First iteration of my main character.
Have you ever been a little too stubborn for your own good? I confess, its one of my worst qualities. I am stubborn to the point of making myself anxious. What that means is sometimes I choose not to see something that is right in front of me and super obvious. I believe something so it must be true, right?
Here’s an example.
I’ve been drawing, reworking and revising a story for a few years now and I believe in this story. It has heart and humor which are two things that always draw me in as a reader. I kept working at the writing and the sketches, but when it came time to do the final art samples I just couldn’t get out of the mindset that it HAD TO BE IN MY STYLE (whatever that stupid word means anyways). The paintings weren’t bad. Everyone liked them that I showed them to. They were good stand alone paintings. One problem… They didn't match the tone of the story.
And I knew it.
But people liked the paintings. Surely the marketplace would bend to MY STYLE and we’d be able to sell the project because the painting wasn’t bad. My logic here is skewed… and again, I knew it… but I didn’t want to budge.
I wouldn’t let go of MY STYLE. I finally kind of hit a comfortable place where my work has a look and I was pretty happy with it. I was terrified of the idea of breaking through and playing in anything that looks different. Which, tangent: is the problem with “style”. It barricades you in and stops you from a creative journey that can be absolutely eye opening.
A few weekends ago I had a written and face to face critique with Jessica Anderson of Christy Ottaviano books and something in her notes clicked. She said what I had been thinking about the final art all along. This wasn't my first time having it in front of an editor, but this was the first time someone clearly spoke what was swirling in the back of my mind. She said that the paintings were a bit muddy and didn’t have the exciting linework that made the dummy book so marketable. (i’m paraphrasing here, but that’s the meat of her comments on my art style).
I had a little time so I decided to rework a piece that I had already done.
I redid it 5 times.
Each time I got a little closer, but my stubbornness wouldn’t let me fully embrace giving the character what he needed. I had to really listen to who he was and what he needed to be for the story.
Finally, after all those trial and errors I came up with something I felt like fit my character’s personality. He’s a woodpecker with some self awareness issues but a lot of heart. Here are the before and after images of my little birdie character. Hopefully you feel a sense of joy, humor and heart looking at the newest version!
How the character looks today!