What do you draw with?
I use Photoshop to make more complicated illustrations & I use Procreate for character designs. If you use me to layout your book, I use Adobe Indesign.
How long does it take to illustrate a book?
This really depends on your book. How long is it? How complicated are the illustrations? I can really only give you a good estimate once I see your manuscript. But generally speaking, I can get a book done within two months.
Can I get a sample illustration?
Yes! Sample illustrations are always a great way to make sure we are a good fit for each other. Some clients will ask for a character design as the sample illustration. This way, if you like the design, we already have one small part of the project done!
How much does it cost?
This really depends on your book. If your book needs lots of illustrations, it will cost more. If your book only needs a few illustrations, it will be cheaper.
It also depends on how complicated the illustrations are. Do you need many characters? Lots of full background images? all of this effects the cost.
Past books have cost between $4,000 - $6,000 to illustrate.
What about publishing?
Now this part is up to you! Depending on how you plan to publish the book, at this point my job might be done.
If you are interested in publishing with Amazon, I have experience with that and can help. It's important to know upfront if you want to use Amazon because it changes how I need to build out the files.
Do you provide formatting / Layout ?
Yes, I can layout your book! I’m a graphic designer and have the Adobe Creative suite, so I can certainly do that for you.
1. Character Design
First things first, we need to do your character(s) justice! Let's work together to design characters you love.
This step is usually done before working on the internal illustrations, at a separate charge. (about $180.00 - $200 per main character)
2. Rough Layout
After receiving your final manuscript & we have agreed on an estimate, I will do a rough layout of the book! This way you can see where I imagine the text and images going!
(This step is skipped if you have a separate designer doing the layout and formatting of your book.)
3. Sketching
This is where it gets really fun for me! I start sketching out each page and placing it into the rough layout.
When I'm done, I send it over to you for review. Your book is slowly coming together!
4. Line Art
I start to clean up all the sketches so the illustrations become more clear.
Again, you review it and once that is approved it's onto the next step!
5. Rough Colour
I loosely colour in a few of the line art illustrations so you can see the book coming together!
You review it, approve it and then we move forward!
6. Rendering
This is my favourite part! I bring the illustrations to life by fully rendering them! This part takes the longest to complete, but it's also the most rewarding.
7. Revisions*
The home stretch! Your book is almost complete!
All that is left to do is for you to look over the rendered illustrations and final layout. Once it's approved by you, we have the final step!
*Please note, you only receive two rounds of revisions so we don't risk going over budget.
8. Cover Design
Now, it may seem odd to design the cover page last but bear with me!
This way, we can reuse bits and pieces from the other illustrations to construct the cover page! By doing this, it saves me time and keeps us on budget.