From the Sketchbook:
Scott Campbell
This CBC series features illustrators sharing their creative process and providing context for their amazing artwork.
Our artist this week is Scott Campbell, author and illustrator of Hug Machine and illustrator of numerous picture books. In this post, Scott discusses his process of making skulls approachable to kids, a key component of the new picture book Skulls!
“The first thing I did was go through the story and doodle the scenes and people with their skulls showing to figure out what might work best for the look. I write words and lists as I doodle to riff on the ideas.”
“I did a color test to see how the skulls might look on children because this could have looked too scary if we were not careful. The more detail we put into the skull, the more frightening they looked, so we settled on a silhouette style with simple details.”
“The spreads went through a few rounds of sketches as we honed the action and added the gags that we felt worked best! Two thumbs up is funnier than a point any day! We discovered this. “
More of Scott Campbell’s fantastic art can be found in the new picture book
Skulls!
