Winter Expedition book

Zimowa Wyprawa, or Winter Expedition in english, was one of the four books I illustrated for Zielona Sowa and written by Urszula Pitura. Again a little set with the book alone plus one of the inside of the book.

It has similar characteristics to the last one I posted some days ago, but with a red fox (and friends) as a protagonist ;)

By the way, you know these nuts come from the walnut tree, right?. Well, my last name, Nogales, is the plural of how we name/translate that tree here in Spain (nogal in the singular and nogales when it's more than one tree). So I couldn't help drawing this particular kind of nuts, it made smile :)

Again, it can be bought if you are from Poland through Zielona Sowa web.

Here is a photo of a detail of the back of the book:

With this book, let me wish you a happy new year! At least here in my country, these holidays will last till January 6th, though I hope you can enjoy the last days of these days. My best wishes for you for the start of this new year!

Snowflakes book

Here is one of the four children books I illustrated for Polish publishing house Zielona Sowa and written by Urszula Pitura. Finally, some photos of it taken by me (Ssadly without good enough photography equipment and not a good place to take photos. Hello natural light, indoor escene, and at-hand atrezzo :D)!

Winter is almost here, and so is Holiday time! All these books have winter related stories.

Concretely, this one ("Snowflakes" would be its title in English) is about a little bunny discovery duing winter :). It has ten pages in total and full color. Hard cardboard, its size is 19x19 cm. On the next photo you can have an idea with my hand pictured. In this case, it's the first two pages you can find when you open the book, plus the original illustration below.

I'm really happy how it turned out! They, all the four of them, are my little joy, and one of the best things that happened to me me this year 2015.

Again, it can be bought of you are from Poland through Zielona Sowa web.

I plan on doing a new post with every book during this winter ("still life" photo plus a photo from inside), so three to go, please keep an eye if you are curious! Hope you have a nice day and enjoy this almost here winter!

Winter Stories books

Do you remember this summer I said I was busy working on something? here is the secret! I was illustrating these four children books for Polish publishing house Zielona Sowa! They are written by Urszula Pitura.

I had a lot of fun working on them and I learnt many new things (first time working with a stencil)! All of them are part of a series called Zimowe opowieści (Winter Stories) and they are printed on hard cardboard so little children can hold them easily.

If you are from Poland they are for sale on their web HERE. They can also be bought from empik.com

Once I'm over with an illustration event I'm participating here in my city (Te-beo en la calle), I will post more photos and maybe inside pictures ;). But for now...

Choinka pana Borsuka (Mr. Badger's Christmas tree)

Ślady na śniegu (Tracks on Snow)

Śnieżne gwiazdki (Snowflakes)

Zimowa wyprawa (Winter Expedition)

I really have no words of gratitude to Zielona Sowa for having faith in me to do this project. They were also extremely kind to me. Thank you very much!

With these I have illustrated five books. So happy!! :)

That's all for now! See you!

[Book review] Babayaga

A book again!, this time, this book is about Babayaga, and it's illustrated by Rébecca Dautremer, a french illustrator I adore for sure. I met her works before Benjamin Lacombe's.

Actually, this is one of the last books I got (it was a present), but it was originally published around 2003, if I'm not wrong. I always wanted to get this book, but I never found the chance.

It tells the famous story about Babayaga witch, and her big hunger. The text is written by Rébecca's husband, Tai-Marc Lethanh. He participates in many of her books (I have a few), and these are always written humorously, some of then are even a little surrealistic. His writing style reminds me of what a kid would think while reading the book, or being the principal character. A good mix for sure that creates a "new" story or vision, of this book.

What can I tell you about Rébecca's illustrations? They are beautifully done, very detailed and textured. Some of them look like out of a dream. I like how she adapts her style a little according to the story, I love that fact about her. I also love her concepts, the way she uses the format, and how she interprets the text. I think the fact of being a mother helps her a lot with her work (even if she has some work that are destined for a young audience).

If you like the illustration world, you will love it for sure. Her work is very detailed, and you can see all the effort she used in it. I love Babayaga's big design, and her personality in this book. I also love those little illustrations you can find between the text. I think one of the aspect I like the most about this book is its setting and the use of colors.

Again a really big book: 24,5 x 36,5cm, I just wish I had a beautiful place to show it :(

I bought months ago a book I really love about her, and also other of her works I really love! but it's enough for today. Have fun and tomorrow more ;)!

[Book review] The Butterfly Lovers

French and original edition of the book

"The Butterfly Lovers" was, if I'm not mistaken, the fist Illustrated book I bought from Benjamin Lacombe.

It tells the story of an intelligent girl called Naoko, whose father wants her to learn good manners in Kyoto, for when he decides to marry her. She goes there, but decides to dress up as a boy to study literature. In Kyoto she meets a boy and both fall in love... that's till she is forced to marry someone else.

I can't remember exactly how I got to know about Benjamin, but when I did, I decided to order this book in a bookstore (in Spanish). My surprise was huge when the bookseller brought me a book of great size (it's 27x39cm!!) I was speechless for a moment because of I had no idea of its real size, but that big!?.

After trying to assimilate it, I loved the fact of its size. The illustrations were huge and you could see every little detail. I loved it from the start. It welcomes you with a pretty die cut that shows the next illustration as if it were a window.

 

The rest of the illustrations (most of them full page) inside are beautiful, with a little vintage touch and oriental feeling I really love. The text is fast to read, as the importance is in the illustrations. Also, I think this book is more for young people or adults who like art or illustrations, because of its quality and size.

 

Since then I have bought, once in a while, one of his books. Most of them are that big, and it makes me to love and to hate them at the same time. These books themselves are like a canvas paint, which you can show their covers as a piece of art. I wish I had more space in my house, and a big bookshelf to keep and to show them, because they are really beautiful. But for now it's impossible :(

It's one of his earlier works, but his newer's are just as beautifully and detailed done, some of them with very interesting.

I will try  to tell you about some of his books in the future, some of my favourite. See you tomorrow!

[Book review] Illustrating Children's Books

Lately I'm very interested about collecting many books, some children's books with different illustration styles and others more... "theoretical" information about the illustration world. I thought to tell you about some of these books I like, once in a while, and that I think you would like to know about.

This one I decided to start with is Illustrating Children's Books: Creating Pictures for Publication by illustrator and teacher Martin Salisbury. Please, keep in mind the version I got is the Spanish one (with the same cover of the image above), the English version may have a different cover, one in blue, but with the same title.

I really like this book, it's all full color with really nice illustrations from different artists. Martin Salisbury's tips and instructions can be really useful if you have the right attitude to learn from them. Keep in mind, it's not a "how to" book. It gives you general information about how you can prepare your work for it to have quality and in the best of cases, to be published. It's not a step by step book.

If you are interested about the process of creating a children's book from the start to the end, it's a good book for you. I think it's the best choice if you are a beginner in illustration, as many of the things in this book remind me of my Illustration studies. This one has some interesting chapters, such as illustration's history, different techniques and materials, character development, about non fictional illustration, and more.

It's not a "heavy" book, it's light, fast and easy to read, but some people may find it's information too superficially, that's why I told you I think it's better for people who is starting, though you can also learn something new, it depends on you ;)

That's all for today!. Tomorrow I will show you a new illustration. Let me know if you would like to read about some of the books I own.

My scanners

I use my scanner a lot, especially for sketches. Even if I like making digital illustrations, I can't help to make the sketches by hand, in the paper, and later to scan it. I like to think there's something traditional in every illustration I create (of course, there're exceptions for which I use my graphic tablet directly, but very few).
It's also useful for traditional illustrations, and especially for those, to know your machine is essential. I have used... three scanners so far.

One of them is a multifunction device that still works, but that I don't think to use ever again to scan any drawing (but it's ok for documents and similar). Ever. It made me understand the importance to get a good one for you. Scanner or printer, both together never.

The first one I owned an HP scanjet 3670, that lasted me around five or six years? if not more. Not bad, much better than my multifunction device. It could scan to 2400dpi, if I remember correctly...

Photography property of ©HP

The problem I had with it was that I always had troubles to "control" it, I think I didn't learn correctly how to use it. Even after the first day, I had problems with its software. It didn't appear in my computer even after installing it, or it appeared but rarely worked. The first times I couldn't control which dpi I wanted, and it always scanned to 72dpi. It started working correctly when I bought a new computer tower, but still couldn't use all its software, but the essential appeared.

But during my photography's final project, it started giving me problems, this time, in every drawing, photo, document, anything I scanned, all over it, appeared some colored vertical lines. Thankfully for this work, it wasn't too noticeable (and it was at the end of the project, anyway, so not too big deal). But as I kept scanning the lines were more and more visible.

I was told it was a problem of its lantern, and that it would be cheaper to buy a new one. So bye bye old scanner!

The one I use now is an Epson Perfection V330 Photo as a present from my parents. I decided to buy it because I used another Epson in class while I was studying photography and loved its quality and also because of I could scan negatives with it (tried it recently and I'm quite happy with it). It can scan to 12800dpi.

Photography property of ©Epson

I'm quite happy with it, now I know how to use it more or less correctly, but at first it can result a little difficult to use, because its software, I mean. At first I used the easy mode, but now I always work with the professional one. I don't recommend it if you haven't tried another lower before.

The bigger quality of it is much better than my last one for sure, sometime maybe too much, because it shows every little detail and texture. It won't be too much of a problem once you know who to use the software and maybe a little of photoshop ;). Also, it gives you more freedom to scan bulkier materials thanks to its cover.

Right now I can't say anything bad about this one, I hope it'll be with me for years!


Here I show you a little detail of the same illustration (a fast one done with acrylics from my Moleskine). I scanned first with my HP and days later with my Epson.

  - The first one was with my HP, you can see a little those vertical lines over the drawing. I remember I retouched later its color with photoshop (and sadly I can't find its original photoshop file), so the color it has now isn't the same it had when it was scanned at first, but at least it gives you an idea of the detail it could capture.

  - The second one is with my Epson. Here I didn't know how to use too well the software, but you can see the detail it can capture. Now I know how to conceal it a little and how to intensify its texture more. The colors closer to the original in my Moleskine are the second's.

The complete illustration of this preview can be found here.

With this I'm not telling HP is a bad brand or anything. Keep in mind the HP I'm writing here about is way older than my actual Epson. It's true it is told Epson offers better quality, but I think newer HP could work just fine! It depends on the way you use them, as always :). The problem I had with the lines could also appear in my newer scanner, it's quite common and there's no way to know when the lantern will stop working correctly... Again, I'm just talking about my experience with these two.

Long post for today!. Have a nice day!

Operación Ozono

"Operación Ozono" is the first children book I have illustrated, written by Felipe Galán Camacho. It was published by Edimáter after finishing my illustration studies in 2009 (also, it was my final proyect). Back then it made me really happy when I was told I was going to illustrate it (even now), but it took me a while to assimilate it because it seemed a dream...

The experience was great! My editor was very patient and taught me a lot. I'm really glad for that :). Also, I tried some techniques with this illustration I hadn't' tried before, and it was very fun!

Here are a two illustrations I made for this book, although there are more inside:

You can buy it from Edimáter' shop here. But it can also be found at Amazon and other stores. Just keep in mind it's in Spanish!

Have a nice day and see you tomorrow!!

Graphic tablets

Once, someone asked me if I had a graphic tablet to draw digital illustrations. I have actually used two... (Well, three if you count the one I used back in school when I studied Illustration).

So, I decided this time to make a post about the two principal graphic tablets I have used more. It's not going to be a post with a list of their characteristics or something like that, I will write only MY OPINION, nothing specific about each one.

The first one I used was one my sister got as a present, this Wacom Bamboo Fun:

Photography property of ©Wacom

I think nowadays it's discontinued, though I know a friend bought it some months ago from Wacom's online shop for a really cheap price, so maybe you could still find it.

It's a very basic tablet, supposedly, though it still works perfectly, considering both my sister and me have used it. It's small, very good to carry around and easy to place everywhere. Its pencil's tip has been very resistant, and it's been more than... five years without having to buy another one (it has never broken, only the wire got a bit worked out after some years, but it's replaceable). It has a little tactile circle zone which is used to rotate the drawing or photo by default, so you don't waste time zooming an image. Also, its surface to draw is very soft.

As I said, it was, in my opinion, a quite good tablet; I drew a lot with it. Right now maybe it has too much use, but it still works perfectly fine.

But as time passed by, my sister used it more and more, and I needed my own, so I got this Intuos4 S as a present:

Photography property of ©Wacom

When I got this one, the Intuos 5 was for sale for a while already, so its price was reduced and it was more affordable.

Did I feel a big difference between this one and the Bamboo? Well, when it comes to sensitivity, yeah. You can make more defined strokes with this one. I also like that it came with ten different tips for the pencil, five of them been just like the basic one.

I have been using it for a year, more or less, and what I don't like about it is that the pencil tips are weaker that the Bamboo's one. It looks like they want you to buy a new one soon, because after very few uses, the tip started to wear away. Also, the tablet sensitive surface is a little rougher that the Bamboo. Though I must say, that even that, it looks like the tip stopped to wear away, and for now, I still use the tip that the pen had integrated when I bought it.

Aside from that, I think it's a very good tablet, perfect for people who wants to have a big control on the strokes and sensibility (I saw the difference), but, I think that the "machine" doesn't make you draw better, you need to learn how to control it.

If you are a beginner, go for one of the new Bamboo Wacom graphic tablets (though I know from some people who got one of the newer with the feature of tactile surface (that Intuos haven't) that have problems precisely with the tactile part while drawing. It can be a little annoying, but I never tried one of them). The Bamboo tablets are perfectly fine, and it depends in your "talent" how your drawing/retouch will look. You can almost make the same thing with both of them, the sensitivity is the only difference (working a little harder you could make the same with one or another).

I recommend you to use the Intuos4 when you already have used another digital tablet, because it can be a little difficult to get used to it. If you want to control the stroke and have more freedom with the pencil and its angle over the surface, go for it. Perfect for digital illustrators, but also quite good for photographer who loves to retouch a lot their photos. You can buy it in different sizes, mine is S (Small) but for me it’s enough, also it's the same size that the Bamboo Fun tablet and I have accustomed to it. I tried one bigger when I was studying, but it was too troublesome for me, I work better with a smaller one.

But again, don't worry too much about the "name" of the machine or even the brand (there are other brands that make tablets, it's just that Wacom is pretty good and you can find them everywhere nowadays); you are the one who holds the pencil. At first, it will be hard, and strange, but practice makes "perfection", so don’t stop trying hard learning how to use it. Once you try it, everything will go smoothly. Give it a try!

Now that’s all for now, if you have any questions or something just tell me!! I’m not an expert, but I will try to help you out all I can!!

Have a nice day and see you tomorrow with an illustration!