Marionette Thoughts

Here are two versions of my Marionette page. I had an idea! Maybe the text could be more music/song inspired. For example it could resemble a music sheet. Something to consider since it's about singing. That might be one way to have continuity with differing backgrounds in the story.

I also like the first marionette. His strings and pose are nice. What was concerning me was his lack of style. I was worried he looked naked even though he was made of wood. Maybe I could combine the two pages. The girl could be in the pose of the first marionette page.... 

I can also play around with a lighter colored background for the marionette. That way it will feel like its following a similar color palette as the Parrot image. 

Style

I am working on finding the right look for a children's book I am illustrating. This is part collage to give it texture. I love the font! The first letter is done in "Neo Retro Draw" font. I love it for this idea because it has negative space and reminds me of chalk drawing. 

Hands On Music Event

Children's musician, Dara Linthwaite, invited me to one of her "Hands on Music" events at the "Quogue Library" in Long Island, New York. Here are some photos from our day. 

"Catch Of The Night" in Book Form

This is a short video I took on my phone to show you the style of the book I made for, Catch of The Night. In case your new around here, this started as a story for my Children's Literature class from last year. I am in the process of turning this into an animation and consider this a draft. 

One of my goals for this has always been having the design start as an inverted line and transform to the opposite, just as the night turns to day within the story. Click here for past posts for this project from design to completion!

Also if your interested in book arts this is called an accordion style binding. The story is set on the roof of a tall house with a man fishing in the sky, therefor height was a big theme for him. This book style allowed me to work with that. For my animation I would like to channel this idea further maybe with a constant scroll movement, I'm not sure yet. 

 

Harry Potter

“Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone” holds a very special place in my heart. It’s like remembering the first date to someone you have fallen in love with. It’s hard for me to review this book in any way other than praise as I have read it so many times. Aside from being a wonderful story I have many blissful memories connected to it. Reading it always brings me somewhere new and yet I have been there before. Like most nerdy phenomenon’s it connected me to other nerdy people that led me to other nerdy media, thus ensuring my nerd future. 

My next thought is held up to wide debate, but I will say it anyway. I like Harry Potter as a character. This is less of an issue in the first book of course. Part of the attraction to Harry Potter for me was feeling a parallel to Harry’s sorrow. That’s not to say I suffered the same misery but all children feel alone and have some sort of grief.

Harry had a life filled with mourning. He lived in an abnormal home being detested under the stairs in a cramped cupboard. You felt his despair and isolation. He was filled with good but surrounded by evil, until he got a letter that changed his life forever. Harry discovered he is a hero and celebrity in a secret world, a world of magic. He is going to escape from the Dursleys and live in a school full of witches and wizards. Yes he was different all along because he was special.

The Harry Potter series created a fire inside me that I will always be thankful for. I believe it was one of the many experiences that led me to become an artist. Always being an introverted person I loved to spend time alone drawing, writing and being creative. Reading Harry Potter had an effect on me that I had never felt before within a book. The world of Harry Potter felt incredibly real to me. I couldn’t put the books down. I wanted to draw what I could see when I closed my eyes.

Sometimes it feels like I spent so much time with them that I myself went to Hogwarts. The people, places, and magic were a wonderland in my mind that I could always go to. These visceral experiences allowed me to take what JK Rowling had given me and spin them into a complete Stephanie Universe where anything could happen. Despite what I was experiencing in my own life I felt hopeful that I could find change as Harry did. Someday I would find my Hogwarts letter. I believe I did with my acceptance into Art school, living my own version of Harry Potter. Yes I was different all along, like Harry, because I was special.