The Making of a Book

On the rare occasion that I clean my studio, as I move my organized 'piles', I am reminded of exactly how much work goes into the making of a book. I thought it might be fun to share the process with you. Maybe once my work is documented I can get rid of some of my piles. Maybe.

As an author and illustrator, it is most natural for me to conceptualize the words and pictures simultaneously. So I start right away with lots of notes and sketches.


The next step is to sort of 'storyboard' your book, or rough in what each spread will look like.
Then a small scale dummy is made, so that you can see exactly what happens as you flip through the pages. (A dummy is a prototype, or mock-up. And you're not a dummy to ask : )

The next step is to make a full size dummy. Before I do that, however, if I don't have a particular finished art style in mind, I have to decide on one. It's time to get out the paints... or markers, pastels, pencils, etc... and get busy!