An Illustrator's Process - Planning a Dummy

At last night’s SCBWI Illustrators Schmooze we had demonstrations of ways to make dummies for our picture books. In November our yearly Illustrators Day is coming up, with a chance to display our portfolios and dummies for editors and art directors. I am re-working a dummy for my latest project and looking back at past ones, as well.

The level of finish in a dummy varies from one artist to another. I’ve seen extremely rough ones to something that looks like an actual book. When I studied with Uri Shulevitz the dummies he showed us, and had us make, were extremely rough. Some editors and agents like a dummy with completed sketches, close to what the final will be. Others are OK with very loose sketches showing you have thought of where the text will go and blocking out the action, pacing, page turns and rhythm of the book. As a beginner you should always include two to three finished illustrations and perhaps the cover. You can photocopy your finishes and glue them into the dummy. Keep a backup copy when you submit your dummy, in case the editor or art director or agent doesn’t return it to you.

 

In previous posts (June 23-25) I have directions for a dummy construction I use for most of my dummies. Two of my favorite books, which have helpful chapters on picture book dummies, are Writing with Pictures, by Uri Shulevitz, and Illustrating Children’s Books, by Martin Salisbury.

An Illustrator’s Process - Making a Picture Book Dummy, Part 3

Here is Part 3 of the directions for Barbara’s (current) favorite book dummy:


For you stoic (and curious) dummy makers, here’s the finish of the board-book-style dummy!

8. Prepare cover

• Measure height of book – it should be 5 ½”! This is height of cover.
• Lay color-photo-type paper (Kinko slick) landscape-style
• Trim paper to height of book – should be 5 ½” high, 11” wide
• Starting from right hand edge of 11” strip, GLOSSY SIDE UP, measure width of front + ¼” and score* vertically.
• This is the Front Cover.
• From score line, continue measuring to the left an amount equal to the width of the spine and score** again.
• This is the Cover Spine.
• Note that this area will NOT be glued to book block spine!
• Repeat last step. Measure to the left the same distance (width of spine) and score*** again.
• This, plus Cover Spine strip will form a Hinge.
• The Hinge strip will also NOT be glued down, although it will form part of the Back Cover.
• Leave the remainder of the 11” strip intact. Cut it after cover is attached, just to be safe, in case of mis-measurement.
• It’s a good idea to glue another strip of Tyvek to the inside (non-glossy side) of the Cover Spine/Hinge area, to reinforce it.

9. Attach cover

• Fold 1st score line* and glue Front Cover to top (fly leaf) page of book block
• Match fold to spine edge of block! It will slightly overlap the open edge.
• Apply glue to book block page, not cover, so the overlap edge isn’t sticky.
• Glue Front Cover only! Do not glue spine!
• Fold 2nd score line** around spine – Do Not Glue!
• Fold 3rd score line*** backward. OK, fold it in the other direction from the other folds. You’ll see what I mean in a minute.
• Wrap the cover around the book block. Measure the back cover overlap to match the front cover overlap. Should be about ¼”. But if block got skewed somehow, just measure it to look good. Balance it! Make it look like it matches! Trim off excess.
• Now the tricky bit.
• Glue the Back Cover portion of the cover to the bottom (fly leaf) page of the book block, BUT…
• DO NOT GLUE ANY PART OF THE SPINE OR HINGE AREA to any part of the book block.

10. Finish the cover!

• Either you were way ahead of me and figured out how to copy your cover image/text onto the lower right hand corner of your color-photo-type cover paper, or
• Copy your cover image/text on glossy paper and cut and paste it onto the cover!

Now I not only have a greater respect for those who write instructions, but also have the utmost admiration for those of you who have followed along! It's easier to make the dummy than to try to explain making it!  I hope these directions will be helpful.  Happy dummy making!

An Illustrator’s Process - Making a Picture Book Dummy, Part 2

Today my sister Barbara continues her description of dummy making!


This simpler-than-Coptic-stitch, more-complex-than-fold-and-staple picture book dummy is modeled after the sturdier board book. I now have a greater respect for the people who write how-to instructions. It’s not easy to be clear!

To repeat, this dummy is low-tech, aside from the copy machine. For my version you’ll need copier, copy paper and card stock plus a sheet or two of glossy color-photo-type paper (all 8 ½" x 11"), bone folder (to make sharp folds), glue stick, ruler and scissors. And the art/text for your dummy. You’ll end up with a durable book that opens out roughly flat and is about 4 ½” wide by 5 ½” tall (which you could convert to horizontal layout 5 ½” wide by 4 ½” tall).

Once you’ve done your page breaks, left room for front and back matter, planned the flow of your illustrations, and done your drawings, place each page’s drawing (and text?) on 8 ½" x 11" paper. Then:

1. Copy each page, reducing by 50%.
2. Lay out copies, 4 to a sheet, and re-copy on card stock. Remember, when you open a book page 1 is on the right, so copy your drawings/text in this order:
• Page 0 opposite Page 1
• Page 2 opposite Page 3, etc. until you get to....
• Page 32 opposite blank page
3. Cut pages in half horizontally (leaving Page 0 opposite Page 1 etc.)
4. Fold each of these paired pages in half vertically – crisply! with a bone folder, if you have one.
5. Now you begin to assemble. Get out the glue, and glue the back of page 1 to the back of page 2, the back of page 3 to the back of page 4, etc.
• Make sure folds are crisp!
• Match up edges carefully.
• Make sure the stack of pages grows vertically and doesn’t veer off at an angle
• I usually do 4-5 sheets at a time to make mini-blocks, and then join the blocks together (check the page order!) It’s easier to prevent skewing the alignment this way.
6. Once the numbered pages are assembled, add blank pages front and back to make end papers.
7. Stabilize/reinforce the spine
• Cut a 1 ½” x 5 ½” strip of paper (preferably Tyvek; that’s what those soft Fed-Ex envelopes are made of -- flexible but tough!)
• Wrap and glue the paper/Tyvek strip around the folded spine
• overlap onto front and back of book block
• don’t overlap top/bottom edges – if strip stretches, trim excess top and bottom

OK, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m tired! Want to finish this tomorrow?

An Illustrator’s Process - Making a Picture Book Dummy, Part 1

Today and tomorrow my guest is my sister, Barbara, who also happens to be my critique partner and tech support. She is also an avid bookbinder who has utilized a couple of binding methods for dummies I’ve created over the last few years. She has agreed to describe her process for one of them.


There are many, many ways to assemble a book dummy, from the professionally hard-cover-bound to the simple fold-and-staple. I’ve sort of settled on a mid-range version.

One day while Diane toured the children’s book section at Vroman’s I found myself examining a rack of board books. Since my own writing has been geared to the younger ‘reader’ I thought I’d check out board book structure, something like the way Diane analyzes picture books. Anyway, I counted the ‘boards’ in a couple of books and noticed that the boards are glued to one another back-to-back and then….wow, look at that neat cover assembly.

You see, at present my real book passion is book making. Hand making books. Sewing, cutting, pasting. And it turns out board book assembly solves the problem of page order. No more complex fold and gather type layouts for copying at Kinko’s. No more questions like “If page 32 is photocopied on the left and page 1 is on the right, what page do you put opposite page 14?” so that when they’re folded in together they read 1-2-3 ….. 30-31-32. My earlier dummy-making had been open-spine Coptic stitch multiple-signature …… you get the idea. This is lots simpler.

While studying board books led to quicker dummy making, it turns out that writing clear (to anyone but myself) directions for making said dummy is a bit hard. So give me a little more time to work on it and check back tomorrow for the ‘how-to’.

It’s low-tech, aside from the copy machine. For my version you’ll need copier, copy paper and card stock plus a sheet or two of glossy color-photo-type paper (all 8 ½ x 11), a bone folder (to make sharp folds), glue stick, ruler and scissors. And pencil.  And the art/text for your dummy.

More tomorrow.

An Illustrator's Process – Envisioning a Picture Book Dummy

I love to know how other illustrators start work on a project. I know there are many ways to approach the task. This is mine.

At present I am making a dummy for a manuscript I have written. I’ve already visualized the illustrations in my mind. I have thought a great deal about the project, gathered reference scrap, my own photos, reference books and even magazine pictures – anything that inspires me. I have organized them into file folders, labeled by character or composition ideas or by a specific illustration I have in mind. At this point I sometimes do character studies to make sure the characters are recognizable each time they’re drawn. I then look at my collection of picture books and try to analyze if my illustrations and text would best be suited to a vertical or horizontal format. Are the pictures sweeping across the page? Do they need space? Is it an intimate, cozy story that should be a small format? I think the manuscripts tell you how they want to be depicted.

Dog Scrap!

When I’m ready to progress to the dummy stage, I divide the manuscript in page breaks that keeps the right pace within 32 pages. I’m ready to do thumbnail storyboards next, to get an overview of the layout. I pay special attention to the scale of the illustrations, the flow from one picture to the next. I try to vary the complexity of the design. Pictures need to show progression and movement.

...and back to the drawing board!

I do preliminaries on tracing paper because you can check the back for the accuracy of your drawing. Another way to check for accuracy is looking at the artwork in the mirror – it’s a great way to see what’s wrong. This was one of my artist mother’s first and best tips. I cut up the text to fit the pictures and continue changing and reworking the dummy until it looks like a small facsimile of the book I have envisioned.

Dummy version 3 (of 4)

Several points I try to keep in mind as I plan and work:

• The words and pictures work together. They must complement each other.
• The pictures that face one another must work together! They must complement each other.
• Plan colors carefully – they convey mood.
• Watch the gutters! Keep details out of that area.
• Always include extra surprises or interesting details not in the text.
• The word illustration comes from the Latin, and means to light up or illuminate – that’s what we’re trying to do!

I have to get back to illustrating – I haven’t had illustrator’s block, I’ve just been busy with book promotion. I’m eager to get back to the work. I did some painting last month, but this is a different process. It’s complex, and involves submerging in a whole new world. The world of my manuscript.

I’d love to know if anyone has favorite tips or examples of how they get the job done!