Alice's Adventures in Wonderland- final illustrations

Sketches, drafts and development can be found in my sketchbook but here are my more final images.

Before our last group crit session i had these three images:

 I was pleased with my illustrations so far but i knew there were some changes that needed to be made. After some feedback and a couple of tweaks I am happy with how my images are looking and also how they sit together.

I adjusted the text on the cover so that it filled more space and it looks so much better in my opinion. 

There were no suggestions for changes to this image but i did take away two of the clouds from the top of the image because they were cut off so much it looked odd. 

I made a new horizon line for this image which seperates they sky from the foreground more. I thought about adding something behind the trees but i didnt want to complicate the image and i like the composition as it is. I also added shadows into this image to help ground the characters etc which has added depth to the illustration too. 

Overall i am happy with the outcomes, they are playful and fun and i think they reflect the book quite well. If i were to do it again though i would think about using a different medium, perhaps watercolours so that the image was less flat. Although i am much better at digital colouring now, i do not think i will ever create purely digital images, which is fine! I tried a little watercolour for these images, just for a bit of texture and depth and it has worked ok but not as strongly as i would have hoped or if i had just used watercolours. Lessons learned!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland-Research

My second project for AD32 is from the YCN student awards and requires a cover design as well as (at least 1) internal illustrations for Pan Macmillan's celebratory version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Research: 
I was really looking forward to getting stuck into this project but before i did i made sure i was familiar with the story and characters. I reread the book and watched as many different film versions of Alice in Wonderland as i could find and then i began to look for other illustrated versions of Alice...

 These are some of the more traditional versions of Alice in Wonderland with the far right being Tenniel's original depiction of Alice and the iconic image most other adaptations are influenced by.

I was really intrigued by some of the more alternative versions of Alice i found...they feel much more contemporary.

 And different illustrator's depictions of the other characters of the book:

 Tim Burton's concept sketch of the Red Queen is really fun and full of character and although Amanda Visell has used the same colours for the cheshire cat as the disney version of Alice in Wonderland, she has still made it her own by changing the shapes and adapting the character to her style.


I also did some research into book cover illustration for inspiration concerning style but mainly layout and format.

I really love the composition of these three book covers and also the hand rendered text.

 Again i love the hand rendered text of the Secret Garden cover and also Oliver Jeffer's text for John Boyne's book. Carson Ellis's illustration for Wildwood really grabbed my attention. I really like the colours and the style used and i also think the space on the cover has been used really well.

 I love the style and limited colours on the Snow White cover, though slightly changing the cream could make it look more contemporary which it does not really look at the moment. I love the colours and composition of the second cover, you get a real feel for the book just through the cover illustration. The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe cover is one of my favourite covers. It is not overly complicated in design or content but it handles the space well and the colours and textures used just make it look really inviting.

Pan Macmillan:
I did some research into Pan Macmillan to find out what kind of books they publish and in particluar what sorts of illustrations these books have.
Pan Macmillan (and Macmillan as a whole) publish some of the worlds most famous literary titles and house some of the classics of modern literature. This does not mean that they only have old books though...they are constantly updating their cache of author's and illustrators, promoting the best in contemporary literature too. Since its founding, Pan Macmillan has continued to broaden its portfolio and now publishes the works of many different illustrators who have very different styles.
Eg,