaves no detail to chance, and each page is just crammed with the sorts of tidbits that children love to look at over and over again.
Inspired by his work, I encouraged Eric to create a time-lapse video of one of his illustrations from our newest book, Phoebe's Birthday. He catalogued his process, snapping a photo periodically as he progressed through the illustration process. You will see that he crumples up his paper and starts all over again partway through the video- this dates back to last winter when he had to start the entire book from scratch all over again. (click here to read about going back to the drawing board.)
Signed prints of Eric's illustrations are available here in our Etsy shop.
This seems like a suitable way to begin the new year, so the new video is up for you to share! We hope you enjoy it!
He starts with a series of sketches, to work out the composition of the illustration and the characters and details. Then, he transfers the sketch with a pencil to his watercolor board, adding in the details as he goes. Layers of pencil, colored pencil, and watercolor are added bit by little bit, in careful detail. He leaves no detail to chance, and each page is just crammed with the sorts of tidbits that children love to look at over and over again.
Inspired by his work, I encouraged Eric to create a time-lapse video of one of his illustrations from our newest book, Phoebe's Birthday. He catalogued his process, snapping a photo periodically as he progressed through the illustration process. You will see that he crumples up his paper and starts all over again partway through the video- this dates back to last winter when he had to start the entire book from scratch all over again. (click here to read about going back to the drawing board.)
Signed prints of Eric's illustrations are available here in our Etsy shop.
This seems like a suitable way to begin the new year, so the new video is up for you to share! We hope you enjoy it!
Makes me smile. Love it! (and the music, too. I got a CD when Ruby was born, but that was 9 years ago! Is it time for a new release?? :)
ReplyDeleteIt makes me smile, too, I hope that is okay! I think you are right... it has been a very long time since Eric has made an album-- I think I might mention that to him! Happy New Year to you and yours, Erin!
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ReplyDeleteThe time lapse video was a good idea. I like to look at how other people work but I don't really like looking at traditional video. You have to sit through too much empty time- time where you can guess what is going to happen but you have to wait for it to play through anyway. That's not really the best thing when you are trying to do several things at once.
ReplyDeleteI'll read the post on starting over as well. when he crumpled the paper I was reminded that there's nothing wrong with doing that if things are going in the wrong direction.
Thanks for the great comment. You are right, there is nothing wrong with going back to the drawing board and starting over!
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