I started off by creating some research boards on pinterest - one for general Alice imagery, and another for children's illustration. They can be seen here and here, but here are some previews!
I started out by making lots of drawings of the different characters, key objects, etc, to get a basic feel for the mise en scene and to coin a way of drawing the characters. I wanted the drawing style to be simple, but delightful and wacky. I opted for a 'chunky' look to all of the characters which I really had fun with! I like my caterpillar design the best.
Though I was really enjoying sketching everything with my trusty turquoise brush pen, I did some digital sketching as it's what I'm most comfortable colouring in so I wanted to play to my strengths. I found that it lost a bit of charm this way, so I tried scanning and colouring some sketches in photoshop, which worked a lot better.
After lots of thumbnail sketching, I decided on the three compositions I wanted to use. I liked the front cover test a lot, so I scanned it in, printed it out, and went over it again on better paper of the correct dimensions to use for the final image.
I ended up thinking that the caterpillar illustration was too visually hectic so I didn't finish it, despite him being my favourite character! Upon reflection, I could easily narrow it down into an oval shaped composition, like the cheshire cat picture.
For the final cover design, I like what's going on with the actual drawing but I had troubles with the type. I have considered redoing the background to make the mushrooms further apart to give the text more room, and would like to start all of the text anew. However since my crit was only the day before assessment, I will have to do so in my own time for the benefit of entering the competition. I'm glad I at least attempted the text though, as typography in general is a skill I really want to develop, so at least I've made a start and can only improve from here.
