Monday, February 16, 2009

Pop-Up

I got to make my own pop-up spread for my children's book class! I assemble them all the time at work, but I have never designed my own from beginning to end. It was very educational and I respect people who make intricate pop-ups because even the most simple things can be complicated. The project was to do an alphabet pop-up (my letter was "I") about a boy who does different magic tricks, sometimes they go wrong and sometimes they work, and they get more and more extravagant as you go through the alphabet.

So I started with a sketch...
Then I did a mock-up of the spread to get the mechanics right and make sure it opened and closed without catching on itself or ripping. (Definitely not as easy as it sounds!!) I used a heavy card stock paper so it would hold up. Regular paper is too flimsy.
Finally, I did all the final drawings, painted the background and each of the pieces of the pop-up, scanned them into the computer, printed them on thick paper, and assembled everything! This was the first time I used just acrylic paint for a project. I kind of like it, I think I will do more with it. The photo certainly doesn't have the same effect as the actual pop-up...it just doesn't "jump out at you" like the real thing...who knew!?...I'm pretty satisfied with the finished product. A few things didn't turn out the way I expected, but that's ok! It was still fun!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Writer's Block

I need to get off my block and write some stories! I suppose it's just like artist's block, but I feel more confident getting off my artist's block because I'm an artist! I know it will pay off...with writer's block I don't have as much motivation to get past the block because I'm not a great writer. Sometimes I like just hanging out on my writers block...