The manuscript for The Crack in Kazah is due to go to my publisher’s next week. That means a big EEK for me, but for YOU, that means a big hooray—because you’re that much closer to getting a chance to read it.
I’ve been working fiercely on final edits to the manuscript before I turn it over, tweaking it here and there and, as Ratchet would say, working out the kinks. It’s kind of hard to show how a manuscript changes and make it interesting, but I can show you some of the revisions to my illustrations.
I haven’t completed all of the pictures for this new book yet, but I have already gone back and redid some of them.
Here’s the original illustration I did for the opening battle in the book:
I didn’t quite like the way it was looking too squished into the bottom half of the frame, so I moved the skarm upwards. I also realized that I needed to have Kendra holding her wand in this scene. Sometimes I can digitally edit my illustrations, but when there’s just too many changes, I might as well start from scratch.
This next illustration is of a scene from later on in the book, when Kendra is sneaking through the Elder Stone. She comes upon a statue of the famous ancient Een, Leemus Longbraids. At first I wanted to make sure the focus of the illustration was on Kendra, so I intentionally left the walls blank, as shown below.
But, in truth, the walls of the Elder Stone tells stories with their pictures, so I realized that I really had to find a way to illustrate the character of this mysterious setting. So, I added in some architectural reliefs:
I liked it, but I did indeed find that the walls were a little too distracting, so I tweaked the illustration one more time. Here’s the final:
Stay tuned for more sneak-peek illustrations soon!
So excited now!! EEK!
hi, Mr.Wiz you are good at drawing!
When does your new book come out?
bye bye!!’
Ketchup and egggs
It’s coming out in the fall!
Yay! Fall 2011!!