Writing on Wednesday: Picture Books

I had two little news flashes to share with you today.

First of all, I'm working on a picture book, and I'm seeing if I can illustrate it myself. Whilst doing this, I learned two things about picture books and illustrating that I'd always known, but never really realized until this moment.

1.) When you are drawing a child (toddler-ish age or a little bit younger) you want the diagram of the child's body to equal four of its head sizes stacked one on top of the other. Like so: Dani Jones at danidraws.com

2.) When you are writing a picture book, read it through carefully to make sure its a picture book and not a short story. You're probably thinking, "What's the difference?" Well, I'll tell you.

A short story contains descriptions. It has a full plot told in very few words with well-chosen phrases used to inspire the imagination in as little space as possible.

A picture book is like a poem, where it makes you feel, but there are undertones that the reader has to understand on his own. A picture book uses those undertones as pictures which the illustrator interprets in a series of drawings that complement the words. What the words don't say, the pictures reveal.

Coolio, hey?

That's all for now, peeps. I'm off to do a dummy layout of a PB. Maybe it'll turn out to be fantastic! You never know. :-)

God bless!