(photo credit: UCLA Faculty Association)

The first image I created for this book was the “shirts” image. It addressed issues a person with an Anxiety, Sensory Processing, or Autism disorder might have with clothing. So, to make a long story short, I wasn’t happy with the quality of the image and now I’m back to square one… and there are a few different paths I could take.

1) Re-shoot using the same backgrounds that I used before (purple, elaborately patterned wallpaper with a wood floor)

2) Shoot using the wood floor and a black background

3) Shoot from the main character’s knees on up and position them “larger” and possibly off-center on a black background in post production.

I really like the look of the purple patterned wallpaper that I used before, but consistency is key in picture books. Will I be able to repeat (different) patterned wallpapers throughout the rest of the story? Do I want to take the readers’ eyes away from the characters? At this point, I’m thinking, “no.”  However, people usually get dressed in the mornings… would a black background be appropriate?  Probably not.  Do I want the entire book to be simply characters, with a few props, and simple white backgrounds to consume the entire book?  I don’t think so… but what do you think?  Would that be more powerful?  Would that get the message to the reader in a better way?  Let me know, you kind blog followers, you!

One of my main illustrative motto’s is: Keep it simple and make it powerful… above all, be intentional.

Time to get back to work… thanks for stopping by, Friends.

L.