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Leaving the blood and gore behind…
I am now finalising the Amelia Dyer illustrations on a weekly basis, which means that I’m rapidly getting to the end of a journey that I started well over a year ago.
Coming to the end of my picture book is such an emotional trip. I feel upset, relived, exhausted, and ecstatic; all at the same time.
Upset because I get emotionally attached to the work. The thought of saying goodbye to the characters and the story that I spent so much time creating, is upsetting.
Relived because the ridiculous amount of work that I had created for myself is nearing the end. I’m also relived that I don’t have to spend mornings, or nights or weekends struggling over an impossible sentence that I can’t accurately compose. Furthermore, that terrible illustration that I just can’t get right, no matter how much time I spend on it.
Exhausted because writing and illustrating a book takes a lot of commitment and hard work.
Ecstatic since there is no better feeling in the world than seeing the results of a completed product. Holding your freshly printed book is an amazing feeling.
It also means that I have now started to think about my next picture book. I’ve already written the text and it’s more or less finished. It needs editing and rewriting for sure, but the plot and the first draft are complete. The work ahead from now is focused on illustrations and character designs, which will be my future project once Amelia is ready to send to the printers.
I’m happy to say that I’ll soon be leaving the blood and gore behind and I’ll be back writing children’s stories again. I’ll reveal more in the coming weeks. Thanks for all the support you’ve given me here, either by liking or commenting on my posts, following or messaging me directly with your feedback and comments.
The children chased Amelia out into the garden. She begged them for mercy, she begged them for pardon. But the dead don’t listen, for they can’t speak or hear. Amelia was pale as a ghost and trembling with fear…
“My life will be ruined if people knew of my illicit affair.”
Quote from my book, not a confession! So leaving controversial headings aside, I am writing to share my good news!
Even though I still have a significant amount of work left to do on my Amelia book, I can, for the first time in over a year, feel the completion of my project. After months of hard work I can feel it’s slowly coming to an end. I have created the characters, the scenes and I have framed the illustrations in the way I want to demonstrate the action. It’s one thing having an idea in your head and another putting it on paper. And a nightmare when you just don’t have a clue on how to illustrate the text, so having made it this far feels like success.
I am now starting the process of finalising my illustrations which entails some texturing and lighting. The picture below is a good example of this. Looking for the perfect textures is something that I enjoy immensely. This weekend I will be traveling around my lovely city (London) armed with my camera, taking pictures of walls, bricks, old wood and any other texture that will blend nicely with the Victorian setting in my book. Hope you all have a lovely weekend! And remember, if you live in the UK, clocks go back one hour on Sunday.
If you have a look at the porch you will see that some textures are missing, the curb needs texturing too and the portico has penetrated the window ledge. The street is too clean so I will somehow have to fix that too.
Welcome to “the Crying Baby”!
Amelia’s own restaurant… (a word of advice: don’t order any meat).
“Fancy my delicious brown sugar and honey crusted ham for Sunday lunch?”
Agosto, a frightened little acorn – my first e-book!
My picture book about a frightened little acorn is now available as an e-book (it’s been a long time coming).
Revisiting the story of Agosto has been a lovely experience. I haven’t picked the book up once, since I published it last year, so the story felt kind of new and fresh. Designing the e-book gave me an opportunity to play a bit with the layout. The e-book design differs slightly from the paperback version. Below are some screen shots from the e-book.
And if you fancy, here’s the link to the download page.
Apparition of a ghost child
And this ghost ain’t friendly…
Whilst packing her bags amongst the putrid smell of decomposition,
Amelia heard a ghoulish moan at the door where she saw a child’s apparition.
Testing out different colour styles for my Amelia story. The filters I’ve applied to the picture above is faux film (adds grain and brightness to create a vintage film look) and a filter called Helga. I probably won’t decide on the style until I have finished illustrating all the pics for my book, but I’m enjoying experimenting and messing about with different photo styles at the moment.
Mrs Dyer’s cruel (animated) demise
In real life Amelia’s mother died from typhus. In my book she’s locked in a basement by Amelia and eaten alive by hungry, ferocious rats. The below animated Gif illustrates Mrs Dyer just before she’s attacked by the rats.
Mrs Dyer’s cruel demise
Meet the Characters
I’m working on Gif animated portraits of the main characters in my Amelia story, to put on my Amelia website. This is Sarah Hobley née Weymouth, Amelia’s mother.
Mrs Dyer – Amelia’s mother
Amelia Dyer the Angel Maker
On hearing three knocks on the front door,
Amelia found a baby on the porch floor.
G. Olivo 