Elephant Story illustration

The 'golden age' animated film Dumbo had been a favourite of mine and a source of inspiration since I first saw it. More than the story specifics, it was the WAY the story was told that really appealed to me. I still recall the emotions that the movie was able to stir in me.

For some time I've been toying with the idea of telling my own elephant story, but in picture book form. Anyone following my art will know I like to draw elephants, so this is not my first idea to feature elephants. I've gone on to write a short story about a family of elephants. It's only a first draft, and needs a ton of polishing.

This is where the illustrations below fit in. In the first one the young elephant is separated from his family by lava. In the second he discovers his father in a grim state. Character designs are not completely resolved yet, so there's still some consistency issues. Think of these as 'concept' illustrations.

It was natural to study the beautiful storyboards Bill Peet made for the animated classic Dumbo. I wanted to try and come close to that film's masterful handling of emotions, and combine this with some of the epic landscape imagery I was seeing in my imagination. It was a very tall order, but this side project was only ever meant to be something to hone my illustration / storytelling craft. As is often the case, my ideas for personal project tend to be overly ambitious. So whether I actually make the thing is yet to be decided.

As it turns out Dumbo the animated film is being remade, so I've perhaps unwittingly tapped into the zeitgeist. I suppose it was only a matter of time before that masterpiece of animation was remade!

The first illustration to characterise the elephants

A value study and the finished illustration

The thing I love about the Dumbo storyboards is the way tonal values are used to help tell the story. I think my digital mockup worked out better in terms of value. I was however happy with the texture and subtle value changes in the final illustration.

The rendering was built up in many passes

Finally I combined a single black watercolour pigment

I hope you enjoyed this update. Feel free to leave any thoughts, comments, or questions below. 

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Where do stories begin?

Can a good story idea come from a single image?

That's the question I've been asking myself. In this post I'll take you through a new personal project idea that began just like this. 

It has been a while since my last post so if you've come back, thank you! And if you're a new visitor, a big welcome! Let’s keep going…

I read that the story of Narnia came to CS Lewis in the single image of a faun carrying an umbrella and parcels through a snowy wood. It's interesting to note that some writers think in visual terms - I've known a few who do. The beauty of being an illustrator is the ability to test these ideas in visual form, which is especially handy in the case of visual narratives. This brings me to the images I want to share with you today.

The idea began with an image of elephants traveling in a long line.

Not the most original concept. Not much of a concept at all really, and yet something about the visual grabbed me. I began to see what kind of ideas developed as I added a baby elephant as a possible protagonist. A little warmth entered the visuals, and pathos became a real possibility.

I continued to develop the world that they might inhabit, and it started to look a little more hostile. Now there was some tension, a hinting at some sort of drama.

There are numerous themes that I feel these visuals could potentially evoke. At this early stage however, a clear narrative eludes me. I will continue to develop these visuals between other projects and see where it leads. I feel at the very least that a visually interesting series of illustrations could unfold.

In the mean time I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, or if you prefer feel free to get in touch with me.

Day 30 - wolves (final day)

Day 30 (final day)
Topic - wolves continued
 
I read that the Latin roots of the word satisfaction mean "enough action". I must have done enough drawing the past month because I feel pretty satisfied. I even had to take an emergency trip to the shops to buy another sketchbook. Holding a completed sketchbook feels good, it somehow seems much heavier.
 
I hope you enjoyed following my personal challenge. If you did then please like and share with your art-loving friends over on my facebook page here. Thanks for all of your support. Kind wishes to you all!

Day 29 - wolves

Day 29
Topic - Wolves

A fun topic but my time is short today, so here's a quick grab. 

Day 28 - kangaroos

Day 28
Topic - kangaroos

Today was another one of those days I wanted to keep my sketchbook to myself. This challenge has been both good and bad. On the one hand it has got me practicing drawing a lot more consistently, but on the other it has obliged me to show drawings I'm not exactly proud of. I do enjoy looking at the unedited sketchbooks of other artists though, so here's to the spirit of openness.

(Ken Hultgren studies are noted, otherwise they were from photo reference.)

Day 27 - Crustaceans

Day 27
Topic - crustaceans

The past few days I've tried to go beyond my original challenge and show more finished illustrations instead of just studies. With all the visual research I've done the last month I'm starting to get quite a few fun ideas. I thought it would be more interesting to see the results of my research rather than the research itself. I was hoping to show another finished piece today but I underestimated how hard it is to come up with something finished every day. Anyway I hope you find something of value in seeing my studies.

Crustacean sub

Day 26
Topic - Crustacean sub

'Grow'vember day 24 - sauropods

Day 24
Topic - sauropods

'Grow'vember day 23 - T Rex

 

Day 23
topic - Tyrannosaurus rex

To feather or not to feather? I heard in a radio show that more has been learned about dinosaurs -since- the film Jurassic Park than in all the time before the film! The bottom image shows my preliminary studies, mostly from the above mentioned film, and from Walking with Dinosaurs the puppet show. The uppermost image was a test to see what I'd learned from the reference material.

'Grow'vember day 22 - stegosaurus

 

Day 22
Topic - stegosaurus

'Grow'vember day 21 - pigs

 

Day 21

Topic - pigs

'Grow'vember day 12 - tigers

 

Day 12
Topic - tigers

Well there's no way in the world a day is enough to master the drawing of tigers.. but I feel I've put in a good effort today and inched my way forward.

'Grow'vember day 9 - camels

Day 9
Topic - camels, or The Ships of the desert

'Grow'vember day 7 - elephants

Day 7
Topic - elephants

'Grow'vember day 5 - Horses

Day 5 topic - horses

I'd love to be able to take full credit for this week's studies, but alas I have to be clear that good use was made of the enormous amount of reference available on the internet. Much of the hard work of simplifying and deconstructing form has already been done in the case of man's other best friend - horses. Where applicable, thanks to those artists who will recognize their hard work in my drawing studies, and I hope this simple statement is credit enough.

'Grow'vember day 4 - Vampire bats

Day 4 topic - vampire bats

I had no idea vampire bats are so fascinating. They have so much personality and variation. I could easily spend the month studying bats alone. I also discovered a species called a Greater False Vampire Bat. How sad to be called false.

The Very Cross Bun

A new preparation sketch for the book project titled 'The Very Cross Bun' mentioned in the last post.

Style guide

After quite a lot of anxiety filled experimentation I finally came up with this piece which will serve as a compass as I finish off a long overdue collaboration with author Jennifer Poulter. You can see some more experimentation with style in this earlier post. I really liked the sparse pen & watercolour of some of those pieces, but in the end gravitated towards this more vibrant, textured look.

Four frogs

 

 

Experiments with different techniques and colour schemes. At the top is the final piece rendered with graphite pencil on watercolour paper.

Frog Orchestra