Falling in love with Norman

So, my husband really has nothing to worry about. I'm talking about Norman the Red Footed Booby which I am illustrating for the Make Art That Sells children's book course.

I think it it takes a while to properly bond with your text and get to know your characters. I'd read through the story five times, watched a load of YouTube videos and also read the true story of the red footed booby that ended up in the UK. Even so, my first attempts at drawing Norman didn't have a great deal of soul to them.

Thanks to the course I feel like I have a better awareness of creating characters with 'spark' and this comes down to confidence, looseness and embracing your own aesthetic. And lots and lots of drawing! There are sketchbook prompts everyday as well as an assignment every week which takes up every inch of time. It's full on and addictive. At the moment I am working on poses for Norman and the girl that finds him, Ruby

This image was my submission for last Sunday and was supposed to show a range of expressions. I think that experimenting with Norman's emotions and starting to let go a little that he started to emerge. There was something in the blue version that appealed to me and things started to change from there.

This little Norman showed up and I liked the relationship that was building between these characters. I went back to researching booby's
(😂) and saw that their necks are longer than I had been drawing and I thought that that could actually be quite an expressive feature.
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This is Norman at the beginning of the story. His dad calls to him to keep up and so it makes me think that maybe he is learning his skills and therefore he is a bit of a schoolboy. The addition of clothes adds an extra bit of character and also allows for a similar treatment of the other animal characters that show up later.

Seeing Norman and Ruby together likes this has made me fall in love with them! I'm so excited about the rest of the week - drawing more poses and their interactions. And it reinforces my desire to do children's books as it has reminded me about how amazing it is to bring words to life!

It is now half way through the course and I feel as though I have come a long way already. I don't want the course to end, but I'm so excited to push forwards with the knowledge and energy that I now have. 💕😀✨
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