• Contacting publishers and agencies • Preparing work for Hanbury • Preparing work for the Bologna Book Fair
1 Hello 2 Introducing Joe Boon. Short name that is easy to remember and suits children’s book illustration. Separate from personal social media. 3 I would also like to introduce my creative directors. Nieces Influences on my work but I’ll come back that later. 4 Before I started at LCAD (as it was then) Graffiti, workshops, exhibitions, clothing on the side. Never really paid attention to the thought process behind my work and what it was saying. It was a bit of a jump stepping back into education and I had trouble moving away from the way I had been working for years. Incorporating communication, telling stories, humour, emotion into my work. Struggled at first and kept falling back on old habits, gradually made changes that picked up pace in the second year. 5 By the time I started level 6 my practice had become focussed on children’s book illustration Tried to find briefs that would help me develop skills and understanding Limited number available Took on unrelated side briefs This was the first Although I enjoyed the brief it felt like it didn’t really benefit Didn’t move me forward 6 So I decided to figure out what it was I was trying to achieve so that I could find briefs that would help me achieve it. Looked at work that I liked in the format I wanted to work in Character development
Incorporating text with illustrations Working on page layouts Help me to develop an understanding of the processes 7 Brief I spent the most time on I had been getting used to using Procreate Working in black and white to make transition to a new process easier, working with tones rather than colour. The brief asked for colourful illustrations. Forced me start experimenting with colour. Important for children’s book illustration. Character designs and consistency throughout book. Struggled with text, kept it simple. 8 Templar Prize. Only 10 days until the deadline. Having less time changed how I worked and helped me to focus on building interesting and varied compositions. Couldn’t focus on adding details. Exercise in roughing and composition, page layouts. 9 Polar dog book. One of my own stories that means a lot to me. Want writing as well as illustrating to be part of my practice. Learning about writing children’s books. Very different from academic writing. 10 Feedback Tutors and visiting professionals Work more with type, draw round fonts and add texture, make them fit with illustrations Strength of animal characters but human characters need to be developed further.
Need to find ways to draw characters in a wider variety of ways, side on, capturing movement, different body types.
11 Crucial part of my practice Plum Pudding, portfolio, character studies Studies can add to portfolio and aid development Think of common actions and scenarios that would be part of children’s books Intergenerational, parent and child, playing, eating, etc Laura Carlin talk Put more thought into characters, back stories Illustrate results of actions to show personality 12 I have found throughout the course that I make the biggest changes throughout the summer when I have time to experiment with the knowledge and understanding learned throughout the year. Although I feel my practice had changed a lot over the course of the year and my understanding of the industry has improved I have a lot of plans for further development. I have some ideas for personal projects and would like to use Hanbury and The Bologna Book Fair as targets for completing them. Good way to keep motivated. 13 I have got my website to a point where I am happy with it and will continue to review the gallery section to make sure it represents my practice. I have printed manuscripts of the polar bear book that I want to send out to publishers. I want to rework my business cards, still focussed on character but add more colour, more representative of practice. Make better use of social media, especially the dots and Linkedin, I feel like they’re more suited to finished projects and until recently I haven’t had any work I felt comfortable adding to my profile but I do now. 14 the last year and the course as a whole have completely changed how I view my work. I feel I now have a clear direction, a good understanding of my own practice and the industry. Still progress to make. Feel positive, can’t wait to further develop using the skills and knowledge gaining throughout this year.
This is where my miniature creative director comes in. Providing a basis for character studies. Inspiration for stories. And helping me understand how children interact with books.