Emma Reynolds

Today we had a lovely talk from a freelance illustrator called Emma Reynolds about character design, narrative and picture books. I thought this was a very intriguing quote that I will start with;

'The words change the pictures and the picture change the words' - Emma Reynolds

As it's something to think about when creating a narrative, to break down your story, identify the series  of events, whats the themes running throughout?, how can you show this visually?, how do you want the reader to feel? Do first hand research accordingly, Visit museums and draw from life especially when your designing characters learning about the habitat in which they live in.
Always be critical asking questions; what is the setting going to be?, what is the characters favourite food?, What kind of personality do they have?, How would they react to things? How do you want to portray character - think about shapes if you want them to be cuddly then use soft circles, if you want your character to be stocky (maybe have big shoulders) then use shapes that are more square also taking into consideration whether they are small, skinny, fat, tall, etc. Are they lovely?, remember looks aren't everything they could be horrid? Just play around with all these different forms and be inventive, have fun.

Also when designing a character draw them lots in different positions, angles, poses as this will help to create them from the front, the sides, from behind etc. whether your character is human, animal, a creature or even an object. Think about the lines you use for instance;



Here are some images of her work showing the different angles and positions of characters she has created;

Bear Concept Layers

Throughout her work she uses media such as Acrylic, Gouche and Pencil sketches.  

Inventor Animal 1

Inventor Animal 2

Emma Reynolds also talked through what to do when creating a picture book which is 32 pages long.She advised us to start with an idea, a script, a story maybe have a funny situation think of what characters would best suit these situations it could be a meaningful doodle you have done. During picture books there is minimal text as text is for dialogue and main events. The pictures do the describing as you could have characters doing one thing and the text saying another.

''Pictures tell the story!''  - Emma Reynolds

Emma Reynolds Influences!

Raymond Briggs

I love his work, his images of the snowman bring back lovely memories of my childhood when I was watching the film with my Grandma, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Raymond Briggs was born on Jan 18th 1934, he shares a birthday with Alan Alexander Milne who is well known for his stories on 'Winnie the pooh'. 

Briggs is a children's writer and an illustrator who gained most his inspiration from his parents, his father was a milkman and his mother was a lady's maid. He started illustrating when he left school in 1957 and his first Children's book he published was called 'The strange house' in 1961. 

Furthermore I found in an interview with Raymond Briggs his answer to becoming a successful illustrator in which he replied; 

''Learn to draw, learn to paint, don't fiddle about on computers, they are a useful tool, when you know what you are doing, but they can make you feel clever when you are not.'' 

Leaving you fresh with this quote in mind!