Queen Quail is Quiet: and other ABC Tongue Twisters

Today's guest blogger is Erika Barriga. Her new book debuts this week, and I hope you'll enjoy her process post about the making of her book, Queen Quail is Quiet: and other ABC Tongue Twisters

Queen Quail is Quiet: and other ABC Tongue Twisters comes out for e-readers (Kindle, Kindle Fire, and iPad) and in print on Wednesday, May 15. 

Queen Quail is Quiet grew out of my love of learning and drawing.  I wanted to be a little different to approaching learning the alphabet. Creating a sentence illustrating each sound for every letter sounded challenging.  I started out by thinking of words for the letters and then forming a sentence I could illustrate.  Sketching of thumbnail ideas came next and was much easier to do once I realized this would no longer be just a project, but a book.  Most of the sketching was just on plain computer paper and once I refined the sketches into final artwork, I scanned in the images onto my computer.

The sketches were brought over to Adobe Illustrator as a layer.  Then I outlined everything in a bright color (easy to see and stands out) on another layer.  At this stage I think of colors and what would work for the entire book.

Then I made a copy of the outline layer and this is the layer that becomes the color layer.

Usually there is tweaking with the image just a bit (the swim cap for the duck is different from sketch to final), but I try to stay true to the original sketch since that is the foundation.  I believe it is better to sketch and erase than to work out those changes digitally on the computer. When the color is complete, I'll bring the image into Photoshop for additional little changes and finally end with applying a texture.

This book took over four years to complete from start to finish and I can't wait for my baby girl to flip through the pages.  I hope other kids will enjoy it too!

Ballet

I've been celebrating Ballet all week on my own blog, so how could I not bring the subject over here to the PBJ's?

I think it is SO much fun to see the whole art process...

Here's some decorative lettering from start to finish...

.. and a few Ballerinas, too...

I love Ballet!

My Process

Every now and then I get emails from people asking how I work so about a year ago I decided to make this video of me working on a little bear who is getting ready for movie night.


I thought I would share it with you today. :o)
And here is the finished piece!

Now I'm craving some chocolate fudge....

What I'm Working On

Here's a blurry (instagram'd) version of what's on my desk. I'm currently at a crossroads. I get all squirrely just thinking about it. I had been so confident in my style/process choice for this picture book dummy until yesterday. Now I'm a jiggly mess, unsure of anything. Should I switch to digital? Should I just paint it all over, no collage at all? Should I just finish the digital version I worked on earlier this week? Should I plow forward with what's on my desk, even though there is no CTRL-Z?
I thought working on storyboards for another dummy this morning would clear things up a bit. But that's a different book altogether (a board book, actually) which demands a totally different style/process (I think!?!).
See. I'm a little confused.
I know this happens to all of us at times.
I think it has a lot to do with the pressure of the upcoming NESCBWI conference and being signed up for the Portfolio showcase.
I think I'll just sit down and work, and see what happens this time. Isn't that all we can do? Try. Wait. Distract. Think. Ask others. Try again. And in between, breathe.

The making of ABC, Baby Me!

© Copyright Alicia Padrón

I was sitting at a table overlooking the water while having ice cream with my lovely agents, Kendra Marcus and Minju Chang on Fisherman's Wharf in SF, when they spilled out the news that Robin Corey Books had decided they wanted me to illustrate ABC, Baby Me!

It was one of those moments that make you feel like you are in a movie. Talk about a great start! I was so happy and excited that I forgot about my ice cream, and that hardly ever happens.. ;o). The manuscript had won my heart and I really wanted to work on this book.

When I get a manuscript for a book I like to take a few days to just think and brainstorm. I don't even hold a pencil in my hand, even though sometimes I am dying to. I just think.

I think while I'm driving, while I'm watching TV, while doing the dishes. I think all day. I visualize the book in my head. I think of what it would be like to be a kid and read this book. I think of different ways of illustrating a particular scene. I think until I feel the book as a whole. A couple of days later I know I'm ready to jump into it, I then grab pencil and paper and ideas just start flowing out of me like crazy. I love it.

For ABC, baby me! it was the same way. I waited 3 days and was able to see this book very clearly in my head and was anxious to start sketching.

Jason Zamajtuk, the art director working with me on this book, was a joy to work with. He is every artist's dream! He gave me complete creative freedom and I was able to work on how I envisioned this book to be. I will always be grateful to him for that.

© Copyright Alicia Padrón

They suggested to have babies with their parents, mom and dad, depicting scenes from Susan's text of every letter of the alphabet. So I began sketching but the more I worked on the book the more I realized that babies are loved by many members of the family, not just mom and dad. Grandparents, big brothers, little sisters and even the family dog love a baby. So I decided to sketch the book this way, some scenes with mom and dad and others with grandparents, siblings and pets. Luckily they loved it and I got a green light to go color.

I painted the art with watercolor, then shaded with graphite pencils and when that was done I worked on the illustrations digitally adding special effects and tweaking color if they needed to. When the art was ready I sent it to them digitally. I then waited many months until that special brown box arrived and I was able to hold the finished book in my hand. The real thing. It's a beautiful moment and honestly, I don't think it will ever get old.

I knew I wanted this book to have a clean and airy feel by showing lots of white in the pages and have only soft spots of art. I wanted it to be entertaining for the adult reading it but specially entertaining for the kid. I wanted it to have scenes that make you feel joy and spreads that make you laugh. I wanted it to be a loving and a bonding experience for the baby and the caregiver reading the book.

I hope this book does all these things. I enjoyed it tremendously and I have to say it will always have a special place in my heart. :o)

© Copyright Alicia Padrón

Thank you all for visiting and sharing the book celebration with me!

And a special thanks to my PBJ's, my lovely group of artist friends, a wonderful support, always...

Remember to leave a comment on any post this week to be entered in the giveaway to win a signed copy. I will announce the winner Sunday and post a little about the author Susan B. Katz and how she was inspired to write this beautiful book.