CHRISTMAS IN THE CHICKEN COOP
This is the second book in the series about Anna, the Chicken Queen. The author and illustrator of the series is Iryna Potapenko. Yes, this is my project—from concept to execution. I plan to create four books in total, together with the Ukrainian publisher Ranok.
In the first stage of creating each book, I draw the storyboard. The number of spreads is decided together with the editor. The publishing house’s designer sends me the book layout, where the edited text is distributed across the pages of the future book.
The work on the book took me just over a month. These are very tight deadlines because the book needs to be printed before Christmas.
This story has a seasonal theme, and it’s important to release the book for the holiday mentioned in the book.
For this project, I created very funny chickens. I decided to warm them up, as it might not be warm enough in the chicken coop. I found references of Ukrainian women in traditional scarves and vests and used these references for my work.
I illustrated this book entirely on an iPad, including the sketches.
I used watercolor brushes and textures to create the illusion of a hand-drawn illustration. I developed a workflow for digital watercolor.
First, I create the background.
Then I create a white template for each character. After that, I enable alpha channel locking and color the characters. The black outline of each layer is set to multiply mode. In this way, the outline takes on the tone of the colored layer.
First, I create the background.
Then I create a white template for each character. After that, I enable alpha channel locking and color the characters. The black outline of each layer is set to multiply mode. In this way, the outline takes on the tone of the colored layer.
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