A Bear with a Book (Making a Book Review Graphic) [Process]

So, like most drawings I do, this idea started off as a thumbnail sketch in my mini-Moleskine notebook.  I knew I wanted to start adding full-fledged book reviews to this blog, and to that end, I felt I needed a Book Review graphic to use as a header for each review I did.  Since I wanted to review graphical and illustrated books, I wanted the graphic to have an illustrated look to it.  So, I thought a bear with a book.

I have been in the habit of drawing and then inking illustrations on 11"x14" bristol board and sometimes larger sizes of bristol, so I thought I would take the same approach.  I sketched out the drawing, left some room for improvement and started inking.

Unfortunately, I ran into several problems.  First, because of old age or improper cleaning or humidity, my pen nibs were acting up.  The ink was not flowing, I was using too much pressure, and I was not getting the line widths and textures I was looking for.  I also spilled ink all over my drafting table, which is a super rare occasion, which then makes it ironic considering I call this blog The Ink Puddle.  Again, I didn't like the look, the lines, nothing.  I was putting this on the shelf when I spent a lovely and magical day in Philadelphia.  Two things changed how I did this illustration.  The first was seeing Brian Selznick, author or The Invention of Hugo Cabret and most recently Wonderstruck.  I will get more into his appearance later, because it is worth expanding my description.  I asked Selznick what supplies he used for his book illustrations and he said he drew on watercolor paper with a mechanical pencil, mostly with HB softness.  So, this is what I tried to do.

So, like Selznick, I wanted to use a mechanical pencil on watercolor paper.  The second important thing that happened that day was seeing extremely detailed illustrations by Maurice Sendak at The Rosenbach Museum.  I was a little shocked at how tiny some of the drawings were.  I didn't think I even owned pen nibs fine enough for the lines I was seeing.  But I was willing to give it a shot.

This kind of illustration work (very small and very fine lines) was kind of a homecoming for me.  I always favored smaller compositions with fine lines.  Thankfully, I had art teachers who forced me to get out of my comfort zone and to go big and bold with designs and tools.  When it comes to sequential art, I forced myself to use a brush and ink as often as I could.  I still mess up, I am still not as proficient as I would like, but I enjoy challenging myself.  But I have to say, working on a postcard size paper with fine pencil felt pretty good and comfortable.  Using only one softness, HB, I could vary pressure to get a couple gradation of shades.

Below is the final pencil composition.  The actual postcard looks much better.  I need a tutorial on how to scan pencil drawings effectively.  I need more help adjusting the histogram levels.  I am thinking I may try to take photographs of the postcard as well.  Something tells me the reflective bright light of the scanner will always wash out tones I want kept in.

The next time you see the image above, it will be changed a bit and formatted to be used in a Book Review graphic.  If anyone has hints and tricks for scanning pencil drawings, please let me know!