So I've got new pages for my sketchbook, I've got my concept storyboarded, and I had my characters defined...time to put it all together into the final illustrations!
I used my storyboards as my "bible" and pencilled each page as a spread (this spread is page 2 and 15):
After completing each sketch, I went back and inked each page with my trusty Pitt Artist Pens:
After letting the inked pages dry, I erased my pencil lines and prepared to color my pages with watercolors. I had kept a set of Dr. Ph. Martin's Watercolors from college and decided it was time to put them to use.
Some pages turned out, "eh":
While some pages really turned out beautifully:
You can view the complete set of pages on my Flickr page.
After all that, I still had to rebind the pages to the sketchbook cover. After a failed attempt at simply poking holes into the pages and sewing them together, I figured out that I could use pushpins to keep everything in register. So I got out my trusty old Artist's Tape and taped up the middle of the book and started over:
And here's how the center spread looks sewn to the cover with heavy duty thread:
After all that hard work, I'm still uncertain about how the project turned out. I've learned a lot along the way, but I feel that some pages just could have been done better. I would've loved to have redone the entire book, but time was short, so I had to move on. I guess the folks who check out The Sketchbook Project on its nationwide tour will be the true judges of how my book turned out...
Oh, and for those who've read this far, thank you. If you are interested, here is the full text of my poem that The Maiden & The Hawk is based on:
The Maiden and the Hawk
The Maiden stood at her balcony,
Weeping.
Hawk was soaring high
Over her castle
When he heard her sadness.
Hawk landed perfectly
On the small ledge
And asked of the Maiden,
“What troubles you so?”
The Maiden replied,
“My true love left me for another.”
And Hawk said,
“Mine too.”
The Maiden smiled
And her tears dried up.
Hawk then came to Maiden every night.
On his third visit,
He asked of her,
“The moon shines full.
Let us fly up to her embrace
And back again.”
“But Hawk, I cannot fly,”
Was her forlorn reply.
Hawk grinned knowingly.
“Tonight, my fair Maiden,
Dreams come true
And everything is possible.
Just close your eyes.”
The Maiden did so,
And off they went.
The wind in her hair.
The moon soft upon her face.
Hawk soared forever
Up there
Around the full moon.
And far too soon,
The Maiden and the Hawk
Returned to Earth.
The Maiden stood
Shimmering in the moonlight.
Hawk’s feathers
Glowed about him
In the most magnificent way.
The Maiden whispered,
“Thank you, Hawk,
For being you.”
She placed a gentle kiss
Upon his beak
And wished her wish.
As she did this,
Hawk stood up
And cast off
His feathered coat.
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