About this Project

Illustration/Publication of a Children’s Book WISE Proposal

Field of Interest:

For my WISE project I had always envisioned working in the field of art, whether it be through music, drawing and painting, sculpting, etc. That’s why when this illustration project presented itself to me, it was impossible to turn down. In this project I will illustrate a children’s book that my mother’s friend John Norman wrote and was hoping to get published. The story is about a young boy in poverty who begs for money in the market. When an old fisherman sees him begging, he decides to teach the boy to fish so he can provide for him and his family. As the young boy learns to fish, he notices that the old fisherman is quite lonely, and the young boy invites the old fisherman to eat with his family. For the illustrations of this work I will use watercolor, my preferred media. My love of art is inspired by my biological father, an artist. After my parents got divorced he got one day a week with me, while my other siblings chose to go to movies, bowling, or rollerblading; I would choose to drive around with my dad while he taught me to draw from observation. I’ll always love the passion my father has for art, but it has also lead him to various unemployments; because he refuses to work a job that isn't related to design or art. I love art, but it’s not my career choice, that’s why using it as a WISE project would be enjoyable, but also will allow me to exercise my talents as a hobby.   

   

Goals:

I would love to know how to illustrate and publish this book. By the end of 16 weeks I will have been forced to talk to new people, be motivated by not only the writer of this book and my mentors, but by myself to finish something that I started a task I often struggle to perform. The actual illustrations of the work will not take as long as figuring out how to get a complete polished product, ready for publication. However by the end of June I will have the book I’m illustrating in hard copy form and ready for sale.

Specific plans:

I plan to have the storyboard sketches for all illustrations done by the beginning of March. Over the first seven weeks I will create two illustrations per week so by the end of April I aim to have all the illustrations done so I can prepare them for scanning, then and getting them printed. I will have a printed copy by the third week of May, then have it prepared for an electronic purchase via Amazon or on the Kindle Store by the first week of June. By the second week of June I will have tried to advertise the book in local book stores.  

Research Questions:

All of my research will be a lot of “how to” questions, I have no experience in publishing or illustrating children’s books.

1) How does one copy the illustrations into the book?

2) How does one publish a book?

3) What kinds of illustrations attract children?

4) How long is the publishing process?

5) Is it better to publish electronically as opposed to a hard copy?

1) What are the top rated illustrated children books?

2) Why were those selected?

3) Who are the top children’s book writers?

4) What kind of books do parents choose for their kids

5) How important is the cover to publishers/ sales?

Potential Resources

1) Andrea Hazard (illustrator)

2) Johanna van der Sterre (illustrator)

3) Joey Gates (illustrator)

4) Tompkins County Library (References)

5) The Bookery (Potential buyer of the book)